You have to talk facts to a farmer. 



"The government," you must tell him, "in a 

 series of scientific experiments, examined the stom- 

 achs of thousands of wild birds. In one wood- 

 pecker were found thirty-four caterpillar grubs of 

 the sort that ruin fruit trees. As bird heart-action 

 and bird-temperature are almost twice as high as 

 similar human functions, birds have to eat constantly 

 to keep their calories up and their tiny physical 

 engines going strong. Take the back of an old 

 envelope and figure out the army of caterpillars one 

 healthy woodpecker gets away with every day, at 

 the rate of thirty-four every four or five hours! 



"One little cedar waxwing," you continue, not- 

 ing that the farmers' mouths are now closed and 

 their eyes and ears open, " was found to have de- 

 voured a hundred cankerworms. A flicker ate 200 

 chinch bugs, a nighthawk 1,800 winged ants, a 

 Marvland yellowthroat was comfortably digesting 

 3,500 plant lice. An ordinary Jenny Wren had 

 gotten away with 102 ants. A scarlet tanager had 

 consumed 630 gypsy-moth caterpillars. And so 

 forth. And so forth." 



Brother Wright, finding this argument taking 

 hold well, submitted the fact, not generally known, 

 that in addition to their insect-dinners, many com- 

 mon wild birds are enormous consumers ol noxious 

 weed seeds. A snow bunting was found to have 

 gobbled 800 pigeonweed seeds at a single banquet. 



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