ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 



numbers of birds which destroyed quantities of young peaches. The peach-growers 

 took the law into their own hands and killed these birds by the thousand. Subse- 

 quently, and perhaps as a result, an unsuccessful attempt was made so to amend 

 the Game Law of the State of New York that a fruit-grower might kill any bird 

 which he believed to be injurious to his crops. 



The birds in this case were Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills, which, 

 as a rule, feed exclusively on the seeds of coniferous trees. Owing to a failure in 

 their food supply for the season of 1899-1900 they came south in exceptional num- 

 bers and were common throughout the winter in places where they are rarely seen. 

 The writer, in twenty years' experience, has not witnessed such an invasion of these 

 boreal birds, and it is probable that they may not be as numerous again for twenty 

 years more. While, on this occasion, Crossbills undoubtedly did much damage to 

 the peach crop, the facts in the case render it improbable that they may again be 

 destructive to peaches in the present generation. In their own range, under 

 normal conditions, Crossbills are of value to forestry as distributors of the seeds of 

 conifers, and it obviously would be a poor economist who would condemn a species 

 for a few weeks wrong-doing when its previous record showed it to be uniformly 

 beneficial. The death penalty is an extreme measure to inflict on birds when the 

 verdict is based on evidence from only one side. The planting of early Russian 

 mulberries, which birds are more fond of than strawberries and cherries, is one way 

 of protecting these fruits without harming the birds. Again, nets and various 

 devices, including the discharge of firearms loaded only with powder, may prove as 

 effective as the actual killing of the bird. 



With pear and apple orchards, as has been said, this question of fruit-eating 

 does not exist, and the service rendered them by birds has been most convincingly 

 demonstrated by Mr. E. H. Forbush, from whose observations, published in the 

 Massachusetts Crop Report for July, 1895, the following extract is taken. Selecting 

 an old, neglected orchard, he made an especial effort to attract certain birds to it 

 with the most interesting results. Mr. Forbush writes : 



" The orchard itself is a typical old orchard, such as is often found on small 

 farms. It has suffered greatly from neglect. Two-thirds of the original trees have 

 died or are in the last stages of dissolution. This is largely the result of neglect 

 and improper pruning. Dead limbs and hollows in the trees have offered nesting 

 places for such birds as the Wren, Woodpecker and Bluebird. 



"For three years, from 1891 to 1893, inclusive, the trees were trimmed and cared 

 for. They were sprayed or banded to protect them from canker worms, and the 

 ' nests ' of the tent-caterpillar [Clissocampa americand) were removed. The result 



