The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-04-20
BY Protecting Them, Mankind Is Do
Ing Himself a Favor and Also
Helping to Conserve
Resources.
HAVE ECONOMIC VALUE
Birds XIII Plant Enemies, Guard the
Growing Crops and Take Little
Toll In Comparison to
Work Done.

The bird conservation movement is
entirely practical. II we do not con
serve the birds, there will be nothing
to fight the insects and to keep them
from destroying al vegetation and
turning this land into a desert. There
is something that ought to appeal to
all practical folk. The Washington
Star has been looking into this mat
ter and says:
The sentimental virtues of birds
and their economic uses are being
written of frequently and extensively,
| by professional and amateur biolog-
lists and ornithologist. and even a
vast number of bird observers of
perhaps limited professional or tech
meal attainments in this department
of science are writing and talking
at length in behalf Of the birds.
The discussion of the economic
values Of birds is one of the ques-
lions of serious Importance to the
whole country. 1t has been pointed
out by students of this subject that a
tree swallows stomach recently ex-
amined contained 40 chinchbugs and
fragments of many others, besides
ten other species of insects. The
stomach of a bank swallow showed
that it contained 68 cotton boil wevils,
one of the very dangerous and de-
structive insect pests of the United
States. Thirty-five cliff swallows
had eaten an average OF IS boil
weevils each. Two stomachs of pine
siskins from California contained 10
black olive scales and 300 plant lice.
The stomach OF a kildeer taken i'll
Texas contained more than 800 larvae
A flicker'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 clover-leaf weevils and
357 ants, and another night hawk $40
grasshoppers, 50 bugs, three beetles,
two wasps and a spider. A big-tailed
grackle taken in Texas had eaten in
one meal about 100 cotton boil Wee
wills, besides other insects. A ring
neck pheasant. bird which the state
of New York is taking a great interest
in propagating, showed upon examin-
alton of the crop that it contained
5000 seeds of chicken weed and d
dandelion head. More than $4,000
seeds have been found in 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 tendency
to dwell on the harm that even a
sparrow can do. The much de-
spised English sparrow has it's
part to perform in protecting the
agricultural interest Of the United
States, and the bureau of the biolog-
ical survey has given d great deal of
attention to- this much abused bird.
1t has collected them from all parts
of the United States and made all
examination of 1000 stomachs, the re-
suits showing that during the colder
half of the year the food of these
birds consists almost entirely of
seeds of weeds.
1t has been estimated by entomolo-
gists that the annual loss caused in
the United States by insects is $500, |
100000 and that were it not for birds
the loss would be much greater |
Careful students have said that with.
out the aid of our feathered friends |
successful agriculture would be inn
possible. The amount of weed seed |
disposed Of by birds, in their depleted |
numbers, is impressive, and every |
body knows that the problem of weed |
destruction Is very important to |
AGRICULTURAL interests