37 2 ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY 



shows a slight increase over the other spring and summer 

 months. On the other hand the loss of grain is offset by 

 the destruction of insects. These constitute more than 

 23 per cent of the crow's yearly diet, and the larger part 

 of them are noxious. The remainder of the crow's food 

 consists of wild fruit, seeds and various animal substances 

 which may on the whole be considered neutral. 



The slaughter of birds for millinery purposes has 

 become so fearful and apparent in recent years that a 

 strong movement for their protection has been inaugu- 

 rated. Rapacious egg-collecting, legislation against 

 birds wrongly thought to be harmful to grains and fruit, 

 and the selfish wholesale . killing of birds by professional 

 and amateur hunters, help in the work of destruction. 

 Apart from the brutality of such slaughter, and the ex- 

 termination of the most beautiful and enjoyable of our 

 animal companions, this destruction * works strongly 

 against our material interests. Birds are the natural 

 enemies of insect pests, and the destroying of the birds 

 means the rapid increase and spread, and the enhanced 

 destructive power of the pests. It is asserted by investi- 

 gators that during the past fifteen years the number of our 

 common song-birds has been reduced to one-fourth. At 

 the present rate, says one author, extermination of many 

 species will occur during the lives of most of us. Already 

 the passenger-pigeon and Carolina paroquet, only a few 

 years ago abundant, are practically exterminated. Protect 

 the birds ! 



* One of the most unfortunate and conspicuous examples of this slaughter 

 is the partial extermination of the song-birds of Japan in the interests of 

 European milliners. To meet their demands the country people used bird- 

 lime throughout the woods with disastrous effectiveness, as shown in the 

 present exceeding scarcity of birds and the abundance of insect pests. 



