another Chickadee taken February 26, in a growth of pines and birches, con- 

 tained 454 eggs of Aphides, an eqtial percentage (44) of what seemed to be 

 dried castings from the okl nests of tent-caterpilkirs, spiders' eggs, and eggs of 

 tlie canker-worm. 



Additional statistics of the forest haunting birds' food are given under the 

 proper head, but we shouhl call especial attention here to the great value to trees 

 of our Cuckoos in devouring caterpillars. Over 48 per cent of the food of 

 Cuckoos has been found by Professor Beal, of the U. S Department of Agricul- 

 ture, to consist of caterpillars, the stomach of a single individual containing the 

 remains of 217 web-worms well known to be one of the most destr.uctive forms 

 or insect life to trees. These are only two illustrations among the hundreds 

 which might be cited, of the service rendered by the birds to our forest. 



I5irds are of value to the forest, however, not only as the destroyers of their 

 insect foes, but the birds with the squirrels help plant the forest by distributing 

 seeds. The seeds which are encased in a pulpy covering, those of the berry or 

 fruit-bearing trees, are voided unharmed by the birds often at a point far 

 distant from the parent tree, the bird thus acting as their distributor. Acorns, 

 beech-nuts, and chestnuts are frequently dropped or hidden by birds, and the 

 seeds of pines are released and scattered by the birds that seek them in their 

 cones. In short, we believe it can be clearly demonstrated that if we should 

 lose our birds we should also lose our forests. 



English Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 



Length : About ()]{\ inches. 



Its incessant chattering, quarrelsome disposition, and abundance and famil- 

 iarity about human habitations distinguish it from our native sparrows. 



Range : Resident throughout the United States and southern Canada. 



Habits and economic status : Almost iniiversally condemned since its in- 

 troduction into the Ignited States, the English sparrow has not only held its own. 

 l)iu has ever increased in numbers and extended its range in spite of all o])posi- 

 lion. Its habit of driving out or even killing more beneficial species and the de- 

 filing of buildings by its droppngs and by its own unsightly structures, are serious 

 objections to this sparrow. Moreover, in rural districts, it is destructive to grain, 

 fruit, peas, beans, and other vegetables. On the other hand, the Iiird feeds to 

 some extent on a large mnuber of insect pests, and this fact points to the need 

 of a new investigation of the ])rcsent economic status of the species, especially 

 ;is it promises to be of service in holding in check the newly introduced alfalfa 

 wi-evil, whicli ihre.itens the alfalfa industry in Ctah and neiiihboring states, in 

 cities most of ilu- food of the l"".ngli>^h ^jiarrow i- waste material secured from 

 the streets. 



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