Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1921-12-01

number of other small mammals to
make an average of almost three to
the pellet and probably to the meal. In $50 pei
lets collected in California there found skulls
and other traces of 261 pocket gophers, "a field
mice, 1874 pocket mice, IA deer mice, 90 harvest
MICE $50 kangaroo rats, and 215 house mice. These
items make it clear that the barn owl is constantly
doing work of great value to agriculture Its serv-
ices are typical of those of hawks and owls in gen.
eral. Owls as group have long been presented
by man, but never has persecution been more I'm.
just. The hawks and owls are not the only suffer-
ers however, for when their numbers are greatly
reduced in any community, farmers will be forcibly
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
yellow chilled and blackbilled cuckoos, usually keep
out of sight, but are we'll known by their strange
notes, which have earned them the name "ran
crow The cuckoos feed very largely caterp
lars, and subsist to a larger extent than most of
birds on the hairy and spiny kinds. One stom-
ach contained 250 tent caterpillars and another
217 fall web-worns. The cuckoos fond also
of grasshoppers, sawfiy larvae, plant bugs, and
other injurious insects.
The large and important woodpecker family in
clldes "a species in the United States, most of
them highly beneficial. They 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 so per cent Of the annual diet of various
spe lies is made up of ants which are almost uni
for.Aly injurious The fickers, or yellow ham
mets, especially assiduous destroyers of ants,
one of these birds being known to have taken more
thai. 5000 at single meal.
A group of birds, which, though diverse in APP
peasance, are related in essential characters, In
cuGes the chuck will's-widows, whip-poor- Wills
Wills nighthaWks, SwiftS and nuInmnf, birds.
All are almost strictly insect eaters and conse-
quentiy beneficial. The larger ones feed exteEsive-
ly upon eaf-chafers, the larvae of which, including
the wel-known white grubs, are very destructive.
The Eighthawks take considerable of the same sort
of foot but in common with the swifts, capture
great variety of small insects, more than so DIFF
ferent kials having been found in single stomachs.
represented in cases by thousands of individ-
uals
One OF our families Of birds gets its popular
name "nycatcher' from the insect-eatng nature
of it's Species 81 Of which live in the United States,
including such birds the spectacular scissor TAIL
the bold. dashing kingbird; and the more quiet and
domestic phoebe On the average, 95 per cent OF
the food of these birds has been found to consist
of insects. The rose-chafer, species not only de-
structye to vegetation, but known to be poisonous
to chickens and pheasantS is freely eaten by the
kingbird. Several fycatchers have the reputation
of eating hive bees to injurious extent, but II
has been shown that they take mostly drones, and
furthermore, that they eat enough enemies OF Dees
robberfies, to pay for all the domestic bees they
take
The jays, crows and ravens have always beer
severely criticized, and it must be admitted tha
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 goot
as harm. 1t 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 arr
allowed exist in reasonable numbers for the SAX
of the good they do, the way is left open Tor ag
gressive measures against them when necessary
In the case of this family, as of all destructiN'
BIRDS damage is the result of oyerabun dance.
The damage done by the blackbirds is consplc
uousIy the result of overpopuation. The damag
sometimes is serious, and protection of these spe
ces is not recommended In the same family witt
the blackbirds however, are such birds as oriole
and meadowlarks, and these do much more goo
than harm.
The great sparrow family, comprising almost