The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-03-23
COULD NOT LIVE
WITHOUT BIRDS
Prof. T. Gilbert Pearson on
Their Economic Value.
AS INSECT DtSiROYE Rs
There Are 312 Species of Birds Re-
corded in North Carolina.
SHOULD HAVE MORE PROTECTING LAWS
Work Of The Audubon Society of North Carolina.
Plume Hunters Are Rapidly pes-
troying Our Sea

Birds,
Mankind owes more to the birds of
the field, and the woods. and the air,
than he does to the fishes of the sea, or
the domestic cattle of the fields" said
Mr.. T. Gilbert Pearson at the Yarbor-
ough House yesterday to a group of gen
tlemer, among whom was reporter of
the News and Observer.
"Although thousands of earth's inhab-
itants win their living at the fishing
trade, humanity could make shift in
some way should great plague sudden
~ kill all the fish. Cattle are of Won
derful use and convenience, but the hui
man race could in a pinch exist without
them If, however, the birds should be
exterminated a far more serious state of
affairs than either of the above would
at once present itself. The average per-
son would not perhaps at first glance
recognize the real value of birds to man.
for the reason that while the intrinsic
value of fishes and cattle is very ap
parent one, the true worth of the feath-
cred tribe is not so generally known.
The birds are the chief enemies of the
insects which infest our growing crops
and other vegetation, and scientists gen
orally have not hesitated to say that
without them insects would rapidly be-
come so numerous as to render practi-
cally impossible the growing of many
varieties of fruits and vegetable, if in
deed the growth of ali vegetation did not
become impossible
Continuing in his conversation, Mr.
Pearson stated the following interesting
facts regarding the value of our native
birds, the rapidity of their destruction,
and what it is proposed to do in North
Carolina for their preservation.
To those who have thought but little
concerning the practical Value of birds,
1T may not be amiss to say that their
economic value to man is a very pro
nounced reality. This value lies chiefly
in the service they render as destroyers
of insects which are injurious to vege-
ratlon, as consumers of small rodents as
destroyers of large quantities of eeeds
of noXious plants, and as scavengers.
Birds constitute the chief force n keep
ing Down the surplus number of insects
and which otherwise would be far more
destructive to the agricultural products
of the country. AS matters now exist
one-tenth of the entire agricultural pro-
ducts of the United States each wear Is
fetal loss through their inroads. and
we are told that owing to the decreas-
ing number of birds, its per cent is an
nually increasing The work which
birds GO simply as preVentatives is enor-
NOUS
The young of some. species eat more
than their own weight of insect food
daily The adult birds of many kinds
subsist chiefly on an insect diet, and
two thirds of the varieties found in
North Carolina are almost wholly in
sectiverous. Birds digest their food so
rapidly that it is difficult to estimate
the real amount which they consume. 1t
is known, however, that a swallow will
eat SIX or seven hundred lies in a day.
The stomach of a cuckoo. shot at six
O'Clock in the morning., contained TWEEN
ty-three tent caterpillars partly digest
ed! The stomachs of chicadees not in
frequently have been found to contain
over two hundred eggs of the canker-
female moths, each holding over one
hundred eggs. 1t has been estimated
that during the one month in which
these insects infest the trees, each chick
adee would destroy over 130. 900 eggs. A
peewee which | once watched captured
sixteen insects during a period of ten
minutes. The bird would dart out few
yards, seize a passing insect and return
at once to her lookout perch. When
some hours later I again saw the bird, it
was still busy at it's work
The real value of birds as insect de-
stroyers has not been appreciated gener-
ally. One reason for this is their work
is not apparent to the casual observer,
who rarely sees q bird except when il is
alarmed, and, therefore, is not feeding.
Superficial observation has been a cause
of much SUFFERING to birds and a great
pecuniary loss on the part of the obser-
Vers. AS single example of this, the
Legislature of Pennsylvania, in 1885,
passed a Scalp Act" for protecting the
domestic fowls. The law provided for
bounty of fifty cents each on the heads
OF all hawks, owls, weasels and rninks
killed within the borders of the State.
The State also fixed fee of fifty cents
Tor the notary or justice taking the aft
davit in each case. During the next
year and a half, 100000 was paid in
bounties. This accounts for the destruc-
tion of 12S,51 of the above named crea-
lures, the larger per cent of which were
hawks and owls. Dr. c. Hart Merriam.
ornithologist and mammalogist of the
United States Department of Agriculture
In his report for 1886, speaking of the
result of this action of the Pennsylvania
Legislature says:
Granting that 5000 chickens are kill
ed annually in Pennsylvania by hawks
and owls, and that they are worth TWEEN
five cents each Ca liberal estimate in
view of the fact that large proportion
of them are killed when very young),
the total loss would be $3.50. and the
poultry killed in year and half would
be worth S1.S75. Hence it appears that
during the past eighteen months the