80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



some millions of pairs of robins raise five or six young ones, once, 

 twice, or even three times a year, it will be seen that the resulting 

 destruction of insects is, as I have said, simply incalculable." This 

 same writer adds, furthermore : "I have no doubt that the services 

 of these birds, during the time they are engaged in rearing their 

 young alone, would entitle them to protection, were the parents 

 themselves to feed exclusively upon garden fruits for the whole 

 period. But at this time the diet of the old birds is very largely 

 of an animal nature; nor is this the only season during which the 

 destruction of insects goes on. Upon the first arrival of the main 

 body of the birds early in the spring, long before any fruits are 

 ripe, they throw themselves into newly-plowed fields, and scatter 

 over meadows, lawns, and parks, in eager search for the worms 

 and grubs that, later in the season, would prove invincible to the 

 agriculturist, were not their ravages thus stayed in advance by the 

 friendly army of robins." 



Now try the experiment yourselves. "Watch the development 

 of the young birds, note the kinds of food their mother brings 

 them^ and even dissect the stomachs of a few of these young birds 

 and examine carefully with the lens their contents. Facts are not 

 worth presenting separated from their proofs. Try the case your- 

 selves. Be your own judge and jury. Pronounce your own ver- 

 dict. I will venture to say that in the face of the nature of the 

 bird and its habits, the nature of its required food, and the nature 

 of verified observations made time and again, you cannot come out 

 far from a correct result. It does no harm to put scarecrows and 

 the like in your trees and garden to drive off the birds, but hardly 

 pays to deceive yourselves in that your killing them will be a mate- 

 rial benefit. But, take another point of view : the robin is emi- 

 nently a game bird, and makes the most delicate and delicious 

 eating known, almost ; if, therefore, you beg the question, kill a 

 mess for a savory pot-pie, at such a time as when they are in the 

 height of their plunder; you accomplish your purpose, and can 

 say, conscientiously, that you have not violated any law for the 

 good of the community. We have taken two birds, then, the crow 

 and the robin, and settled by appealing to " the nature of the case " 

 pretty definitely the position of each in the economy of nature as 

 well as in their utility in agriculture; taking each from the same 

 standpoint, that we might show how an examination of this kind 

 is to be made. 



