The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-11


Kishinef matter and the condition of Jews ger
secution of the Jews is due to their democratic
there is no reason to doubt the honesty OF
their testimony.
THE SAUCY BLUEJAY.
The blue jay is a common bird of the
United States east of the Great Plains, and
remains throughout the year in most of its
! range. although its numbers somewhat
reduced in winter in the northern states.
During spring and summer the jay is forced
TO become an Industrious hunter for in
sects, and is not so conspicuous feature
of the landscape as when it roams the
country at will after the cares of the nest
ing season are over. Ornithologists and
field observers in general declare that a
considerable portion of its food in spring
and early summer consists of the eggs and
young of small 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 rob-
bling nests of other birds. but thousands
! have been seen that were not so engaged.
| The results of the stomach examination
| show that the jay eats many noxious in
sects; that its habit of robbing the nest of
| other birds is much less common than has
been asserted, and that it does little harm
to agriculture, since all but a small amount
/ of the corn eaten is waste grain.
There are few birds so we'll known as the
! common crow, and, unlike most other spe-
| cies. he does not seem to decrease in num-
bers the country becomes more densely
| populated. The crow is commonly regarded
| as a blackleg and thief That he does
pull up sprouting corn, destroy chickens
and rob the nests of small birds has been
| repeatedly proved. Nor these all of his
/ sins. He Is known to eat frogs. toads, sala-
manders and some small snakes, all harm
less creatures that do some good by eating
| insects. With so many charges against
him it may be well to show why he should
not be utterly condemned In his insect
| food, however, the crow makes amends for
| sins in the rest of his dietary. Even here
/ the first item is against him. Predaceous
beetles. May beetles, 'dorbugs, June
/ bugs and others of the same family consti
tute the principal food during spring and
| early summer, and are fed 10 the young III
immense quantities. Grasshoppers are frs;
taken in May, but not in large numbers
until August, when, as might be expected,
| they form the leading article of diet, show
ing that the crow is no exception TO the
general idea that most birds subsist to "a
! large extent upon grasshoppers i'm the
! month of August. Many bugs some cater
pillars, mostly cutworms, and some spiders
are also eaten-all of them either harmful
| or neutral in their economic relations OF
the insect diet Mr.. L. w. Schwarz says:
1.-The facts. on the whole, speak overwhelm-
ingly in favor of the crow"
Probably the most important item in the
vegetable food is corn, and by pulling up
the newly sprouted seeds the bird renders
himself extremely obnoxious. Observation
and experiments with tame crows show
| that hard dry corn is never eaten if any
thing else is 10 be had. and if fed to nest
lings 1t is soon disgorged. The reason crows
! resort To newly planted fields is that the
kernels of corn are softened by the moisture
of the earth, and probably become more
palatable in the process of termination.
which changes the starch OF the grain to
sugar. The fact remains however. that
crows eat corn extensively only when il has
! been softened by termination or partial
decay, or before it Is ripe and still lin the
I milk crows eat fruit 10 some extent. but
confine themselves for the most part TO the
wild species, such as dOgwood, sour gum
and seeds of the different kinds of sumac
They also have habit of samplng almost
everything that appears eatable, especially
when food is scarce. For example they
eat frozen apples found on the trees in
winter. pumpkins. turnips and potatoes
which have been overlooked or neglected:
even mushrooms are sometimes taken prob
ably in default of something better In
estimating the economic status of the crow
il must be acknowledge that he does some
damage, but on the other hand he should
receive much credit for the insects which
he destroys. In the more thickly settled
parts of the country the crow probably
does more good than harm, and is almost
wholly beneficial
UNQUESTIONABLY BENEFICIAL.
The meadow lark, common aud WELL
known bird, occurring from the Atlantic
coast to the great plains. is almost wholly
beneficial although a few complaints have
been made that it pulls sprouting grain.
and one farmer claims that its eats clover
seed. AS a rule. however. II is looked upon
with favor. and is not disturbed
Brillancy of plumage. sweetness of song
and food habits, 10 which no exception can
be taken, are some of the striking charac-
teristics of the Baltimore oriole. BY watch
ing an oriole which has a nest one may see
it searching among the smaller branches of
some neishboring tree. carefully examining
each leaf for catterpillars and occasionally
trilling few notes To its mate. observa-
tion both In the field and laboratory shows
that caterpillars constitute the largest item
of its fare.
sparro~s are not obtrusiye birds, either In
; piumage, song or action There are some
forty species with nearly as many s,,hsna-