- BUUM 227 



insects; about one-half of its food being made up of 

 insects. The catbird, against which there is such an 

 unreasonable prejudice, is another insect-destroyer; 

 iboni one-half of its food consists of insects. It is 

 claimed that the bird destroys some fruit; but even 

 if it does, it pays for all it takes l»y destroying hundreds 

 of harmful insects; and in this way does more good than 

 harm to the fruit grower. 



There arc many other birds that destroy insect-., but 

 we hare not -pace to mention them all individually, and 

 tell of their good work; so we must pass on to consider 

 the seed-eating birds. 



Questions 



1. How do insects damage growing crops? 2. At what 

 stage of growth are most crops subject to the attacks of 

 insects? 3. About what is the estimated damage per acre 

 by insects in the State of Illinois? 4. About how many 

 birds are there to the acre in Illinois? 5. About how many 

 insects do birds eat a day in the State of Virginia? 6. Name 

 a few of the best known insect-eating birds in your neigh- 

 borhood. 7. Tell what you know about the kind cf food 

 eaten by the Ufferent birds with which you are familiar. 



PROBLEMS 



1. Supposf the annual damage from insects in your State 

 averages 30 cents per acre, what is the yearly damage for 

 the State? 



2. Suppose there are four birds to the acre in your State, 

 about how many will there be for the whole State? 



3. Suppose each bird in your State eats five Insects a day, 

 how wnny will all the birds destroy in a week? 



