Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-23

ers to come on our places to kill
them"
why, l didn't think a quail wal
any good to us except to eat" said
Bill.
80 far as any one knows" Sam ex-
planned, they're the only bird thai
destroys the potato beetle. They eat
all they can find, and they do US a
good turn every time they gobble one
More than that, every single quail
eats thousands upon thousands Of boil
weevils. Some people used to argue
that a quail didn't eat anything ex-
cept grain. But we know better now
They eat insects Of all kinds, as well
as weed seed"
IF that's SO they ought not to be
killed." said Bill.
"Of course not" said Sam. 1--WE
don't have any idea how much good
they do US. 1t ought to be against the
law t o kill a quail at any time. AS 1t
is, they say insects destroy one-tenth
Of all we produce. If we were to kill
all the birds there'd be such a plague
Of insects that they'd kill everything
all the trees and vegetation Of all
kinds"
Farther on Bill saw a woodpecker
hammering Justify on a dead tree. He
stopped and pointed with his finger.
Bet I could knock him off with a
rifle from here" he said.
Don't ever do It," cautioned Sam.
He's another friend"
WHAT" exclaimed Bill. "a wood
pecker kills trees"
mo, he dosen't," said Sam. HE
saves trees. A w~oodpecker never bores
hole in a tree for fun. He's after
worms or making himself a home,
and he makes his home in a dead tree.
When he bores into a green tree he's
after a worm every time, and he al
ways gets him. The hole the bird
makes will grow up, but II the worm
stays it'll kill the tree. One wood
pecker will go over 600 trees in a day
and examine them for bugs, egg
deposits and worms. 1t doctors the
tree inside and out. I saw a wood
pecker go over nearly every tree in
our orchard"
well, now, I didn't know that"
said Bill. II been KNOWN woodpeckers
all my life, but I paid no at
tention to 'em. Guess I won't shoot no
more of EN-"
ITO tell the TRUTH" Sam went on,
there are mighty few birds or animals
but what do more good than harm. I
believe the common old house cat kills
more birds and chickens than all the
varmints put together. I think it's a
good deed to kill a cat whenever you
find one. There are two kinds Of
hawks-the cooper and the sharp
shinned-that are bad to kill birds and
chickens. These two hawks look alike.
They are small. The females are a
notified brownish color, and the males
are a dull blue. It's a good thing to
kill them whenever you get a chance.
The other hawks and owls don't do
much harm, and they do lots of good
because they live mostly on rats and
mice and such things. Once in a while
an owl will bother chickens, but it's
only when its regular food is scarce.
Its pretty much the same way
about the fox, mink, weasel and skunk.
Once in a while one Of these varmints
will get to be bad after chickens. But
we could hardly do without them be-
cause they keep down the swarms Of
field mice, rabbits, grasshoppers, crick-
cts, hornets and wasps."
"Where'd you find out these
things?" asked Bill. II know they're
true when I hear you say EN-, but
somehow I never did think of EN- be-
fore"
i've learned a little by reading"
Sam told him, but mostly by keeping
eyes and ears open when I'm out
in the woods and fields. Sister and I
like to study plants and animals, espe-
cially plants. We're going to take a
correspondence course in botany next
year in the state university. Florence
says she's going to be a florist, and I
want to know all about plants, SO I
can farm"
During the long afternoon Sam and
Bill fished and talked, every now and
then throwing out a blue cat or a gog-
gle eye to add to their strings that
they kept fastened to the edge Of the
water. 1t was cool and shady along
the creek. Birds and squirrels chat
tered in the branches overhead. The
two farmers enjoyed the quiet cool
ness after the hot days in the field.
Late in the afternoon they wound up
their lines and wen home, each car
rying a long string Of fish. Sam sat
on the doorstep in the gathering dusk
and breathed the perfume from the
honeysuckle that clambered over the
yard fence. He saw the stars coming
out, one by one, and the o. creep
ing up behind q big oak. He heard the
"who-who-who" Of an owl away off on
the creek. Then suddenly stars, moon
and owl all vanished. He smelled
fried fish and heard his mother calling
him to supper.
(To be continued.)