Bird Notes and News 



13 



Grain was also taken, " but not in proportion 

 to the insects, and as with the Rook the 

 damage done in this respect was not neces- 

 sarily as great as the quantity of grain would 

 suggest." "The Starling, if not too abun- 

 dant, must certainly be regarded as a friend 

 of the agricultm-ist. " Weed-seeds, elder- 

 berries, and grass were among the other 

 matter. 



The Wye investigators received 748 birds 

 from 76 districts, and conclude that Starlings 

 are " most beneficial on accoimt of the great 

 number of destructive insects and snails that 

 they devour." The main food was foiind to 

 consist of injurious insects, chiefly leather- 

 jackets and weevils, except in November 

 and, in one year, in December. The snails 

 included nmnbers of the strawberry- snail, 

 which is especially destructive to straw- 

 berries, violets and iris. The grain taken was 

 " in such small quantities as almost to be 

 negligible." 



The Chaftinch. — At Manchester 357 

 birds were examined. Weed-seeds were in 

 the greatest abundance, many instances 

 showing that " the bird takes large quantities 

 of the most troublesome weed-seeds, such as 

 chickweed, dock, and knotgrass. The grain 

 appeared to be taken chieflj^ from manure or 

 ricks and not from the cultivated land, so 

 that the bird was doing little or no damage 

 to the farmer," and the proportion of other 

 seeds of value found (in only 3 per cent, of 

 the birds) was " surprisingly small in view 

 , of the general impression as to the destructive 

 habits of the Chaffinch." 



The Wye examiners received 527 birds 

 from 80 localities, but the record is noted 

 as necessarily incomplete, because so little 

 food was found in them ; this is probably 

 accounted for by the greater part of their 

 insect diet being of so frail a nature as to be 

 soon destroyed, and as an illustration it is 

 mentioned; hat some Chaffinches were watched 

 clearing broad beans of aphis, but when shot 

 and next day examined scarcely any remains 

 of the fly were identifiable. The bird seemed 

 to be mauily insectivorous in the summer 

 months, probably eating great quantities of 

 aphis. Corn seems to be taken all the year 

 roimd ; " it is probably obtained largely 

 from poultry food in farmyards as well as 

 from the stubble, the stackyard and standing 

 com." From the food contents found, the 



Chaffinch " appeared to be economically 

 neutral " ; " the question largely depends 

 upon how many of the weed-seeds they have 

 eaten germinate after expulsion." 



THE FARMER AND THE ROOK. 



An illustration of the differences of opinion 

 existing with regard to the Rook is furnished 

 by contrasting the official Report with the 

 testimony of a Bucks farmer, Mr. C. T. 

 Adams, who writes to the Bucks Herald, of 

 the damage done by Sparrow, Starling, and 

 Woodpigeon, and adds : — 



" Lastly I will deal Avith that much- 

 maligned and much-persecuted, beautiful 

 and most useful bird, the Rook. I say 

 nothing of the interesting and beautiful 

 picture in every landscape a rookery is. I 

 will tell of the usefulness of the birds, who 

 all the year round search for grubs, slugs, 

 wire worm, etc., which would destroy all 

 the crops were it not for their constant 

 attention. When I came to Wendover 

 several of my fields were infested with 

 wire worm. I allowed no one to disturb the 

 Rooks when following the ploughs ; and 

 there were then very many more Rooks in 

 this neighbourhood than there are to-day. 

 Likewise when we have drilled a field of 

 corn, we keep them off until the land is 

 properly harrowed, and then allow the Rooks 

 to do just as they like. They search all 

 over the soil for insects that the drill and 

 harrows have brought to the surface, and 

 when they have done this they leave the field. 

 If the corn has been put in in good tilth so 

 that seed is properly covered, I have never 

 known a plant destroyed. There are times 

 when corn is planted very early or very 

 late, and bird-food is very scarce ; they do 

 require some attention then. . . . The late 

 Mr. R. Keen, to prove my theory, shot a 

 Rook coming from my fields some years 

 ago, and on opening the bird's crop found 

 no less than 90 wireworms. This fact made 

 a convert of him. 



" Were it not for the presence of millions 

 of Starlings, which eat the Rooks' food, I 

 do not think the damage by Rooks to crops, 

 even if not looked after at all, would be 

 worth mentioning. In any case, let poisoning 

 be the very last resource to destroy any bird." 



