62 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The laws enacted in the State of Utah for the protection of bird 

 life are, on the whole, adequate and well enforced, and the love for 

 bird life by the people of Utah has been a powerful agency in making 

 this possible. Since the writer's investigations in 1911-12 a law was 

 passed (effective March 11, 1913) giving protection to one of the 

 effective enemies of the alfalfa weevil — Brewer's blackbird. How- 

 ever, during the present crisis of the insect outbreak, it appears wise 

 to suggest that added protection be given to another enemy of the 

 weevil, and that there be removed from the statute books a bounty 

 law on a third. 



The species deserving added protection, for a short period at 

 least, that its good work in the suppression of the weevil may continue 

 unimpaired, is the valley quail. Its numbers at present throughout 

 most of the alfalfa area are too limited to threaten serious harm to 

 grain crops. In fact, from what was learned regarding the food 

 habits of this bird in relation to the weevil, it is far too scarce for 

 the best interests of the Utah farmer. A shorter open season or even 

 absolute protection for a few years would rapidly increase its num- 

 bers to a point where it could do effective work on the insect. 



Removal of the bounty law on the English sparrow is recom- 

 mended, not so much because the bird requires added protection, as 

 for the reason that this law, as is the case with most laws of this 

 nature, utterly fails to materially reduce the number of these birds, 

 and at the same time it has been the reason for the destruction of many 

 birds of other and beneficial species. A reduction in the numbers of 

 the sparrow, if desired, can be much more effectively accomplished 

 either by the efforts of individual farmers or by the employment of 

 competent men to make a thorough and extensive campaign of trap- 

 ping, poisoning, or nest destruction. "Where chicken feed can be 

 protected and where grain fields will not be jeopardized these birds 

 may well be allowed to continue unmolested their good work on the 

 alfalfa weevil. 



