FOOD OF WEST VIRGINIA BIRDS 11 



CHAPTER II. 

 ECONOMIC ORNITHOLOGY. 



Definition. 



The study of the food and food-habits of birds is called Economic 

 Ornithology. In this particular branch of bird-study we consider all 

 the things that birds eat, their useful food-habits and^ their harmful 

 food-habits, their place in maintaining the balance of nature, and the 

 help or hindrance they bring to us in our life work, and we study all 

 the beneficial or baneful effects which they have on all other forms of 

 life, including all other birds, insects, mammals, reptiles, crustaceans, 

 and man himself. Economic Ornithology is the most practical phase of 

 the interesting science called Ornithology and is fascinating to those who 

 pursue the intricate questions involved. It is a pleasure, too, because 

 the student of the food and food-habits of birds needs not only to be much 

 in the open air, the woods, fields and orchards, but he must have 

 a general knowledge of birds as well as some knowledge of forestry, 

 of fruit-bearing and nut-bearing shrubs and trees, weeds, insects, mam- 

 mals, and a host of other things that make up the environment of a 

 bird. No one can successfully study the food of birds without getting 

 a careful training in systematic nature work. Economic Ornithology 

 is a practical science and those who add new facts to our present store 

 of knowledge pertaining to the food of birds will make a valuable con- 

 tribution to the welfare of all who are interested in economic problems 

 and the practical things of life. 



Kinds of Food. 



In this chapter will be taken up many of the classes of food on 

 which our birds depend. This will help us in our more detailed study 

 of the groups of birds. By glancing over the headings in 

 this chapter, one may easily see how many kinds of foods birds require 

 and how omnivorous the birds really are. Some are fruit-eaters, and 

 are called frugivorous; others eat grain and seeds, and are called grani- 

 vorous; many species subsist largely upon insects and are called insecti- 

 vorous; those that feed on flesh are called carnivorous, and those that 

 eat fish are piscivorous; while those that have a greatly varied diet 

 are known as omnivorous birds. Since the variety of the food of birds 

 is so great, their relationships are many. The Hummingbirds sip the 

 nectar of the daintiest flower; the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drinks the 

 sweet sap from a fountain of his own making in the bark of a birch 

 or maple tree; many species enjoy the delicious flavors of wild and 

 cultivated fruits quite as well as we do; a host of birds eat insects; 

 some like fish and frogs; the Hawks and Owls prey upon mammals and 

 other birds; many of our more common species feed largely upon weed 

 seeds and grains, while the Turkey Vulture and a few other species 

 gorge themselves with refuse matter of various kinds. This chapter 

 sets forth the kinds of food that birds eat and suggests many facts that 



