Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1921-12-02
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make an average of almost three to
the pellet and probably to the meal In o9z pei
lets collected in California there were found skulls
and other traces Of 261 pocket gophers q held
mice, 1874 pocket mice, Ia deer mice, oO harvest
MICE 230 kangaroo rats, and 215 house MICE Ihese
items make it clear that the barn owl is constantly
doing work of great value to agriculture. It's serv-
ices are typical Of those of hawks and owls In gen.
eral. Owls as group have long been prosecuted
by man, but never has persecution been more IN.
Just. The hawks and owls are not the only suHer-
ers, however, for when their numbers are greatly
reduced in any community farmers will be forciDly
reminded of the fact by great increase IN the
number of destructive rodents
Among the most praisewOrthy BIRDS are the
cuckoos The most widely distributed species, the
yellowbilled and blackbilled cuckOos usually keep
out of sight, but are well known by their strange
notes, which have earned them the name "rain
crow" The cuckoos feed very largely on caterpil-
lars and subsist to a larger extent than most of
our birds on the hairy and spiny kinds. One ston-
ach contained 250 tent caterpillars and another
pit fall web-worms. The cuckoos are fond also
of grasshoppers, sawfy larvae, plant bugs, and
other injurious insects.
The large and important woodpecker family in
cludes "a species in the United States, most of
them highly beneficial. They are the chief de-
tenders of trees against insect attack, most of
them being specialized to feed upon wood-boring
larvae, pests preyed upon by few other birds. From
10 to 80 per cent of the annual diet of various
species is made up of ants, which almost uni
formly injurious. The hickers, or "yellow-ham-
1ners especially assiduous destroyers of ants,
one Of these birds being known to have taken more
than 5000 at a single meal
A group of birds, which, though diverse in ap-
pearance are related in essential characters, In
cIudes the chuck-will s-widows, Whip-pOor-wills,
pOor-Wils, nighthawks, swifts and humming birds.
All are almost strictly insect eaters and conse-
quently beneficial The larger ones feed extensive
ly upon leafchafers, the larvae of which, including
the well-known white grubs, very destructive.
The nighthawks take considerable Of the same sort
of food but, in common with the swifts, capture
a great variety of small insects more than so diff
ferent kinds having been found in single stomachs.
represented in some cases by thousands of indvid-
ualS.
One of families of birds gets it's popular
name "fycatcher' from the insect-eating nature
of its Species 81 Of which live in the United States
including such birds as the spectacular scissortai
the bold, dashng kingbird, and the more quiet and
domestic phoebe. On the average, 50 per cent of
the food of these birds has been found to consist
of insects The rose-chafer, species not only de-
structive to vegetation but known to be poisonous
to chickens and pheasants, is freely eaten by the
kingbrd. Several fycatchers have the reputation
of eating hive bees to an injurious extent but 1t
has been shown that they take mostly drones, and
furthermore that they eat enough enemies of bees,
robberies to pay for all the domestic bees they
take.
The jays, crows and ravens have always been
severely criticized, and it must be admitted that
on the whole the criticism is justified. About the
best that can be said for birds of this family is
that on the average they do about as much good
as harm. It would seem good policy to accord
them the same treatment long given the common
crow-the crow is not especially prosecuted,
neither is it protected. Thus while the birds are
allowed exist in reasonable numbers for the sake
of the good they do, the way is left open for ag-
gressive measures against them when necessary.
In the case of this family, as of all destructive
birds, damage is the result Of overabun dance.
The damage done by the blackbirds is conspic-
uously the result of over-population. The damage
sometimes is serious, and protection of these spe-
cies is not recommended. In the same family with
the blackbirds, however, are such birds as orioles
and meadoWlarks, and these do much more good
than harm.
The great sparrow family, comprising almost