The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-11
Watched Wild Birds Feed
For Seven Full Years

1
WASHINGTON, D. c., Jan. 10.-The
biological survey at Washington has
| long been conducting study Of the
| food habits of birds. The result of the
! vestigation has been to let the farmer
know just what birds are useful to
| him, and which are injurious-Which
destroy insects that prey on his crops,
and which feed on the crops them
selves.
This study Of birds and their habits
has been going on for good many
| years in different parts Of the country,
accurate results of food habits of the
different species being obtained by
careful examination of the contents of
birds stomachs.
The investigators came to the conclu-
sion some time ago that in a study of
local conditions regarding the utility of
birds usually require modification. AS
an instance Of this, a study Of small
herons collected from a number of
| states showed that they live on food
OF no economic value, and were there
fore unimportant But a study of spec
| linens OF the bird from Louisiana show
ed that there, at least, they were of
immense value, because they prey on
crayhsh, which, by tunneling through
the ieVees, cause floods, and conse-
quently great damage to crops.
With view to ascertaining how far
| local conditions might modify the de-
talls OF general conclusions, based on
DATA from widely separated regions,
Sylvester d. Judd, of the biological
| survey, made a careful study of the
food habits Of birds on the Bryan farm
at Marshall Hall, Md, on the south
| bank Of the Potomac, from July 80.
1895, to July "a last, and the results
| achieved during these seven years Of
careful observation have just been
| printed by the department of agricul-
| ture.
Study on the Bryan Farm.
The Bryan farm is about fifteen
miles from Washington, and directly
! opposite Mount Vernon. o. N. Bryan,
the former owner of the farm, was an
ehlhuslasuc collector of birds. The
IdT1n is now the property of George
b. Bryan, his nephew, who cheerfully
agreed to let the government conduct
its Investigations there
The staple products Of the farm are
corn, wheat and tobacco. The entire
farm, with it's arabic land, river shore,
steep bluff and low swamps, presents
conditions SO varied as to attract many
different kinds of birds.
OF those that feed in open fields
these were noted there: Meadow lark,
! gfasShopper, sparrow, bobWhite,
mourning dove, crow, blackbird, robin,
I goldfinch; Of those depending on cover:
Field sparrow, chipping sparrow, song
| sparrow, fOX sparrow, white throat
sparrow, and English sparrow. Other
blrds noted on the farm were king
bird, oriole, cedarbird, catbird, cardi-
nal, gr0sbeak, yellow breasted chat,
indigo bird, brown thrasher, swift,
WoodcoclI, sandpiper, broad winged,
red-tailed, red shouldered, marsh,
cooper, sharp Skinned, and sparrow
hawks, eagle, osprey, great horned
oWn, screech owl, turkey buzzard king
fisher, flicker, sapsucker, red headed
Woodpecker, night hawk, whip-poor-
will, humming bird, wood pewee,
great crested fy-catcher, blue jay,
scarlet tanager, purple finch, red-eyed
| V1reo, dozen species of warbler.
chickadee, titmouse, thrush and in the
cold months many gulls and ducks.
One Of the first things sought to be
established by the investigator was the
exact relation of the birds to certain
kinds of insects, a difficult matter in
view of the danger Of commencing a
bird for having eaten an 1njurius in
! sect, when, as a matter of fact, there
was no other food available The same
danger has always existed in condemn
ing a bird for not having fed on a GER
tain injurious insect, when the region
from which they came happened tc be
free from that pest.
i All Liked Crane Flies.
/ During April 1900, crane flies were
unusually abundant on the Bryan
farm. In certain parts of the farm the
crane flies fairly swarmed on the
ground and flew into the eyes of those
who walked through them.
Almost all birds were observed eat
ing them greedily, welcome condition
to the scientist, for, although crane
flies do greater damage in Europe than
they do here they are undcubte lily in
furious to grain and grass. But q
greater plague than the crane fly is
the May fly, which fortunately has, as
an adult, an existence Of from only
two hours to two days, although as a
water nymph it lives from one to three
| years.
ON the morning of May IS. 1909, not
| a May fly was to be observed on the
BRYAN farm. On May IA a number ap-
peared there, and the following day
| they swarned over the entire place.
| The air was full of them, and at the
end of a 100-yard walk Mr.. Judd found
sixty-seven Of them cltnging to his
clothing.
81, thick were they on the cedar trees
/ that they turned the dark green foliage
a distinct gray. For days all blowing
| on the farm had to be stopped, because
the insects frightened the horses, and
! during the week that this condition
lasted meals were almost uncomfortable,
| which invaded the house. This pest
| gradually disappears, although the May
! flies keep appearing in diminishing
| numbers throughout June and even
into July.
When these May flies were at their
thicIxest they furnished practically all
the food of the birds of the farm, even
the barnyard fowls. They are soft, en-
tirely edible, and highly nutritious, the
| females being heavy with eggs.
How They Were Devoured.
The clumsiest birds can catch them,
| but careful observation was made of
| the methods of each bird in attacking
this kind Of food. Herons, sandpipers,
song sparrows and blackbirds picked
| them up along the beach; wcodpeckers
and Carolina chickadees snapped them
from tree trunks; warblers and vireos
| gathered them from boughs, and while
| other birds took them on the wing still
| others fed on them laZily.
Five crows sat on the bough of ce-
| dar, gray with May flies, simply chok-
ing them down, and many other birds
| loafed about in the same fashion, oc-
casionally taking the trouble to rise
and snap up a mouthful of victims.
The kingbird had probably the Cd
| dest method of feeding. From the top
| Of a tree it would drop with all it's
| weight to one Of the lateral houghs of
| an adjacent locust that was so covered
| with May flies that it's tips dropped.
| Thousands would be shaken from the
limb by the weight of the bird, and at
| ter swapping up as many as he wished,
he would return to his perch at the top
of the tree. Says Mr.. Judd Of this per-
| Torrance:
"Over and over it played this game.
| apparently with keen Zest. l watched
1 CT, i1ay. oh cf7r >y.f-