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INTRODUCTION 



Purpose. 



This bulletin on "The Food of West Virginia Birds" is published 

 for the purpose of giving information concerning the feeding habits of 

 these feathered friends of ours, to the fruit-grower, the grain-producer, 

 the school children of our State, the owners of tracts of woodland and 

 to all who depend for their daily bread upon the products of the soil. 

 This bulletin is not a treatise on economic ornithology, but is a brief 

 study in some of the relationships which our birds sustain to the wild 

 and cultivated fruits, the vegetables and grains and grasses, the weeds 

 and insects that have become our enemies, and the trees and lumber 

 products, and has to do with some of the most vital questions that come 

 before our agricultural communities. All these facts in regard to the 

 food of our birds are given here with the hope that those who read may 

 really know how much good our birds are doing and how carefully 

 they should be protected. 



The Need. 



All who have noted the decrease in the numbers of our birds, the 

 increase in the number of harmful insects, the exceeding great diffi- 

 culties that must be met by those who raise grains, fruits or vege- 

 tables, and the attendant high cost of living know that there is need 

 for the protection of birds. The scarcity of birds permits the multi- 

 plication of insects and the growth of weeds; these growing weeds 

 hinder the farmer's crops and cause him endless labor, while the 

 ever-increasing hordes of noxious insects devour roots, stalks, leaves, 

 flowers, fruits and seeds that are produced in his fields; these great 

 difficulties that lessen the production on all our farms add to the cost 

 of all farm and forest products; prices are then much higher, and 

 we all suffer in consequence. There is a great need for the diffusion of 

 knowledge concerning our useful birds and a greater need that such 

 protective measures be adopted that the birds may once more increase 

 and take their place in the plans- of nature. 



Preparation. 



In the preparation of this bulletin much original work has been 

 done, as the writer has been gathering data concerning the food of 



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