Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1922-04-20
FEATHERED FRlENps
or THE FARMER

Governor Parker has named by proc
lamation April IA as Bird Day in Louis
lana This date was selected at the sug-
gestton OF the Liberty Bell Bird Club OF
Philadelphia, which has been influen,
tiaI in having that day set apart in
number Of States to mark the friend
ship OF the feathered tribe for man.
Commissioner M. L. Alexander Of the
Conservation Department, is much in
terested in the observance Of this day,
and hopes that it win attract general
attention to the beneficial effects OF
the song and other non-game birds on
the agriculture of the State.
The aesthetic value of birds is great
er perhaps than that of any other
group Of the animal kingdom But it
is in rleation to insects and other enc
mics of crops that they are most asso-
ciated with the welfare of man, and
their functions in this direction should
be made as widely known as possible.
These feathered friends of man have
many enemies, including the human
being they benefit. The salvation Of
man in a measure depends upon their
unerring instinct in rearing their
broods. Without birds, mans crops
and his timber could hardly Withstand
the countless insects that attack them.
Every effort man makes, therefore, to
encourage and protect the birds, their
nests and nesting places, will repay
him many times.
The damage done to crops in this
country by insects each year is esti-
mated by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture at $500, 900. 1t
is not possible to estimate to what ex-
tent this injury would go, but for the
countless small birds that feed on the
incests. But impossible as it is to
make such an estimate, some idea of
the protection afforded to crops by
birds may be gathered from these
facts collected by examination of the
stomachs Of birds by assistants Of the
Biological Survey: A tree swallows
stomach contained 40 entire chinch
bugs, fragments Of others and 10 other
insects. A bank swallow in Texas ate
So cotton boil weevils; IS cliff swal-
lows had taken an average Of IS boil
weevils each. A killdeer's stomach in
Texas contained over 800 mosquito
larvae. A flicker's stomach held 2S
white grubs; a bullbats stomach "a
May beetles, the adult form Of white
grubs. One bullbat had eaten $40
grassh0ppers, So bugs, beetles, 2
wasps and spider. A boat-tailed
grackle in Texas in one meal had
eaten 100 cotton boil weevils and
few other insects. More than 10000
weed seeds were found in the stomach
Of wild duck in Louisiana.
A knowledge OF his bird friends and
enemies should be possessed by every
farmer that he may protect those en-.
titled to protection. Many kinds of
useful birds need direct intervention |
in their behalf. The encroachment of
civilization on timbered tracts and the !
methods Of modern cultivation, by de-
stroying or restricting the breeding
grounds of birds, tend to diminish |
their numbers, The number of insect |
pests on the contrary, in increasing
all the time, both by importation and
migration, and the decreasing number |
Of their feathered enemies Every ef-
fort should be made, therefore, to aug
ment the number of useful birds by
protecting them from their enemies |
and encouraging their propagation.
Not all birds are beneficial, and
some are positively detrimental, such
as the species that have been outlaw
ed in Louisiana. Some of the more
beneficient species that may be found
in almost every locality in the State
are: Quail, yellow-billed cuckoo,
downy woodpecker, flicker, nighthawk,
flycatchers, meadowlark, orioles, swaL
lows, hooking bird, wrens and robins.
Copies of the bird laws Of Louisiana
and other information in respect OF
bird life Of the State may be had by
writing to the Conservation Depart.
ment, Court Building, New Orleans
Write also to the Secretary of Agri.
culture, Washington, D. c., for the fol.
lowing bulletins and circulars
Fifty Common Birds of Orchard
and Farm" Some Common Birds III
Their Relation to Agriculture; "The
Relation of Birds to the Cotton Boil
Weevil;" Birds Useful in the War
Against the Cotton Boil Weevil;"
Birds of the Southeastern United
States in Their Relation to Agrciul
ture;" Farm Help from the Birds"