America is greatly favored in the number and character of its birds, which 

 not only include some of the gems of the bird world, as the warblers and hum- 

 ming birds, but on the whole embrace few destructive species. Not only do 

 many birds satisfy our esthetic sense through their beautiful plumage and their 

 sweet voices, but they are marvelously adapted to their respective fields of 

 activity. No other creatures are so well fitted to capture flying insects as swal- 

 lows, swifts and nighthawks. Among the avian ranks also are wrens, trim of 

 body and agile of movement, that creep in and out of holes and crevices and 

 explore rubbish heaps for hidden insects. The woodpecker, whose whole body 

 exhibits wonderful adaptation of means to end. is provided with strong claws 

 for holding firmly when at work, a chisel-like bill driven by powerful muscles 

 to digf out insects and a long extensible tongue to still further explore the hidden 

 retreats of insects and drag forth the concealed larvae, safe from other foes. The 

 creepers, titmice, warblers, flycatchers, quails, doves, and other families have 

 each their own special field of activity. However imlike they may be in appear- 

 ance, structure, and habits, all are similar in one respect — they possess a never 

 flagging appetite for insects and weed seeds. 



One of the most useful groups of native birds is the sparrow family. While 

 some of the tribe wear gay suits of many hues, most of the sparrows are clad 

 in modest brown tints, and as they spend much of the time in grass and weeds are 

 commonly overlooked. Unobtrusive as they are, they lay the farmer under a 

 heavy debt of gratitude by their food habits, since their chosen fare consists largely 

 of the seeds of weeds. Selecting a typical member of the group, the tree sparrow, 

 for instance, one-fourth ounce of weed seed per da}' is a conservative estimate of 

 the food of an adult. On this basis, in a large agricultural state like Towa tree 

 sparrows annually eat approximately 875 tons of weed seeds. Only the farmer, 

 upon whose shoulders falls the heavy burden of freeing his land of noxious weeds, 

 can realize what this vast consumption of weed seeds means in the saving and 

 cost of labor. Some idea of the money value of this group of birds to the cotmtry 

 may be gained from the statement that the total value of the farm products in 

 the United States in 1910 reached the amazing sum of $8,926,000,000. If we esti- 

 mate that the total consumption of weed seed by the combined members of the 

 sparrow family resulted in a saving of only 1 per cent of the crops — not a violent 

 assumption— the sum saved to farmers by these birds in 1910 was $89,260,000. 



The current idea in relation to hawks and owls is erroneous. These birds 

 are generally classed as thieves and robbers, whereas a large majority of them 

 are the farmers" friends and spend the greater part of their long lives in pursuit of 

 injurious insects and rodents. The hawks work by day, the owls chiefly by 

 night, so that the useful activities of the two classes are continued practically 

 throughout the 24 hours. As many as 100 grasshoppers have been found in the 

 stomach of a Swainson's hawk, representing a single meal ; and in the retreat of 

 a pair of barn owls have been found more than 3,000 skulls. 97 per cent of which 

 were of mammals, the bulk consisting of field mice, house mice, and common 

 rats. Nearly half a bushel of the remains of pocket gophers — animals which are 



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