72 



WHAT DO WE OWE THE BIRDS? 



The answer to this question needs to 

 be presented from two distinctly different 

 points of view — the commercial and the 

 esthetic. In presenting the commer- 

 cial point of view it will be necessary to 

 ignore the use of any bird as an article 

 of food, because we are now speaking of 

 the living bird. Likewise it will be 

 necessary to ignore the side which might 

 be presented by the millinery trade, be- 

 cause that, too, has to do with the dead 

 bird. We shall have occasion to present 

 the general subject of the demands of 

 fashion at a later time. This paper, then, 

 is concerned only with our debt to the 

 living bird. 



In the June number of Birds and Na- 

 ture some general remarks were made 

 about what the birds eat. In this paper it 

 will be necessary to go more into partic- 

 ulars in order to get clearly before us just 

 wherein our debt lies. 



First of all, we owe our physical com- 

 fort to the birds, because they check 

 the increase in insect life The mos- 

 quito and gnat, the horse fly and 

 common housefly would soon rival the 

 plagues of Egypt were the birds to dis- 

 appear. If anyone doubts this let him 

 go into the Cascade mountains where 

 the scarcity of the birds gives great lib- 

 erties to the "deer flies." And they take 

 all liberties without so much as a "thank 

 you, I guess I will !" 



We owe our fruits largely to the birds. 

 This statement anyone may prove by 

 simple experiment. First drive the 

 birds from your garden because you 

 think they are eating the buds and blos- 

 soms, instead of the insects which sting 

 the buds. You will be rewarded with a 

 scanty and stunted fruit crop. Next 

 conclude that you won't get fruit any- 

 way, and so let the birds do as they 

 please. You will be pretty sure to har- 

 vest a fairly good crop at least. Lastly, 

 encourage the birds to visit your garden 

 and orchard in their northward passage, 

 as well as during the summer season. 

 Build nesting boxes for the swallows, 

 Wrens and martins. Plant a mulberry 



tree for the fruit-loving robins and cat- 

 birds. Now your fruit and garden are 

 returning an abundant yield of the best 

 grade. If the birds take a little for them- 

 selves have they not earned it? There 

 is enough and to spare. 



We owe corn and other grains largely 

 to the birds, because they help to keep in 

 check the insects which attack the 

 cereals. During the grasshopper plagues 

 very many birds feed upon the grass- 

 hoppers which do not usually touch 

 grasshoppers. Probably chief among 

 our grain field helpers is the Bronzed 

 Crackle, who is so much in disfavor for 

 the ravages he makes upon those same 

 fields when the corn is in the roasting- 

 ear stage. But he earns far more than he 

 eats. The birds of prey destroy vast 

 numbers of the little rodents which help 

 themselves too freely to the planted 

 grains. 



We owe the preservation of the rem- 

 nant of our forests, and all our trees and ^ 

 bushes largely to the birds who eat the 

 insects which attack the trees and bushes. 

 The woodpeckers are after the insect 

 which is destroying the tree, not after the 

 life of the tree. 



Space would fail us to speak of the 

 debt we owe to all the birds. There are 

 the scavenger water-birds — gulls, terns 

 and the like — the scavenger land birds — 

 the vultures — the ducks, geese and 

 swans, who check the encroachments of 

 vegetable life upon our streams, ponds 

 and lakes ; the herons, cranes, rails, coots, 

 .gallinules and shore-birds, which feed 

 upon the water and mud-inhabiting in- 

 sects and other small animals ; the spar- 

 rows and grouse, which destroy vast 

 quantities of the seeds of harmful plants. 

 In short, the only birds about whose use- 

 fulness there is any doubt are the Eng- 

 lish Sparrow, Crow, Blue Jay and four 

 of the hawks. These are far too few for 

 us to condemn all birds. 



We cannot afford to overlook the es- 

 thetic side of this question. How much 

 of our pleasure and happiness do we owe 

 the birds directly for their intensely busy 



