OLR iVA'IINI-; IIIKDS. 371 



j)t*()|)k' tliat the Martin was not (|uito l)evf)n(l recall, livery cn- 

 coura«enient was given these hirds, and svyift fell the punish- 

 ment on anyone who jiersecuted theni. The Martins, findini];^ an 

 abundant t\)od supply, increased rajiidly in nnnihers, and the 

 dexastatinq- hordes of j^rasshop])ers were destroyed. 



In tlie year 1861 the harvests of France were very ])oor, and 

 the Minister for Agriculture appointed a Commission to investi- 

 gate the cause of this alarming diminution in the crops through- 

 out the country. The Commission attributed the unusually poor 

 return to the raxages of insects. It seems the birds which had 

 been keeping the insects in check, had been shot, snared and 

 :ra|)])ed throughout the countr\- in such numbers that the sur- 

 vivors were unable to maintain the balance of nature, and the 

 insects multii)lied and overspread the land to .^courge man for 

 liis ignorance and folly. This Commission re]xirted that they 

 c<!uld suggest m^ other reniech- against the ravages of the insects 

 than for i)rom])t and energetic legislation to i)revent the de- 

 struction of birds. 



Ft^r some vears prior to 1877 the farmers of Nebraska were 

 hi the habit of poisoning the Blackbirds during the spring and 

 autunm around the cornfields, because they believed this bird 

 was damaging the crops. Darticularly the wheat. Large numbers 

 of Prairie Chicken. Quail. Plover, and various other species of 

 eminently useful birds were destn^yed at the same time, jjy eating 

 \hv poisoned grain. 



Again outraged nature arose and smote those unreasoning 

 farmers in the form of countless hosts of locusts which swept 

 the land bare of crops and pasturage. " .\s ve sow, so shall 

 ve rea])." 



In the year 1815, in the region of Ekaterinburg, in Russian 

 Sil)eria. two species of cut-worms, and about ten s])ecies of 

 locusts devastated the countryside, and the farmers were in de- 

 s])air. for there was famine throughout the land. The local 

 Societ\' of Natural Sciences carefully investigated the cause, and 

 declared it to be due to the almost com])lete destruction of the 

 native birds which had been killed and their plumage sent abroad 

 to gratify- the vanity of so-called civilized w^omen. 



The tick is a living ever-|)resent nightmare to the farmer. 

 Knowing its disease-carrying i)rr^]>ensities. he never can tell when 

 it mav ii;fect his flocks and herds with a disease that will destroy, 

 perchance, the majority of them. The tick is the most formidable 

 enemv with which the stock farmer has to contend. 



With but few excei)tions. the ground birds feed more or 

 less on ticks. Some species of birds, such as the Tick Birds 

 (Buphaga) take them direct from the cattle, but the majority 

 feed upon them on the herbage and ground. When a female 

 rick has gorged herself with bl(^od she dro])s from her host and 

 crawls awav to seek a suitable place in which to deposit her 

 eggs. These blood-gorged ticks are eagerly sought after bv birds 

 which frequent the grazing grounds of cattle to seek for them. 

 Everv female tick so destroyed means the destruction of thous- 



