﻿658 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  embryo 
  state 
  we 
  must 
  lay 
  the 
  blame 
  to 
  ourselves 
  if 
  our 
  farms 
  are 
  ravaged 
  by 
  them. 
  |, 
  

   Those 
  hatched 
  beyond 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  civilization 
  are 
  not 
  likely 
  to 
  visit 
  ns 
  often 
  nor 
  ' 
  j 
  

   do 
  us 
  much 
  injury. 
  We 
  must 
  protect 
  quails 
  and 
  prairie-chickens. 
  All 
  of 
  the 
  North- 
  | 
  

   western 
  States 
  must 
  have 
  statutory 
  provisions 
  against 
  killing 
  them 
  for 
  ten 
  years, 
  at 
  

   least, 
  and 
  railroad 
  companies 
  must 
  refuse, 
  and 
  by 
  law 
  must 
  be 
  prohibited, 
  from 
  carry- 
  

   ing 
  thom 
  over 
  their 
  roads 
  for 
  the 
  same 
  period. 
  We 
  must 
  act 
  and 
  put 
  in 
  operation 
  | 
  

   the 
  knowledge 
  we 
  possess, 
  or 
  permit 
  ourselves 
  to 
  be 
  overcome 
  by 
  our 
  insect 
  enemies. 
  

   It 
  is 
  for 
  us 
  to 
  choose. 
  

  

  In 
  " 
  The 
  Chicag'o 
  Field 
  " 
  for 
  Marcli 
  17, 
  1877, 
  Dr. 
  Elliott 
  Coues, 
  United 
  | 
  

   States 
  Army, 
  is 
  inclined 
  to 
  place 
  the 
  sharp-tailed 
  grouse 
  {Pedioecetes 
  

   columhianus) 
  "if 
  not 
  at 
  the 
  head, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  front 
  rank 
  of 
  all 
  

   the 
  natural 
  grasshopper-staying 
  agencies. 
  These 
  birds 
  yearly 
  destroy 
  \ 
  

   millions 
  of 
  grasshoppers, 
  and 
  at 
  certain 
  seasons 
  eat 
  very 
  little 
  elseJ^ 
  As 
  his 
  

   article 
  is 
  a 
  brief 
  one 
  and 
  much 
  to 
  the 
  point 
  I 
  insert 
  it 
  nearly 
  entire 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  observe, 
  in 
  a 
  late 
  issue 
  of 
  the 
  Chicago 
  Field, 
  that 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  grasshopper- 
  

   preying 
  disposition 
  of 
  the 
  prairie-hen 
  is 
  re-opeued, 
  though 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  through 
  igno- 
  

   rance 
  tliat 
  any 
  doubt 
  on 
  the 
  subject 
  can 
  arise. 
  Some 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  years 
  ago 
  I 
  prepared 
  

   and 
  caused 
  to 
  be 
  somewhat 
  extensively 
  circulated 
  in 
  the 
  Northwestern 
  States 
  a 
  brief 
  

   reply 
  to 
  a 
  question 
  I 
  found 
  asked 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  papers, 
  " 
  What 
  will 
  destroy 
  grasshop- 
  

   pers 
  V 
  stating 
  in 
  brief, 
  " 
  Prairie-hens 
  will," 
  and 
  giving 
  some 
  facts 
  bearing 
  on 
  the 
  case. 
  

   I 
  never 
  meant 
  that 
  these 
  birds 
  were 
  a 
  complete 
  cure 
  for 
  the 
  plague, 
  but 
  I 
  endeav- 
  

   ored 
  to 
  show 
  what 
  incalculable 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  pests 
  the 
  chickens 
  destroyed, 
  and 
  to 
  set 
  

   their 
  grasshopper-eating 
  habits 
  in 
  the 
  proper 
  strong 
  light. 
  Probably 
  few 
  persons, 
  

   outside 
  the 
  ranks 
  of 
  ]Dractical 
  orniihologists 
  are 
  aware 
  how 
  extensively 
  the 
  so-called 
  

   granivorous 
  or 
  seed-eating 
  birds, 
  such 
  as 
  sparrows, 
  buntings, 
  and 
  finches, 
  feed 
  upon 
  

   insects 
  at 
  certain 
  seasons 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  is 
  true 
  of 
  the 
  graminivorous 
  birds, 
  like 
  grouse 
  

   and 
  partridges 
  of 
  all 
  kinds. 
  As 
  for 
  the 
  peculiar 
  insects 
  now 
  in 
  question, 
  namely, 
  the 
  

   grasshoppers, 
  they 
  furnish 
  food 
  to 
  an 
  immense 
  array 
  of 
  quadrupeds 
  and 
  birds 
  which 
  . 
  

   inhabit 
  the 
  western 
  prairies. 
  The 
  wolves, 
  foxes, 
  badgers, 
  skunks, 
  and 
  various 
  species 
  

   of 
  spermophiles 
  or 
  "goj)hers," 
  all 
  eat 
  them. 
  Among 
  birds, 
  the 
  cranes, 
  ducks, 
  hawks, 
  

   owls, 
  grouse, 
  and 
  a 
  great 
  variety 
  of 
  small 
  sparrow-like 
  birds 
  eat 
  them. 
  To 
  just 
  what 
  

   extent 
  these 
  furred 
  and 
  feathered 
  natural 
  enemies 
  make 
  an 
  impression 
  upon 
  the 
  devas- 
  

   tating 
  hosts, 
  cannot, 
  of 
  course, 
  be 
  known, 
  for 
  they 
  have 
  always 
  been 
  at 
  work; 
  but 
  

   we 
  may 
  logically 
  infer, 
  from 
  known 
  facts, 
  that 
  the 
  destruction 
  is 
  incessant, 
  decided, 
  

   and 
  important 
  to 
  the 
  last 
  degree. 
  Since, 
  also, 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  how 
  delicately 
  the 
  con- 
  

   tending 
  forces 
  of 
  nature 
  may 
  sometimes 
  be 
  balanced 
  in 
  the 
  perj)etual 
  " 
  struggle 
  for 
  

   existence," 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  unsafe 
  to 
  assert 
  that 
  the 
  diminution 
  of 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  prairie- 
  

   grouse 
  by 
  the 
  incessant 
  persecution 
  to 
  which 
  pleasure 
  or 
  profit 
  subjects 
  them, 
  is 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  principal 
  causes 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  perilous 
  swarming 
  of 
  the 
  grasshoppers, 
  but 
  that 
  

   there 
  does 
  exist 
  to 
  some 
  degree 
  a 
  causative 
  connection 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  circumstances, 
  

   there 
  can 
  be, 
  I 
  think, 
  no 
  doubt. 
  

  

  With 
  the 
  prairie-chicken 
  proper, 
  or 
  pinnated 
  grouse, 
  Cupidonia 
  cupido 
  of 
  the 
  books, 
  

   I 
  have 
  had 
  very 
  little 
  experience. 
  There 
  is, 
  however, 
  in 
  its 
  general 
  habits, 
  tastes, 
  and 
  

   proclivities, 
  nothing 
  materially 
  different 
  from 
  what 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  sharp-tailed 
  

   grouse, 
  Pedioecetes 
  columhianus, 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  bird 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  ample 
  opportuni- 
  

   ties 
  of 
  studying 
  for 
  several 
  years. 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  jilace 
  it, 
  if 
  not 
  at 
  the 
  head, 
  at 
  least 
  

   in 
  the 
  very 
  front 
  rank 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  natural 
  grasshopper-staying 
  agencies. 
  These 
  birds 
  

   yearly 
  destroy 
  millions 
  of 
  grasshojypers, 
  and 
  at 
  certain 
  seasons 
  eat 
  very 
  little 
  else. 
  Such 
  a 
  

   seemingly 
  extravagant 
  statement 
  is 
  supported, 
  nevertheless, 
  by 
  actual 
  observation 
  and 
  

   personal 
  experience. 
  I 
  lived 
  in 
  Dakota 
  in 
  1874, 
  during 
  the 
  grasshopper 
  invasion 
  of 
  

   that 
  year, 
  and 
  was 
  among 
  the 
  sharp-tails 
  continuously 
  from 
  June 
  until 
  October, 
  kill- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  great 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  " 
  out 
  of 
  season 
  " 
  for 
  scientific 
  purposes, 
  and 
  in 
  season 
  for 
  

   sport 
  and 
  food. 
  In 
  the 
  latter 
  j)art 
  of 
  summer, 
  and 
  in 
  September, 
  I 
  invariably 
  found 
  

   grasshoppers 
  in 
  the 
  crops 
  of 
  those 
  I 
  examined 
  ; 
  and 
  almost 
  invariably 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  craws 
  

   crammed 
  with 
  the 
  insects, 
  almost 
  to 
  the 
  exclusion 
  of 
  other 
  articles 
  of 
  diet. 
  As 
  I 
  took 
  

   occasion 
  to 
  say 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  Northwest," 
  'At 
  this 
  season 
  their 
  food 
  appears 
  to 
  

   be 
  chiefly 
  grasshoppers. 
  I 
  have 
  opened 
  numbers 
  to 
  find 
  their 
  crops 
  crammed 
  with 
  

   these 
  insects, 
  only 
  varied 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  flowers, 
  weed- 
  tops, 
  succulent 
  leaves, 
  and 
  an 
  

   occasional 
  beetle 
  or 
  spider.' 
  

  

  I 
  don't 
  pretend 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  tiie 
  business 
  of 
  staying 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  the 
  grasshoppers 
  

   may 
  be 
  safely 
  and 
  confidently 
  left 
  to 
  the 
  grouse, 
  or 
  to 
  any 
  other 
  natural 
  agency 
  — 
  the 
  

   hoppers 
  have 
  waxed 
  too 
  many 
  for 
  that 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  do 
  assert, 
  without 
  fear 
  of 
  reasonable 
  

   contradiction, 
  that 
  these 
  birds 
  are 
  the 
  natural 
  means 
  by 
  which, 
  in 
  certain 
  sections 
  of 
  

   the 
  country, 
  the 
  greatest 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  are 
  destroyed. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  many 
  experiments 
  which 
  might 
  be 
  mode 
  with 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  staying 
  the 
  

   ravages 
  of 
  this 
  plague, 
  the 
  absolute, 
  unqualified, 
  and 
  long-continued 
  protection 
  of 
  the 
  

   grouse 
  might 
  be 
  tried. 
  The 
  denial 
  of 
  the 
  sportmen's 
  pleasures, 
  and 
  the 
  stoppage 
  of 
  

  

  