114 AMERICAK GRAPE GROWIKG 



ing people avIio have a mistaken idea that tliey ai'e inju- 

 rious and poisonous. 



Generally speaking birds are the friends of the yintner, 

 and should be fostered, not repelled, but there are a few 

 species which rarely visit the vineyard except to feast 

 upon the grapes, and these should be destroyed. The 

 Oriole is one of these, and the best plan to get the little 

 rascal is to place a few dry bushes above the trellis, on 

 which he will alight and can then be shot. Or these 

 twigs may be smeared with bird lime, to which he will 

 stick. The Red-bird, or Cardinal, the Thrush, and Cat- 

 bird, are also very destructive, and it is still an open 

 question with me whether to feed them with sweet grapes 

 or to kill them and do without their sweet songs in the 

 future. Bat our pretty little Quails, though they will oc- 

 casionally pick berries when they hang within their reach, 

 should certainly be fostered, not killed ; for they devour a 

 great quantity of insects during the whole year, and though 

 passionately fond of sport myself, I can not find it in 

 me to shoot them when they make their home about the 

 vineyard. Ducks, chickens, and turkeys are also very 

 beneficial, destroying a multitude of injurious insects, 

 but they should be kept out while the fruit ripens. 



