The common Bob-white quail, killed all over the country for sport, is 

 worth each year considerably more than his own weight in pure gold because 

 he destroys harmful insects (like the potato-bug, chinch-bug, and others) enough 

 to save more than the value of his own weight in gold in crops for the farmer. 

 Remember that each and every quail is worth that for bug-destroying alone, to 

 say nothing of the weed seeds he destroys on top of that, so the farmer with a 

 flock of quails on his land should protect them because in doing so he is saving- 

 money for himself and the crop supply for all. 



If it were not for the common forked-tail swallow we could not raise a 

 cotton crop in the United States, simply because the food of the swallow in 

 its migrations over the cotton belt is the cotton boll weevil, and the bird eats 

 the insect in the moth or egg laying stage, so he strikes at the weevil in his 

 weakest spot. 



There is not one single wild bird of any species (not even excepting hawks 

 and owls long killed on sight by everybody), but what is of very great value to 

 man, and every man, woman and child should protect every bird because it means 

 a tremendous crop increase to us all. 



Black -Crowned Night Heron (Nycticomx uaevius 



naevius) 



Length, about 24 inches. The black crown distinguishes it from its relative, 

 the yellow-crowned night heron. 



Range. — Breeds from northern Oregon, southern Wyoming, southern Mani- 

 toba, and central Quebec south to Patagonia; winters from northern California 

 and Gulf States southward. 



Given for a roosting place a suitable stand of leafy trees, especially ever- 

 greens, conveniently near a stream or pond that harbors fish, frogs and tadpoles, 

 and any locality may have its colony of night herons. As its name implies, this 

 heron is a bird of the night, not leaving its roost till dusk, when, with frequent 

 iteration of its hoarse quawk, it wings its way in the gathering gloom straight to 

 its feeding place. So rarely is the bird about in daylight that a large colony may 

 exist for years near a town or large city, and not above a dozen individuals have 

 an inkling of its existence. True to its sociable instincts, the night heron by 

 preference nests in colonies, and several pairs often place their rude nests of sticks 

 in the same tree ; or, in the absence of trees, as in the extensive tule swamps of 

 the far west, where other conditions are ideal for herons, they nest on the ground 

 or on the prostrate tules, hundreds of pairs being associated together. 



This heron sometimes feeds on field mice, but it eats too many fish to please 

 the fishculturist, and after it has once learned the way to a hatchery strong meas- 

 ures are needed to discourage its activities. 



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