The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07


| drainage is not great. 1t is equally pre- b.
| able, moreover. that the bird fully COM
| pensates for this injury by the insects
| 1t consumes.
The vegetable food of woodpeckers is
! varied, but consists largely of small
| fruits and berries. The downy and hairy
woodpeckers eat such fruits as lockwood,
Virginia creeper, and others, with the
| seeds of poison ivy, sumac, and other
shrubs. None of the three species is
much given to eating cultivated fruits
or crops.
| Many other woodpeckers arc found in
! America, but their food habits agree in
the main with those just described. These
| birds are certainly the only agents which
sect enemies of the forests, and, to
some extent, of fruit trees also. For this
reason, If for no other, they should be pro-
tected in every possible way.
The kingbird is essentially n lover of
orchards, and wherever the native groves
have been replaced by fruit trees this
pugnacious bird takes UP its abode. Ii
breeds in all of the STAKES east OF the
Rocky Mountains. 1t iaigrates south
early in the fall and generally leaves the
United States to spend the winter in more
southern ATTITUDES.
The kingbird manifests its presence in
many ways. 1t Is somewhat boisterous
and obtrusive, and its antipathy for
hawks and crows is well known. 1t never
hestates to give battle to these marau-
ders. no matter how superior in size, and
for this reason a family of kingbirdS is
a desirable adjunct to a poultry yard:
SONG birds that nest near the kingbird
/ are similarly protected.
In its food habits this species is largely
| insectfvorous. 1t is a true fly catcher by
nature, and takes large part of its food
on the wing. II does not, however, con-
fine itself to this method of hunting, but
picks up some insects from trees and
weeds, and even descends to the ground
in search of myiapods or thousand legs.
The chief complaint against the kingbird
&c hat 1ur gralt hoo
and this charge has been made both by
professional bee keepers and others.
Many observers have seen the bird at
work near hives, and there is no reason
to d:ubt the honesty of the testimony
one bee raiser in Iowa. suspecting the
kingbirds of feeding upon his bees, shot
a number near his hives. but when the
birds stomachs were examined by an ex-
pert entomologist not a trace of honey
bees could be found.
The Biological Survey has mace an ex-
animation of 2S1 stomachs collected in
various parts of the country, but found
only fourteen containing remains of honey
bees. In these fourteen stomachs there
were in all fifty honey bees, of which
workers and the remaining six were too
badly broken to be identified as to SEX
The insects that constitute the great
bulk Of the food of this bird are noxious
species, largely beetles-May beetles.
click beetles (the larvae of which are
known as wire worms; weevils, which
prey upon fruit and grain, and host of
others. Wasps. wild bees and ants are
conspicuous elements of the food, far out
numbering the hive pees. During sum-
mer many grasshoppers and crickets, as
well as leafhoppers and other bugs are
also eaten. Among the flies were num-
Der of robber fiies-insects which prey
largely upon other insects. especially
honeybees, and which have been known
in this way to commit extensive depreda-
tons. 1t is thus evident that the king
bird, by destroying these flies, actually
does work for the apiarist. Nineteen
robber flies were found in the stomachs
examined. These may be considered more
than an equivalent for the four worker
bees already mentioned. a few cater
pillars are eaten, mostly belonging to the
group commonly known as cutworms. all
the species of which are harmful. About
10 per cent of the food consists of small
native fruits, comprising some twenty COM
mon species of the roadsdes and thickets,
such as dOgwoOd berries, elderberrieS,
and wild grapes. The bird has not been
reported eating cultivated fruit to an
injurious extent, and II is very doubtful
If this is ever the case. for cherries and
blackberrieS are the only ones that might
have come from cultivated places. and
they were found in but few stomachs.
Three points seem to be clearly estab
lished in regard to the food of the king
bird: O That about 80 per cent consists
of insects, mostly injurious species; (2)
that the alleged habit of preyng upon
honeybees is much less prevalent than has
suit in any great damage and 90 that
the vegetable food consists almost en-
ttrely Of wild fruits, which have no eco
nOmic value. These facts, taken in con-
nection with it's well-known enmity for
hawks and crows. entitle the kingbird
to a place among the most desirable birds
of the orchard or garden.
THE PHOEBE AND ITS DIET.
Among the early spring arrivals at the
North, none are more welcome than the
phoebe. Though naturally building its
nest under an overhanging cliff of rock
or earth, or in the mouth of a cave, its
preference for the vicinity of farm build
ings is 50 marked that in the more thick
ly settled parts of the country the bird
is seldom seen at any great distance from
a farmhouse except where bridge spans
some stream, affording a secure spot for
a nest. Its confiding disposition has rem
dered it a great favorite, and conse-
uuently il is seldom disturbed. 1t breeds
throughout the United States east of the
Great Plains and winters from the South
Atlantic and Gulf States southwark
The phoebe sUbsists almost entirely up
on insects most of which are caught on
thu wing. These species are mostly harm
full. Small wild fruits and berries COM
prise the vegetable food. No cultivated
fruits are disturbed by the phoebe. 1t
is evident that pair of phoebeS must
materially reduce the number of insects
near a garden or Held, as the birds often.
if not always, raise two broods a year,
and each brood numbers four tc six
young.
There is hardly a more useful species
than the phoebe about the farm and 1t
deserves every encouragement. To fur
nish nesting boxes is unnecessary, as 1t
prefers a more open situation, like shed
or a nook under the caves, but ii should
be protected from cats and other marau-
ders
The blue jay is a common bird of the
United States and remains throughout
the year in most of its ranges. During
spring and summer the jay is forced to
become an Industrious hunter for insects
and is not so conspicuous q feature of
the landscape as when it roams the coun-
try at will after the cares of nesting are
over.
Ornithologists and field observers in
general declare that a considerable por-
ton of its food in spring and summer
consists of eggs and the young of smaller
birds. and some farmers accuse it of
stealing corn to an injurious extent in
the fall While there may be some truth
in these accusations they have almost
certainly been exaggerated. No doubt
many jays have been observed rObbing
nests of their birds, but thousands have
been seen that did not. So much has
been said about the nest-robbing habits
of jays that special search has been made
for traces of birds eggs in their stom-
achS, with the result that shells of small
birds eggs were found in three and the
remains of small birds in only two out
of 2g2 stomachs examined by the Biologi-
cal Survey. This does not disprove the
charge against the blue jay, but it does
show that the nest-robbing habit is not
so prevalent as has been believed. Be
sides birds and their eggs, the jay eats
mice, saamanders. snails, and crusta-
ccans, which altogether constitutes but
little more than l per cent of its diet
The insect food is made up of beetles
grasShoppers, caterDillars, and a few
Of
10 per cent of the whole food consists of
harmful inSects The iaY also feeds ON