The Food of Birds. 89 



That an element of such transcendent importance to all 

 agricultural pursuits, and, through these, to the general 

 welfare, ranking evidently among the larger forces of na- 

 ture which affect powerfully and continuously the most 

 essential interests of the country, should never have been 

 made the subject of continuous, systematic and accurate 

 study, seems, at first, a surprising phenomenon. It is a 

 subject, however, presenting few attractions to the scien- 

 tific student, requiring a great amount of time, a good 

 knowedge of ornithology, a minute acquaintance with con- 

 siderable parts of entomology and botany, and a good de- 

 gree of skill with the microscope, while it profits the stu- 

 dent but slightly relatively to the work done, by way of 

 an increase of his knowledge. What little he learns is 

 gained at every disadvantage. His material is in the worst 

 possible condition for study ; and the personal result of 

 his labor is a continual discouragement to him. That 

 whatever individual impulse should have been turned in 

 this direction should have been exhausted long before defi- 

 nite or conclusive results were reached, was, therefore, 

 inevitable. The student soon turned his attention to mat- 

 ters more attractive and more fruitful in knowledge and 

 reputation. In short, this is emphatically one of those 

 questions which, if studied exhaustively at all, must be 

 studied chiefly in the public interest. 



The primary purpose of this investigation is the deter- 

 mination of the exact relation of the difterent species of 

 birds, and of the class in general,/to agriculture and horti- 

 culture ; it would be disgraceful to those in charge of this 

 investigation if the opportunity were to be thrown away 

 which it offers for an increase of that knowledge of the 

 habits and relations of birds whose interest is strictly sci- 

 entific rather than practical, and this has therefore been 

 held in mind throughout as a legitimate secondary pur- 

 pose. We need a full knowledge of the direct and indirect 

 benefits and injuries attributable to each species, — the 

 ratio of benefit to injury, where both are apparent, the 

 numbers, distribution and migrations of all, and, in fact, 

 a full acquaintance with their entire natural history. 



The direct injuries due to birds commonly take the form 



