26 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



ance stood well in favor of the hawks. Again, it 

 developed that many of the supposedly most 

 voracious grain-eating birds were in reality de- 

 stroyers of the insects so detrimental to the rear- 

 ing of crops. It was proved that other birds 

 accounted for thousands of tons of weed seeds 

 which otherwise would choke the truck gardens. 

 Finally, by compilation of statistics, it was shown 

 that they are responsible for the saving each year 

 of billions of dollars to the world of agriculture. 

 The husbandman does well, then, to hesitate 

 before consigning all the birds on his farm to per- 

 dition. He now realizes their true worth and 

 knows that their beneficial functions far outweigh 

 their evil ones. In the eyes of the modern farmer, 

 their minor depredations assume a negli- 

 gible position wholly discounted in the cause of 

 the greater good. So firmly established are their 

 useful characteristics in his mind that agricul- 

 tural schools all over the world are now laying 

 particular stress on the study of economic orni- 

 thology. He denominates these characteristics 

 under three chief heads: the destruction of in- 

 sects, of weeds, and of rodents. 



2 

 Harmful Insects 



Insects are responsible for more damage to 

 farm crops than any other known organisms of 



