The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-02
SOME COMMON BIRDS
USEFUL TO THE FARMER
Destroy Harmful Insects and N,,zt
Seeds Bulletin of Agricultural ne-
nartment Makes Plan

Dartnent Makes ran.
How birds which destroy haru--
insects and weed seed may be usaft
to the farmer is described in 4 D4z.
department entitled, Some Commao
Birds Useful 10 the Farmers" Tn
new publication has q pages and
illustrations (not colored) OF tha
birds described. 1t contains much of
the information included in one of
the department former publicatipr
entitled. Fifty Common Birds .7
ment's supply Of this latter pamphler
has been exhausted, and II can now
only be obtained from the Super-
intendent of Documents, Washington
D. c., where it is sold at 5 cents IT.
copy. It contains numerous coIOrpg
illustrations of the birds mentioue5
The new bulletin ''Some Commun
Birds Useful to the Farmers will h..
furnished free to all applicants ac
the department.
Whether a bird is beneficial on n-
furious depands almost entirely au
what it eats, says the introductiou e..
the new bulletin. lu the case ef
species which are very abundant. w.
which feed to some extent ON the
crops Of the farmer, the question of
their average diet becomes one ot
supreme importance, and only rs
stomach examination can it be salts
factorily solved. Field observations
are at best but fragmentary ana in
conclusive and lead to no final rc-
suits. Birds are often accused of
eating this or that product of cultjYa-
ton when examination Of IN,
stomach shows the accusation to he
| unfounded. Accordingly, the Biologj-
| cal Survey has conducted for some
| years past u systematic investigation
OF the food of those species which are
most common about the farm ana
| garden.
| Within certain limits birus eat tlte
kind Of food that is most accessible
| especially when their natural food is
scorce or wanting. Thus they some
| times injure the crops of the farmer
who has unintentioually destroyed
their natural food in his improve
ment of swamp or pasture. Most of
the damage done by birds and com
planned Or by farmers and fruit
growers arises from this very cause
The berry-bearing shrubs and seed
bearing weeds have been cleared
away. and the birds have no recourse
but to attack the cultivated grain or
fruit which have replaced their
natural food supply. The great ma :
jority of land birds subsist upon in
sects during the period Of nesting and
moulting, and also feed their young
| upon them during the nfSt rev weeks
Many species live almost entirely
upon insects, taking vegetable food
only whe.. other subsistence fails. II
; is thus evident that in the course of
! a year birds destroy an incalculable
number Of insects, and it is difticult
; to overestimate the value Of their
services in restraining the great tide
Of insect life.
In winter, in the northern part OF
the country, insects become scarce ol
entirely disappear. Many species Of
!. birds, however, remain during the
: cold season and are able to main.
tain life by eating vegetable food. a.
!, the seeds Of weeds Here again is
another useful function OF birds il
destroying these weed seeds anc
. thereby 1essening the growth of the
next year.
> The new publication discusses tn.
: food habits Of more than fifty bird
= belonging to twelve families Man1
!, are eastern forms which are repre-
sented in the west by slightly differ
= = ent species or subspecies, but unles
( the food habits differ they are no
. separately described Among tn
: popular birds included are the robin
!, bluebird, wren, brown thrasher cat
. . plrd, boboltnk, oriole, crow, cuckoo
and the American sparrow