The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-04-08

ly all birds that nest near orr homes are
beneficial The method of obtaining
food, time Of day for feeding, whether
gregarious or not, and many other fac
tors must be considered. This shows
how complicated and interrelated the
problem is.
But the subject has been well studied.
Observations in the field have been
made concerui1g feeding habits. Scien.
titic studies have been made of thousands
of bird stomachs collected from all parts
If we view all these data observe care
! fully ourselve4 and Judge fairly, we can
condemn very few birds. The only bids
of our region that are condemned by the
L. S. Dept of Agriculture are the great
horned owl Cooper's hawk, English
sparrow, goshawk and the sharp shin
migrant but is injurious because it des-
troys large numbers Of our beneficial
small birds The goshawk is a winter
resident and very destructive to poultry
and grouse. Coopers hawk is common
summer hawk that is very destructive
to young poultry. The great horned owl
is resident hardly common enough to-
be very destructive to poultry. The
HAWKS and owls are rs class exceeding.
ly beneficial and the general killing of
them is TO be regretted. The beneficial
marsh barrier sparrow hawk and screech
owl are more likely to be killed by the
hunter than the Injurious Cooper hawk
Persons who are allowed to shoot hawks
ought to be able to pass rigid examina.
ton concerning the identity and the ha-
bits of these birds.
AS for the English sparrow refer
| you TO the bulletin of the L. S Depart
ment of Agriculture on The English
| Sparrow in n. a. which states The
English Sparrow is a curse of such
virulence that it ought to be attacked
and destroyed before it becomes neces-
sary to deplete the public treasury for
the purpose as has been done in other
countries In the face Cf the evidence
it seems astounding that humane at.
tempts on the part Of individuals or as.
sociations to destroy this pest should be
interfered with by anyone,
Our birds range in usefulness from
these few that are wholly injurious
through all degrees Of services to those
that are entirely beneficial, We have
our resident birds with us the entire
year performing a varied service. Every
spring and fall thousands of insect eat
ing warblers pass by. In spring they
come just as trees are leaving ont and
when many insects are Matching. Then
we have our summer visitors the great
bulk Of which are insectivorous such as
our swallows, hy.catchers and cuckoos.
The chickadee lives all summer on in
sects and all winter on eggs which IN
sects lay in the crevices of the bark on
our trees, Prof. Forbush found 1000
eggs of the plant louise in the crop of Il
chickadee In box where pair Of
martins had nestled n quart of the wing
covers of the cucumber beetle We're
| found. Some birds are seed eaters, such
as our native sparrows and fnches.
|
on seeds of weeds The seed eating birds,
however, feed their nestlugs on softer
insect food The great flocks of tree
sparrows that are here in winter actual
ly destroy in our state tons of weed
seeds
But it is no longer campaign to de.
fend our birds. Their Importance is
conceded Now the question is how can
we foster and protect them. First of
all this can be secured by assisting chill |
dren and grown ups too TO study and
understand the various aspects of bird !
life. Their economic value will be self |
evident and children will become ad- |
hires anu protectors VI pllu ne.
There is much that we can do to do,
mesticate birds. They must have water
food, and suitable places TO build A |
shallow basin placed on y post in the
lawn and kept supplied with water will
bring surprising returns Artistically |
planted shrubnery will afford shelter
for many homes Mulberry and other
berry trees will attract many birds |
away from other and, to u.s. more de- |
sirable, fruit In mulberry tree on
one house lawn have seen robin, two
catbirds, an oriole and a pair Of WAX |
wings all getting their breakfast at one
time Birds will come and nest about |
our doors if we offer them protection
We have too many pampered cats |
They are poor and often dangerous play
mates for children and they kill many |
beneficial birds especially when they are
tledglngs
But the sentiment for bird protection
and Ionaut;au tipu must ha ppuprul m