The Washington herald., 1907-03-31

name. and general sentiment had always
been against him. IN the South the ne
groes viii tell you that he has always
been in league with the devil. ard that
the reason you can never ana one on
Friday is because that is the day on
which each jay-bird goes down 10 ti.s
netherWorld TO take his master the trlb-
ute OF a grain Of sand Although seufi-
ment and superstition were b0sh against
bin. the government has cleared him.
and has given him a fairly clean bill
OF health. II was found that the insects
he ate were the destructive kind, that be
ate wild nuts IN preference TO grain. and
that his few vices are heavily oyerbai-
anced by his virtues
The sparrow family was then haled into
court The immigrant English sparrow vas
condemned. While he IS the best means
OF destroying the dandelion-aiso an inn
portation-he destroy3 more grain than he
saves. It was also proved against him
that he drives away other birds that are
more desirable than himself His nine
American cousins were acquitted and
they destroyed annually saves millions OF
dollars to the country. Rag-weed. pig
weed. bind-weed. erab~grsss, panic-gTass.
and pigeon grass, all furnish seeds that
are choice m0Fsels 10 these busy little
fellows. and 50 strong is the action OF
their stomachs that an uHbroken rag
weed seed is rarely found. From ten 10
20 Der cent Of their food Is insects, and
made uD Of pests. They are an excellent
army FOR checking locusts but do not
take kindly 10 hairy caterp1lars and to-
baeco worms.
Or. F. E. L. Beai assistant ornitholo-
gist Of the Biological Survey. figuring on
a most conservative basis. estimates that
the tree-sparrows in Iowa destroy 10000
tons Of weed-seed year This only al
lows a fourth Of an ounce Of seed daily
to each sparrow. Estimating from this
basis on a general field. crop Of sa.000.0O93
the sparrows can be counted or saving
the nation SO 0o0,eoo year.
The little country boy planting corn
has way of dropping several grains ia
each hill, singing as he does #: "One for
the blsck-bird, one fqr the crow. two for
the cut worms and one TO grow" This
was considered of sufficient weight 10 be
a warrant for the arrest Of the crow ard
the blaekbiTd. TO the world in general
the crow has ever been known as a THIEF
and coward. lie was accused Of pulling
up corn, Of eating fruit and eggs, and of
playing marauder on the homes of other
birds. All these were proved against him.
but evidence was also introduced TO show
that he ate eut-worms who destroyed
more corn than lie did, that ne made
many meals Off grasshoppers alone, and
that wild fruits were as good as tame
fruits in his opinion. So the spirit OF
justice declares The crow a more helpful
than harmful fellow The red-winged
blackbird, too. came out with a fairly
good record, though he had been found
guilty OF Tice-eating in some sections.
His brother, the boboIink, or rice-bird,
did not &c; of so easily. for that sweet
voiced rogue was caught redhanded with
a quantity of rice hidden in his person,
and it was proved that the race-groWers
lose s. 100000 year on mis- account.
The buzZard and the sea-gull have al
ways enjoyed a certain immunity from
death at the hands Of the men and boys
OF the country. The amount OF seavenger
duty they do is enormous, and there is a
tacit understanding the country over that
they should be unmolested. Georgia has
earned for herself the rather inelegant
name of the Buzzard State" because
OF a law on her statute books protecting
buzzsrds. On the seacoast. and especially
in the Golden Gate of California. the
guIis are an invaluable aid TO the health
departments, removing, as they do, All
refuse and all dead fish
When the boH-weevn crossed the line
from Mexico and came up into Texas to
feed on the cotton there. the United States
government Immediately appealed TO the
bird-kingdom for aid. II did not build
altars to the birds as the Syrians used
TO, nor hail them as lords of the air.,
as did the Greeks, or foreteH the fate of
the crops by the way in WHICH they flew.
Il simply offered them boll-weevils to eat.
and wondered how many they would Ike
q day. The Carolina wren the tomtit, the
titlark. the phoebe. the Florida and West
ern meadow larks, the red-wing black
bird. the savanna and white-throated
sparrows. the kilIdeer. the thrasher. and
the bobwhite responded and attacked the
enemy with varying degrees Of efficiency.
The biological survey uTges every possi-
bic way of bird protection throughout
the Southern cotton States as a means Of
exterminating the weevn
The cuckoo has been cataIogued as the
champion exterminstor OF the fuzzy cat.
erpillar The king-bird is a great hy
catcher The cat bird is accounted a
great cherry thief. but he has TO his
credit the fact that he eats 1890 worms
for each cherry. Our winged citizens eat
enormously. feeding all during their work
ing hours, a robin being able to make
away with 800 esrthw0rms day. the
chickadee ZOO eanker worms, while
gros-beak can easily consume quart OF
bugs. The rOse-breasted gros-beak makes
a speciality OF kiIling the Colorado potato
bug. The bobwhite. the cowbIrd. the
cardinal the purple finch, the dove. the
gold finch. the swallow, the flicker. the
cedar bird. ana the catbird all havs
proved that their helpfulness is far IN
excess Of their wasteful habits
Soil culture Is an eternal warfare
against weeds and ansects. and when
birds are killed the farmer is left az the
mercy of his enemies The best invest
ment any farmer or city dweller with a
little land, can make for himself IS 20
build bird boxes on his premises. swsl-