The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-01-17
By Mr.. E. e. E.

to the farmer, whose trouble to
keep ahead of the weeds, great as
it is now, would be vastly increased
were it not for the soberly clad and
unobstrusive little sparrows. We
may get an idea of the value of the
service these birds render by not
ing what is done for the farmer by
the tree. sparrow, one of the most
confirmed seed-eaters of the group.
A quarter of an ounce of seed per
day is a safe estimate of the food
of an adult tree-sparrow. On this
reckoning, in a state like Iowa,
where agriculture is relatively very
important, tree-sparrows annually
eat about 875 tons of weed seed.
The total value of the principal
field crops of the United States, ]
will take the year 1906, was about
three billion five hundred million
dollars. If we estimate that the
combined consumption of weed
seed by the sparrow family results
in an annual saving of only one
per cent of the value of the crops,
the sum total saved to the farmers
in 1906 would be thirty-fve mil
lion dollars.
Though seeds form the chief
part of the subsistence of sparrows
the destruction of seeds is by nc
means all we have to thank these
birds for. They eat many insects
also, and seem to know instructive
ly that while seeds are excellent
for food for adult birds, they are
not necessarily good for nestlings,
and hence feed the latter almost
exclusively on insects. Sparrows,
however, are not the only birds
that consume the seeds of weeds.
The eastern quail or "bobwhite''
is confirmed eater of weed seeds.
Highly esteemed as bobwhite is by
the epicure for food and by the
sportsman as an object of pursuit,
he is probably worth as much more
as weed destroyer, that the far
mer can ill afford to have him shot,
even though the privilege is round
ly paid for. A bevy or two of
quail ON a farm is an asset the val
ue of which no thrifty farmer
should overlook.
Doves also are seed-eaters, es-
pecially the turtle-dove, whose crop
often is so packed with seeds of
weeds that it can hold no more.
The farmer has no quarrel with
birds that can confne their atten-
tion to grass and weed seeds, and
welcomes their presence always
and everywhere. There are birds,
however, which eat such seeds as
corn, wheat and barley, and whose
place in the farmers esteem is by
no means so we'll assured-th
crow and the blackbirds for in.
stance. There are several kinds
of blackbirds which at times at
tack crops, as also does the crow
The destruction by the crow OF
meadow mice, and of cutworms
and other insects. and the destruc.
tion of many kinds of insects by
the blackbirds, however, are con.
sidered in most localities to Offset
all damage done in other ways and
even to leave balance in favor OF
the birds.
BIRDS THAT EAT INSECTS
Many birds, such as flycatchers.
warblers, swallows. and chimney
swifts, live exclusively, or almost
so, on insects, and very many
more, as blackbirds, orioles, ano
some hawks. depend on them for &
considerable part of their liveli
hood.
| The little sparrow hawk lives
very largely upon grasshoppers
crickets and beetles, and even one
of the larger hawks-the Swainsor
hawk of the western plains al
certain seasons destroys enough o1
these injurious insects, together