Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1921-03-24

''Sir damage TO Sr,rSi proJuc,s o,l
oe>ause OF their hab of foster.,p Dc.
s'ructive plant lice More thqa CIR
OF the nighthawk'S food sen. o.,
june bugs and beetles. These .r, II,
ADULTS OF white grubs. noted res.. o..
even as adults many members of ,ho
iamiiy are decidedly harmful.
Nlghthawks are uucu less r,,r,,e-.
Gus than formerly. chiefly because =.
"an:on shooting. They are given legal
protection almost everywhere. AMI CT
izenS should see that the law Is obey.
ed. The bird is far too useful and n.
tractive TO be prosecuted.
No bird is better known 10 country.
residents than the boSwhite. The
birds CHEEKY calls the year rounl form
part CT the most pleasant associations
OF country life, AMI IT'S neat form ami
harmonious coloratior,, and especially
its confding habits, make it a general
favorite.
Animal food, chiefly insects con.
Prise nearly sixth nf the birds sub
s,,stence. From Tune to August in.
elusive, when insects are most nuner-
Gus, their proportion in the food is
ABOUT SO per cent The variety of in
sect rood is great and includes a num-
Der OF the most destructive apricul-
tural pests. Among them may be
mentioned the Colorado potato beetle,
l2-spotted cucumber beetle. bean leaf
beetle squash ladybird, wire worm
May beetle, corn bilbug, clover leaf
weevil, cotton boil weevil, army worm
bollworm, cutworm and chinch bup
Inc food habits Of the tobwhite un
doubtedly are beneficial and the bird
should be maintained in numbers on
every farm. This is not to say that all
shooting should be prohibited, for the
bird is very prolific. But its numbers
should not be reduced below what the
available nesting sites and range will
support. On the other hand the policy
OF absolute protection recently adopt
ed by one state, is not called for BY
strictly economic considerations.
In food habits the house wren is en-
tlrely beneficial. He maybe said to
live upon animal food alone, for an ex-
animation Of SO stomachs showed that
90 per cent Of the contents was insects
or their allies, and only two per cent
was vegetable food, including bits of
grass and similar matter, evidently
taken by accident with the insects.
Half of this food consisted of grass
hoppers and beetles; the remainder
OF caterpillars, bugs and spiders. AS
the wren is prolific, frequently rear
ing in season from IL to l6 young, a
family of these birds must cause con-
siderable reduction in the number of
insects in garden. Wrens are indus
trious foragers, searching every tree,
shrub, and vine for caterpillars, and
examining every post and rail of the
fence and every Granny in the wall for
insects and spiders.
Examinations of the stomachs of H.
236 robins show that AZ per cent of its
food is animal matter, principally in
sects, while the remainder is made up
largely of small fruits or berries.
More than l6 per cent consists of
beetles, about one-third of which are
useful ground beetles, taken mostly in
spring and autumn when other insects
are scarce. Grasshoppers make up
five per cent of the whole food, but in
August they comprise II per cent. Cat
erpillars form about nine per cent, while
of the rest of the animal food, about II
per cent is made up Of various insects,
with a few spiders, snails, and angle
worms. All the grasshoppers, cater
pillars, and bugs, with large portion
of the beetles, are injurious, and it is
safe to say that noxous insects COM
prise more than one-third of the robins
food
The stomachs of GAS catbirds were
examined and found to contain "A per
cent of animal (insecD and Sc per
cent Of vegetable food. Ants, beetles,
caterpillars, and grasshoppers consti-
tute three-fourths af the animal food,
the remainder being made up of bugs,
miscellaneous insects and spiders.
One-third of the vegetable food con-
sists of cultivated fruits, or those
which may be cultivated, as straw
berries, raspberries, and blackberries;
but while we debit the bird with the
whole Of this, it is probable-and in
the eastern and well-wooded part of
the country almost certain-that a
large part is obtained from wild vines.
Teh rest of the vegetable matter is
principally wild fruit, as cherries, dog
wnnd solIr pum elderherrieS preen-