The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1915-03-04
Sc. A COPY; $1.50 A YEAR
BIRDS DESTROY
CERTAIN INSECTS
AND WEED SEEDS
Render A Valuable Service To
The Farmers
A GOVERNMENT BULLETIN
Entitled "Some Common Birds
Useful to the Farmers May
Be had Free Upon Requ est.

How birds which destroy harT.-
ful insects and weed seeds may be
useful to the farmer is described
in a new Farmers Bulletin (No.
500 of the United States depart
ment of agriculture entitled,
Some Common Birds Useful to
the Farmers. The new pull lied
tion has 27 pages and % illrstrl-
tons (not colored) Of the birds
described 1t containes much OF
the information included in ore OF
the departments S former pusilicar
tions entitled, "Fifty Common
Birds of Farm and Orchard. +" The
departments S supply of this latter
pamphlet has been exhausted and
it can now only be obtained from
the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, d. c., where it is
sold at Is cents copy. 1t con-
tains numerous colored illustra-
tions of the birds mentioned. The
new bulletin, "Some Common
Birds Useful to the Farmer" will
be furnished free to all appli-
cants by the department.
Whether a bird is beneficial or
injurious depends almost entirely
on what it eats, says the introduce
ton to the new bulletin. In the
case of species which are very a
Ibundant, or which feed to some
extent on the crops of the farm
er, the question Of their average
diet becomes one of supreme inn
portance, and only by stomach ex-
animation can it be satisfactorily
solved. Field observations are at
best but fragmentary and incon-
elusive and lead to no final results.
Birds are often accused OF eating
this or that product Of cu,tiya-
ton, when an examination Of the
stomach shows the accusation to
be unfounded. Accordingly,
the Biological Survey has conduct
ed for some years past syste-
matte investigation of the food of
those species which are most COM
mon about the farm and garden.
Within certain limits birds eat
the kind Of food that is most ac-
cessible, especially when their
natural food is scarce or wanting.
Thus they sometimes injure the
crops of the farmer who has unin-
tentionally destroyed their natur-
al food in his improvement Of
swamp or pasture. Most of the
damage done by birds and COM
planned of by farmers and fruit
growers arise 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 cul-
tivated grain or fruit which have
replace their natural foodsupply.
The great majority of land birds
subsist upon insects during the
period of nesting and moulting,
and also feed their young upon
them during the first few weeks.
Many species live almost entirely
upon insects, taking vegetable
food only when other substance
fails. 1t is thus evident that in
the course of a year birds destroy
an incalculable number of insects,
and it is difficult to overestimate
the value of their services in re-
straining the great tide of insect
life.
In winter, in the northern part
of the country, insects become
scarce or entirely disappear.
Many species of birds, however,
remain during the cold season and
are able to maintain life by eating
vegetable food, as the seeds of
weeds. Here again is another
useful function of birds in destroy
ing these weed seeds and thereby
lessening the growth of the next
year.
The new publication discusses
the food habits of more than so
birds belonging to 12 families.
Many are eastern forms which are
represented in the West by
slightly different species or
subspecies, but unless the
food habits differ they are
not separately described. Among
the popular birds included are the
robin, bluebird, wren, brown
thrasher, cathird, bobolink, oriole,
crow, cuckoo, and the American