Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1913-09-11

1
anxious to have them come and live on
his place each year when they moved TO
our section of the country. Probably
you have seen the martin. He is very
black bird, less than one-fifth the size OF
crow, only infinitely more swift in his
flight and a much better fighter. Unlike
the crow, the martin is not destructive to
anything about the farm. There are two
kinds of martins, the black martin and
| the bee martin. The black martin is not
song bird; his language is chatter,
but he Can spy crow at the longest dis
tance, and when he sees one he will dart
after him making noise which sounds
like Zee Zee = Zee! and Mr.. Crow is
very glad to seek other sections and es-
cape his ferocious attacks.
Grandfather erected large bird box
| for the black martins and welcomed
them TO his farm, and in this box they
would settle each year-the whole family,
a very numerous lot. Unlike the bee
martin, which will make its nest almost
any place, the black martins insist upon
having good home and will not come
unless assured they can find comfortable
quarters. In fact, so particular are they
that each year they send out scouts in
advance to locate homes. These scouts
90 10 the places to which the martins
contemplate moving and return 10 the
family and report if good quarters can be
obtained, and if good home can not be
had the black martins will 90 elsewhere.
After grandfather died my father occu-
pied his farm and we learned more about
the martins. One year after the martin
family left, the sparrow family moved
into the bird house. My father did not
notice that the martins quarters were
occupied by the spanows, or else he
neglected 10 clean them out, for the scouts
of the martins who came found the bird
house occupied by the spaTows, and so
the martins did not come at all that year.
We missed them greatly, and next year
father took care that the sparrow family
was moved out early in the spring, so
that when the martin scouts came they
would find everything in readiness Tor
occupancy. The scouts who came that
year evidently made favorable report,
for one morning not many days later we
folks at the house heard great chattering
and excitement near the bird box and
knew that The martin family had arrived.
The martins not only drive the crows
away and are very interesting bird
family to study, but they are great de-
Stroyers of insects also, having special
fondness for bugs and beetles and flies,
three -fourths OF their food consisting OF
insects.
can not better describe mans un-
grateful treatment of one OF his faithful
bird friends than by here recording Mr..
Hornaday's reference to the bobwhite
And take the bobwhite quail, for ex-
ample, and the weeds OF the farm. To
kill weeds costs money-hard cash that
the farmer earns by toll Does the farmer
put forth strenuous efforts to protect the
bird OF all birds that does most TO help
him keep down the weeds2 Far from
il! All that the average farmer thinks
about the quail is OF killing it, for a few
ounces of meat on the table.
II is fairly beyond question Of all birds
that influence the fortunes OF the farmers
and fruit growers of North America, the
common quail, or bobwhite, is one OF The
most valuable. II stays on the farm all
the year round. When insects are most
numerous and busy, bobwhIte devotes
TO them his entire time. He cheerfully
fights them from 16 10 IS hours per day.
When the insects are gone, he turns his |
attention TO the weeds that are striving to
seed down the fields for another year.
Occasionally he gets few grains OF
wheat that have been left on the ground
by the reapers, but he does no damage.
The following are records Of single
individual meals OF bobwhite:
OF grasshoppers, "a; chinch bugs, 100;
squash bugs, II; army worm. II; cut
worm, II; mosquitoes, 56S in three hours;
cotton boil weevil, AZ flies, $50; rose |
sIugs, 1,2S6. Miscellaneous insects con-
sumed by laying hen quail, ,532, OF
which 900 were grasshoppers.
And yet, because of its few pitiful |
ounces Of flesh, 100000 gunners and
10000 lawmakers think OF the quail only |
as bird that can be shot and eaten. |
Throughout great portion Of its former !
range, including New York and New
Jersey, the species is surely and certainly
on the verge OF total extinction.
According to an official report contain
ed in the Yearbook Of the Department OF
Agriculture for 1904 farm crops amounting
TO more than 1920, ,OOO, 900 in value are
destroyed each year by insects. Imagine
how much greater will be our loss if we
continue TO destroy the birds, who are
our chief protectors against this insect
army.
Says Mr. Hornaday:
The millions of the insect world are
upon US. The birds fight them for US,
and when the birds are numerous and
have nestIings TO ieed The number Of in
sects they consume is enormous. They
require absolutely nothing at our hands
save the privilege of being let alone
while they work for US. In fighting the
insects our only allies in nature are the |
song birds, woodpeckers. shore birds, |
swallows, and martins, certain hawks,
moIes, shrews, bats, and a few other |
living creatures. All these wage war at |
their own expense. The farmers might |