106 



Canadian Forestry Journal, October-November, 1914 



much with its little bubbling song, and 

 exacts such a heavy toll on insect life, will 

 gladly accept a nesting box out of which 

 the sparrows may be kept by hanging it 

 rather low down, and having the entrance 

 hole as small as possible. 



'The Purple Martin {Progne suhis) for- 

 merly nested in hollow trees, but the advent 

 of man encouraged it to nest about his 

 domicile. In some parts of the country, I 

 have noticed the fact, particularly in cer- 

 tain sections of Ne.w Brunswick, one may 

 lee martin houses erected on poles, and this 

 form of encouragement is very successful, 

 although the English sparrows are a con- 

 stant source of trouble to the rightful oatu- 

 ers. The value of the martins and swallows 

 around the house and buildings as insect 

 destroyers is appreciated by all who have 

 encouraged them. The Tree Swallow (Iri- 

 doprocnc hkolor), which nests in hollow 

 trees, is not so abundant in certain sections 

 of Ontario as formerly. Eeporting the suc- 

 cess of nesting boxes during 1913, Mr. W. 

 E. Saunders, of London, Ont., writes: "An- 

 other lot of boxes which were put in place 

 on an island in the Rideau Lakes were a 

 source of actual competition among the tree 

 swallows, there being more pairs than there 

 were nests." 



' Two of the woodpeckers may be attract- 

 ed by the use of nesting boxes. The Flicker 

 {Colaptes aiiratns), which occurs in and 

 around Ottawa, feeds largely on ants; a 

 single stomach has been found to contain 

 over 5,000 ants. In another instance 28 

 white grubs, one of our worst pests of grass 

 land and certain crops, were found in the 

 stomach of a flicker, which feeds largely on 

 the ground. It ale-o feeds upon wild fruits, 

 such as the wild black cherry. The Downy 

 Woodpecker {Bryohates pubescens) is a 

 most valuable ally, as it feeds largely on 

 beetles that destroy trees by boring into 

 the bark and timber. An examination of 

 723 stomachs showed that 76 per cent, of 

 the diet was animal food, consisting chiefly 

 of insects. 



' Reference has already been made to the 

 weed-destroying habits of our native spar- 

 rows. One of the first birds to arrive in 

 the spring, breaking the long winter silence 

 with its welcome little song, is the Song 

 Sparrow {Melospisa melodia), which is very 

 domestic in its habits. About three-fourths 

 of its food consist of weed seeds and one- 

 fourth of insects. Beetles, especially wee- 

 vils, form the greater portion of the insect 

 food. A thick hedge, denee shrubs, or piles 

 of logs provide suitable nesting places for 

 this most welcome of our sparrows. The 

 Chipping Sparrow (Spisella posserina) , ■ 

 whose confiding ways give it a warm place 

 in our affection, has somewhat similar nest- 

 ing habits to the former. It is, moreover, 

 the most insectivorous of our sparrows. 

 About 42 per cent, of its food consists of 

 insects and spiders, and caterpillars make 



up the major portion of the insect food, 

 especially when the young are being reared, 

 when as many as 17 feedings per hour, on 

 an average, for a brood of four nestlings 

 have been recorded. The retiring and sombre 

 Junco or Snowbird {J unco hycmalis), de- 

 stroys insects and feeds on weed seeds. An 

 examinatoin of 500 stomachs gave 23 per 

 cent, animal food (caterpillars, bugs and 

 beetles), and 77 jjer cent, vegetable food, of 

 which over 61 per cent, consisted of weed 

 seeds. In September the proportion of weed 

 seeds may rise as high as 95 per cent, of the 

 food. 



' The greatest exponent of the practice of 

 bird protection is undoubtedly Baron von 

 Berlepseh, and to him we are indebted for 

 the splendid example he has given at See- 

 bach, in Germany. His ideas have been 

 adopted by various states in Germany and 

 in the countries where the protection of 

 birds and the provision of nesting boxes 

 constitute an important and necessary ad- 

 junct of forestry methods. An instance, 

 given by Baron von Berlepseh, of the prac- 

 tical value of bird encouragement may be 

 quoted. The Hainich wood, south of Eise- 

 nach, which covers several square miles, was 

 stripped entirely bare in the spring of 1905 

 by the caterpillars of the Oak Leaf-roller 

 Moth (Tortrix viridiana). The wood of 

 Baron von Berlepseh, in which tliere had 

 long been nesting boxes, of which there are 

 now more than 2,000, was untouched. It 

 actually stood out among the remaining 

 woods like a green oasis. At a distance of 

 a little more than a quarter of a mile fur- 

 ther, the first traces of the plague were ap- 

 parent, and at the same distance farther on 

 still it was in full force. It was plain proof 

 of the distance the tits and their companions 

 had gone during the winter and after their 

 breeding time. Similar observations were 

 made during a plague of the same insect in 

 the Grand Duchy of Hesse, where the pro- 

 tection of birds has been carried on in a 

 sensible and energetic fashion for over ten 

 years. Of -9,300 boxes hung up by the gov- 

 ernment in the State and Communal woods 

 of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 70 to 80 per 

 cent, were occupied in the first year, and in 

 1907 all were inhabited. On and near Baron 

 von Berlepseh 's Seebach estate, 90 per cent, 

 of 2,000 nest boxes in one wood Avere occu- 

 pied, and nearly all of 500 and 2,100 in 

 other localities. In Hungary similar mea- 

 sures are taken, largely owing to the ad- 

 mirable work of Otto Hermann, one of the 

 foremost European ad\-ocates of bird pro- 

 tection. 



' Some years ago, when investigating the 

 depredations of the Larch SaAvfly (Nematiis 

 crichsonii), in the English Lake district, I 

 Avas impressed Avith the value of birds as 

 natural means of control, and as birds in 

 the worst infested district, namely, Thirl- 

 mere, were not so abundant as they should 

 haA'e been, it was recommended that they 



