The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-10-07
The birds of prey, such as owls and

the rats and mice which infest tn
farmers fields. Their service to man
7 kind has been much belittled and a.
! almost ceaseless persecution wage
upon them. But already leading az
ricultural papers and sportsmen'
journals are protesting against tn
indiscriminate slaughter of thes
: birds of prey and laws are being en-
acted for their protection.
Quoting from the report for 1888,
; Of Dr.. G. Hart Merriam, ornitholo
Gist and mamalogist of the United
States Department of Agriculture
"On the 23d of June, 1885, the leg
islature of Pennsylvania passed al
act ostensibly for the benefit of ag
riculture which provided bounty o.
20 cents each on hawks, owls, weas
els, and minks killed within the limit
of the state and fee of rs cents tc
the notary or justice taking the aft
davit. Granting that 5000 chickens
are killed annually in the state OF
Pennsylvania and that they are worth
20 cents each, the total loss would
be $1,875. During the eighteen
months in which the law was in force
the state of Pennsylvania expended
100000 to save. it's farmers 1855.
But that estimate by no means rep
resents the actual loss to the farm
er. 1t is within bounds to say that
| in a year every hawk and owl de-
stroys 1000 mice or their equiva-
Tents in insects and that each mouse
causes the the farmer loss of two
cents per annum. Therefore, omit
ting all reference to the enormous
increase in the number of these nox-
ioux animals when natures means of
holding them in check has been re-
moved, the lowest possible estimate
of the value of each hawk, owl and
weasel would be $40 year. Hence
in addition to the 100000 actually
expended by the state in destroying
1851 of its beneficial birds it in
Cured a loss of at least $3,857,13O
or total loss of $3,947,13O in one
and one-half years. In other words
the state threw away $21O5 for every
dollar saved. To it's credit, be it said,
the legislature of Pennsylvania was
not slow to recognize the error which
lack of proper information had
caused it to make. A state ornithol-
ogist was appointed and through his
efforts the ruinous and absurd law
was repealed. In 1898, $3.50 stom-
achs of hawks and owls were ex-
amined by the Department Of Agri-
culture and a report issued upon the
same which proved conclusively the
value OF most of these misjuged birds
No less than fifty different kinds
of birds are weed destroyers. Each
fall and winter they flock to agricul-
tural districts and live upon the rip
ened seeds of weeds. The principal
weeds which they prevent from seed
ing are ragweed, pigeon grass, smart |
weed, lambs quarters and pigweed.
It is not at all uncommon for crow
or blackbird to eat from thirty to
fifty-nine smart weed or bind weed |
seeds or field sparrow one hundred
seeds of crab grass at a single meal.
In the stomach of a mutual sparrow
were found 800 amaranth seeds, in
another 300 lambs quarters while
q snowflake breakfasted on 1000 pig
weed seeds. The birds most actively
engaged in weed seed consumption
are sparrows, horned larks, black
birds. cowbirds, meadow larks doves
and quail. Prof. T. e. l.. Beal, as
'istant in charge of Economic Orni-
biology at Washington. found upon
that tree sparrow con-
'umed about quarter of an ounce
If seeds daily, and upon this basis ,
calculated that in the state of Iowa
lone the tree sparrows annually de-
troy about 1,750,000 pounds or
bout S75 tons of weed seed during ,
heir winter sojourn.
There are many ways of attract
ng birds to farm and door yard. A
drinking and bathing :
lace near the house is one of the !,
1ost effective lures for birds known.
IS an example of It's effectiveness, I
'ould like to mention that during an l,
fternoon's call this summer saw .
TX different birds bathing in a dish +
ept expressly for that purpose. The !.
angling out of suet and scattering of !,
rain will attract winter birds. o
Vrens, swallows, bluebirds and q,
lickadees will nest in boxes put up a
" them If care Is taken to protect Ii
lem from the English sparrow