The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-13


from a lady whose tender heart is filled
with Indignation because the thought
less boys I'm her neighborhood have de-
clared war on the blue jays. The boys.
IL I understand the case have no in
tentiOn Of wrongdoing; on the other
hand they seem to be under the i'm
preston that they are comforting a
benefit on bird and man. by Kidding the
community of a confirmed devourer of
eggs and nestlings- Before denying the
righteousness OF the warfare, il seems
fair TO ask from what source comes the
information concerning the blue jays
Nillainy Have these boys actually seen
great numbers Of bird homes destroyed
that the jays might stay their hunger?
II they have. then I beg them 20 let no
word of mine interrupt their work; let
them load their guns 10 the muzzle and
give no quarter. Otherwise. perhaps
il may be well for them 10 pause and
consider whether they are really wag-
ing a righteous war or whether they
are merely killing helpless creatures
which they have condemned 10 death
on hearsay evidence. There is a law i'm
al civilized countries to the effect that
when a citizen is charged with an Of
Tense. ne is entitled To a fair trial. and
that he may not be punished unless he
is actually proven guilty beyond a rea-
Somabr doubt. 4 few years ago the
blue jay was brought To the bar or
justice. charged with the destruction
or eggs and nestlings. He was tried
impartially by competent judges. who
heard and weighed the evidence for and
against as carefully as though man 8
life had been at stake. and the expenses
oC the trial were paid by the United
States government. The principal wit
uesses in the case were a few men who
testified that they had seen the blue
LAY eating eggs and fledglings. and 292
blue jays all Of whom gave their lives
that they might be present at the trial.
and Of whom 2S7 testified positively to
the falsity OF the charge. The evidence
of the defendant was so overwhelming
that the jury returned a verdict Of
mot guilty" without leaving the court
loom. This is of course. just one way
90 telling the story. which is neVerthe-
less "a true one The United States gov
eminent I'm 1896 caused the food of the
blue jay To be made the subject Of a
rigid inVestiga tion. An examination
was made Of 292 stomachs Of blue jays
collected in every month Of the year
from twenty-five states. the District Of
Columbia and Canada. I'm only Eve of
all these stomachs were there found the
remains OF birds or of the shells Of
small birds eggs. OF the three egg
shells found IN three of the stoma chs
one and probably two. were empty
shells. eaten after the young had been
Matched. Ii might be claimed that the
jays often eat the contents or eggs
without swallowing the shells. but by
giving eggs to captive jays il has been
shown that the birds are even more
anxious for the shells than for the con-
tents.
\ great many other facts came out
q this investigation. 1t was shown
that more than three fourths Of the
blue jays food consists of vegetable
matter. and that of the animal food the
Sfeater part was made up OF insects.
though there was q small percentage
of spiders. myrapods. snails. fish, sala-
manders. tree frogs, mice and birds.
Most of the insect food consisted OF
beetles. grasshoppers and caterpillars.
and besides these there were few
bugs. wasps and flies. II was found
that blue jays eat insects every month
Of the year. and the proportion OF IN
sect food varies from per cent i'm Jan
nary To over SO per cent in August,
the average FOR the year being nearly
20 per cent. Destructive grasshoppers
crickets and lOcusts begin to form an
important item i'm the blue jays bill
OF fare as early as July. amount &c
nearly 20 Der cent OF his food durine
August and he continues to eat them
in considerable numbers until Decem-
Der Amongst the caterpillars TO which
The bird gives mis- attention may be
mentioned those Of the broWn-tan and
gypsy moths. which work such havoc
ln the trees I'm certain parts Of the
country
or course. those who are i'm favor OF
the destruction Of the blue jay viii re-
turn 10 the attack and tell US that
since it is admitted that over three
fourths OF the birds food consists OF
vegetable matter and since his fond
hess for corn. fruit and other farm pro,
duce Is wei known, he must cause tbs
farmer enormous losses. Let US exam
Inc the evidence. The vegetable food
NJ the blue jay was found to consist Of
mast such as acOrns chestnuts
beechnuts. hazclnuts and sumac: grain
such as corn. wheat. oats and buck
wheat: fruit, such as apples. straWber
ries. black berries. mulberries. blueber
ries. huckleberries. wild cherries
choke cherries. wild grapes and eide
-b,Fries, and miscellaneous things sUcl
IS oak gals, mushrooms and tUbers
Now Tor the proportions. The mas
amounted 20 q per cent of the who'll
food Tor the year. corn less than Is pc
cent. wheat. oats and Duckwheat TO
gether rather more than IL per cent
The apples were found only in January
February and March. and consequentl,
were merely frozen fruit left to deca,
on the trees. OF the many fresh fruit