The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1916-12-22
EAT INSECT PESTS
BIRDS ARE REAL FRIENDS OF
THE ACRIcULTURlST.
investigations Have Proved Beyond All
Doubt That F~eathered Creatures
Take High Place In Ranks Of
Farmers Helpers.

There seems never to have been a
giving SO much thought to birds rs
now. The sentimental virtues of birds
and their economic uses are being writ
ten of frequently and extensively by
professional and amateur biologists
and ornithologists, and even 4 vast
number of bird observers Of perhaps
limited professional or technical at
tainments in this department Of SCI
ence are writing and talking ut length
in behalf Of the birds.
The discussion of the economic val
ues Of birds is one Of the questions Of
serious Importance 10 the whole oun
try. 1t has been pointed cut by students
Of this subject that a tree swallows
stomach recently examined contained
40 clinclbugs and fragments Of many
others, besides ten other species of in
sects. The stomach Of 4 bank swallow
showed that it contained GS cotton boil
weevils, one Of the very dangerous and
destructive insect pests Of the United
States. Thirty-iive cliff swallows had
eaten an average of Is boil ueevils
each. Two stolnachs OF pine siskins
from California contained 10 black
olive scales and 300 plant lice. The
stomach of q kilueer taken in Texas
contained more than 800 larvae. A
liicker's stomach held % big grubs. A
night hawks stomach contained 81
May beetles, the adult form of the
white grub. A New York night hawk
had eaten "a cloper-leaf weevils and
357 ants, and another night hawk, $40
grasshoppcrs, 81 bugs, three beetles,
two wasps and a spider. A big-tailed
grackle taken In Texas had eaten in
one meal about 100 cotton boil weeyilS,
besides other insects. A ring-neck
pheasant, a bird which the state OF
New York is taking great interest in
p~ropagating, showed upon examination
of the crop that 1t contained 5000
seeds Of c~hickenweed and q dandeliou
head. More than 1900 seeds have been
found in a single ducks stomach taken
in Louisiana.
The Investigations by the United
States biological! survey and the bio
logical and agricultural bureaus of the
various states leave no room for doubt
that birds play an important relation
to agricultural interests, though there
often seems Il tendency to dwell on the
harm that even q nucirdespised Eng
lish sparrow has its part to perform
in protecting the agricultural interests
of the United States, and the bureau
Of the biological survey has given a
great Zeal Of attention to this much
abused bird. It has collected them
from all parts Of the United States
and made an examination Of 1000
stomachs, the results showing that
during the colder half of the year the
food OF these birds consists almost en-
tirely Of seeds of weeds.
1t has been estimated by entomolo-
gists that h annual loss caused in
the United States by insects is $780,
100000 and hat were it not for birds
the loss would be much greater. Care
full students have said that without the
aid Of our feathercd friends successful
agriculture would be impossible. The
amount Of weed seed disposed Of by
birds, in their depleted numbers, il i'm
pressive, and everybody knows that
the problem Of weed destruction is
Very important to agricultural inter-
DISQUALIFICATION Star.