COALMON BIRDS OF TOWN AND COUNTRY 



time — are not content to fill their stom- 

 achs with insects or seeds, but after the 

 stomach is stuffed until it will hold no 

 more continue to eat till the crop or gullet 

 also is crammed. It is often the case that 

 when the stomach is opened and the con- 

 tents piled up the pile is two or three 

 times as large as the stomach was when 

 filled. Birds may truly be said to have 

 healthy appetites. To show the astonish- 

 ing capacity of birds' stomachs and to re- 

 veal the extent to which man is indebted 

 to birds for the destruction of noxious 

 insects, the following facts are given as 

 learned by stomach examinations made 

 by assistants of the Biological Survey : 



A tree swallow's stomach was found 

 to contain 40 entire chinch-bugs and frag- 

 ments of many others, besides 10 other 

 species of insects. A bank swallow in 

 Texas devoured 68 cotton-boll weevils, 

 one of the worst insect pests that ever 

 invaded the United States ; and 35 cliff 

 swallows had taken an average of 18 boll 

 weevils each. Two stomachs of pine 

 siskins from Hay wards, Cal., contained 

 1,900 black olive scales and 300 plant lice. 

 A killdeer's stomach taken in November 

 in Texas contained over 300 mosquito 

 larvae. 



A flicker's stomach held 28 white 

 grubs. A nighthawk's stomach collected 

 in Kentucky contained 34 May beetles, 

 the adult form of white grubs. Another 

 nighthawk, from New York, had eaten 

 24 clover-leaf weevils and 375 ants. Still 

 another nighthawk had eaten 340 grass- 

 hoi)i)ers, 52 bugs, 3 beetles, 2 wasps, and 

 a spider. .V boat-tailed grackle from 

 Texas had eaten at one meal about too 

 cotton bollworms, besides a few other 

 insects. .\ ring-necked pheasant's crop 

 from Washington contained 8,000 seeds 

 of chickweed and a dandelion head. 

 More than 72,000 seeds have been found 

 in a single duck stomach taken in Lou- 

 isiana in February. 



A knowledge of his bird friends and 

 enemies, tlierefore, is doubly imi)ortant 

 to the farmer and orchardist in order 

 that he may ])rotcct the kinds that earn 

 protection by their services and may 

 drive away or destroy the others. .\t the 

 l)resent time many kinds of useful birds 

 need direct intervention in their behalf 

 as never before. The encroachments of 



civilization on timbered tracts and the 

 methods of modern intensive cultivation 

 by destroying or restricting breeding 

 grounds of birds tend to diminish their 

 ranks. The number of insect pests, on 

 the other hand, is all the time increasing 

 by leaps and bounds through importations 

 from abroad and by migration from ad- 

 joining territories. Every effort, there- 

 fore, should be made to augment the 

 numbers of our useful birds by protect- 

 ing them from their enemies, by provid- 

 ing nesting facilities, and by furnishing 

 them food in times of stress. 



One of the worst foes of our native 

 birds is the house cat, and probably none 

 of our native wild animals destroys as 

 many birds on the farm, particularly 

 fledglings, as cats. The household pet is 

 by no means blameless in this respect, for 

 the bird-hunting instinct is strong, even 

 in the well-fed tabby; but much of the 

 loss of our feathered life is attributable 

 to the half -starved stray, which in sum- 

 mer is as much at home in the groves and 

 fields as the birds themselves. Forced to 

 forage for their own livelihood, these 

 animals, which are almost as wild as the 

 ancestral wildcat, inflict an appalling loss 

 on our feathered allies, and even on the 

 smaller game birds, like the woodcock 

 and bobwhite. If cats are to find place 

 in the farmer's household, every effort 

 should be made by carefully feeding and 

 watching them to insure the safety of the 

 birds. The cat without a home should be 

 mercifully put out of the way. 



In the following pages our commoner 

 birds are discussed, including some that 

 are destructive. They inhabit various 

 parts of the country, and it is to the in- 

 terest of the farmers of the respective 

 localities to be familiar with them. 



A colored illustration of each species 

 by the well-known artist, Louis .\gassiz 

 Fuertes, is given, so as to enable the 

 reader to identify the bird at a glance and 

 to permit the descriptive text, at best an 

 unsatisfactory method of identification. 

 to be cut down or altogether dispensed 

 with. The accounts of the birds' habits 

 .'uc necessarily brief, but they arc believed 

 to be sufficient to acquaint the reader with 

 the most prominent characteristic of the 

 several s])ecies. at least from the stand- 

 point of their relation to man. 



