38 



Canadian Forestry Journal, January, 1919 



good they do. The aim of the Act, of coinse, is 

 to protect the birds not only from those to whom 

 all wild life is game, but from the farmer who 

 owing to lack of knowledge of the habits of the 

 birds, supposes that in killing them he is getting 

 rid of pests. 



Birds as Crop Savers. 



Abundant evidence that cannot be questioned, 

 to show the value of birds as crop savers, is 

 available. Examination of bird stomachs by 

 biologists of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture showed that insects made up 100 

 per cent of the summer food of four common 

 species of swallows, 100 per cent of the night- 

 hawk's food, 98 per cent of the phoebe's, 94 

 per cent of that of the Baltimore Oriole, 98 per 

 cent of the huse wren's, 80 per cent of the com- 

 mon crow's, 80 per cent of the kingbird's, 74 

 per cent of the meadowlark's, 68 per cent of the 

 black-capped chickadee's, 80 per cent of that 

 of four common species of woodpecker, 64 per 

 cent of the brown thrasher's, 68 per cent of the 

 bluebird's, 42 per cent of the robin's, and from 

 one-half to one-third of the food of many other 

 familiar species. This data was obtained from 

 the examination of from over one thousand to 

 not less than several hundred stomachs of each 

 species. In winter, when insects disappear, 

 many of the birds that remain during the cold 

 weather consume large quantities of weed seeds, 

 thus lessening the growth of noxious weeds dur- 

 ing the following summer. 



Mosquitos, flies, and others insects spread dis- 

 ease. The mosquito would be a much greater 

 pest than it is but for nighthawks, whippoorwills, 

 swallows, swifts, and flycatchers, which devour 

 myriads of these troublesome insects. Ducks 



and other birds that inhabit ponds, lakes, and 

 marshes consume enormous numbers of mos- 

 quito larvae. Flies are eaten by almost all 

 species of birds. 



Even Hawks and Crows. 



Rats and field mice are a source of consider- 

 able damage to crops and stored grain, and fre- 

 quently injure fruit trees by gnawing the bark 

 from trunk and larger roots. Hawks, owls, and 

 crows render a useful service by preying upon 

 these rodents. 



The Act establishes a continuous close season 

 on the following migratory insectivorous birds: 

 bobolinks, catbirds, chicadees, cuckoos, flickers, 

 flycatchers, grosbeaks, humming birds, kinglets, 

 martins, meadowlarks, nighthawks, nuthatches, 

 orioles, robins, shrikes, swallows, swifts, tana- 

 gers, titmice, thrushes, vireos, warblers, wax- 

 wings, whippoorwills, woodpeckers and wrens, 

 and all other perching birds which feed entirely 

 or chiefly on insects. The Act provides that the 

 close season on other migratory non-game birds 

 shall continue throughout the year, except that 

 Eskimos and Indians may take at any season 

 auks, auklets, guillemots, murres, and puffins, 

 and their eggs for food and their skins for 

 clothing. Migratory game birds included in the 

 terms of the Act are waterfowl, including brant, 

 wild ducks, geese, and swans; cranes, including 

 little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes; 

 rails, including coots, gallinules, sora, and other 

 rails; shorebirds, including avocets, curlew, 

 dowitchers, godwits, knots, oyster catchers, 

 phalaropes, plovers, sandpipers, snipe, stilts, surf 

 birds, turnstones, willet, woodcock, and yellow- 

 legs; and pigeons, including doves and wild 

 pigeons. 



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