300 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



redations by harmless means, except at an attending expense 

 too great to be borne by small farmers. Where large tracts 

 are under cultivation it is feasible to employ boys to stay in 

 the fields while there is danger from birds, to keep them off, 

 provided boys are to be had. 



On some of the rice-plantations in the South men and boys 

 are supplied with arms and ammunition and kept in the field 

 during the migration season. They shoot to kill and to frighten, 

 to give flocks on the ground a good send-off, and to keep those 

 in the air from alighting. A constant fusillade is kept up for 

 weeks. It is an expensive method, but nobody has been able 

 to show a better one. 



In view of all that we know of the economic qualities of 

 these birds, the wise course appears to be to molest them only 

 when beyond a doubt they are in mischief. An entire flock 

 will leave a field in as much haste, go as far, and remain away 

 as long as half of it ; so, unless there be malice to satisfy, a 

 blank shot is as good as a full charge. The only advantage of 

 putting a gun in a watchman's hand is to enable him to cover 

 more ground. The birds are as afraid of him without a gun 

 as with one, the only difference being that they are^sooner 

 aware of his presence. 



The chief purloiners of small fruits are cedar-birds and 

 robins. As has already been shown in Chapter III., a large 

 number of birds eat fruit, but the majority are satisfied with 

 the wild varieties that grow in their accustomed haunts. None 

 of our Northern birds feed so largely upon soft fruits as these 

 two, at least not in spring and early summer. 



Cedar-birds are essentially frugivorous, though they catch 

 many beetles and other flying insects, particularly in spring, 

 when there is not much fruit to be had. They go in flocks, 

 and when they come to good feeding, stay by as long it lasts. 

 They are nearly indifferent to man, being neither wary nor 

 familiar. High living is their main object in life. Berries in 

 a suburban garden or on an uninhabited mountain are quite 



