376 Bird -Lore 



food-supplies. In the North, man must make some kind of provision for sub- 

 sistence during the cold season, or face starvation. When we hear of wide- 

 spread failure of crops, and consequent famines among peoples who place their 

 main dependence on a single crop, as, for example, the failure of the potato- 

 crop in Ireland, we get a new conception of what disappointment and misery 

 the harvest-time may bring in certain parts of the world. 



When, on the contrary, we read that millions of bushels of corn and wheat 

 are safely harvested on our vast western farms, then we know that business 

 will be more secure, as well as that numberless homes will have peace and 

 plenty for the ensuing year. 



There is much yet to be learned about growing crops and fruit successfully 

 in different climates, so much, indeed, that all progressive governments employ 

 men to study the soil, conditions of moisture, temperature, frost, and all 

 else that has to do with successful agriculture in the interests of the people at 

 large. Our own government publishes many bulletins each year about crop- 

 culture, for the benefit of all who till the land. 



One investigator is actually comparing the climates of different localities, 

 in order to see how certain crops or fruits may be grown at any point on the 

 earth's surface where suitable conditions prevail. 



Birds need information about the location of food-supplies and their time 

 of maturing, as, much as man does; but how differently the bird must work out 

 for itself its problem of subsistence! In the first place, a bird has the power of 

 flight, which enables it to visit many different localities during the course of 

 the year, and consequently, to avail itself of food-supplies in great variety. It 

 is not surprising to learn that nearly every species of bird has a varied diet, and 

 is capable of adapting itself to a changing food-supply readily. 



Probably water-birds are more restricted than land-birds in diet, for what 

 reason you can easily guess. How quickly water-birds may adapt themselves 

 to new food-supplies has been demonstrated in zoological parks, where many 

 different species are often successfully kept under artificial conditions. The 

 Bob-white is an unusually good example of a species which varies its diet 

 widely. It is not only insectivorous, but also strongly vegetarian in its feeding- 

 habit. Experiments show that it will eat at least 149 different kinds of insects, as 

 well as 129 different kinds of vegetable food. Comparatively very few species 

 are strictly insectivorous or strictly vegetarian. Perhaps we should discover, 

 if we studied the birds about us closely enough, that the most inveterate 

 vegetarians now and then try a toothsome insect, or that most of the so-called 

 insect-eaters do not occasionally disdain a berry. 



It is well at this season to scrutinize our home neighborhoods very 

 closely, in order to discover what sort of harvest awaits the birds. Many 

 a weed passes our eyes unnoticed that offers a feast to seed-eating birds. It is 

 not unusual to see a flock of Sparrows or Juncos apparently searching for food 

 where nothing but a few sparse stocks or thin fringe of roadside weeds appear. 



