The Food of Birds. 
89 
upon tlieir organic environment, are examples of subjects 
upon which light should be thrown by this investigation. 
That an element of such transcendent importance to all 
agricultural pursuits, and, through these, to the general 
welfare, ranking evidently among the larger forces of 
nature which affect powerfully and continuously the most 
essential interests of the country, should never have been 
made the subject of continuous, systematic and accurate 
study, seems, at first, a surprising phenomenon. It is a 
subject, however, presenting few attractions to the scien- 
tific student, requiring a great amount of time, a good 
knowledge of ornithology, a minute acquaintance wdtli 
considerable parts of entomology and botany, and a good 
degree of skill with the microscope, while it profits the 
student but slightly relatively to the work done, by way 
of an increase of his knowledge. What little he learns is 
gained at every disadvantage. His material is in the 
worst possible condition for study; and the personal re- 
sult of his labor is a continual discouragement to him. 
That whatever individual impulse should have been 
turned in this direction should have been exhausted long 
before definite or conclusive results were reached, was, 
therefore, inevitable. The student soon turned his atten- 
tion to matters more attractive and more fruitful in 
knowledge and reputation. In short, this is emphatically 
one of those questions which, if studied exhaustively at 
all, must be studied chiefly in the public interest. 
The primary purpose of this investigation is the deter- 
mination of the exact relation of the different species of 
birds, and of the class in general, to agriculture and 
horticulture; it would be disgraceful to those in charge 
of this investigation if the opportunity were to be thrown 
away which it offers for an increase of that knowledge of 
the habits and relations of birds w r hose interest is strictly 
scientific rather than practical, and this lias therefore 
been held in mind throughout as a legitimate secondary 
purpose. We need a full knowledge of the direct and in- 
direct benefits and injuries attributable to each species — 
the ratio of benefit to injury, where both are apparent, 
the numbers, distribution and migrations of all, and, in 
fact, a full acquaintance with their entire natural history. 
