﻿20o 
  Sixteenth 
  Annual 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  to 
  put 
  in 
  a 
  word 
  in 
  their 
  favor. 
  I 
  can 
  do 
  no 
  better 
  than 
  to 
  quote 
  

   W. 
  B. 
  Tegetmeier, 
  the 
  author 
  of 
  ' 
  Poultry 
  ' 
  in 
  the 
  Encyclopedia 
  

   Brittannica, 
  and 
  a 
  very 
  well-known 
  judge 
  of 
  poultry 
  and 
  pheasants 
  

   in 
  England 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  He 
  says 
  : 
  ' 
  The 
  value 
  of 
  pheasants 
  to 
  the 
  

   agriculturist 
  is 
  scarcely 
  sufficiently 
  appreciated; 
  the 
  birds 
  destroy 
  

   enormous 
  numbers 
  of 
  injurious 
  insects 
  — 
  upwards 
  of 
  twelve 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  wireworms 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  a 
  pheasant 
  ; 
  if 
  

   this 
  number 
  was 
  consumed 
  at 
  a 
  single 
  meal, 
  the 
  total 
  destroyed 
  

   must 
  be 
  almost 
  incredible. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  insects 
  are 
  pre- 
  

   ferred 
  to 
  grain. 
  One 
  pheasant, 
  shot 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  shooting 
  

   season, 
  had 
  in 
  its 
  crop 
  seven 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty-six 
  wireworms, 
  

   one 
  acorn, 
  one 
  snail, 
  nine 
  berries 
  and 
  three 
  grains 
  of 
  wheat. 
  Mr. 
  

   F. 
  Bond 
  states 
  that 
  he 
  took 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  a 
  pheasant 
  four 
  

   hundred 
  and 
  forty 
  grubs 
  of 
  the 
  crane-fly 
  or 
  daddy-long-legs. 
  

   These 
  larvae 
  are 
  exceedingly 
  destructive 
  to 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  grass 
  on 
  

   lawn 
  or 
  pasture. 
  As 
  another 
  instance 
  of 
  their 
  insectivorous 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned, 
  the 
  complaint 
  of 
  Waterton, 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  

   extirpated 
  the 
  grass-hoppers 
  from 
  Walton 
  Park.' 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  H. 
  S. 
  

   Gladwin." 
  

  

  Another 
  letter 
  reads 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  am 
  glad 
  to 
  submit 
  to 
  you 
  

   our 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  pheasants. 
  We 
  have 
  raised 
  them 
  in 
  

   the 
  barnyard, 
  and 
  from 
  close 
  observation 
  have 
  found 
  that 
  insects 
  

   and 
  bugs 
  are 
  their 
  natural 
  food. 
  For 
  this 
  reason, 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  inesti- 
  

   mable 
  value 
  in 
  the 
  orchards, 
  where 
  they 
  do 
  absolutely 
  no 
  harm. 
  We 
  

   have 
  a 
  corn 
  field 
  in 
  close 
  proximity 
  to 
  the 
  orchards. 
  There 
  we 
  

   have 
  observed 
  crows, 
  blackbirds 
  and 
  doves 
  pulling 
  the 
  corn, 
  but 
  we 
  

   have 
  never 
  seen 
  a 
  pheasant. 
  We 
  are 
  breeding 
  them 
  this 
  winter, 
  

   not 
  because 
  we 
  want 
  a 
  game 
  preserve, 
  but 
  because 
  we 
  want 
  these 
  

   useful 
  birds 
  to 
  make 
  their 
  homes 
  in 
  our 
  orchards." 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  F. 
  C. 
  

   Pultneyville, 
  N. 
  Y. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  is 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  " 
  Rochester 
  Democrat 
  : 
  " 
  

  

  Lyons, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  July 
  19th, 
  " 
  Five 
  English 
  pheasants 
  will 
  pick 
  and 
  

  

  destroy 
  more 
  potato 
  bugs 
  in 
  a 
  day 
  than 
  any 
  farmhand 
  that 
  ever 
  

  

  lived," 
  says 
  William 
  N. 
  Myers, 
  and 
  he 
  ought 
  to 
  know, 
  as 
  he 
  has 
  

  

  tested 
  both 
  plans 
  for 
  exterminating 
  this 
  pest. 
  Mr. 
  Myers 
  has 
  a 
  

  

  