The times., 1901-04-07
BIRDS And THEIR HABITS
They Are of Value in the Destruc,
ton of Insects.
The Sparrow Not Quite So Ubiquitous
as He Is Painted - Ways of the
NVoodpecI<er and the Meadow Lark
The Robin u Help to the Farmers.

| 1t has long been known that birds play
| an important part in relation to agricul-
/ ture. but there seems to be a tendency
to dwell on the harm they do rather than
the good Whether bird is injurious or
beneficial depends almost entirely on
what it eats, and in the case of species
| which are unusually abundant or which
| depend in part upon the farmers crop
| for subsistence, the character of the food
| often becomes a very practical question.
| If crows or blackbirds are seen in num-
! bers about cornfelds, or if woodpeckers
are noticed at work in an orchard, it is
| perhaps not surprising that they are ac-
cused of doing harm. Careful investiga-
| ton, however, often shows that they are
destroying noxious insects. and also that
| those which do harm at one season may
compensate for it by eating noxious spe-
| cies at another. Insects are eaten at all
| times by the ma jority of land birds, and
| during the breeding season most kinds
| subsist largely and rear their young ex-
! clusively on this food. When insects are
| unusually plentiful they are eaten by
many birds which do not ordinarily touch
them Even birds of prey resort to this
| diet, and when insects are more easily
obtained than other fare, the smaller
hawks and owls live on them almost en-
| tirely.
Within certain limits birds feed upon
the kind of food that is the most accessf-
! bic. Thus. as a rule, insectivorous birds
| eat the insects that are most easily OBJ
tanned, provided they do not have some
peculiarly disagreeable property 1t is
not probable that bird habituaily passes
by one kind of insect to look for another
which is more appetizing, for il is evident
that bird eats those which by its own
method of seeking are most easily OBJ
tanned. ThuS a ground feeding bird eats
those it finds among dead leaves and
grass a fly catcher, watching for it's
prey from some vantage point captures
entirely different kinds: and the wood
pecker and warbler, in the tree tops, Sc
lect stll others. 1t is thus apparent that
Il birds diet is likely to be quite varied
| and to differ at different seasons of the
year
In investigating the food habits of
birds, field observation can be relied on
only to a limited extent for it is not al
ways easy TO determine what a bird real
~ eats by watching it, In order to be
positive on this point it is necessary to
examine the stomach contents. When
birds are suspected of doing injury to
field crops or fruit trees, individuals
should be shot and their stomachs exam
ined. This will show Enthusiastically
| whether or not the birds are guilty.
IN response TO general demand for
definite Information regarding the food
habits of our native birds, the Biologi-
cal Survey, of the Department of Agri-
culture, has for some years past been
conducting systematic Investigation of
tne IOod OF species which are believed to
be OF economic value Thousands of bird s
StomaChs have been carefully examined
| IN the laboratory, and all the available
data respecting the food brought togeth-
er. The results of these investigations
are sent out to the farmers of the United
| states IN pamphlet or book form. The
practical value of birds in controlling in
4 no M
ogniZed, 1t is certain, too, that the value
OF our native sparrowS as weed de-
stroyers is not appreciated. Weed seed
forms an important item of the winter
food of many of these birds, and it is
impossible to estimate the immense num-
bers of noXious weeds which are thus
annually destroyed.
If birds are protected and encouraged
to nest about the farm end garden. they
will do their share in destroying no%ious
insects and weeds, and q few hours spent
In putting up boxes for biuebirds. u ar
tins, and wrens Nyill prove q good invest
ment.
Two species Of cuckoos the yellow w-bill-
ed and the black-biiled, are common in
the United States. While the two species
are quite distinct. they do not differ great
" III food habits and their economic stat
us is practically. the same: They are
much given to eating caterpillars and, un-
like most birds. do not reject those COW
cred with hair. In fact, cuckoOs eat so
many hairy caterpillars that the hairs
and remain there so that when the stom-
aeh is opened and turned inside out it
appears, in many instances, TO be lined
with q thin coating of fur.
An examination of the StOmachS OF for
ty-six black-billed cuckoos, taken during
the summer months, showed the remains
OF caterpilars beetles, grasshoppers,
Sa WflieS. stink bugs and spiders. In
all probability more individuals than these
were represented, but their remains We're
too broken for recognition. Most Of the
caterpillars were hairy, and most OF
them belonged to a genus that lives in
colonies and feeds on the leaves of trees,
including the apple tree.
Five or six species of woodpeckerS are
Familiarity known in the United States.
armers are prone to look upon wood
peckers with suspicion. When the birds
ar, seen scrambling over fruit trees and
pecking a the bark. and fresh holes are
found In the tree. It is concluded they
are doing harm. Careful observers. how
ever have noticed that, excepting a sin
gle species, these birds rarely leave any
important mark on a healthy tree, but
that when a tree is affecteS by wood-bOr-
ing larvae the insects are actually To-
Gated and devoured. In case holes
from which the borers are taken are af-
terW1rd occupied by colonies OF ants,
these ants are drawn out and eaten
Two of the best-known woodpeckers,
the hairy woodpecker and the downy
woOdpeCker. range over the greater part
of the United States, and for the most
part remain throughout the year in their
usual haunts They differ chiefly in size,
for their colors are practically the same,
and the males, like other wOodpeckers,
are distinguished by a scarlet patch on
the head.
FOOD FOUND N THEIR STOMACHs.
An examination of many stomachs of
these two birds show that from two
thirds TO three-fourths of the food con-
sists of insects, chiefly noXious. Wood
boring beetles, both adults and larvae,
are conspicuous and with them are as
sociated many caterpilars, mostly species
that burrow in trees. Many ants are
particularly harmful to timber, for if they
find small spot of decay in the vacant
burrOW of some wood -bOrer, they enlarge
the hole and as their colony is always on
the increase, continue to eat away the
wood until the whole trunk is honey
combed. These ants are eagerly devour-
ed by the WoodpeCker.
Moreover, these insects are not acccSsi-
bic to other birds and could pursue their
career of destruction unmoiested We're it
not that the woOdpeckers with beak and
tongue especially fitted for such work,
dig out and deyOur them. 1t is, there
fore, evident that woodpeCkers are great
cOnseryators of forests. To them more
than to any other agency we owe the
preservation OF timber from hordes of de-
StruCtiVe insects.
one Of the larger woodpeckers familiar
to everyone is the flicker, or golden
winged woodpecker, which is generally
distributed throughout the United States
from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky
Mountains; II is there replaced by the
red-Shafted flicker which extends west
ward to the Pacific The two species are
as nearly identical in food habits their
environment will allow. The fickerS,
while genuine woodpeckers, differ some
what in habits from the rest of the fam
lily and are frequently seen upon the
ground searching for food. Like the
downy and hairy woodpeckers, they eat