The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-12-24

make an average of almost three TO
the pellet and probably to the meal. In o9z pei
let's collected in California there were found Skulls
and other traces of PSI pocket gophers ~ heiu
mice, 1874 pocket mice, IA deer mice, oo har'es'
mice 23O kangaroo rats, and 215 house MICE Fhese
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 U gem
eral Owls as group have long been perseculeu
by man. but never has persecution been more uil'
lust. The hawks and owls are not the ony suil',.
ers however for when their numbers are grea.,y
reduced In any community, farmers will be forcply
reminded of the fact by great Increase - 49,
number of destructive rodents.
Among the most praisewOrthy biras are tne
euckoos The most widely distributed species, TIC
yellow-billed and black-bied cuckoos, usually Keep
out Of sight but are well known by their strange
notes. which have earned them the name ram
crow" The cuckoos feed very largely on caterpii-
lars. and subsist to larger extent than most OF
our birds on the hairy and spiny kinds One stom-
ach contained $50 tent caterpillars and another
OF fall ,seb-worms The cuck0Os are fond also
Of grasshoppers, sawfy larvae. plant bugs. and
other injurious insects.
The large and important woodpecker family In
ciudes "A species In the United States, most OF
them highly beneficial. They are the cnier de-
tenders of trees against insect attack, most OF
them being specialized to feed upon woodboring
ia r. so per cent OF the annual diet of various
snecies Is made up Of ants, which are almost uni
formly Injurious The fckers, or yellow-ham-
mers" especially are assduous destr0yers OF ants,
one of these birds being known to have taken more
than 5000 at a single meal
group Of birds, which. though diverse in ap-
pearance are related In essential characters in
Guides the chuck-will swallows, whlp-poor-wills.
poor-wis, nighthawks swifts and humming birds
All are almost strictly insect eaters and conse-
uuentiy beneficial. The larger ones feed extensive
" upon leafchafers the larvae of which, including
the welI-known white grubs, are very destructive
The nghthawks take considerable of the same sort
Of food, but, In common with the swifts, capture
great variety of small insects more than 30 DIFF
ferent kinds having been found in single stomachs
represented in some cases by thousands of indiyid-
ualS.
One of our families Of birds gets Its popular
name "fycatcher. from the insecteating nature
of its Species 81 Of which live in the United States
including such birds the spectacular scissor-taii
the bold, dashing kingbird and the more quiet ana
domestic phoebe. On the average 20 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. put u
has been shown that they take mostly drones anu
furthermore that they eat enough eheniies "
as robberes to pay for all the domestc pees '''es
take.
The jays crows and ravens have always neen
severely criticized and it must be admitted tna'
S on the whole the criticism is Justified About the
best that can be said for birds Of this family i
that On the average they do about as much good
as harm. Il would seem good policy to accord
them the same treatment long given the commo,
crow-the crow is not especially persecutei
neither Il It protected Thus while the birds arr
allowed to exist in reasonable numbers for the SAX
q the good they do, the way Is left open for ag
gressiye measures against them Wnen necessary
n the case of This family. as OF all destruetlv'
birds. damage Is the result Of overnbundance.
The damage done BY the blnckbirds IS conspic
uousiy the result Of overspopuation. The damag
sometimes Is serious, and protection Of these spe
cies is not recommended, In the same family witt
the blackbirds however. are such birds as oriole
and meadowlarks and these do much more goo
tlsan harm.
The great sparrow family. comprising almost