COMMON BIRDS OF TOWN AND COUNTRY 



Some idea of the money value of this 

 group of birds to the country may be 

 gained from the statement that the total 

 value of the farm products in the United 

 States in 191 5 reached the amazing sum 

 of $9,108,000,000. If we estimate that 

 the total consumption of weed seed by 

 the combined members of the sparrow 

 family resulted in a saving of only i per 

 cent of the crops — not a violent assump- 

 tion — the sum saved to farmers by these 

 birds in 191 5 was $91,080,000. 



MOST ir.\WKS .\ND OWLS nENEFlCI.M^ 



The current idea in relation to hawks 

 and owls is erroneous. These birds are 

 generally classed as thieves and robbers, 

 whereas a large majority of them are the 

 farmers' friends and spend the greater 

 part of their long lives in pursuit of in- 

 jurious insects and rodents. The hawks 

 work by day, the owls chiefly by night ; 

 so that the useful activities of the two 

 classes arc continued practically through- 

 out the 24 hours. 



As many as 100 grasshoppers have 

 been found in the stomach of a Swain- 

 son's hawk, representing a single meal ; 

 and in the retreat of a pair of barn owls 

 have been found more than 3,000 skulls, 

 97 per cent of which were of mammals, 

 the bulk consisting of field mice, house 

 mice, and common rats. Nearly half a 

 bushel of the remains of pocket gophers — 

 animals which are very destructive in 

 certain parts of the United States — was 

 found near a nest of this species. The 

 notable increase of noxious rodents dur- 

 ing the last few years in certain parts of 

 the United States and the consequent 

 damage to crops are due in no small part 

 to the diminished number of birds of 

 prey, which formerly destroyed them and 

 materially aided in keeping down their 

 numbers. 



A few hawks are injurious, and the 

 bulk of the depredations on birds and 

 chickens chargeable against hawks is 

 committed by three species — the Cooper's 

 hawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, and the 

 goshawk. The farmer's boy should learn 

 to know these daring robbers by sight, so 

 as to kill them whenever possible. 



From the foregoing it will at once ap- 

 pear that the practice of oiTering bounties 

 indiscriminatelv for the heads of hawks 



and owls, as has been done by some 

 States, is a serious mistake, the result 

 being not only a waste of public funds, 

 but the destruction of valuable servants 

 which can be replaced, if at all, only after 

 the lapse of years. 



.\s a rule, birds do not live very long, 

 but, as previously stated, they live fast. 

 The)' breathe rapidly and have a higher 

 temperature and a more rapid circulation 

 than other vertebrates. This is a fortu- 

 nate circumstance, since to generate the 

 requisite force to sustain their active 

 bodies a large quantit\' of food is neces- 

 sary, and as a matter of fact birds have 

 to devote most of their waking hours to 

 obtaining insects, seeds, berries, and 

 other kinds of food. 



The activity of liirds in the pursuit of 

 insects is still further stimulated by the 

 fact that the young of most species, even 

 those which are by no means strictly in- 

 sectivorous, require great quantities of 

 animal food in the earh' weeks of ex- 

 istence, so that during the summer 

 months — the flood time of insect life — 

 birds are compelled to redouble their at- 

 tacks on our insect foes to satisfy the 

 wants of their clamorous young. 



Field observations of the food habits 

 of birds serve a useful purpose, but they 

 are rarelv accurate enough to be fully re- 

 liable. The presence of certain birds in 

 a corn or wheat field or in an orchard is 

 by no means proof, as is too often as- 

 sumed, that they are devastating the grain 

 or fruit. They may have been attracted 

 bv insects which, unknown to the farmer 

 or orchardist, are fast ruining his crop. 

 Hence it has been found necessary to ex- 

 amine the stomachs and crops of birds to 

 ascertain definitely what and how much 

 they eat. 



ASTONISHING CAPACITY OF BIEDS' STOM- 

 ACHS REVEALED BY 50,000 TESTS 



The Biological Survey has in this way 

 examined upward of 50,000 birds, most of 

 which have been obtained during the last 

 25 years from scientific collectors, for our 

 birds are too useful to be sacrificed Avhen 

 it can possibly be avoided, even for the 

 sake of obtaining data upon which to base 

 legislation for their protection. 



It is interesting to observe that hungry 

 birds — and birds are hungry most of the 



