454 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The number of species of birds thus annoying to the horticulturist is fortu- 

 nately very small. The only ones, I believe, which require to be specified are 

 the Baltimore oriole, the cat-bird, the cherry-bird, or cedar-bird, and the robin ; 

 including, also, in a lesser degree, tlie blue jay, and the brown thrush ; and if 

 we take into account those which damage the field crops, we must include the 

 crow and the blackbirds. 



To these must be added another species of unenviable reputation, but which 

 does not come into either the grain-eating or the fruit-eating class; I refer to 

 the yellow-bellied woodpecker, commonly known as the sap-sucker. The food 

 of this bird is usually the tender inner bark and cambium of trees, but it also 

 occasionally eats insects. Dr. P. E. Hoy, of Eacine, who read an interesting 

 paper upon this bird at the annual meeting of the State Horticultural Society, 

 at Chicago, in December, 1861, stated that he had opened many of these birds, 

 and whilst he generally found their stomachs more or less filkd with cambium, 

 he also found a few small beetles; and an acquaintance of mine, who dissected 

 one of these birds in the spring of 1873, found a solitary ant in its crop. As 

 the woody substance upon which these birds feed must be much more tender 

 and available at some seasons of the year then at others, it is very probable that 

 if we could follow the course of these birds through the whole year, we would 

 find that at some seasons insects constitute a considerable part of their fare. 



How far the punctures of these birds injure the trees is yet a disputed ques- 

 tion. It seems to be the general impression that they are seriously detrimental, 

 and Dr. Hoy confirms this opinion. On the contrary, Alexander Wilson, the 

 ornithologist, records that he examined many trees, for the purpose of deter- 

 mining this point, and though many of them were abundantly punctured, he 

 could not perceive that any of them Avere injured, and some of them appeared 

 to be remarkably flourishing. And I have myself seen apple trees riddled all 

 over with the holes made by these birds, and yet full of luxuriant foliage. It 

 seems to me, therefore, pretty well established that they do not ordinarily 

 injure trees in this way to any appreciable extent, though it is possible they 

 may sometimes do so in extreme or peculiar cases. There is one way, how- 

 ever, in Avhich they sometimes effect a very serious damage, and that is by 

 girdling and killing the leading shoot of ornamental trees, especially the ever- 

 greens, and thus preventing their symmetrical development. But whatever 

 may be the amount of injury committed by these birds, they must be dealt with 

 upon the same general principles which govern the treatment of other injuri- 

 ous species, and to which we shall refer in the sequel. 



The list of objectionable birds, small as it is, may properly be divided into 

 two classes; those which are only annoying or troublesome, and those which 

 are seriously injurious. The latter class embraces pre-eminently the first two 

 birds on the list, the Baltimore oriole, or golden robin, and the cat-bird; and 

 these two birds are thus signalized, not so much for what they devour, as for 

 their pernicious habit of pecking into and spoiling a great deal more fruit than 

 they require for food ; a practice which we have had occasion to notice but 

 little, here at the North, but which is said to be a cause of serious damage in 

 the fruit regions farther south. 



With respect to the first class, or those which are merely annoying, or 

 slightly injurious, the shooting or otherwise destroying them can not be justly 

 regarded as otherwise than wanton cruelty. Their beauty, their songs, the 

 animation they give to the landscape, the general harmlessness of their char- 

 acters, and, finally, their undoubted usefulness during the greater part of the 

 year, ought to insure them from harm. 



