The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-03

to believe in their protection. Thanks
to the various State agricultural col
leges. farmers are becoming more en-
lightencd and therefore better farmers
1t Is estimated that each hawk or
owl kills an average Of thousand mice
Il year, "A saving Of at least twenty dol
lars to the farmer whose property it
selects for its residence.
without birds the Human Race
would Perish.
f.. W. Hcnshaw. chief of the United
States Biological Survey, says that
without birds ut Is more than likely
nay, II is almost cer,ain--that within
n limited time not only would success
ful agriculture become impossible, but
the destruction of the greater part OF
vegetation would follow"
Some birds consume little grain, and
others fruit; but this diet seems nee
essary In addition to the insects de-
stroyed. and the birds should not he
begrudged this comparatively slight tax
levied on the farmer for services rem
dered. There are no birds. MIR Allen
says. that are entirely detrimental, and
those that do more harm than good are
exceedingly few. This is exactly what
we have Contended and are glad to find
support from such an excellent author
ity.
In New York state the sharp Skinned
hawk. the Cuoper's hawk, the gushawk,
and the great horned owl are the only
birds that can be- said to be uniformly
more destructive than beneficial. and
even these do considerable good. In re-
strictcd localities at certain periods ~
the year crows and blackblrds are
injurious to grain and robins are to
cherries. but az all other seasons these
birds are highly beneficial
Not all the individuals Of a species
should be Judged by the action OF
few, any more than all mankind should
d be Judged by the knavcry of "A few.
Frequently individual birds depart So
far from the customary habits Of the
species as 70 bring all birds Of the
kind into dlsrcputc. There are Isolated
cases OF the knEhlrd, one Of our most
beneficial birds, feeding on honCybccs.
Slngularly. Investigation Of such cases
has revealed the fac, that the kingb!rds
were feeding on the superiluuus drones.
when birds are accused great care
should be exercised to correctly deter
mine the culprit, for many unfortunate
mistakes are made. a farmer shot
! broad winged hawk, having accused 1t
Of taking his small chickens. He had
seen II fy down into the chicken yard.
II was brought into the laboratory and
an examination showed that the
stomach contained only four large June
beetles and the hair Of a meadow mouse.
| Lax or Harmful State Laws.
| Lack Of knowledge has caused many
! states To offer bountics for the killing
! II certain birds. notably hawks and
owls. Pennsylvania in 1885 passed au
ordinance Offering a bounty Of 30 cents
tor every hawk and ow. within the
/ state, and in eighteen months 100000
/ had been paid out in bounties At the
| end of that time small rodents had SO.
| increased that the ordinance was hastily
/ repealed. During the short time this
/ law was In force agricultural interests
/ suffered loss OF nearly four million
| dollars, not to mention that Of ensuing
! years from the loss OF the birds. \
| who,esul" slaughter should never he
permitted.
Birds are adaptable in selecting their
| food, and their tendency is always To
! take the food that Is most abundant and
most easily secured. Thus while they
never eXterminate any insect they tend
! TO keep the numbers within bounds, and
as soon as "A particular species Is greatly
reduced they turn their attention to
some other insect that is more abundant
and moro easily secured
In Utah in 1915, the Mormon settlers
were saved from actual starvation hy
the thousands II s,a gu.,s that Hooked
q. a. l,. L. -
crickels which had completely d stroycd
their first years crops and Were fast
consuming the planting Of the second
year. In 1913 AN elaborate monument
and fountain were erected in salt Lake
city "to the gulls that saved tho settlers
from starvation"
Following the settlement Of the Mis-
sisS.ppi Valley invasions Of loCusts
threatened total d structlOn OF crops,
when all tho birds, large and small,
fell to feeding On grasshoppers, :. T..
, Goodmore Of Fremont, Neb., says !:
Every farmer that shoots birds must
be fool had wheat on new break
ing, The grasshoppers came out "a
thick as the VIII at and thicker, ! gave
up the field for lost Just tn n great
numbers OF plover came, and hocks Of
biaCkbrds and some quail. and COM
mcnCed fee ding upol this field, They
cleaned out the locusts so well that I
had thret-fourths of crop and with
out the birds | would not have had any.
know other farmers whose wheat was
saved the same way"
In the work of the Biological Sur
vey at Washington scarlet tInaEpr
was found to devour $40 gypsy moth
caterpillars in eighteen minutes. 4
Maryland yellow throat consumed $500
plant lice in forty minutes, Young birds
require even more food than Old birds.
the quantity of food that they require
increases with their age, reaching n
maximum about the time they leave the
nest Young crows consume food
equal 10 one-half their weight daily
Young robins have been known to eat
their fun weight of earthwonns in .
, day
When We stop TO consider these facts
we begin to realize what efficient ma
chimes the birds are for the destruction
} OF insects They maintain a natural bai-
ance and check the undue increase of
any species,
The valuable service birds Render.
| The hawks and owls are alike in