92 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 
Looking beyond the confines of the individual orchard or grain 
field, it is apparent that the grosbeaks make small demands either 
on our patience or endurance. The brief season of crop pilfering 
is a comparatively insignificant part of the otherwise beneficial 
yearly life of the grosbeaks, a fact sometimes lost sight of. The 
importance of birds as checks upon the insect enemies of agricul- 
ture, and the fact that they are among the most valuable assets 
of the farm, are too well known to require proof. No one should 
be so blinded to his own best interests by a sense of present injury 
as to destroy by wholesale creatures which by every intent and pro- 
vision of nature are among his best friends. The destruction of 
the most grievous pests known to us by birds give them a value 
comparable in degree, if not in kind, with that of some of the use- 
ful domestic animals, and when they are caught, in mischief, 
they should be dealt with on the same principle as domestic stock, 
that is, with a view of preserving them for future service. Farm 
animals are not destroyed when they commit devastations; meas- 
ures are taken to protect the crops from future raids by strength- 
ening weak and broken fences. Similarly, crops should be pro- 
tected against the raids of. birds, and experiments have demon- 
strated that bird netting, tarred seed, and decoy fruit trees, among 
other things, may successfully be employed to this end, while at 
the same time the birds are preserved to turn their energies to bet- 
ter account in destroying insect pests. 
No group of birds better deserves to be treated in this fair and 
practical way than the grosbeaks. The details of their useful hab- 
its, as given in the preceding pages, need not be repeated, but since 
a final estimate of the value of the group depends upon the exact 
nature of the food of its several members and their relation to 
agricultural interests, it is proper to restate general conclusions: 
The five grosbeaks studied consume on the average nine times more 
weed seed than grain and fruit. Moreover, they devour nineteen 
times more injurious than useful insects. Consequently, since their 
subsistence is about half animal and half vegetable, their food 
habits are about fourteen times more beneficial than injurious. It 
has been shown, furthermore, that they attack many destructive 
insects, even specializing on some of the greatest pests. The gros- 
beaks, therefore, making due allowance for the injury they do, are 
of great economic value, and it is evident that the farmer will 
derive great advantage by preserving them. 
QO 
