FOOD OF ROBINS AND BLUEBIRDS. 11 



ently that the loss is often serious and occasionally disastrous. 

 Sometimes, indeed, it is only by the most untiring efforts with con- 

 siderable outlay of labor and money that any part of the crop can 

 be saved. Fortunately, such extensive damage is not done every 

 year, although here and there the olive crop may suffer. 



There is probably no more striking example of this exceptional 

 and intermittent damage to fruit by birds than that which occurred 

 in the winter of 1900-1901. In that year olive orchards in various 

 parts of California were invaded by immense numbers of robins, 

 which ate the fruit and in some instances destroyed the whole crop. 

 Even in orchards where persistent effort was made to kill them or drive 

 them away they ruined from one-fourth to one-half of the yield. 

 Olive orchards in Santa Clara Valley were especially afflicted. Paul 

 Masson, who owned two orchards near Saratoga, as quoted by the 

 San Jose Mercury of January 17, 1901, says : 



In my largest orchard of about 500 trees adjoining a larger orchard of about 

 50 acres on the El Quito farm, which is owned by E. E. Goodrich, are thousands 

 of robins, which are destroying all the fruit on the trees. About two months 

 ago I estimated that my trees would yield about 4 tons of olives, but Sunday, 

 when I visited my orchard, I found the fruit would not be worth picking. 



I killed some of the robins, and upon examination found as many as five or 

 six whole olives in the crop of each bird. Besides those which the bird had 

 swallowed whole, many olives are pecked so that they are spoiled for market. 

 Sunday there were not less than 50,000 robins on my place, and they are equally 

 as plentiful on El Quito farm. 



Edward E. Goodrich, owner of the El Quito farm and olive 

 orchard, quoted by the same authority, states : 



The so-called robin is a destructive pest to an olive orchard. A crop can not 

 be saved when the migration of the robin corresponds exactly with the maturity 

 of the olive, as it does this year, except by immediate picking, which is prac- 

 tically impossible, or by shooting so constantly as to prevent steady consump- 

 tion. * * * In 189S my crop was 130 tons, and should have made about 

 4.000 gallons of oil. Owing to the lack of rain the result was about 2,750 gal- 

 lons, of the value of $11,000. Now, that crop could have been wiped out in 10 

 days by robins if they had been here as they were this season and no shooting 

 had been done. So far as my foreman could estimate, before the birds 

 descended upon the place, he placed the crop at a probable 3,000 gallons, which 

 means when sold from $12,000 to $1G,000, according to prices, and that would 

 have been utterly destroyed but for the constant shooting the last 10 days. 



As it was, Mr. Goodrich placed his loss on the olive crop through 

 the devastations of the robins at 25 per cent of the whole, or about 

 $5,000. 



The San Jose -Mercury also states : 



A representative of the Mercury visited the El Quito olive orchard to see 

 what the facts were in this matter. He found a force of men picking the fruit 

 as rapidly as possible, and he also saw thousands upon thousands of robins 

 doing the same thing. On his way out he occasionally saw a single bird on the 



