MANN SB 995 .C46 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 055 337 681 aPCiT^rMmUPMIT COmELmMlCIilTT The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924055337681 Cotnell 1Dlniver8tti2 OF THE IRewl^orft State College of Hgriculturc THE ECONOMIC VALUE or BIRDS TO THE STATE BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN ALBANTf. ,f. bi LYON COMPANT. PR;<»*Tl!:KS 190a atate of New ^orl^ Forest, Pigl) and (iame Commission Tf)e Economic Uatoe of P>irsy- C ontents. PAGE, The Bird and the State, 5 What the Bird Does for the State, 6 -The Bird and the Forester, - - - 6 The Bird and the Fruit-grower, - ... 10 The Bird and the Farmer, - . - 15 The Bird and the Citizen, - .... . i^ What the State Does for the Bird, - - - 20 What the State Should Do for the Bird, - - ... 21 The Facts in the Case, - ■ - 22 How A Bird's Value to Man is Ascertained, - - 23 Statistics of Food Habits, 23 economic Clafae of P^ird^ to tf)e ^tate. By frank M. chapman associate curator of mammology and ornithology in the american museum of natural history. Tl)e ^ird and tl)e 3tate. THE bird is the property of the State. From this fundamental conception of the bird's legal status there can be no logical ground for dissent. If a certain species of bird is conclusively proven to be injurious to the agricul- tural or other interests of the State, no one would deny the State's right to destroy that species. If, on the contrary, a species is shown to be beneficial, then the State has an equal right to protect it. Indeed, we may go further and say it is not only the right, but the duty of the State to give to its birds the treatment they deserve. Here is the great Commonwealth of New York with agricultural and for- estry industries which annually yield products valued at $266,000,000. In the closest relation to the welfare of these industries stands a group of animals represented by some 350 species and millions of individuals. Obviously, then, it is the first duty of the State to learn definitely in what way or ways the presence of these incalculably abundant creatures affects its crops and forests. If they are harmful how are they to be destroyed ? If they are valuable how are they to be preserved ? In short, the State should take all necessary steps to appraise its vast possessions in bird-life. The government at Washington realizes the importance of this subject and in 1886 it established, in the Department of Agriculture, a Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammology, with the object of learning accurately the economic relations of birds and mammals to man. Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, among the States, have made investigations with the same end in view. Now the South is awakening to the vital importance of this practical side of natural history research. At the Annual Session of the Texas Farmers' Congress, held at College Station, Texas, July 17, 1902, Professor H. P. Attwater, a prominent ornithologist in the State, was invited to make an address on " The Relation of Birds to the Farmer." In commenting on this address The State, 5 6 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. a newspaper of Meridan, Miss., says : " Bird protection is going to be made an economic issue in every Southern State before many days, and the army of senti- mental advocates will be reinforced by the utilitarians, who, while caring nothing for the beauty of the feathered songster or the music he makes, are very much alive to his usefulness in exterminating insects that kill crops, and are determined to stay the hand of the snarer and wanton bird-killer before it is too late and the insects have taken possession of the land. * * * Wherever common sense prevails this cause will find advocates, and The State would like to see Bird Protection made an issue in Mississippi politics." No " issue," however, can be successfully promoted unless the facts involved rest on the firm, incontrovertible foundation established by exact research. The Forest, Fish and Game Commission of New York State, in calling the attention of the citizens of the State to the economic importance of birds, desires to present, there- fore, the results of the investigations of economic ornithologists into the food habits of our birds. But before giving in detail the studies of these specialists it will be well to outline in a general way how birds may be valuable or injurious to man. Wl)at tl)e ^M Does for tl)e Nutate. Birds are of value to the State chiefly through the services they render in (i) eating harmful insects, their eggs and larvae ; (2) in eating the seeds of noxious weeds; (3) in devouring field mice and other small mammals which injure crops; (4) in acting as scavengers. The appended outline of the bird's relation to the forester, fruit-grower, farmer, and citizen will enable us to appreciate its economic importance. The Bird and the Forester. The agriculturist, in producing an artificial condition in the plant world, creates also an unnatural state of affairs among the insects that find a new food in the outcome of his husbandry and among the birds thab prey upon these insects. But between birds and forests there exist what may be termed primeval, economic relations. Certain forest trees have their natural insect foes to which they furnish food and shelter ; and these insects, in turn, have their natural enemies among the birds to which the trees also give a home. Here, thert, we have an undisturbed set of economic relations': (i) the tree; (2) the insect which lives in the tree, preys upon it, and may assist in the fertilization of its blossoms ; (3) the bird which also finds a home in the tree and, feeding upon insects, prevents their undue increase. Hence, it follows that the existence of each one of these forms of life is dependent ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 7 upon the existence of the other. Birds are not only essential to the welfare of the tree, but the tree is necessary to the life of the bird. Consequently, there has been established what is termed " a balance of life " wherein there is the most delicate adjustment between the tree, the insect, the bird and the sum total of the condi- tions which go to make up their environment. The more trees, the greater the number of insects, and, hence, an increase not only in food supply for the birds, but an increase in the number of nesting-sites. Destroy the trees and the insect finds new food in the crops of the farmer, but the birds, although food is still abundant, lose their home when the tree falls, and, lacking the nesting-sites and protection from their enemies once found in its spreading branches, they soon perish. What we may call artificial forest conditions are to be found in parks, squares, village streets, and in our gardens. Here forest trees may find a suitable soil, but birds are often less abundant in such localities than in the forest, and consequently, the trees growing in them are notably less healthy than forest trees. It is in these semi-domesticated trees that a scourge of injurious insects most often occurs, occa- sionally to be followed by a marked increase of their bird enemies, which are attracted by the unusual abundance of food. Such an instance is recorded in Bird- Lore for October, 1899, by Caroline G. Soule, who writes: " Last year, at Brandon, Vermont, the tent-caterpillars were so abundant as to be a serious injury and annoyance. They lay in close rows, making wide bands on the tree trunks. They spun down from the upper branches and fell upon the unfortunate passers-by. They crawled through the grass in such numbers that it . seemed to move in a mass as one looked down upon it. Under these circumstances, birds might be expected to do strange things — and they did. " The pair of Downy Woodpeckers which lived near us were frequently seen on the ground picking up the crawling tent-caterpillars. They seemed to prefer taking them from the ground to taking them from the trees, though there were more on the tree-trunks than on the ground even. And the Woodpeckers seemed to have no difficulty in moving on the ground, though they moved more slowly than when dodging around a tree. " Two mountain-ash trees on the place were infested by borers, though only slightly and only near the ground, and at the foot of one of these trees the Downy, Woodpeckers made many a stand, while they probed the borer-holes with their bills. " The Cuckoos came boldly into the village and fed and fed, flying about quite openly. The Nuthatches flew to a band of caterpillars on a tree-trunk, and were so 8 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. busy and absorbed in devouring the crawlers that I could put my hand on them before they started to fly, and then they merely flew to another tree close by, and attacked another mass of caterpillars. " Blackbirds waddled over the grass by the sides of the streets picking up the crawlers, and even a Woodcock spent several hours in the garden and on the lawn, apparently feasting on tent-caterpillars, but I could not get near enough to be sure. " The Vireos — White-eyed, Red-eyed and Warbling— the Cat-birds, Cedar-birds, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks did good service to the trees and human beings, but the most evident destruction was done by the Chipping Sparrows when the moths emerged late in the summer. The moths were very abundant after four o'clock in the afternoan, flying about the trees to lay their eggs, and then the Chippies became fly-catchers for the time, and flew straight, turned, twisted, dodged, and tumbled 'head over heels and heels over head' in the air, just as the course of the hunted moth made necessary. A quick snap of the beak, and four brownish wings would float down like snowflakes, and their numbers on the walks, roads and grass showed how many thousands of moths were slain. In spite of the unwonted exercise the Chippies waxed fat, but not as aldermanic as the Robins, which, earlier, gorged themselves on the caterpillars until, as one observer said, ' their little red fronts actually trailed on the ground.' " The extent to which trees are subject to attack and their consequent need of insect destroyers may be more clearly understood if we consider for a moment the life of a tree in connection with the insects that prey upon it. Let us take, for example, the oaks of the genus Qiiercus* At the very beginning, before the acorn has germinated, it may be entered by a grub of the nut weevil {Balaninus) which destroys it, and the more or less empty shell becomes the abiding place of the larva of the acorn moth. Should, however, the acorn be permitted to grow, the roots of the young tree may be attacked by the white grubs of root-boring beetles. Escap- ing these, the oak carpenter worm [Prionoxystus) lays its eggs in cracks and crevices in the bark. On hatching, the worm or borer " perforates a hole the size of a half- inch auger, or large enough to admit the little finger, and requiring three or four years for the bark to close together over it. This hole, running inward to the heart of the tree, and admitting water thereto from every shower that passes, causes a decay in the wood to commence, and the tree never regains its previous soundness." (Fitch.) Other borers {Bupresiida) feed upon the bark, eating the soft inner layer and * See Packard, Forest Insects, Fifth Report U. S. Entomological Commission. ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 9 the sap, over twenty species of borers and miners being known to infest the trunk of the oak. The limbs and twigs are affected by the larvae of certain beetles {Cer- ambycidce) which act as girdlers or pruners, sometimes severing limbs ten feet in length and over an inch in diameter. (Fitch.) The weevils also bore into the twigs, making an excavation in which the eggs are laid, and the seventeen-year locust stings the branches, making perforations from one to two feet long for the receipt of the eggs. The limbs and twigs are also affected by tree hoppers {Membracidce) and oak blights (Aphidid(E), which puncture them and feed upon their juices, exhausting the sap. Some ten species of scale insects, or plant-lice, are known to infest oaks, and over a hundred different species of gallflies are parasitic upon them. Oak buds are eaten by the larvae of certain noctuid moths, and oak leaves are injured by caterpillars, basket worms, skippers, miners, weevils, phylloxeras, galls and plant-lice of nearly one hundred and fifty species. Altogether over 500 species of insects are known to prey upon the oak, and it is consequently obvious that if they were not in turn preyed upon, oak trees could not exist. But, thanks to the services of birds, as well as to predaceous and parasitic insects, the insectivorous foes of the oak are so held in check that, as a rule, their depredations are not attended by serious results. Remove these checks, however, and we may expect an immediate and disastrous increase in the enemies of the oak which they so successfully combat. Without here attempting to go into detail we may at least mention one or two instances illustrative of the value of birds to trees. Weevils, borers, caterpillars, scale insects and plant-lice are all devoured by birds, but it is in eating the eggs of the enemies of the trees that birds perform a service of inestimable value. Prof. C. M. Weed, of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture, in studying the winter food of the Chickadee, has found that it feeds largely on the eggs of plant-lice. Thus the stomach of a specimen taken December 9, in a mixed growth of pines, maple, willow, and birches, was found to contain 429 eggs of plant-lice, together with insects of several species. The stomach of another Chickadee taken February 26, in a growth of pines and birches, contained 454 eggs of Aphides, an equal percentage (44) of what seemed to be dried castings from the old nests of tent-caterpillars, spiders' eggs, and eggs of the canker-worm. Additional stat|jstics of the forest haunting birds' food are given under the proper head, but we should call especial attention here to the great value to trees of our Cuckoos in devouring caterpillars. Over 48 per cent of the food of Cuckoos has been found by Professor Beal, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, to con- lO SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. sist of caterpillars, the stomach of a single individual containing the remains of 217 web-worms well known to be one of the most destructive forms of insect life to trees. These are only two illustrations, among the hundreds which might be cited, of the service rendered by the birds to our forest. Birds are of value to the forest, however, not only as the destroyers of their insect foes, but the birds with the squirrels, help plant the forest by distributing seeds. The seeds which are encased in a pulpy covering, those of the berry or fruit- bearing trees, are voided unharmed by the birds often at a point far distant from the parent tree, the bird thus acting as their distributor. Acorns, beech-nuts, and chestnuts are frequently dropped or hidden by birds, and the seeds of pines are released and scattered by the birds that seek them in their cones. In short, we believe it can be clearly demonstrated that if we should lose our birds we should also lose our forests. The Bird and the Fruit-grower. In considering the relations of birds to the fruit-grower we encounter an artificial set of conditions which renders an attempt to determine the birds' position exceed- ingly difificult. In growing certain fruits, for example pears and apples, a natural forest environment is closely approximated, the trees furnishing a home for the birds which are not attracted by their fruit but by the insects that prey upon them. With smaller fruits {e. g., berries), however, exactly the reverse occurs, that is, they furnish food but no shelter for the birds which, during the periods of fruitage, tempted by an abundant food supply, abandon their usual fare and may prove positively harmful. Catbirds and Robins in the cherry trees and strawberry beds, and Orioles in the vineyards undeniably cause considerable loss to the fruit-grower. There are two sides to this question, however, and no species of birds should be condemned for the depredations of one month until we known its value during the remaining eleven. The bird, we repeat, is the property of the State, not of the indi- vidual. The State seeks to secure the greatest good for the greatest number of its citizens, and if it can be shown that a Robin or Catbird, in spite of its fruit-eating proclivities, is, on the whole, far more valuable than harmful, then assuredly he should not be sacrificed. It does not necessarily follow that the fruit-growers' complaints are to be ignored. Their cause should be thoroughly investigated by qualified experts under the super- vision of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission in order that no hasty or undesir- able measures may be taken. In the spring of 1900 the peach trees of the Hudson Valley were visited by large ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. I I numbers of birds which destroyed quantities of young peaches. The peach-growers took the law into their own hands and killed these birds by the thousand. Subse- quently, and perhaps as a result, an unsuccessful attempt was made so to amend the Game Law of the State of New York that a fruit-grower might kill any bird which he believed to be injurious to his crops. The birds in this case were Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills, which, as a rule, feed exclusively on the seeds of coniferous trees. Owing to a failure in their food supply for the season of 1899-1900 they came south in exceptional num- bers and were common throughout the winter in places where they are rarely seen. The writer, in twenty years' experience, has not witnessed such an invasion of these boreal birds, and it is probable that they may not be as numerous again for twenty years more. While, on this occasion, Crossbills undoubtedly did much damage to the peach crop, the facts in the case render it improbable that they may again be destructive to peaches in the present generation. In their own range, under normal conditions, Crossbills are of value to forestry as distributors of the seeds of conifers, and it obviously would be a poor economist who would condemn a species for a few weeks wrong-doing when its previous record showed it to be uniformly beneficial. The death penalty is an extreme measure to inflict on birds when the verdict is based on evidence from only one side. The planting of early Russian mulberries, which birds are more fond of than strawberries and cherries, is one way of protecting these fruits without harming the birds. Again, nets and various devices, including the discharge of firearms loaded only with powder, may prove as effective as the actual killing of the bird. With pea.r and apple orchards, as has been said, this question of fruit-eating does not exist, and the service rendered them by birds has been most convincingly demonstrated by Mr. E. H. Forbush, from whose observations, published in the Massachusetts Crop Report for July, 1895, the following extract is taken. Selecting an old, neglected orchard, he made an especial effort to attract certain birds to it with the most interesting results. Mr. Forbush writes : " The orchard itself is a typical old orchard, such as is often found on small farms. It has suffered greatly from neglect. Two-thirds of the original trees have died or are in the last stages of dissolution. This is largely the result of neglect and improper pruning. Dead limbs and hollows in the trees have offered nesting places for such birds as the Wren, Woodpecker and Bluebird. "For three years, from 1891 to 1893, inclusive, the trees were trimmed and cared for. They were sprayed or banded to protect them from canker worms, and the ' nests ' of the tent-caterpillar {Clissocavipa americand) were removed. The result 12 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. was a scanty yield of apples from most of the trees. One or two bore quite plentifully. " In order to observe the effect of the feeding of birds in the orchard no care was taken in 1894 to protect the trees. During that year the tent-caterpillars were very numerous in the vicinity, and it became evident also that a great increase in the number of canker worms was taking place in the neighborhood. Although these insects made considerable inroads upon the trees, they did not seriously injure the foliage anywhere except in one or two instances. No attempt had been made pre- vious to 1895 to foster or encourage the birds in the neighborhood, except that a few nesting boxes were put up in 1894, which were occupied in one case by a family of Wrens, and in another by the English or House Sparrow. We were careful, how- ever, to destroy the nests of the House Sparrow. " In the fall of 1894 it was noticed that immense numbers of the wingless females of the fall canker worm [Anisopteryx pometarid) were ascending nearly all the trees and depositing their eggs ; also, that the eggs of tent-caterpillar moths were numer- ous on the twigs, promising a plentiful supply for 1895. " Having allowed the insects one year to increase unmolested by man, we began in the winter of 1894-95 to encourage the presence of birds in the orchard. " In 1894 a small tree in the center of the orchard had been inclosed by a high board fence. The tree thus inclosed was used as an out-door experiment station for observations on the breeding and habits of the gypsy moth. During the winter of 1894-95, Mr. C. E. Baily made frequent visits to this tree to ascertain whether or not the birds were destroying the eggs of the gypsy moth. Incidentally, Mr. Baily observed many interesting things in connection with the feeding of birds on the eggs, larvee and pupae of insects which winter on the trees, and I am greatly indebted to him for many interesting notes on the feeding of birds in this orchard. He is a careful, conscientious observer, and is intimately acquainted with most of our native land birds. " Hunters and trappers are aware that many species of winter birds, such as Tit- mice, Woodpeckers, Crows, Jays and Nuthatches, are attracted by a skinned carcass suspended from a limb, and will remain in the vicinity until all the bones are picked clean, or until, with the approach of spring, insect food becomes more accessible. " Believing from my own observations that the Chickadees (Parus atricapillus) were feeding on the eggs of the fall canker worm, I asked Mr. Baily to attract the birds, if possible, to the orchard, by suspending pieces of meat, bone, suet, from the trees. These food materials are good for birds at times when the trees are covered with snow or ice, and when, lacking such nourishment, they might starve. Although ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 1 3 birds will frequently visit bait provided for them and in time will eat a considerable portion of the meat, they do not depend entirely on this aliment, but spend the greater portion of their time in searching for eggs and insects in the immediate vicinity. "Finding a plentiful supply of food, the Chickadees remained about the orchard most of the winter, except for a week or two, when the meat gave out, but they were lured back again later by a fresh supply which was placed in the trees. Not only were the Chickadees attracted to the orchard in large numbers, but other birds came also. A pair of Downy Woodpeckers {Dryobates pubesceni) and two pairs of Nuthatches [Sitta carolinensis) were frequent visitors, and a few Brown Creepers {Certhia americand) came occasionally. All these paid frequent visits to the meat and suet, and also thoroughly inspected the trees in search of insect food. They made excursions also to the trees in the neighborhood, but the greater portion of their attention was confined to the orchard in which the bait was suspended. As they became more accustomed to Mr. Baily's presence, they grew quite tame and could be viewed at a distance of a few feet. Indeed the Chickadees frequently alighted on his person and occasionally took food from his hand. He was thus enabled to determine accurately (without killing them) what they were feeding upon, and was soon convinced that they were destroying the eggs of the canker worm moth in large numbers, as well as the hibernating larvje and pupae of other insects injurious to trees." Investigation showed that this was the case, the stomachs of four birds containing no less than 1,028 canker-worms' eggs, while one Chickadee had eaten 41 canker-worm moths. As the moths at this season contained, on the average, 185 eggs each, it is probable that this single bird destroyed over 7,000 canker-worms' eggs in a day. Details of this interesting experiment are given in the statistical portion of this report, here we may turn at once to Mr. Forbush's results. In the spring " it soon became evident," he continues, that the neighboring orchards which had not been under the birds' care, " would be entirely stripped of their leaves, while the old orchard retained its full foliage. Thus it was seen that the trees to which the Chickadees had been lured during the winter had been so well protected that the summer birds were able to destroy the few remaining larvae, while the trees at a distance from these contained so many larvae that the birds were not numerous enough to dispose of them or to make any effective reduction in their numbers. . . . " During the month of May an attempt was made to render the place as attrac- tive to the birds as possible. The undergrowth, which previous to 1894 had been trimmed out, was afterward allowed to grow, and in 1895 several low thickets had 14 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. been formed; the mulberry trees were stimulated by judicious trimming, and bore a considerable crop of early fruit which ripened in advance of the cherries, and served to attract them to the vicinity of the orchard. Ten nesting boxes were put up for the Wrens and Blue-birds ; but as the Blue-birds were very rare this season none came to the orchard. Two families of Wrens, however, were reared in the boxes in place of one family last year. Nesting materials — strings, hair and straw — were hung in the trees and scattered about. Several marauding cats were killed, and an attempt was made to keep nest-hunting boys away from the neighborhood as much as possible. Thirty-six nests of birds were discovered in the neighborhood, as follows: " Three _red-eyed Vireos, ten Robins, four Baltimore Orioles, three Cuckoos, five Chipping Sparrows, three Least Flycatchers, two Redstarts, two Yellow Warblers, two Chickadees, two House Wrens. " Of these all but three were destroyed, probably by boys, the nests being torn down and the eggs missing. The three which escaped destruction were two wrens' nests, which had been built in boxes upon buildings, and a robin's nest in a maple tree within ten feet of a chamber window. This wholesale destruction of nests discouraged several pairs of birds, and they disappeared from the neighborhood. Those remaining built new nests, and after a second or third attempt a few succeeded in rearing young. One nest of Orioles escaped the general destruction, and the birds were busy for a long time carrying canker-worms to their young. One of them was noticed to take eleven canker-worms in its beak at one time and fly with them to the nest. The Vireos, Warblers, Chickadees, Cuckoos, Orioles and Chipping Sparrows were particularly active in catching canker-worms, and the Eng- lish Sparrow killed them in considerable numbers. " If the thirty-six pairs of birds whose nests were found had succeeded in raising their young it is probable that they would have disposed of most of the canker- worms in the neighborhood. Five thousand of these larvse are sufficient to strip a large apple tree. One hundred and eight would have been reared had each pair of birds raised three. According to Professor Aughey's experience sixty insects per day as food for each bird, both young and old, would be a very low estimate. Suppose each of these one hundred and eight birds had received its sixty insects per day, there would have been 6,480 caterpillars destroyed daily. The destruction of this number of caterpillars would be enough to save the foliage and fruitage of one apple tree. In thirty days the foliage of thirty apple trees could have been saved, or 194,400 canker-worms destroyed. This does not include what the old birds themselves would have eaten." ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 1 5 Mr. Forbush concludes: "At the present time, Jul}- 23, 1895, the trees in the orchard appeared to be in good condition. They have not suffered from the slight pruning of their foliage which was effected by the few caterpillars and canker-worms which survived. The fruit is well set and it here remains to be seen whether the birds will have any considerable effect in preventing the ravages of the coddling moth. No other orchard in the neighborhood will produce any fruit this season, with one exception." Not the least valuable part of Mr. Forbush's report is his description of the methods emploj-ed to make his orchard attractive to birds. We shall return to this later, but such vitally important steps as the leaving of some undergrowth and killing of cats cannot be urged too often. The Bird axd the Farmer. In the growing of field and garden crops, of grains and vegetables, the farmer produces a more artificial state of affairs than that which is occasioned by the fruit- grower, or, at least, the orchardist. The nature of his crops, their frequent tilling, and often early reaping, all combine to make them afford poor nesting-sites, even for such birds as would be likely to select them. To most insectivorous birds, however, areas devoted to farming purposes do not offer suitable nesting places, and it follows, therefore, that where the farmer most needs the services of insect-eating birds there these birds are deprived of surroundings in which they might find shelter and rear their young. We shall later see how, to some extent, these conditions may be remedied. In the meantime we may inquire more closely into the relations of the bird and the farmer. Birds are of value on the farm (i) as insect-eaters, (2) as seed-eaters, (3) as mouse or rodent-eaters. Birds are injurious on the farm when they attack the crops, such damage being essentially restricted to corn, rye, and other grains. As in other cases, it is our object to learn what species are beneficial and what injurious, and to determine whether the harm done by certain species at certain seasons is outweighed by the good they do at other seasons. The value of birds as insect-eaters is so obvious it will be unnecessary to dwell here on this phase of their relations to agriculture. One instance, however, may be cited in which birds preserved a crop through the destruction of its insect foes. It came under the observation of so excellent an authority as Prof. F. E. L. Beal, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, from whose address before the New Jersey State Horticultural Society I quote as follows : " Field observation and stomach examination both show that the Rose-breasted Grosbeak makes the Colorado potato 1 6 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. beetle the principal part of its food whenever it can be obtained. A case which came under my own observation will show how thoroughly they do their work. A small field of about a fourth of an acre was visited by a pair of Grosbeaks as soon as the potatoes were fairly above the ground. At first the beetles increased faster than the birds could destroy them, but after the young of the birds had hatched the beetles began to diminish, and by the time the young were able to fly the field was clear — not a beetle was to be found."* This illustrates also the tendency of birds to prey upon some insect which, in becoming unduly abundant, offers them an unusual supply of food. Birds, for example, have been known to gather in great numbers to repel, as it were, an inva- sion of grasshoppers. Quoting again from Professor Beal's address : " Ground- feeding birds eat these insects at all times when they can be obtained ; but in the month of August, which is the month when they attain their maximum abundance and frequently become a pest, nearly all birds, no matter what their usual food habits may be, come to the ground and eat grasshoppers. Such birds as the Balti- more Oriole, and the Cuckoo, which normally find their food upon the trees, change their habits in August and leave the trees to forage upon the ground. A few years ago, when the western part of the country was devastated by the Rocky Mountain locust, it was found that nearly every species of bird, even the larger Hawks, and Ducks and Geese, fed upon them to a considerable extent." One of the notable achievements of the economic ornithologist has been to emphasize the value of seed-eating birds, the Sparrows, Doves, Blackbirds and others. It is a common error to believe that birds are of service to man only as insect-eaters, and that the non-insectivorous species, if not harmful, are, at least, of no particular use. But the fact is that these same insignificant looking Sparrows are the farmers' best allies in his never-ending warfare against weeds. During the winter weed seeds form practically the entire fare of a number of species of Sparrows ; the seeds of amaranth, crab grass, ragweed, and pigeon grass being the kinds devoured most frequently. Dr. S. D. Judd, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, who has made a special study of the food habits of seed-eating birds, states that 1,000 pigweed seeds were found in the stomach of a Snowbunting killed at Shrewsbury, Mass., in February, and that 700 seeds of pigeon grass were taken from a single Tree Sparrow ; and the investigations of Professor Beal in the State of Iowa show that this species during the period of its presence, from October until April, destroyed each year about 875 tons of weed seeds. *Proc. Twenty-fourth Annual Meeting New Jersey State Horticultural Society. ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. Ij Further practical evidence of the seed-eating ability of birds is furnished by Dr. Judd, who writes: " On a farm in Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia, Tree Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, White Throats, Song Sparrows and Juncos, fairly swarmed during December in the briers of the ditches between the cornfields. They came into the open fields to feed upon weed seed, and worked hardest where the smartweed formed a tangle on low ground. Later in the season the place was care- fully examined. In one cornfield near a ditch the smartweed formed a thicket over 3 feet high, and the ground beneath was literally black with seeds. Examination showed that these seeds had been cracked open and the seed removed. In a rectan- gular space of i8 square inches were found 1,130 hayseeds, and only two whole seeds. Even as late as May 13, the birds were still feeding on the seeds of these and other weeds in the fields; in fact, out of a collection of 16 Sparrows 12, mainly Song, Chipping and Field Sparrows, had been eating old weed seed. A search was made for seeds of various weeds, but so thoroughly had the work been done that only half a dozen seeds could be found. The birds had taken practically all the seed that was not covered ; in fact, the Song Sparrow and several others scratch up much buried seed." * To the recent researches of the economic ornithologist we must also turn for exact information concerning the food of Hawks and Owls. No birds have been more maligned and misunderstood than these birds of prey. The misdeeds of two or three species have brought all the members of their family into disrepute. Because one Hawk has been seen to catch a chicken all Hawks are " Chicken Hawks," and, consequently, to be killed whenever opportunity offers. Not only is no protection afforded these birds by law, but in some States a bounty has been given for their destruction. Indeed, a law of this nature was passed by the Massa- chusetts Legislature, and the history of the so-called " Scalp Act " in Pennsylvania furnishes a convincing illustration of the direct pecuniary loss which may follow igno- rance of the economical value of birds. Quoting from the report for 1886 by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture: " On the 23d of June, 1885, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed an act known as the ' scalp act,' ostensibly ' for the benefit of agriculture,' which provides a bounty of fifty cents each on hawks, owls, weasels and minks killed within the limits of the State, and a fee of twenty cents to the notary or justice taking the affidavit. " By virtue of this act about $90,000 has been paid in bounties during the year * Birds as Weed Destroyers. Year Book of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture for 1898, p. 226. 1 8 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. and a half that has elapsed since the law went Into effect. This represents the destruction of at least 128,571 of the above-mentioned animals, most of which were hawks and owls. " Granting that 5,000 chickens are killed annually in Pennsylvania by hawks and owls, and that they are worth twenty-five cents each (a liberal estimate in view of the fact that a large portion of them are killed when very young), the total loss would be $1,250, and the poultry killed in a year and a half would be worth $1,875. Hence it appears that during the past eighteen months the State of Pennsylvania has expended $90,000 to save its farmers a loss of $1,875. But this estimate by no means represents the actual loss to the farmer and the taxpayer of the State. It is within bounds to say that in the course of a year every hawk and owl destroys at least a thousand mice or their equivalent in insects, and that each mouse or its equivalent so destroyed would cause the farmer a loss of two cents per annum. Therefore, omitting all reference to the enormous increase in the numbers of these noxious animals when nature's means of holding them in check has been rerrioved, the lowest possible estimate of the value to the farmer of each hawk, owl, and weasel would be $20 a year, or $30 in a year and a half. " Hence, in addition to the $90,000 actually expended by the State in destroying 128,571 of its benefactors, it has incurred a loss to its agricultural interests of at least $3,857,130, or a total loss of $3,947,130 in a year and a half, which is at the rate of $2,631,420 per annum. In other words, the State has thrown away $2,105 for every dollar saved ! And even this does not represent fairly the full loss, for the slaughter of such a vast number of predaceous birds and mammals is almost certain to be followed by a correspondingly enormous increase in the numbers of mice and insects formerly held in check by them, and it will take many years to restore the balance thus blindly destroyed through ignorance of the economic relations of our common birds and mammals." Detailed results of the analysis of the stomach contents of our Hawks made by the ornithologists of the U. S. Department of Agriculture fully substantiate this claim of the economic value of most of these birds and are given beyond. Owls, because of their nocturnal habits, are even better mousers than Hawks. It is their habit to disgorge, in the form of pellets, the fur and bones of their prey, and in 675 such pellets, from the Barn Owl, taken in one of the towers of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, Dr. A. K. Fisher found the remains of 1,119 meadow or field mice, 4 pine mice, 452 house mice, 134 rats, and several other species of small mammals, together with a few small birds of no especial economic importance. No farmer whose corn in field or granary, whose potatoes and other crops have ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 1 9 been damaged by the destructive field mice, can fail to realize on reading these figures what a powerful ally he has in Owls. In the face of all these benefits conferred by birds as insect, seed, and mouse- eaters, we perhaps can view more charitably the depredations of the Crows and Blackbirds in our corn and grain fields. The tarring of corn proves an effective means of making it unpalatable to Crows, but no such convenient means has been discovered for protecting fields of grain from the ravages of the hordes of Black- birds which are attracted to them by the bountiful supply of choice food they offer, and in this instance man has so far disturbed nature's balance that the scales have been turned against him, and the bird has become an enemy rather than a friend. The Bird and the Citizen. While, indirectly, the citizen of course shares in the services rendered by birds to our agricultural interests, birds have an additional claim upon his good will. Birds destroy many undesirable insects, mosquitoes, for example, some species of which have recently been found to be so inimical to the health of the human race. Birds further increase the healthfulness of the world by acting as scavengers. It would be difficult to overestimate the value of the Buzzards, Vultures, and other offal-eating birds to the countries in which they live. In most instances the eco- nomic importance of these birds is too obvious to be overlooked, and they are, there- fore, protected by law, and, by what is far more powerful than law, public sentiment. In our Southern States the Turkey Buzzard and Black Vulture, or " Carrion Crow " have become so iTlimerous and tame as a result of the protection there given them that they walk around the streets of the towns and cities in great numbers, and with no more evidence of fear than is shown by poultry. Every one realizes that a living Buzzard is of infinitely more value than a dead one, and in many years' experience in the South I have never seen a Buzzard molested. In New York, it is true, we have no Buzzard, but on the waters of our seacoast, harbors, lakes and larger rivers, their place is taken by Gulls of several species, which, in feeding on the forms of aquatic life which, in dying, come to the surface, perform a sanitary service of the first importance. While a discussion of the economic relations of birds might be supposed to con- fine us to a consideration of the material side of their lives, he would indeed be lacking in imaginative power, in ability to appreciate the usefulness or beauty, who did not find in these pre-eminently graceful, musical, attractive creatures a source of pleasure to mankind deserving our serious attention from the physiologic, and hence, economic standpoint. 20 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. The pursuit which takes us afield and gives us rest and exercise combined, and increases our resources by broadening our interest in nature, is not merely a pastime, but a recreation benefiting both mind and body, and better preparing us for our duties as citizens of the State. No one would think of asserting that the value of New York's game animals was to be reckoned in the terms of the bill-of-fare. A few thousand dollars would express their wealth to the butcher or restaurateur, but to the true sportsman they are an exhaustless mine of wealth. A day with dog and gun, rod or rifle may bring small return from a pecuniary point of view, but who can calculate the amount of physical good and pure enjoyment it has afforded ? Game bag and creel may, indeed, be empty, while our mind is full of stimulating experiences, all increasing our eagerness to take to the field again. So the hunter of birds with opera glass and camera finds an even deeper pleas- ure in his excursions into their haunts and study of their ways ; a pleasure which no accounting of the value of birds to the State can ignore. WI)at tl)e dtate Does for tl)e :^ird. In view of the economic importance of birds to our agricultural interests it may now well be asked what is the attitude of the State toward creatures whose welfare is so closely connected with that of its citizens? Does it take proper measures to protect them ? Does it urge the employment of methods designed to aid in their increase ? It is true that the State formally recognizes the value of its assets in bird-life by the passage of laws intended to give birds legal protection, but no adequate means are provided for their enforcement. Where one person is prevented from killing a bird a thousand commit murder unchecked ; nor can this evil be remedied without a material increase in the force of game wardens. The latter, as their official title implies, are appointed chiefly to enforce the laws relating to game while the laws concerning the far more numerous, and economically more valuable, non-game birds are generally dead letters. So-called sportsmen shoot these birds in pure wantonness, pot-hunters slaughter them for market, foreigners kill them for food, milliners' agents collect them to supply fashion's demands, boys find them a tempting mark for bean-shooters and air-guns ; while birds' eggs are taken as the legitimate prize of nearly every child who finds a nest. To these uimatural and remediable causes for the destruction of our birds should be added the ravages of the so-called domesticated cat. There are probably not less than two million cats in the State of New York. While many of ECOXOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 21 them are well-fed pets, the larger proportion are to a greater or less extent dependent on their own efforts, often preferably so, for food. A single cat has been known to catch sixty wild birds in a season, and a well-known naturalist and authority on the birds of Xew England estimates that at least 1,500,000 birds are killed annually by cats in the Xew England States. It is unnecessary here to dwell on the decrease in bird-life following the clearing of forests, draining of land, accompanying the growth in our population, for this, in a measure, is unavoidable, it being my object only to show that so far as the State assumes an attitude towai-ds the birds, that attitude is one of destruction. Wbat tl)e 3tatc ai)OQl(I Do for tl)c ^iM. It being demonstrated that, in the main, birds are of great value to the State, it follows that the State should spare no effort to afford its citizens of the air the protection they deserve. How, then, ma}- we most effectively prevent the great destruction of bird-life which occurs in this State? The most- rational methods would appear to be : (1) Enforcement of the law ; [2) licensing of cats and destruc- tion of all non-licensed cats ; (3) teaching children to realize the economic and jEsthetic value of birds ; (4) leaving hedge rows, undergrowth, and clumps of trees as resorts for birds. The laws of the State of Xew York relating to birds are so well drawn that their enforcement would give our non-game birds complete legal protection from their enemy man. But, as has been said, the present force of game wardens is far too small to afford our birds the protection which is tlieir due. What is needed, however, is not an addition to the number of game wardens, but a new officer who shall be known as a di'ni warden, and whose especial duty shall be to enforce the laws designed to protect non-game birds. Such oflficer should not onl\- prevent the illegal killing and trapping of birds, but should examine the stock of milliners and others who offer plumage for sale. The growing interest in the study of nature and the establishment of nature stud\- courses in our schools, in connection with the admirable campaign to teach the people the value of birds, inaugurated by the Audubon societies and the American Ornithologists" Union, has already created a sentiment in favor of bird protection without which the best of laws are practically ineffective. Teachers have been quick to realize that the inherent, universal interest in bird- life can be made of great educational and moral value in the training of children. Xo force at the State's command could effectually prevent boys from robbing nests and killing birds. Xor should the boy be prevented by force from giving this wholly 22 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GA^rE COMMISSION. natural exhibition of traits inherited from savage ancestors. The remedy here is to be applied, not by the State's bird wardens or police, but by its teachers. A nor- mal, healthy boy should want to hunt birds and their nests, but a very little of the right kind of instruction at this stage of his life will often so broaden his interests that he soon finds living birds more attractive than dead ones. As for the destruction of birds by cats, there can be no doubt that it would be largely decreased by the passage of a law requiring the annual licensing of cats, and authorizing the proper authorities to kill all non-licensed cats. Such a law should be supported not only by the friends of birds, but by the friends of cats as well. By the former because the restriction of the cat population to the well-fed tabby of the fireside would not only greatly reduce the cat population, but would do away with its worst element, the cats who hunt for a living. It should be supported by the latter because its enforcement would put an end to the existence of the many starving felines of our cities whose happiest fate is sudden death. If birds are of value, as we believe them to be, we should not only prevent their decrease, but we should take such measures as seem calculated to assist their increase. We have seen that in destroying our forests we deprive many insectivo- rous birds of their homes, while in clearing hedge rows we often rob seed-eating birds of the protection the undergrowth affords them. With comparatively little trouble we can add greatly to the attractions of our farms and gardens from the birds' point of view. Clumps of trees left in the fields and rows of trees along the hedge rows will prove paying investments, and wherever it does not seriously inter- fere with the tilling of the land the undergrowth should be spared. During the winter food in small quantities may be used to attract birds, and in the summer water for bathing or drinking is always welcomed by them. Wren and Bluebird and Martin houses .should be erected in suitable positions with the hope of securing bird tenants, who will pay a most profitable rental. Tl)e Pacts in tl)e Cage. Thus far the results of the work of economic ornithologists have been alluded to only in a general way. It is now proposed to take up systematically the economically more important of our birds and present the known facts regarding their food-habits. In the first place, however, due mention should be made of the sources whence this information is derived and some description should be given of the manner in which it is obtained. ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 23 How A Bird's Value to Man Is Ascertained. To learn with scientific exactness the nature of a bird's food and then to deter- mine whether it is an injurious or beneficial species requires especial training on the part of the investigator. He must not only be an ornithologist but he must also have a knowledge of botany and entomology. Three methods are employed by the economic ornithologist in studying a bird's food: (i) The bird may be caged in order that its dislikes, likes, and preferences, as well as the quantity of food it will consume in a given time may be ascertained ; (2) the bird may be studied in nature, and (3) the contents of a bird's stomach may be examined. The last- named method yields by far the most definite and satisfactory results and is the one most frequently employed. While the individual student may, unassisted, make the best use of his opportunities to learn the character of a bird's food, the food habits of a species can be properly determined only through the analysis of a large number of stomachs taken at places throughout its range and representing all the seasons. Our most important investigations into the food habits of birds have, therefore, been made by specialists in the employ of the State who could secure the co-operation of others. Economic ornithologists representing the States of Illinois, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nebraska have con- tributed largeh' to our knowledge of the food habits of birds, but for the greater part of our exact knowledge of the economic value of our birds we are indebted to the Biological Survey of the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Washington. It is from the sources just mentioned then, and especially from the publications of the Biological Survey, that the following facts, based in the main on stomach examinations, are taken : Statistics of Pood Habits. WATER BIRDS. As yet practically no systematic study has been made of the food of water birds. It is known, however, that Gulls are of great service as scavengers feeding on aquatic animals which, in dying, come to the surface. The truth of this statement was very forcibly impressed on my mind, when, some years ago, I visited the lower harbor of New York Bay to see the Gulls which were attracted there by the garbage which each day at high tide was deposited on the water by the scows of the Street- cleaning Department of New York City. The number of Gulls present on this occasion was beyond calculation, but certainly exceeded three hundred thousand. Before the scows began to discharge their cargo most of the birds were resting on 24 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. the water, but at the sound of the whistle giving the signal to dump, they arose in clouds and clustered thickly over the wake of each of the eleven scows to feed on the vegetable and animal matter thrown overboard. It was a most impressive object lesson in the economic value of these birds, which, until recently, have been destroyed in enormous numbers for millinery purposes. In our interior States, Franklin's Gull, the Ring-billed Gull, and Black Tern feed largely on grasshoppers at certain seasons, and it is their habit to follow the plough in search of the grubs it exposes. A common sight in parts of the west, therefore, is a flock of Gulls and Terns hovering thick about the ploughman. " The Snipe, Sandpipers, Plovers, Phalarapes, Curlews, etc.," Prof. Lawrence Bruner remarks,* " are great destroyers of insects. Moving, as many of them do, in great flocks and spreading out over the meadows, pastures and hillsides, as well as among cultivated fields, they do a large amount of careful police service in arresting culprits among the insects. They even pry them out of burrows and crevices in the earth where these creatures lurk during the daytime, only to come forth after nightfall to destroy vegetation. The large flocks of Eskimo Curlew that formerly passed through Eastern Nebraska did magnificent work during years when the Rocky Mountain locust was with us, as did also the equally large flocks of Golden Plover. The Bartramian Sandpiper [Field or Upla,nd Plover] even now is a great factor each summer in checking the increasing locusts on our prairies." LAND BIRDS. GROUSE AND QUAIL. Family Gallinse. Ruffed Grouse : Partridge {Bonasa umbellus). — " Of six specimens examined two had eaten 24 caterpillars ; one, the grub of a beetle, one, 2 grasshoppers, one 7 harvest-men ; one, fruit ; one, foliage ; one, seeds ; one, partridge berries ; and three, buds. " A young chicken [Partridge], probably not over a week old, had in its stomach 13 caterpillars, the grub of a beetle and 7 harvest-men." f While Partridges often feed on the buds of trees it does not appear that the habit is an injurious one, a certain amount of pruning being not undesirable. Quail: Bob-White {Colinus virginianus). — "The Eastern Quail or Bob-White," writes Dr. Judd,:]; does much good by destroying weed seeds in fields where grain has been cut and a rank growth of weeds has taken its place. Seeds of rib grass, * Birds in their Relation to Agriculture. Proc. Nebraslca Ornithologists' Union, 1901, p. 21. ■j-King, Economic Relations of Wisconsin Birds. Geology of Wisconsin, I, ^91, X Birds as Weed Destroyers. Year Boole, Dept. of Agriculture. 1898, p. 231. ECOXOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 25 tickfoil, and berries of nightshade {Solanum sp.) are sometimes eaten, and pigeon grass and smartweed are frequently consumed in large quantities. The amount of grain found in the few stomachs thus far examined is surprisingly small, while the proportion of weed seed is astonishingly large, in some cases crops and gizzards being literally gorged with hundreds of seeds of ragweed." Quail also eat potato-beetles and grasshoppers, and in Texas their food in the fall is said to consist " chiefly of various seeds and Mexican boll weevils, which are so disastrous to the Texas cotton fields." * DOVES. Family Columbidae. Mourning Dove : Carolina Dove {Zenaidiira macroura). — " The Mourning Dove is abundant throughout much of the United States, and is especially common in stubble fields and waste places, grown up to weeds. It is pre-eminently a seed-eater, and although at times turning its attention to grain, it nevertheless consumes an enormous amount of weed seed. The crop of one Dove secured in a rye field in Warner, Tenn., contained 7,500 seeds of Oxalis sti'icta [Yellow Wood-sorrel]." (Judd.) " In the stomach of one kind I counted 4,016 seeds of the pigeon grass and 12 small snails ; the latter were probably taken as gravel." (King.) HAWKS, FALCONS, ETC. Family Falconidse. It was because of the widespread misunderstanding of the food habits of our Hawks and Owls, and because of their unusual economic value, that one of the first acts of the Division of Economic Ornithology, now the Biologic Survey, of the United States Department of Agriculture was to undertake a careful and elaborate study of the food of Hawks and Owls in order that their status might rest on the sound basis of observed facts. This work was intrusted to Dr. A. K. Fisher, Assistant Ornithologist of the Survey, a naturalist of wide experience, who has won for himself a well-deserved reputation as a most careful and conscientious investigator. After several years passed in accumulating material and in examining the contents of the stomachs of nearly 2,700 Hawks and Owls, Dr. Fisher concluded a volume of 200 pages in which are fully set forth the results of his studies. This volume forms Bulletin No. 3 of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, and it is considered to be one of the most valuable contributions to economic zoology *Schutze. The Summer Birds of Central Texas, p. 2. 26 SEVEXTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. ever made. From it the following statistics in regard to the food of our Hawks and Owls are quoted : Red-Shouldered Hawk : Chicken Hawk {Buteo lineatus). — This and the follow- ing species are the commonest Hawks in the State and the ones to which the names Chicken Hawk and Hen Hawk are generally applied. The loud screaming kee-yer kee-yer of the Red-Shoulder as he sails far above the earth is a familiar sound and usually, though wrongly, associated by the farmer with depredations in the poultry yard. Summary of Contents of 220 Stomachs of the Red-Shouldered Hawk. {From Fisher.') 3 stomachs contained poultry. 12 stomachs contained other birds. 102 stomachs contained mice. 40 stomachs contained other mammals. 20 stomachs contained reptiles. 39 stomachs contained batrachians. 92 stomachs contained insects. 16 stomachs contained spiders. 7 stomachs contained crawfish. 1 stomach contained earth worms. 2 stomachs contained offal. 3 stomachs contained fish. 14 stomachs were empty. Red-Tailed Hawk : Chicken Hawk {Buteo borealis). — This species, of which a figure is given, is decidedly larger than the preceding. Its note is a long squealing whistle. Summary of the Contents of 562 Stomachs of tlie Red-Tailed Hawk. {From Fisher^ 54 stomachs contained poultry or game birds. 51 stomachs contained other birds. 278 stomachs contained mice. 131 stomachs contained other mammals. 47 stomachs contained insects. 8 stomachs contained crawfish. I stomach contained centipede. 13 stomachs contained offal. 37 stomachs contained batrachians or reptiles. 89 stomachs were empty. Upper figure, RED-TAILED HAWK. Lower figure, COOPER'S HAWK ABOUT Z^ NATURAL SIZE. ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. ' 2"] Broad-winged Yiz.- 10, - 130 11, - III 12, 160 13, ^93 14, ^31 15, - "^' 16, - - - - 242 i7> ■ - "^ 18, .-...- 281 19, - - - - 192 20, - .... 217 6o SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. " It will be seen from this table that the average number of eggs found in each moth is 185. Mr. Bailey is very positive, from his continuous field observations, that each Chickadee will devour on the average 30 female canker-worm moths per day from the 20th of March until the 15th of April, provided these insects are plentiful. If the average number of eggs laid by each female is 185, one Chickadee would thus destroy in one day 5,550 eggs; and in the twenty-five days the canker-worm moths 'run' or crawl up the trees, 138,750. It may be thought that this computation is excessive, and it is probable that some of the moths were not captured until they had laid some of their eggs, but the Chickadees are also busy eating these eggs. * * * When we consider further that 41 of these insects, distended as they were with eggs, were found at one time in the stomach of one Chickadee, and that the digestion of the bird is so rapid that its stomach was probably filled several times daily, the estimate made by Mr. Bailey seems a very conservative one. He now regards the Chickadee as the best friend the farmer has, for the reason that it is with him all the year, and there is no bird that can compare with it in destroying the female moths and their eggs." (Forbush.) KINGLETS, GNATCATCHERS, ETC. Family Sylviidae. The small size of Kinglets combined with their great activity permits them to explore the terminal buds more easily than larger birds could, and they therefore occupy an important position in the army of bird tree protectors. Rusty-crowned Kinglet {Regulus calendula). — " Of seven specimens examined, two had eaten four small caterpillars ; three, five beetles ; one, an ant ; one, a chalcis-fly, and two bits of insects not identified." (King.) Golden-crowned Kinglet {Regulus satrapd). — " Of nine specimens examined two had eaten twelve small diptera ; three, nine small beetles ; one, four cater- pillars; one, a small chrysalis, and three, very small bits of insects, too fine to be identified." (King.) THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. Family Turdidse. Robin (Merula migratorid). — "The Robin builds its nest in orchards and gar- dens, and occasionally takes advantage of a nook about the house, or under the shelter of the roof of a shed or outbuilding. Its food habits have sometimes caused apprehension to the fruit grower, for it is fond of cherries and other small fruits, particularly the earlier varieties. For this reason many complaints have been lodged against it, and some persons have gone so far as to condemn the bird. The Upper figure, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET Lower figure, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET Left-hand figure, BROWN CREEPER NATURAL SIZE. ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 6 1 Robin is, however, too valuable to be exterminated, and choice fruit can be readily protected from its depredations. " An examination of 330 stomachs shows that over 42 per cent of its food is animal matter, principally insects, while the remainder is made up largely of small fruits or berries. Over 19 per cent consists of beetles, about one-third of which are useful ground beetles, taken mostly in spring and fall, when other insects are scarce. Grasshoppers make ^p about one-tenth of the whole food, but in August comprise over 30 per cent. Caterpillars form 6 per cent, while the rest of the animal food, about 7 per cent, is made up of various insects, with a few spiders, snails, and angle-worms. All the grasshoppers, caterpillars, and bugs, with a large ^portion of the beetles, are injurious, and it is safe to say that noxious insects com- prise more than onerthird of the Robin's food. " Vegetable food forms nearly 58 per cent of the stomach contents, over 47 being wild fruits, and only little more than 4 per cent being possibly cultivated varieties. Cultivated fruit amounting to about 25 per cent was found in the stomachs in June and July, but only a trifle in August. Wild fruit, on the contrary, is eaten every month, and constitutes a staple food during half the year. No less than forty-one species were identified in the stomachs ; of these, the most important were four species of dogwood, three of wild cherries, three of wild grapes, four of greenbrier, two of holly, two of elder ; and cranberries, huckleberries, blueberries, barberries, service berries, hackberries, and persimmons, with four species of sumac, and various other seeds not strictly fruit. " The depredations of the Robin seem to be confined to the smaller and earlier fruits, and few, if any, complaints have been made against it on the score of eating apples, peaches, pears, grapes, or even late cherries. By the time these are ripe the forests and hedges are teeming with wild fruits, which the bird evidently finds more to its taste. The cherry, unfortunately, ripens so early that it is almost the only fruit accessible at a time when the bird's appetite has been sharpened by a long- continued diet of insects, earth-worms, and dried berries, and it is no wonder that at first the rich juicy morsels are greedily eaten. In view of the fact that the Robin takes ten times as much wild fruit as cultivated fruit, it seems unwise to destroy the birds to save so little. Nor is this necessary, for by a little care both may be pre- served. Where much fruit is grown it is no great loss to give up one tree to the birds ; and in some cases the crop can be protected by scarecrows. Where wild fruit is not abundant, a few fruit-bearing shrubs and vines judiciously planted will serve for an ornament and provide food for the birds. The Russian mulberry is a vigorous grower and a profuse bearer, ripening at the same time as the cherry, and. 62 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. SO far as observation has gone, most birds seem to prefer its fruit to any other. It is believed that a number of these planted around the garden or orchard would fully protect the more valuable fruits." (Beal.) Wood Thrush {Hylocichla mustelina). — Professor Forbes writes after examining the contents of twenty-two birds of this species : " Seventy-one per cent of their food consisted of insects and twenty per cent of fruit, a small ratio of spiders and mollusks, and an unusually large percentage of Myriopoda making up the remain- der." After discussing in detail the bird's economic relations the same author adds : " Its advances, therefore, are to be cordially encouraged by the gardener and farmer — a fact which must be especially agreeable to every lover of bird music, who has learned to recognize the full, clear, rich, exquisite strains of this songster." Hermit Thrush (Hylocichla guttata pallasii). — Of the food contents of the stomachs of twenty-one Hermit Thrushes Professor Forbes writes : " Eighty-four per cent of the food consisted of insects, four per cent of spiders, and twelve per cent of thousand-legs. Ants amounted to fifteen per cent, Lepidoptera to nineteen per cent, including a few Phalaenidae, and Diptera only to three — chiefly the larvae of Bibio. Coleoptera make thirty per cent of the carabidae." Bluebird {Sialia sialis). — " So far as known, this bird has not been accused of stealing fruit or of preying upon any crops. An examination of 205 stomachs showed that 76 per cent of the food consists of insects and their allies, while the other 24 per cent is made up of various vegetable substances, found mostly in stomachs taken in winter. Beetles constitute 28 per cent of the whole food, grass- hoppers 22, caterpillars 11, and various insects, including quite a number of spiders, comprise the remainder of insect diet. All are more or less harmful, except a few predaceous beetles, which amount to 8 per cent, but in view of the large consump- tion of grasshoppers and caterpillars, we can at least condone this defence, if such it may be called. The destruction of grasshoppers is very noticeable in the months of August and September, when these insects form more than 60 per cent of the diet. " It is evident that in the selection of its food the Bluebird is governed by abun- dance rather than by choice. Predaceous beetles are eaten in spring, as they are among the first insects to appear ; but in early summer caterpillars form an impor- tant part of the diet, and are replaced a little later by grasshoppers. Beetles are eaten at all times, except when grasshoppers are more easily obtained. " So far as its vegetable food is concerned, the Bluebird is positively harmless. The only trace of any useful product in the stomachs consisted of a few blackberry seeds, and even these more probably belonged to wild than cultivated varieties. Following is a list of the various seeds which were found : Blackberry, chokeberry, Upper figure, WOOD THRUSH Lower figure, HERMIT THRUSH ABOUT ?^ NATURAL SIZE. ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 63 juniperberry, pokeberry, partridge berry, greenbrier, Virginia creeper, bittersweet, holly-strawberry bush, false spikenard, wild sarsaparilla, sumac (several species), rose haws, sorrel, ragweed, grass, and asparagus. This list shows how little the Bluebird depends upon the farm or garden to supply its needs, and indicates that by encouraging the growth of some of these plants, many of which are highly orna- mental, the bird can be i iduced to make its home on the premises." (Beal.) A lyist of tl)e A.ore Important Papers Relating to tl)e Too