44 



THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF LAND BIRDS 



W. P. Fraser, Macdonald College 



Birds play an important part in their relation to agriculture. Whether they 

 are beneficial or injurious depends largely on their food. The benefits they confer 

 are the destruction of : — 



Noxious or annojdng insects ; 

 Injurious rodents, such as rats and mice ; 

 Weed seeds. 



The beauty and charm they give to field and woodland may also be included 

 here. 



The chief injury done is by the destruction of : — 



Fruit and grain ; 



Useful vn\d birds and poultry ; 



Beneficial insects. 



The driving away of useful birds and the building of unsightly nests, as in the 

 case of the English sparrow, may be included. 



There is a tendency to magnify the harm done by birds. The loss of a few 

 poultry caused by the raids of hawks is considered justification for their indis- 

 criminate slaughter, while the fact that the majority of hawks prevent a much 

 greater loss by the destruction of mice and insects is forgotten. The loss of fruit 

 during its season is coimted against the .birds, while the insects destroyed during 

 the rest of the year is scarcely reckoned in their favour. 



Careful investigations have been carried on by the biologists of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture in the field by observation, and in the laboratory 

 by examination, of the stomachs of birds to determine their food habits, and the 

 results have been published as bulletins of that Department. This paper is largely 

 based on the information contained in these bulletins. 



Gallinaceous Birds 



The best known of these birds is the Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellara togata, 

 commonly knowTi as the partridge. It feeds on fruit, buds, leaves and insects. 

 They are of a considerable benefit on account of the number of insects destroyed, 

 especially by the young. The eating of buds probably does no serious injury. 



