CHAPTER X 



FOES AMONG THE BIRDS 



Birds may be harmful to man in the following 

 ways: (1) by eating cultivated fruits; (2) by eating 

 grains; (3) by destroying poultry; (4) by injuring 

 trees and wood products; (5) by feeding on benefi- 

 cial insects; (6) by injuring other birds which are 

 valuable. 



Fruit-eaters. A number of birds eat cultivated 

 fruits to a greater or less extent. The fruits chiefly 

 damaged are the smaller ones, such as strawberries, 

 raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and olives, and 

 sometimes grapes may be punctured. The chief 

 fruit-eating birds, arranged in the order of the per- 

 centage which fruit forms of the whole food, are 

 shown in the following table: — 



Name of bird Per cent of whole food that 



cultivated fruits form 



Catbird 19 



Cedar-bird 13 



Brown thrasher 8 



Robin 8 



In certain localities the injury done may be very 

 serious. During the winter of 1900-01 enormous 

 numbers of robins visited the olive orchards of some 

 portions of California and did thousands of dollars 



