102 
BIRDS AS SCAVENGERS 
In our southern States the Turkey ‘Buzzard’ and Black Vulture, or 
‘ Carrion Crow,’ have become so numerous and tame as a result of the 
protection there given them that they walk around the streets of the 
towns and cities in great numbers, and with no more evidence of fear 
than is shown by poultry. Every one realizes that a living Buzzard is 
of infinitely more value than a dead one, and in many years’ experience 
in the South I have never seen a Buzzard molested. 
The value of Gulls as scavengers was forcibly impressed on my mind 
when, some years ago, I visited the lower harbor of New York Bay 
to see the Gulls which were attracted by the scows of the Street-clean- 
ing Department of New York City. The number of Gulls present on 
this occasion was beyond calculation, but certainly exceeded three 
hundred thousand. Before the scows began to discharge their cargo 
most of the birds were resting on the water, but at the sound of the 
whistle giving the signal to dump, they arose in clouds and clustered 
thickly over the wake of each of the eleven scows to feed on the vege- 
table and animal matter thrown overboard. It was a most impressive 
object lesson in the economic value of these birds, which until recently 
have been destroyed in enormous numbers for millinery purposes. 
Suggestions for the Student 
How may a bird’s local or seasonal distribution be governed by the 
food supply? Give instances. Group our land birds under general headings 
according to the nature of their food. How is the nature of a bird’s food 
determined? Give instances illustrating the importance of field observation; 
of laboratory examination. To what extent are insects believed to injure 
our agricultural and forestry interests annually? Give definite instances 
based on personal observation in which insectivorous birds were seen to 
destroy injurious insects. How may birds aid in preventing disease? 
What birds are known to feed on mosquitos? Is it probable that agri- 
culture would be possible without the service rendered by birds? Describe 
the feeding habits of aerial, arboreal, scansorial and terrestrial insectivo- 
rous birds. Is the food of young birds like that of their parents? Why are 
insectivorous birds particularly valuable in the winter? Describe the value 
of birds as weed-seed eaters and give statistics of their destructive powers. 
What birds are the natural enemies of small rodents? Give the results 
of stomach analyses of various species of Hawks and Owls (see body of 
book). Which are considered beneficial? Which injurious? What birds 
are known to act as scavengers? 
References 
1880. Forbes, S. A., The Food of Birds, Bull. 3, Ills. State Lab. Nat. 
Hist., pp. 80-149. See also Bull. 6, pp. 3-32. — 1883. King, F. H., Economic 
Relations of Wisconsin Birds, Geol. Wise., I, pp. 441-610. — 1886-1909. 
Merriam, C. Hart, Chief and others. Reports on Investigations of the 
Biological Survey of the U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. Some of these papers 
are cited here, others under the species to which they refer. — 1888. Warren, 
B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania with Special Reference to their Food Habits, 
266 pp. — 1889. Barrows, W. B., The English Sparrow in North America, 
Bull. No. 1, Biol. Surv., 405 pp. — 1893. Fisher, A. K., Hawks and Owls of 
the U. S. in their Relation to Agriculture, 209 pp. — 1895. Barrows, W. B., 
and Schwarz, E. A., The Common Crow, 98 pp. — 1895. Forbush, E. H., 
