44 THE IMPOBTANCE OF BIED LIFE 



complete loss of hay and grain. Hay had to be 

 imported from England. 



It is also true that the heaviest losses from 

 ravages by the Eocky Mountain locusts have been 

 coincident with or following directly after the 

 destruction of thousands of red-winged black- 

 birds, grackles, and others. About thirty thou- 

 sand birds were slain in North Dakota in one 

 autumn by consuming corn soaked in strychnine. 

 It is estimated that these blackbirds would have 

 devoured several car-loads of insects in a month 

 far more than the bulk of grain they could pos- 

 sibly have destroyed. 



Bobolinks belong to the group of blackbirds. 

 Although responsible for an appreciable amount 

 of damage in the winter-time to Southern crops, 

 their warfare against the insects in the summer 

 months is of great monetary value to the country 

 as a whole. The Department of Agriculture is 

 thoroughly cognizant of this fact, and bobolinks 

 have been placed on the insectivorous migratory 

 bird list for protection by Federal law. There is 

 a proviso, however, which permits their destruc- 

 tion in several States, if discovered attacking 

 grain. This enables the Southern farmer to pro- 

 tect his cereals ; at the same time it prevents fur- 

 ther sale of the " reed-birds " which once so 

 cluttered our markets, and the species is no longer 

 threatened with extinction. 



That "feathered pirate, " the crow, is not so 



