BIRDS. 139 



'd time the tbod was varied and twenty-three dwts. of raw 

 beef were given the l)ird and with it hirae ({nantities of 

 earth, gravel and water were taken. If a man were to 

 eat as mneh propoi'tionally he wonkl consume in twenty- 

 four hours oxvv seventy pounds of clear beef and drmk 

 five or six gallons of water. When the bird had reached 

 its full size its requirements were reduced to a))out eighteen 

 dwts. of clear meat or double that amount of worms, the 

 latter not being very concentrated food, and it continued 

 to take this amount up to the time the article was pre- 

 sented. T am well aware that it seems impossible for the 

 parent birds to su})j)ly the young with so large a quantify 

 of food l)ut we cannot suppose that a l)ird would eat any 

 more in the (|uiet life of a cage than Avhen freely exercis- 

 ing' in its natural state. If uoav a Ko))in needs so oreat a 

 iHunber of worms, not to fatten it, but simply to kee}) it 

 from losing flesh, what a great benefactor of the agricul- 

 turist this bird must l)e I BetAveen two and three hun- 

 dred full sized worms daily is not too large an allowance. 

 What is true in this respect of the liol)in is equally true 

 of all our insect eating birds and the Robin is spoken of so 

 nnich in detail chiefly that it may furnish a sample of 

 what hosts of others do. 



It is not pretended that these facts prove that Robins 

 and other birds do not eat cherries and other fruit. It is 

 not desirable that only one side, even though it be the 

 most favorable, should be regarded, but all the ditferent 

 views should l)e taken and compared and thus we may 

 hope to reach a correct result. Estimate as largely as you 

 will the loss resulting from the destruction of fruit and as 

 little as you honestly can the evils which would have re- 

 sulted from the ravages of the insects which the Robins de- 

 stroy and the account when balanced, will eventually stand 

 largely in favor of the birds. Fruits last only for a time 

 and the amount the Rol)in destroys is at most (piite lim- 

 ited l)ut the injurious insects are to be found in some 

 forms the year around and, while most of the Robins 



