Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-02-16

A gull. kept and fed in a garden,
devoured in one day fourteen mice
and one rat.
Mr. Montgomery, Jr., of West
Chester. Pa. gives the result of his
observation and studies of the food
consumed by four long-eared owls,
near his residence, during a period
of fifty-nine days This consisted of
two brds, one shrew, one common
mouse and three hundred and forty
FIVE field mice other observations
show that one owl consumed in two
and forty-six days, twelve small
birds. ten shrews and six hundreds
mice or an average of two and one
third animals per day. A crow in
captivity consumed four and eighty
three one-hundredths ounces of food
per day, or its own weight in four
days, an equivalent of sixteen hun
dred grasshoppers.
As as example of the voracity of
nestlings, each bird consumes about
ten times it's own weight between
Matching and fight from the nest,
and when It is known that the food
supply in most cases, consists of
every variety, faint idea can be
formed Of the vast number of insect
pets destroyed in this way.
The rapidity of digestion is mar
velous. young birds digesting their
food in from one to two hours. One
young robin taken from nest and
fed by hand. ate from fifty to seventy
cut worms per day. and after matur-
Iity one hundred and sixty-five cut
worms In one day.
Five young gold fllnches were fed
almost exclusively upon seeds of the
lBull thistle, the product OF more than
one thistle head being divided
amongst them at each meal, and they
were fed every half hour on an aver
age.
A family of four song sparrows,
seven days old, were fed seventeen
grasshoppers and two spiders in 67
minutes.
A brown thrasher at ten visits in
l126 minutes. fed TO one young bird
Just out OF the nest, one spider, one
cut worm, one hairy caterpillar, two
lCarollna locusts, seven red legged
locusts and three other unidentified
insects.
Two bobollnk nedglings were fed
within twenty minutes, nine grass
hoppers, bird escaping, the re-
naming one was fed eleven grass
hoppers in two hours.
Four chipping sparrows about hvc
days old, devoured thirty-seven
grasshoppers in eighty-nine minutes
| A single chippy lately out of nest
was seen 10 take food (chiehy grass
lhoppers), thirty times in sixty-hvC
minutes.
A brood OF three chipping spar
rows were watched one entire day
and they received food 1877 times, al
most entirely of insects.
These few observations out OF hun
dreds that could be cited are sufil
ciont to establish the facts that birds
as class. consume an enormous
amount of food.
We will next take up the kind o.
food eaten by birds, and in 50 doing
brevity shall be kept in view.
At this juncture It may be stated
that so far as my inquiries have eX
TENDED. only one species of the birc
family works injury, without a com
lpensating large balance of good II
Ihis favor. and that is the yellow
lbellied woodpeoker, which girdlei
and often causes the death of trees
in his search for sap.
The flicker. feeds largely on ants
the ratio to other kinds OF food beini
lhfty-six per cent. He is also frugiv
orous, but this largely consists OF th'
wild varieties of fruit. His principa
| food Il ants. These insects, beside
lbelng wood borers. care for, protect
and perpetuate plant lice or aphis
which infest, and are very DESTRUCTIVE
to plants and vegetation in all part
of the country. causing serious los
10 our horticultural and agriculture
interests.
The bluebird is also a very usefu
member of the bird family. His foo,
is varied In March. thirty-eigh
per cent consists of cut worms, erick
cts and grasshoppers. In April. larg
numbers OF dung beetles. In May
spiders form twenty-five per cent o
his food. also large numbers o
moths. caterpillars and June beetles
In June winged ants, spiders, meas
uslng worms and ground beetles. Il