BULLETIN 218] ^DECEMBER, 1913 



Ontario Department of Agriculture 



Birds of Ontario in Relation 



to Agriculture 



By Charles W. Nash 



AVlieii white men first began to settle this Province, it was a vast forest, broken 

 only by its rivers, lakes, and marshes. It- birds consisted of such species as were 

 adapted for life among trees, or were waterfowl. As the country became cleared and 

 population increased, some of the>c birds were dri\en from their ancient haunts 

 ;ii);i are wow only fonnd in the wooded country of the north, while the Wild Turkey 

 and Passenger Pigeon have become extinct. 



The changes brought about by settlement and cultivation, however, have pro- 

 duced conditions better adapted to the requirements of certain other forms of bird 

 life, and so we now find in our orchards, fields and gardens a variety of feathered 

 friends whose range was luriuerly restricted to natural meadows or thickets border- 

 ing rivers and marsh land. The range of many of these birds is being extended 

 northward as cultivation progresses in that direction, so that it is now a common 

 thing to hear of the appearance of Meadowlarks, Orioles, Bobolinks, and Bluebirds 

 in the new settlements of Xorthern Ontario where they were previously unknown. 

 iMany of our birds lune also changed their habits so as to l)etter adapt themselves 

 to modern conditions. Thus we find that all the Swallows, except the Bank Swallow, 

 have abandoned their former lu^sting idaces in caves or hollowed trees niul now 

 occupy our buildings. The Chimney Swift and Phoebe do the same thing, while 

 Bluebirds and House Wrens will readily take possession of any box placed for them 

 in the garden or orchard, if out of the reach of their deadly enemy the house cat. 

 Pobins and Chipping Sparrows apparently find the presence of human beings bene- 

 ficial to them, for they build their nests with no pretence at concealment in the 

 most frequented places, and the Flicker often finds a safe nesting ]dace in an old 

 tree trunk or even a telegraph pole in a city. Of iill wild creatures, birds will most 

 readily adapt themselves to conditions created by human asfency. Tf not persecuted 

 they will attach themselves to the farm. ga''den, an 1 orchard. wIum'c fbeir services 

 are of tlio greatest value. 



Ill all about thirteen thousaJid species of birds arc known to science: of this 

 number only three hundred and twenty-five have been found in Ontario. "Many of 

 these are verv rare and nol likvdv to be noticed by ordinary observers, others are 

 merely accidental visitors which niny never I)e seen again. 



Birds may be studied from three points of view: The scientific, the sentimental, 

 and the economic. The first includes their ori'zin. development, structure, and 



