January 7, 1915] 



NATURE 



511 



sparrow, has probably received more attention 

 from naturalists than any other wild bird, but in 

 spite of all the deprecatory language that has been 

 applied to it, this bird has its redeeming features. 

 It has been allowed to increase to such an extent 

 that it has become one of the worst bird pests 

 we have. 



In the writer's investigations upon this species, 

 commenced in the early part of 1910 and com- 

 pleted in May, 1914, 404 adult birds were ex- 

 amined and 329 nestlings. Of the former, 207 

 were shot in or near orchards, 138 in agricultural 

 districts, and 59 in suburban districts. The 

 stomach contents of the birds from the fruit- 

 growing districts showed that the bulk of the food 

 consisted of the caterpillars of injurious insects 

 and weed seeds ; in only t\vent>--three cases were 

 the remains of blossom buds discovered, and in 

 twenty-seven cases wheat grains. There is only 

 one conclusion that we can come to as regards 

 this record, viz., that this much maligned bird 

 is distinctly beneficial in such districts. Unfor- 

 tunately when we examine the record of 138 

 specimens from agricultural districts, we find a 

 very different result. Remains of insects occurred 

 on only twelve occasions, whereas wheat grains 

 were found on 115, and the remains of other 

 grains 43 times. The 59 specimens from suburban 

 districts showed a very mixed diet. The stomach 

 contents of the 329 nestlings consisted almost 

 entirely of insect remains.^ 



From the above somewhat exhaustive record it 

 would seem clear that in all agricultural districts 

 sparrows should be given no quarter, whilst in 

 fruit-growing districts and towns they are far too 

 plentiful. 



Undoubtedly the worst bird pest the farmer has 

 to contend with is the wood pigeon. Gilmour* 

 examined the stomach contents of 265 birds, and 

 stated of the results : " There is no uncertainty, 

 no dubiety about the meaning here : the figures, 

 as given by himself, condemn, and we cannot but 

 convict." The writer examined 388 birds and 

 concluded that there were no extenuating circum- 

 stances that would lead him to alter an opinion 

 formed many years back, that no quarter should 

 be shown to it, and that ever}' means should be 

 taken to destroy it. 



It frequently happens that when a particular 

 species of bird becomes too plentiful, it changes 

 its food habits, and this, to a large extent, is 

 what has happened in the case of the birds 

 scheduled under this heading. The missel thrush 

 and blackbird have increased enormously in recent 

 years and both have become serious pests to fruit- 

 growers. The damage occasioned by the green- 

 finch and chaflfinch is chiefly to newly sown seed 

 and sprouting corn ; both species are too numerous. 

 Each vear we hear more and more of the damage 

 done by the starling and the rook. During the 

 past ten or twelve years the former species has 

 greatly increased; such increase being largely 

 due to migration and to the protection afforded 



=* Ji-rum. Poard Agric, IQ14, vol. xxi.,pp. 618-23 



•* Trans. HighlanH and Agricultural *^'m:. Scotland, 1S96, pp. 21-112. 



NO. 2358, VOL. 94] 



wild birds generally. At present it commits a 

 large amount of damage, but if it were consider- 

 ably reduced in numbers, it would prove, as in 

 the past, a most useful bird. 



Numerous investigations on the food of the 

 rook have been carried out, and all have shown 

 that the species is too numerous and consequently 

 injurious. Gilmour ^ examined the stomach con- 

 tents of 355 birds, Florence^ 162, Thring'' 141, 

 and the writer® 689. 



One regrets to have to condemn such a pretty 

 little summer visitant as the blackcap, but careful 

 observations, extending over eight or nine years, 

 proves that it commits grave havoc in the orchard, 

 and further, it has considerably increased in 

 numbers during this period. Owing to the perse- 

 cution of the gamekeeper, the jay is, in many 

 districts, annually becoming rarer. Where it is 

 at all plentiful, it undoubtedly steals the pheasant 

 food and the eggs of game birds ; it also bites 

 pieces out of rosy -cheeked apples and strips the 

 pods of peas, but it destroys blackbirds and mice, 

 and consumes large quantities of injurious insects 

 and slugs. 



In connection with all the species mentioned 

 as beneficial, we should like to see more stringent 

 laws for their protection. It is ridiculous fining 

 the schoolboy for taking a few eggs and allowing 

 the dealer and bird catcher to defy the law. 



There is no longer any doubt as to the great 

 value of the barn owl and the brown or tawny 

 owl to the agriculturist, and yet they are destroyed 

 wholesale by gamekeep>ers and others. Or take 

 the case of the plover. It would be difficult to 

 exaggerate the value of this bird to the farmer. 

 The good it does cannot be over-estimated, and 

 yet the farmers of this country are annually 

 watching its gradual reduction with indifference. 



Many species of birds, that otherwise are bene- 

 ficial, are active agents in the dispersal of weed 

 seeds. In some species the seeds are ground up 

 in their muscular gizzards, but in others this 

 action is so slight that many of the seeds pass 

 through the body uninjured. Thus, such birds as 

 the blackbird, thrush, house sparrow, bullfinch, 

 and greenfinch are now known to be great dis- 

 tributors of weed seeds, and such must be taken 

 into consideration in any attempt rightly to fix 

 their economic status. 



Space forbids any reference to such matters as 

 the status of game and sea birds, or the subject 

 of legislation and other means of protecting wild 

 birds, but enough has been said to show how wide 

 is the range of investigation in this important 

 subject. Unfortunately, none of our universi- 

 ties have chairs or departments of economic 

 omitholog}', nor is there any adequate aid being 

 offered to the investigator by the State. In 

 common with most scientific investigations, those 

 concerning economic ornithology entail consider- 

 able time and expense, frequently beyond the 

 means of the private individual, to whom the 



5 O/. cit. 



« Trans. Highland and Agrnmllnral. See. Scotland, 1912, pp. iSc^-aig. 



^ Joum. Econ. Biol., 1910, vol. v., pp. 49-67. 8 Ibid. 



