The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-11

| tin, appeared to feed on May flies ex>
clustvely. Whenever asking bird DASH
ed into tree these birds would fly by
the dozen to the spot and seize the
f1uttering helpless insects that had
been dislodged. When, however, a gust
of wind drove the May flies before it,
the swallows were seen to best adj
vantage, as they circled gracefully aft
er Them
Broadly considered, the consumption
Of the May flies in such great guam
| titles by all species Of birds is mis-
| fortune, for its suspendS or prevents
the destruction Of really injurious in-s
sects. May flies do not harm crops
| and are only plague when they be-
| come numerous. They are an easy and
| palatable food, and it is regarded as
unfortunate that they divert birds from
the destruction of real insect pests.
The Potato Beetle.
The potato beetle worked great in
| jury to crops on the Bryan farm in
| 1899, but in a number of visits the
only birds to consume this pest were
| bobWh1tes and cardinals. OF forty
other birds captured in the fields not
one had fed on the beetles.
On June 16, 1901, there was pest
| or the beetles on the farm, and al
| though on that day scores of swiftS,
| swallows and purple martins lowered
| over the farm, they would not touch
| the insects, but fed abundantly on
| coddis flies. In 1896 string bean fields
| We're ravaged by thousands of bean
| flea beetles, but few birds would touch
| them
The tortoise beetle, a great pest in
! sweet potato fields, was not bothered
much by birds during the observations
| made by Mr.. Judd on the Bryan farm.
| One catbird was found to have eaten
one, from which it was deducted that
T1rk 17t7 al
J might have been more extensively
| preyed upon had it not been for the
| prevalence of cherries on the farm at
| the time
OF the three pests which attack cab
bages, the wavy-striped flea beetle, the
| common cabbage worm, and the har-
| lequin cabbage bug all appear to be
unpalatable to birds, although it was
! thought that the presence of May flies
might have had something to do with
| the disposition of the birds to let these
| nuisances alone.
A careful study of the other injuri-
| Gus insects was made during the seven
! years of observation, the result OF
| which Mr.. Judd says shows that birds
are not to be depended on to check
uprisings of insect pests, and that in
secticides should be freely used.
Other Injurious Insects.
Mr.. Judd has reported extensively
| On other injurious insects not neces-
| sarily of the field. Among the most
| interesting of these is the flying ant,
! which is injurious to corn and fosters
| the corn louise. On the afternoon of
| July 10, 1898, there were many Of these
| flying ants at the Bryan farm and a
| rare opportunity was offered to find
out just what birds fed on them.
Bank swallows kept circling around
them, eating them greedily By
| crouching, Mr.. Judd says, one could
see them catch the ants. Four of the
| birds were collected and an examina-
ton of their stomachs showed that
| they had eaten 200 Of the insects.
At this rate ESQ swallows fair es-
innate of those feeding at the time
! would consume in a single afternoon
| 1880 ants. A nighthawk had been
known to eat 1000 of the ants at
| meal.
A careful study of weevils showed
that 166 of GAS species of birds col
lected feed on them, strange thing,
! because they harmonic SO we'll with
| their surroundings that birds some
times have difficulty in finding them.
The relish Of birds for weevils, says
| Mr.. Judd, is hard to explain, as they
seem to be scarcely more edible than
little stones. Nevertheless it is q for
| tunate circumstance, for weevils are a
| dangerous pest, not easily controlled
,by insecticides.
investigators to the relations of birds
| to useful insects as to injurious ones.
| Out of sixty-two birds collected only
| three, two wood pewees and phoebe,
! were found to have eaten the useful
! soldier beetle.
This beetle, like the useful FREELY,
! has q pungent and disagreeable flavor.
which probably accounts for it's inn
munity. The ferocious tiger beetle, a
most useful insect, is little eaten by
birds, because it is so alert that only
| the swiftest catch it.
| The moment danger threatens, 1t
| springs in the air and flies away. The
most useful of all the beetles, the lady
| bird, was found to have been food fer
! but three birds on the Bryan farm,
| a fortunate condition, as the ladybird
] is a VoraciOuS feeder on insect pests.
| The greatest consumption of insects
! is to be credited, not to adult birds,
| but to young ones in the nest. So Vo-
| racious are the youngsters that parents
can supply their wants only by unre-
| hitting efforts Meals often begin be-
fore sunrise and continue till after
| sunset.
Food for Season.
| The number of insects required to
| supply O. seasons host Of nestlingS,
| says Mr.. Judd, is inconceivable. The
| most satisfactory observations along
| this line were made on June II, 1899,
| were removed from a cavity in q locust
! tree and placed in q baking powder
| can, which was nailed to the trunk Of
| the tree about four feet from the
! ground. Observations were made for
| four hours and thirty-seven minutes,
| during which time the mother wren
| made 10 visits to her little ones with
/ food.
| With the aid of glasses a part of the
/ food was identified. That recognized
| consisted Of one white grub, one SOL
| der bug, three millers, nine spiders,
| nine graSShoppers, fifteen May flies and
| thirty-four caterpillars
| The consumption of caterpillars and
| grasshoppers is the largest benefit de-
/ rived from the presence Of nestlinES on
| the Bryan farm, the parent birds hunt
| ing out these insects even when they
| are not abundant.
| Study of the larger birds, which feed
| on vertebrate food, was made. Crows
! were observed killing newly Matched
| turkeys and carrying>c young chick
4 ems; bald eagles preyed constantly
! on ducks; Cooper hawks, the most
| harmful birds on the farm because they
| prey on useful insectivo-ous small
! birds, where abundant; sharp-shinned
! hawks were seen pursuing sparrows
1 and tearing humming birds to pieces,
and the great horned owl plundered the
| poultry barns at every opportunity.
! Mr.. Judd's conclusions as result OF
| some years Of observation at the Bryan
| farm are that the English sparrow, the
| sharp-shinned and Cooper hawks, and
| the great horned owl are inimicsl to
| the farmers interests, and should be
/ LiIIa6 at every GnrOrtI1nitv Thu san