The California Linnet 



A NATIVE SON 



Comes now the Agriculturist 

 (call him farmer, fruit-grower, or 

 what not) and testifies: "I have 

 seen the birds in my barley fields. 

 They pick up grain in the barnyard, 

 and it stands to reason that they are 

 damaging the crops. I'm trying to 

 raise a little fruit, an acre or so of 

 mixed varieties, but the linnets beat 

 me to it every year. They bite into 

 an apricot, and if they don't eat the 

 whole of it, the smaller birds or the 

 yellow-jackets finish the job. Not 

 content with one or two peaches at a 

 time, they pick into a dozen, and 

 have the whole crop rotting before I 

 know it. The only way I can head them off is to spread mosquito netting 

 over the tree; and that's a pretty hard, not to say expensive, piece of busi- 

 ness. I work hard enough for a living, as it is, and I'd like a little fruit 

 once in a while to help out." 



Comes now the Economist, the Government Expert, and he says: 

 "What these gentlemen say, most of it, is true. The linnet does eat a 

 little grain, and it does do considerable damage to fruit, especially in 

 small, outlying orchards. It is practically impossible for a small grower 

 to raise fruit without the use of netting, unless the numbers of linnets are 

 either substantially reduced, or unless they are intimidated by some 

 special means. But the alleged destruction of grain has been greatly 

 exaggerated. The bird eats chiefly fallen grain, and this item does not 

 arcount to above one-fourth of one per cent of the total diet for the year. 

 In the case of fruit, the damage is not much felt by the larger growers. 

 The birds do not flock extensively during the early fruiting season, and 

 their depredations are chiefly confined to the edges of the orchard. The 

 increase of fruit-growing does not appear to be a controlling factor in the 

 abundance of the birds; although it may prove necessary in some cases 

 to reduce their numbers and to keep them within bounds. 



"On the other hand, House Finches are enormous consumers of weed 

 seed. In the autumn they make common cause with the goldfinches, and 

 together, in immense flocks, they purge the fields of many weeds which 

 otherwise would increase to plague the farmer. Nature's balance depends 

 upon the maintenance of very considerable numbers of these birds. The 

 total or even approximate destruction of the species would probably work 

 an enormous hardship upon agriculture." 



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Photo by the A uthor 



