HOW BIRDS AFFECT THE ORCHARD. 303 
injury has been done in this way, and much expense entailed, as the 
birds are wonderfully abundant in that section of the country. 
ROBIN. 
The robin (Alerula migratoria) has often brought itself into unenvi- 
able notoriety by its depredations upon small fruits. Many complaints 
have been received from growers of fruit, especially those who raise 
but a small amount. Sometimes people who grow a few choice cher- 
ries do not get even a sample of the fruit, and those who raise 
fine strawberries for family use sometimes secure only afew boxes, 
while the robins take most of the crop. On the other hand, thousands 
of fruit raisers in various parts of the country are never troubled by 
robins, although these birds may be just as abundant in their vicinity 
as elsewhere. The probable explanation of this is not far to seek. 
An examination of the stomachs of 500 robins, collected in various 
parts of the country, shows that cultivated fruit forms but a moderate 
percentage (less than 8 per cent) of their diet; and that practically all 
of this is eaten in June and July; while wild fruits, of which 42 vari- 
eties have been identified, constitute more than 43 per cent of the 
year’s food. Investigation shows that complaints have come chiefly 
from two principal sources, the suburbs of large towns in the East and 
the prairie region of the West. Such localities lack those wild fruits 
which robins evidently prefer. Near cities such fruits have been 
destroyed, and in the prairie region they rarely grow. As soon as the 
prairies were settled many small fruits were planted, thus affording a 
supply of food to the birds, while the larger fruit trees furnished sites 
for their nests. As none or but few of the wild fruits were accessible, 
it follows naturally that the birds resorted to the available supply, that 
is, to the cultivated varieties. Much the same condition has been created 
about large cities by the substitution of cultivated for wild fruit. 
CATBIRD. 
In parts of the Mississippi Valley the catbird (Galeoscoptes carola- 
nensis) also has become one of the pests of the small-fruit orchard. 
East of the Appalachian range there are so many varieties of wild 
fruits in forests and swamps that, as a rule, the bird confines itself to 
these localities and does not disturb orchard products. In the prairie 
region, however, it is different. Before that part of the country was 
settled the bird was confined to the narrow belts of woods and shrubs 
along streams, where it found agreeable nesting sites and suitable 
food. When civilization transformed the prairies into farms, gardens, 
orchards, and vineyards, a new field was opened to the catbird as well 
as toother species. The fruit trees and vines not only furnished secure 
nesting places, but also afforded a new and abundant source of food. 
It is probable that this resulted in a decided increase in the numbers 
of the birds, which, depending largely on domestic fruit for their food, 
