The St. Charles herald., 1922-05-13
pEAr.ET.--n rg:-.@1i
y o. TX. FARMER

Governor Parker has named by proc
hmation April II as Bird Day in Louis ;
lana. This date was selected at the sug-
gestion OF the Liberty Fell Bird Club OF
Philadelphia, which has been intluen- ?
tial in having that day set apart In a j.;
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 1t will 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 Ia great
e. 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 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.
i 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 $3Oe,000,000 It
Is not possible to estimate 60 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 chirch
bugs, fragmeatseof others and 10 other
insects A'bahk swallow in Texas ate
6S cotton boil weevils; So cliff swal-
lows had taken an average Of Is boil
weevils each. A killdeer's stomach Ia
Texas contained over 800 mosquito
larvae. A 'flicker's stomach held %
white grllbs a bulibats stomach "a
May beetles, the adult form Of white
grubs One bullbat had eaten $40
grasshoppers, 81 bugs, beetles. 2
wasps and "a spider. A boat-tailed
grackle in Texas In che meal had
eaten 100 cotton boil weevils and a
few other insects. More than 72,0H0
weed seeds were found in the stomach
of wild duck in Louisiana.
A knowledge Of his bird friends and
farmer that he may protect these on
/ 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 ga the contrary, in increasing
| all the time, both by importation and
f, 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 taat have been outlaw.
! ed in Louisiana. Some Of the more
beneticient: species that may be found
; in almost every locality in the State
| are: Quail. yellow-billed cuckoo
downy woodpecKer, flicker. nighthawk
+nycatchers, meadowlark, orioles, swal
| lows, mocking bird, wrens and robins
Copies of the bird laws Of Louisiana
and other information in respect ol
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
J lowing bulletins and circulars:
Fifty Common Birds of Orchard
and Farm" Some Common Birds IL
Their Relation to Agriculture" "Tht
Relation OF Birds to, the Cotton Boil
sWeevi1;;" Birds Useaul ,ts, the War
Against the Cotton BHi .Weevil;
S"Birds Of the Southeastern United
States in Their Relation to 'Agrciul
fture;" Farm Help from the Birds"