THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



the potato crop, and the cotton worm has been 

 known to cause, in a year, a loss of $30,000,- 

 000. The cinch bug and the Rocky Mountain 

 locust, scourges that leave desolation in their 

 path, have each caused, in certain years, a loss 

 of $100,000,000. 



By far the greatest insect destruction, by 

 the Bob white, occurs during the breeding sea- 

 son. Not only does a third of the food of the 

 adult bird then consist of insects, as has been 

 stated, but their growing broods consume in- 

 sects in enormous quantities. The food of 

 the young of practically all land birds con- 

 tains a much greater percentage of insects 

 than that of the mature birds; and the amount 

 of food the young require is immense, in pro- 

 portion to their size. 



In order to learn how far the bird might in- 

 jure ripening wheat, observations were made, 

 for several years, at Marshall Hall, Md. 

 During November immense flocks of crow 

 blackbirds made such havoc in winter wheat, 

 that diligent use of the shotgun was necessary 



241 



