Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-05-29
OUR BIRDS AND THEIR PROTECTION.
THE VALUE. or BIRDS.
N. Gabrielson In


Birds are OF value to man as a. de-
stroyers Of insects and noxious ami
mails: (2) as devourers OF weed seed;
(3) as food; 60 as planters OF forest;
Co as sport; (6) as means of mental
development and recreation.
It is perhaps as destroyers of insects
and weed seed that birds have their
greatest economic value. 1t has been
estimated that insects alone do $780,
100000 worth Of damage to the crops
in the United States every year, and
this does not consider the enormous
sums expended in fighting insects by
artificial methods. Any agent which
will aid in keeping this loss down is
certainly one Of value to the farmers
of this country. Birds are one Of the
most valuable and efficient checks up
on these insects.
On Oct /, 1918, there was unveiled
in Salt Lake City beautiful monu-
ment to the gulls. This monument Is
to commemorate the service rendered
by a great flight Of gulls which came
to the relief of the early settlers and
prevented the total destruction of their
crops by crickets. (grasshoppers)
Professor Aughey, studying the birds
of Nebras ska during the great grass
hopper years, found that 200 species of
birds We're feeding on these pests and
helping reduce their numbers. Hawks
and owls are Of value In destroying
meadow mice. Many stomach exam
nations have shown that practically
all species OF our hawks and owls do
good work In this way, and should be
protected. An instance which was
noted locally may give some idea of
their ability as mousers. During the
spring Of 1913 roost' OF a pair OF
long cared owls was discovered These
birds have the habit of swallowing
their food, and then ejecting thru the
mouth the undigested parts as fur and
bones. In the form Of pellet. About
200 of these pellets were collected from
the ground beneath the tree. and all
Of these so far examined have con-
tanned the remains OF from two to four
mice. At the same rate these zoo
pellets will represent from 400 to l.
600 mice destroyed by this pair Of birds
during the time they used the roost.
The food-consuming capacity of
birds is something enormous. Their
extreme activity and higher tempera-
ture require large amounts of food, and
one is astonished at the quantity used
One bob white, or quail, stomach con-
tanned 101 potato bugs. and that OF
another 500 chinch bugs and these
probably represent less than one fourth
Of the food for the day. One flicker 3
stomach contained 5,040 ants and two
others over 5000 each. One man fed
f1fty-three earth worms to a robin in
about two hours. One pair Of brown
thrashers. watched blythe writer, fed
1850 insects TO their four young In
three days and a half. AS the nestlings
remain in the nest for about eleven
days. 1t would on this basis require
$500 insects to feed one brood while
in the nest During this period the
parents would eat at least half as
many more. or total OF some $500
insects devoured by one family in
eleven days. Bigglestone. watching a
pair Of yellow warblers, found that
they fed the young some 2,542 insects
during the ten days they were at the
nest. These figures are large and show