Our Native Birds' Protectorate 



Under the direction of the Committees on Bird Protection of the National Association of Gardeners and 

 American Association of Park Superintendents, L. H. Jensen, St. Louis, Mo., Chairman. 



THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS. 



Abstracts from Dr. ll'illiaiii T. Hornaday's "Our 

 Vanishins; U'ild Life" 



"TO MY FRIEXD THE EPICURE: The next time 

 you regale a good apetite with blue points, terrapin stew, 

 filet of sole and saddle of mutton, touched up here and 

 there with high lights of rare old sherry, rich claret and 

 Dry Monopole, pause as the dead quail is laid before you. 

 on a funeral pyre of toast, and consider this ; 'Here lies 

 the charred remains of the Fanner's Ally and Friend, 

 poor Bob White. In life he devoured 145 different kinds 

 of bad insects, and the seeds of 129 anathema weeds. 

 l'"or the smaller pests of the farm, he was the most mar- 

 velous engine of destruction that God ever put together 

 of flesh and blood. He was good, beautiful and true ; 

 and his small life was blameless. And here he lies, dead ; 

 snatched away from his field of labor, and destroyed, 

 in order that I may lie tempted to dine three minutes 

 longer, after I have already eaten to satiety." Then go 

 on and finish Bob White." 



"The millions of the insect world are ui)on us. Tiie 

 birds fight them for us, and when the birds are numerous 

 and have nestlings to feed, the number of insects they 

 consume is enormous. They require absolutely nothing 

 at our hands save the privilege of being let alone while 

 tiiey work for us. In fighting the insects, our only allies 

 in nature are the songbirds, woodiieckers, shore-birds, 

 swallows and martins, certain hawks, shrews, bats and 

 a few other living creatures. All these wage war at their 

 own expense. The farmers might just as well lose 

 $8,250,000 through a short apple crop as to pay out that 

 sum in labor and materials in spraying operations. And 

 yet, fools that we are, we go on slaughtering our friends, 

 and allowing others to slaughter them, under the same 

 brand of fatuous folly that leads the people of Italy to 

 build anew on the smoking sides of \'esuvius, after a 

 dozen generations have been swept away by fire and 

 ashes." 



"In view of the known value of the remaining trees 

 of our country, each woodpecker in the United States 

 is worth twenty dollars in cash. Each nuthatch, creeper 

 and chickadee is worth from five to ten dollars, accord- 

 ing to local circumstances. You might just as well cut 

 down four twenty-inch trees and let them lie and decay, 

 as to permit one woodpecker to be killed.'" 



WIN BACK OUR NATIVE BIRDS. 



By Joseph H. Dodson, Illinois. 



The great awakening all over this country to the im- 

 portance of saving our native birds is particularly in- 

 teresting to all who have gardens. The birds are Na- 

 ture's ow^n agents to help us protect and improve our 

 gardens. But for our native birds the insects would de- 

 strov all growing things. Yearly we have increased our 

 expenditures in fighting insects by sprays and applications 

 of chemicals. Altogether there are millions of dollars 

 spent in America each vear in fighting insects and still 

 not less than $500,000,000 are lost through the ravages 

 of those insects we cannot utterly destroy. Scientists 

 sav the gypsy moth, if unchecked, woidd completely de- 

 foliate all the trees in this country within eight years. 



.\nd you know the birds are the best aids to man in 

 fighting this moth. For better trees, better flowers, more 

 and better fruit we need more American birds. And 

 the birds are willing to come, hungry and eager for work 

 in our behalf. How, then, shall we help increase our 

 bird workers ? 



Our first care should be for the jirotection of our na- 

 tive birds. Wage the holy war on the English sparrow, 

 the quarrelsome pest that has driven so many of our 

 birds away. Protect the birds from the cats, particu- 

 larly stray cats. E. N. Forbush, State Ornithologi.st of 

 Massachusetts, estimates that cats kill 700,000 Ijirds a 

 year in his State alone. The damage done by cats is 

 appalling. Red squirrels also war on our birds. 



It is very easy to trap English sparrows and to traji 

 cats. 



A bird batii is one of the very best means of attracting 

 birds. They are not costly if bought read\- made, not 

 hard to make for yourself. The birds love to frequent 

 the gardens where a bath is always ready for them : par- 

 ticularly if they are given protection against cats. 



For twenty years I have studied and worked for liirds. 

 During that time I have discf)vered, bv actual experi- 

 ence, just what these dear little fellows want in the way 

 of houses and shelter shelves or invitations to nest. 



In choosing the kinds of houses you are going to put 

 out, you should consider first the birds which usually 

 come to your neighborhood every year. Wrens, blue- 

 birds and' purple martins are generally found in most 

 neighborhoods and these birds are very easily won to 

 suitable liouses. Robins, cat birds, cardinals, grossbeaks. 

 brown thrashers and scarlet tanagers can be attracted 

 by a sort of shelter shelf, in which they build their nests. 

 Chickadees, flickers and tree swallows can all be at- 

 tracted by the houses particularly adapted to their needs. 

 The purple martin usually arrives in the Central States 

 about the end of April. Martins, as you may know. 

 travel and live in great colonies, sometimes as many as 

 100 birds living in one house. This is one of the most 

 socialile and delightful American birds because you can 

 win so many of them to live together, and then the\- are 

 reallv the most valuable bird we have as they get their 

 food, which consists mostly of mosquitoes, entirely out 

 of the air. The experience of a Chicago bird lover is 

 interesting anrl typical of many others in attracting 

 ]Hirple martins. 1 le was pressed for time and tossed a 

 recently finished martin house upon the roof of a shed, 

 intending to place the house u])on a pole later on. That 

 evening he returned to his house through an .\pril storm 

 (if rain and sleet and was astonished to behold a flock 

 of martins sitting on the telephone wires, apparently 

 attracted by the new house which still la\- upon the shed. 

 .Several passing teamsters noted the jiitiable condition 

 of the freezing birds and offered to raise the house for 

 them. Tools were quickly brought and in a few minutes 

 the united eft'orts of the kindlv workmen had .swung 

 into place the heavy pole witii its handsome bird-house 

 on top. While the last brace was being sjiiked to the 

 shed, the birds seeming to know that the house was for 

 them, darted eagerly into the dripping shelter. They 

 were quite fearless of the men on the roof of the shed 

 and their twitterings of contentment could be distinctly 

 heard. The house has been inhabited each year ever 

 since, although it is right in the heart of tlie city now 



