APPENDIX IV 



THE VALUE OF BIRDS IN DESTROYING 

 WEED SEEDS 



" You call them thieves and pillagers ; but know 



They are the winged wardens of your farms, 

 Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe, 

 And from your harvest keep a hundred harms." 



LONGFELLOW. 



THE part played in Nature's economy by " the fowls of the air " 

 is of a manifold character, although as regards their effect on the 

 agriculture of the country less is known than may be considered 

 desirable. In general there are, from the point of view of the 

 farmer and gardener, birds which are sometimes classed as wholly 

 harmful, others as distinctly useful, and yet others which lie 

 between these two extremes. In one way or another, however, 

 the vast majority of birds may be considered useful, but their 

 work in destroying weed seeds is the only point which can be 

 touched on here. 



We have already briefly noted the fact (see p. 20) that birds 

 may be agencies in the distribution of weed seeds, but the harm 

 done in this way must be inconsiderable when compared with 

 the useful work done by birds which largely subsist on the seeds 

 of wild plants. As an example of the aid farmers receive from 

 birds in this connection, it will be of interest and value to mention 

 briefly several birds which eat large quantities of weed seeds. 



The Chaffinch (Fringilla ccelebs L.) devours innumerable 

 seeds of weeds, such as Coltsfoot, Groundsel, Chickweed, Char- 

 lock, Wild Radish, Knotweed, Buttercup. Howard Saunders 

 says, " Both young and old feed largely on insects and the seeds 

 of weeds, so that in spite of pilfering of fruit, vegetables, and 

 newly-sown seeds, the Chaffinch may be considered as one of the 

 gardener's best friends." 



429 



