BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA IN RELATION TO THE FRUIT 

 INDUSTRY-PART II. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The first part of the report on Birds of California in Relation to the 

 Fruit Industry was published in 1907. In addition to the linnet or 

 house finch, which has attracted wide attention and is the subject of 

 much complaint, 37 other species were discussed. In the present 

 and concluding part, the food habits of 32 additional species are 

 treated. Among them are some of the most important birds of the 

 State, regarded from the standpoint of the farmer and fruit grower. 

 The aim has been to collect all data possible on the food of the sev- 

 eral species, to consider the facts impartially, and to render a just 

 verdict as to the birds' economic relations. 



All the birds whose food habits are discussed have direct relations 

 with husbandry. It is true that many of them have not been charged 

 with the destruction or injury of fruit or any other farm products. 

 Almost all, however, destroy great numbers of harmful insects or 

 devour seeds of noxious weeds; hence they are important econom- 

 ically. 



A large part of the present report consists of statements concerning 

 the food actually found in the stomachs of the birds. In this connec- 

 tion it should be borne in mind that by far the greater number of stom- 

 achs used in this investigation were collected in the more thickly set- 

 tled and highly cultivated parts of the State, so that they probably 

 contain a larger proportion of the products of husbandry than would 

 a series of stomachs taken at random from all parts of the range of 

 each species. It goes without saying that fruit and grain can be 

 eaten only by such birds as have access to those products, while birds 

 living in uncultivated places must subsist upon the fruits of nature. 



Some California birds show a marked preference for oats, but in 

 this State the presence of oats in a bird's stomach does not necessarily 

 indicate that cultivated oats have been eaten, for wild oats cover 

 hundreds of thousands of acres, and in the cultivated areas grow 

 almost everywhere, affording a supply of food for many birds. 

 Besides wild oats, the crop of volunteer oats that succeeds the cul- 

 tivated crop is abundant and is to be found wherever this grain is 



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