The Press., 1914-09-02
Birds Destroying the Army Worm.

The army worm pest has come an6 gone. Fields of grass, corn and other grain have been blighted and des
 troyed, and human ingenuity has beer tested in the effort to cope with the
 infiiction. Doubtless the number o1 the worms and the injury caused by them have been exaggerated, never. theless great damage has been done in some localities in spite of all that could be done to check their ravages. A great quantity of poisoned bran was scattered about prom iscuously, or sown in the trenches surrounding the fields. As result, numerous army worms, many birds and some poultry were destroyed.
 Entomologists of the United States Department of Agriculture have reco- mmended wholesale poisoning from time to time for cutworms and army worms. Others have followed them in this recommendation and the news. papers have published this means of defense far and wide. Nevertheless, this wholesale poisoning is unneces- sary in the case of either army worms or cutworms as other methods may be used quite as effectively. Most state laws penalize the broadcasting of poisoned baits. MT. T. Gilbert Pearson, secretary of the National Association of Audubon societies has already issued a warning against the wholesale use of poisoned bran and some of the newspapers have opposed it editorially, but without avail.
 Nothing is more fully established than the fact that many birds from the domestic fowl down to the chip ping sparrow feed on the army worm. While examining there cent invasion of these insects, found the follow ing birds feeding quite constantly on them-the robin, bluebird, catbird, English sparrow, chipping sparrow, field sparrow, song sparrow, king bird, redwinged blackbird. bronze grackle and cowbird. The brown thrasher, red-eyed towhee, flicker and several others were reported as feeding on the worms. These birds and the humble toad must have eaten great quantities, and in cases where birds were encouraged and where no poison was used, the results were plainly to be seen in the reduction of the army worm pest.
 On my own farm at Wareham and on some neighboring places where about 75 nesting boxes for birds were put up last spring, bluebirds were seen feeding on the army worms early in May. Other birds followed suit No injury from the army worms was noticed during the season on my farm, and very little on the others, but 20 rods away the grass was eaten, and a quarter of a mile away the injury became serious, continuing over a considerable part of the town.
 On farm on the Island of Marthas Vineyard where poison was used free ly, hardly brid was to be seen and the owner admitted that the birds had been poisoned, while on the state game reservation, only a few miles away where no poison had been used and where many nesting bees and bird houses had been erected, birds were plentiful, and the worms although very numerous had done little serious injury. The corn showed no noticeable damage. This may have been due in part to the hundreds of heath hens on the reservation and in part to the number of small birds as we'll as to the intelligent use of non-poisonous methods to check the pest. There was abundant evidence to be seen on all sides that the birds were Hooking to the defense of the fields. The warden thought that he had lost part of his oat crop, but he made no other com- plaint.
 On the state farm at Middleboro where the pest had appeared in tre- mendous numbers, the superintendent fought it without the use of poison because of the danger to birds which were regarded as among the best friends of the farm.
 It cannot be expected that our birds in their present numbers can entirely check such an outbreak as that of the army worm, but if we can avoid killing them by poisons and if we can increase their numbers they may be able to prevent the first increase which finally results in the over- whelming hosts that have attacked our fields this year.