14 . BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



DESTRUCTION OF FRUIT. 



Observations in orchards show that in the fruit season the linnet 

 is not backward in taking wdiat it considers its share of the crop, and 

 as it spends much of the time there, field observations alone would 

 lead to the conclusion that fruit was its principal article of diet. 

 Examination of the stomach contents, however, proves that such is 

 not the case, and when we find how small is the relative percentage 

 of fruit eaten, it seems strange that its fruit-eating proclivities should 

 have attracted so much attention. But it must be borne in mind that 

 the bird is wonderfully abundant, which is one of the primary condi- 

 tions necessary for any species to become injurious. 



Like most fringilline birds, the linnet has a strong, conical beak, 

 with which it can cut the skin of the toughest fruit and reach the 

 pulp. "W^iile such an instrument is very effective in attacking fruit, 

 this is evidently not the use for which nature primarily designed it. 

 It is customary to divide passerine birds roughly into two groups, 

 the hard-billed and the soft-billed species, the former of which are 

 supposed to feed on seeds while the latter subsist upon fruit and 

 insects. From the sttindpoint of this classification the linnet would 

 appear to be most emphatically a seed eater, and examination of the 

 contents of stomachs of the species confirms the correctness of this 

 view. Seeds of phmts, mostly those of noxious weeds, constitute about 

 seven-eighths of its food for the year, and in some months amount to 

 much more. In view of this fact it seems strange that the house 

 finch has acquired such a reputation for fruit eating, and it can be 

 explained only upon the principle alread}^ laid down that in the fruit 

 districts the bird is too numerous for the best economic interests. 

 AMiile each house finch eats but a small modicum of fruit, the aggre- 

 gate of all that is eaten or destroyed by the species is something 

 tremendous. 



Moreover, it must be noted that not all of the fruit destroyed is 

 eaten. Only one peck from the strong bill is necessary to break the 

 skin of the pear, peach, or cherry, and the fruit is spoiled; the linnet 

 by no means invariably visits the same individual fruit a second time 

 to finish it, but often attacks a fresh one at each meal. This is proved 

 by the large number of half-eaten fruits, either on the tree or on the 

 ground beneath. 



In large orchards, however, complaints against the linnet are fewer 

 than formerly. Here the damage is more widely distributed and con- 

 sequently less noticeable than when confined to a few trees. It is 

 probable that the area of orcharding has increased more rapidly than 

 the linnets, so that the proportional injury is less. At present the 

 chief complainants are the owners of small town lots, where a few 

 trees are grown to supply fruit for home use. As linnets are usually 



