Common Birds on the Farm. 267 



the state as stragglers from their usual range, and a total of three hun- 

 dred and thirty species of North Carolina birds is reached. 



If we are to believe what many toiling scientists have revealed, 

 what many state agricultural departments tell us, what the United 

 States Government publications declare, and what we can all see with 

 t)ur eyes if we stop to observe, one great incalculable value of our birds 

 lies in the tremendous number of harmful insects which they destroy 

 and the vast quantities of harmful weed seeds which they consume. It 

 is no small service that a pair of robins render when they honor you 

 by living a summer in your garden, and each day probably eat more 

 than their weight of worms and insects. It is no little thing to have a 

 pair of pewees nest in a tree near your house, and every day for weeks 

 and weeks rid the air of hundreds of harmful insects that seek to destroy 

 the foliage or to sting the fruit of your trees. I once watched a pewee 

 capture sixteen insects during a period of ten minutes, and in company 

 with twenty-five witnesses saw a chipping sparrow one summer seize 

 thirty insects in one minute. 



Upon the approach of cold weather many of the birds which have 

 fed largely upon an insect diet, change the character of their food, and 

 during the cold months subsist chiefly upon seeds, with some wild fruit 

 and berries for dessert. Here is where the twenty-five species of native 

 sparrows in North Carolina render their greatest service. They search 

 the fields, eating the grass seeds which abound there. When the snows 

 come and cover this food the tall weed stalks are still holding their 

 stores of grain high above the snow, and to these the birds now turn. 

 Most farmers think they have trouble enough already with the grass 

 and weeds in their growing crops, but it would doubtless be a greater 

 task to keep these subdued if it were not for the assistance of the birds. 



Many people have failed to appreciate what a tremendous force the 

 wild birds are for doing good to the agricultural interests of the country, 

 simply from a failure to observe them closely. IMany people rarely see 

 wild birds except Avhen the frightened creatures are wildly endeavoring 

 to escape from the real or imaginary enemy who has intruded upon 

 their solitude. But hide in a quiet place, almost anywhere in the fields 

 or woods, and soon the birds come back to their accustomed activities. 

 I have known men who did this to be utterly astounded at what they 

 saw. 



While we often fail to give birds credit for the good they do, but 

 few men neglect to condemn them most heartily for any act which may 

 be regarded as detrimental to man's interests, no matter how super- 

 ticial the data may be upon which the charge is based. For example: 

 I have known farmers, who raised bees, to shoot all the Kingbirds (bee 



