EELATION TO AGRICULTURE 41 



There can be no doubt concerning the identity of 

 the thieves ; our own eyes have seen them at work. 

 The culprits are birds, the songsters of our lawns 

 robins, catbirds, brown-thrashers, and others, 

 They are the robbers and should be made to suffer 

 for their misdeeds. 



It is doubtful if the indignant possessor of a 

 black oxheart cherry-tree which recently has been 

 ravaged by robins pauses to deliberate upon the 

 general economic value of the bird he is about to 

 destroy. The shooting of the thief affords him 

 pleasure, and no wonder : during the cherry season 

 the food of the robin is 44 per cent, cherry ! Even 

 if the man knew that at other times of the year the 

 diet of the bird is 95 per cent, insectivorous, the 

 thought would not deter him from trying to save 

 his fruit. 



To people who grow cherries and strawberries 

 on a large scale the incursions of fruit-eating birds 

 entail the loss of considerable sums of money. 

 These men, under specially issued permits, are 

 therefore lawfully allowed to protect their crops 

 with guns, but only during the ripening period of 

 the fruit. Some growers surround their orchards 

 with trees bearing fruit of a poorer grade, but of 

 which the birds are extremely fond, and thus are 

 able to save their pocket-books without resorting 

 to lethal weapons. Many strawberry-producers 

 philosophically increase their acreage of berries in 



