NATURAL HISTORY. 



465 



almost the skill of a humming-bird, pick 

 insects from the leaf or blossoms. The 

 vireos patiently explore the under sides of 

 leaves and odd nooks and corners, to see 

 that no skulker escapes. The wood- 

 peckers, nuthatches, and creepers attend to 

 the trunks and limbs, examining carefully 

 each inch of bark for insects' eggs and 

 larvae, or excavating for the ants and bor- 

 ers they hear within. On the ground the 

 hunt is continued by the thrushes, spar- 

 rows, and other birds that feed on the in- 

 numerable forms of terrestrial insects. 

 Few places in which insects exist are neg- 

 lected. Even some species which pass their 

 earlier stages or entire lives in the water 

 are preyed on by aquatic birds." 



In nearly every case where the food hab- 

 its of our birds have been carefully studied, 

 do we find that the good done far exceeds 

 the possible harm that might be inflicted 

 by our birds. Allowing 25 insects a day as 

 an average diet, for each individual bird, 

 and estimating that we have about 1 1-2 

 birds to the acre, or in round numbers, 

 75,000,000 birds in Nebraska, there would 

 be required 1,875,000,000 insects for each 

 day's rations. 



Again, estimating the number of insects 

 required to fill a bushel at 120,000, it would 

 take 15,625 bushels of insects to feed our 

 birds for a single day, or 937,500 bushels 

 for 60 days, or 2,343,750 bushels for 150 

 days. These estimates are low when we 

 take into consideration the number of in- 

 sects that various of our birds have been 

 known to destroy in a single day. For ex- 

 ample, the stomachs of four chickadees 

 contained 1,028 eggs of cankerworms. 

 Four others contained about 600 eggs and 

 105 mature females of the same insect. The 

 stomach of a single quail contained 101 

 potato beetles ; and that of another upwards 

 of 500 chinch-bugs. A yellow-billed cuckoo 

 shot at 6 o'clock in the morning contained 

 43 tent caterpillars. A robin had eaten 

 175 larvae of bibio, which feed on the roots 

 of grasses, etc. 



Birds, like all other animals, feed on 

 that food which is. most readily obtained; 

 hence, the insectivorous kinds destroy those 

 insects which are most numerous, the inju- 

 rious species. 



Estimating that there is a single grass- 

 hopper, katydid or cricket to each square 

 yard of surface, it would require at least 

 650,000 bushels of these insects to cover the 

 State. Not taking into account any of the 

 myriads of other insect forms nor the rapid 

 rate of reproduction which is going on 

 among them, these alone. would be nearly 

 one-third enough insect food for our birds 

 during the year. This being true, it is 

 plain that at least twice as many birds 

 could find the proper insect food ifl our 

 State each year. 



A perusal of the various works that have 



been written on the economic relations of 

 birds to man will support the statement 

 that, if we were deprived of the services 

 of birds, the earth would soon become un- 

 inhabitable. 



In addition to the actual good that birds 

 do, as recorded above, in the destruction 

 of noxious insects, many of them are en- 

 gaged at least one-half of the year in hunt- 

 ing out and devouring the seeds of various 

 weeds and other, to us, useless plants. 

 Such is the mission of the various spar- 

 rows, snowbirds, finches, -and longspurs 

 which often occupy our fields in flocks of 

 thousands during the winter months. 



If, after ascertaining such truths as the 

 above regarding birds, we continue to 

 slaughter them, it is not due to thoughtless- 

 ness on our part. We do it wilfully and 

 maliciously. The schoolboy may thought- 

 lessly rob a bird's nest or kill a bird or 2. 

 It is the duty of the teacher and parent 

 alike to teach him better, to show him how 

 wrong it is to destroy life uselessly. It is 

 especially their duty to prevent the destruc- 

 tion of birds.' If each schoolboy in Nebras- 

 ka were to rob a nest of say 5 bird's eggs, 

 what would be the result? Yet the mak- 

 ing of bird-egg collections is getting to be 

 such a fad that almost every boy enters 

 into it more or less zealously at some time 

 or other. Some single collectors in a sin- 

 gle season take 500 or more eggs. This 

 should be stopped. We can study birds 

 and their nests without destroying either. 

 A live bird is more interesting than a dead 

 one. An egg left in a nest where it will in 

 due time become a live creature is of more 

 interest than an empty egg shell. 



We, as citizens of the United States, 

 pride ourselves on being highly civilized 

 and humane. We are in some directions, 

 in others not. We also claim to be in- 

 tensely practical and business-like in every- 

 thing. Are we? 



HOW AND HOW NOT TO HANDLE SKUNKS. 



Mr. R. Macnaughton, 

 Pittsfield, Mass. 



Dear Sir : I saw your reply to an in- 

 quiry in Recreation, but should like some 

 further data. 



Have you been in this business? 



How many young will each female skunk 

 bear in a year? 



Will all, or nearly all, live? 



Should the males be kept away from the 

 females all the time? 



What is the proper time to put males in 

 with females? 



Will the skunks live on animal food, 

 such as horses and cattle and refuse from 

 slaughter houses? 



Should more than one male be put in 

 at one time with 15 females? 



