ANNUAL MEETING AT LEXINGTON. 291 



Observers say that, excepting diurnal birds of prey, there is not a 

 bird among our native species but is useful to man. The English spar- 

 row must be exterminated, it is folly to defend it, I could find thous- 

 ands who have watched it closely, who will swear that it drives away 

 about all other birds ; they war with all but themselves. In warfare 

 they are the most cunning and merciless of all feathered tribes. Let 

 them alone and they are almost under foot, just attack them once and 

 they are silent, suspicious, but ever at work. 



The so-called cat bird is beyond doubt one of the most very use- 

 ful of birds. I have known a few ])air8 to rid several acres of apple 

 orchards of the tent caterpillar. They are passionately fond of the 

 little common sour cherry, and will be attracted by a few such trees. 

 Our best authorities, indee^ all, place this bird high on the list of our 

 friends. 



In order to set at rest questions as to the food of birds many kinds 

 Tiave been killed and the stomach contents carefully examined. From 

 reports, after investigations made time and again, we find that chimney 

 swallows, night-hawks and whipporwills, are immense consumers of 

 moths and other night Hying insects. Bee martins are enormous con- 

 sumers of insects, beetles, grasshoppers and maybugs. In the south 

 they have been seen destroying the moth of the cotton ball worm. 

 The peewee has been found, during the season full of the striped bugs 

 so injurious to vines. 



Thrushes and robins while destroying some fruit are greedy con- 

 sumers of insects and larva destructive to crops. A blue bird shot in 

 a town in March was found full of grasshoppers while not one hopper 

 could be found by men and boys looking for them, in the neighborhood. 

 Scarlet tanagers and black-winged summer red birds were found to 

 have consumed largely of curculios ; if encouraged, they might do 

 much to rid us of that pest. The house-wren consumes cut-worms 

 and lives much like the blue bird. Of several quail the stomach's of 

 each were found to contain on the average one cut-worm, 120 vine bugs, 

 100 chinch bugs and a mass of hundreds of chinch bugs. I object 

 most decidedly to the destruction of our bob whites or quails, they are 

 never too plentiful. During the visitation of locusts some years ago, 

 it was said those beautiful, graceful little creatures, the quails would 

 have rendered invaluable aid in suppressing that plague had they been 

 introduced in the original home of the locusts ; the^melodious whistle 

 of one of these birds in the outskirts of a village is like a call to arms 

 for every idle lout that can borrow a gun. I would recommend to 

 every land owner to sternly prohibit all hunting and trapping for quails 

 over his premises. 



