92 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 



Looking beyond the confines of the individual orchard or grain 

 field, it is apparent that the grosbeaks make small demands either 

 on our patience or endurance. The brief season of crop pilfering 

 is a comparatively insignificant part of the otherwise beneficial 

 yearly life of the grosbeaks, a fact sometimes lost sight of. The 

 importance of birds as checks upon the insect enemies of agricul- 

 ture, and the fact that they are among the most valuable assets 

 of the farm, are too well known to require proof. No one should 

 be so blinded to his own best interests by a sense of present injury 

 as to destroy by w^holesale creatures which by every intent and pro- 

 vision of nature are among his best friends. The destruction of 

 the most grievous pests known to us by birds give them a value 

 comparable in degree, if not in kind, with that of some of the use- 

 ful domestic animals, and wdien they are caught in mischief, 

 they should be dealt with on the same principle as domestic stock, 

 that is, with a view of preserving them for future service. Farm 

 animals are not destroyed when they commit devastations; meas- 

 ures are taken to protect the crops from future raids by strength- 

 ening weak and broken fences. Similarly, crops should be pro- 

 tected against the raids of birds, and experiments have demon- 

 strated that bird netting, tarred seed, and decoy fruit trees, among 

 other things, may successfully be employed to this end, while at 

 the same time the birds are preserved to turn their energies to bet- 

 ter account in destroying insect pests. 



No group of birds better deserves to be treated in this fair and 

 practical way than the grosbeaks. The details of their useful hab- 

 its, as given in the preceding pages, need not be repeated, but since 

 a final estimate of the value of the group depends upon the exact 

 nature of the food of its several members and their relation to 

 agricultural interests, it is proper to restate general conclusions: 

 The five grosbeaks studied consume on the average nine times more 

 weed seed than grain and fruit. Moreover, they devour nineteen 

 times more injurious than useful insects. Consequently, since their 

 subsistence is about half animal and half vegetable, their food 

 habits are about fourteen times more beneficial than injurious. It 

 has been shown, furthermore, that they attack many destructive 

 insects, even specializing on some of the greatest pests. The gros- 

 beaks, therefore, making due allowance for the injury they do, are 

 of great economic value, and it is evident that the farmer will 

 derive great advantage by preserving them. 



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