Semi-weekly herald., 1913-02-20
UNPAID FARM HANDS.

ihe ioiioWinB puSSaRes are rev
we have taken from most fasci-
mating book, published by the Massa-
chusetts state board of agriculture:
The position occupied by birds
among the forces of nature is unique
in one respect at least; their struc-
ture fits them to perform the office
of swiftly moving force of police,
large bodies of which can be assem-
bled at once to correct disturbances
caused by abnormal outbreaks of plant
or animal life.
The author believes, with Townsend
Glover. that an acquaintance with the
useful birds of the farm is as i'm
portant to the farm as a knowledge of
the insect pests which attack his crops.
1t would be useless to descant to a
man on the usefulness of the chicka.
dee if he did not know the bird.
The annual earth wide sweep of the
tide of bird life from zone to zone rem
ders the study of the relations of
birds to other living forms through
out their range task of the utmost
magnitude. This vast migration at
once suggests the question, of what
use in nature is this host of winged
creatures that with the changing sea-
sons sweeps over land and sea?
Comparatively few insects can es-
cape birds by flight, and this they
do mainly by quick lodging and turn
ing. The speed at which birds can
fly on occasion has seldom been ac-
curately measured. The maximum
flight velocity of certain wild-fowl is
said to be ninety miles an hour
The perfection of sight in birds ia
almost incomprehensibl to those who
has not studied the organs Of vision.
The birds eye is much larger in pro-
portion to the size of It's owner than
are the eyes Of other vertebrates. 1t
is provided with an organ called the
pecten, by which, 80 naturalist9 be-
lieve, the focus can be changed in
an instant, so that the bird becomes
near-sighted or far r-sighted at need
Such provision for changing the TO
Gus of the eye is indispensable TO GER
tain birds in their quick rush upon
their prey.
The temperature of the blood is
higher in birds than in other animals,
and the circulation is more rapid. To
maintain this high temperature, and
rapid circulation, and great activity,
large amount Of food is absolutely
necessary. Food is the fuel with )ut
which the brightly burning fires of life
must grow dim and die away. Birds
are, therefore, fitted for their function
Of aerial police not only by their pow
ers of flight and perception, but also
by their enormous capacity for assim-
ilating food.
No one can tell what grave and
far-reaching results might follow the
determination of single species of
birds; for it is probable that the food
preferences of each species are so
distinctive that no other could fill its
place.
Birds play great part in the dis
tribution of plants, the upbuilding and
fertilizing of barren islands, and II
minor part in the distribution of in
sects. The fruit-eating. birds are
among the most valuable Of tree plant
ers, distributing the seeds far and
wide.
Two scarlet tanagers were seen
eating very small caterpillars of the
gypsy moth for eighteen minutes at
the rate of thirty-fve a minute. II
we assume that they ate caterpillars
at his rate for only one hour each
day, they must have consumed daily
twenty-one hundred caterpillars. Such
number Of caterpillars would be
sufficient to defoliate two average ap-
pie trees, and so prevent fruitage. 1t
is easily possible, therefore, for sin
gle pair of these birds in week s
time to save the fruit of two average
apple trees.