BIRDS THAT FEED ON ORCHARD PESTS. 167 



corned to the orchard. It is purposed merely to mention here a 

 few birds that destroy great numbers of insects, the orchard 

 caterpillars discussed in this bulletin among them. The pas- 

 sages which follow are quoted from the popular and valuable 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 54, "Some common birds in their relation 

 to agriculture." 



"While it has long been known that birds play an important 

 part in relation to agriculture, there seems to be a tendency to 

 dwell on the harm they do rather than on the good. * * * 

 The practical value of birds in controlling insect pests should 

 be more generally recognized. It may be an easy matter to 

 exterminate the birds in an orchard or grain field, but it is an 

 extremely difficult one to control the insect pests. * * * If 

 birds are protected and encouraged to nest about the farm and 

 garden, they will do their share in destroying noxious insects. 

 * * * A few hours spent in putting up boxes for bluebirds, 

 martins, and wrens will prove a good investment. In many 

 states birds are protected by law. It remains for agriculturists 

 to see that the laws are observed. 



"About 14 per cent of the quail's food for the year consists of 

 animal matter (insects and their allies). Prominent among 

 these are the Colorado potato beetle, the striped squash beetle, 

 the cotton boll weevil, the chinch bug, grasshoppers, cutworms, 

 and other pests of agriculture. * * * An examination of 

 the stomachs of 46 black-billed cuckoos, taken during the sum- 

 mer months, showed the remains of 906 caterpillars, 44 beetles, 

 96 grasshoppers, 100 sawflies, 30 stink bugs, and 15 spiders. In 

 all probability more individuals than these were represented, but 

 their remains were too badly broken for recognition. Most of 

 the caterpillars were hairy, and many of them belonged to a 

 genus that lives in colonies and feeds on the leaves of trees, 

 including the apple tree. One stomach was filled with larvae of 

 a caterpillar belonging to the same genus as the tent caterpillar, 

 while others contained that species. * * * From two-thirds 

 to three-fourths of the food of two common woodpeckers con- 

 sists of insects, chiefly noxious. Wood-boring beetles, both 

 adults and larvae, are conspicuous, and with them are associated 

 many caterpillars, mostly species that burrow into trees. * * * 

 It is estimated that the 87 stomachs of night hawks examined 

 contained not less than 20,000 ants ; and these were not half of 



