534 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of our most valuable species, as bluebirds, swallows, wrens, and 

 woodpeckers. When put up near the farmhouse these not only 

 serve to attract birds and provide for their increase, but add much 

 to the interest and pleasure of the household. The making of arti- 

 ficial nesting boxes has become an established industry in Germany, 

 where the need of increased numbers of insectivorous birds for the 

 protection of the forests was clearly perceived, and they are begin- 

 ning to be put on the market in this country. 



(2) B}^ planting thickets of berry-bearing trees and shrubs along 

 the roads or in waste places on the farm, which will provide not 

 only food but also nesting places and refuge resorts from nocturnal 

 enemies of the birds. On many farms it is necessary only to pre- 

 serve and encourage clumps of native trees and shrubs already grown 

 ynd thrifty, but where such do not exist the little time and outlay 

 required for setting out and caring for these bird reserves will be 

 richly repaid by the results, 



(3) By carefully protecting the birds already occupying the prem- 

 ises. Present sentiment for the preservation of insectivorous birds is 

 already strong in most parts of this country, and the chief need of 

 protective laws is to insure the safety of our birds from foreign 

 immigrants who, having been accustomed at home to kill for 

 food any and all kinds of birds, large and small, young and old, 

 naturally assume the same privileges in their adopted home. In 

 some parts of the country, moreover, such birds as robins, bluebirds, 

 nighthawLs, killdeers, flickers, and other valuable species are 

 slaughtered for food in vast numbers by our own citizens, either 

 ignorant or careless of the fact that the country can ill afford to lose 

 the services of these insectivorous species. The quail and prairie 

 chicken are favorite and legitimate objects of pursuit by sportsmen, 

 but they have been so ruthlessly pursued that they are now generally 

 scarce and in many localities practically extinct. As the bobwhite 

 is a most efficient weed destroyer, to say nothing of its being an 

 active insect hunter, the farmer is called on to decide whether this 

 bird is not too valuable on his farm to be shot for food or sport. 



(4) By supplying water for birds. Though at first thought it may 

 seem a small matter, a supply of water for drinking and bathing pur- 

 poses is of great importance to birds. Running water is, of course, 

 preferable, but shallow vessels distributed over the premises at short 

 intervals in w^hich a supply of water can be constantly renewed will 

 be found to attract great numbers of birds and induce them to make 

 their homes there. 



WOODPECKERS. 



From an economic standpoint our native woodpeckers may be 

 divided into two classes. The first comprises the bulk of the family 

 and includes upward of 50 species. All of these render extremely 

 valuable service to the farmer, the horticulturist, and the forester. 

 Specially equipped by Nature for digging into wood, they supple- 

 ment the service of other species and destroy vast numbers of insects 

 inaccessible to other birds. 



The second class comprises four species whose range collectively 

 extends across the United States from ocean to ocean. These are 



