10 
not in every instance be able to see it. In our investigations we often find an in¬ 
sect that is immune from the attacks of most birds, yet some enemy is to be found 
to hold it in check. For instance, our potato bug belongs to a family of insects 
many of whom possess a repellant odor or taste so that most birds will not touch 
them, but we have one bird, the rose-breasted grosbeak that is especially partial to 
this food and will prey on the potato-bug as long as it can be had. The common 
woolly caterpillars we know so well seem usually to And their hairs an effectual 
protection, but our two species of cuckoos or rain-crows feed on them by prefer¬ 
ence. Our crow can, by his superior strength, break clods, and turn over sticks 
and stones in search for grubs that are safe from the attacks of weaker birds. Thus 
each has a place to fill; we not only need plenty of birds, but plenty of kinds of 
birds to secure efficient protection. 
Yet it is a fact beyond dispute that birds can occasionally do considerable 
damage and it may well be asked if these aggressions must be patiently endured for 
the good they do at other times and in other places. But surely we have ingenuity 
enough to devise means of checking the evil without limiting the possibility of 
good. The danger from birds is confined to a certain period in the maturing of 
the crop. Usually this time is of short duration. Protect the crop during this criti¬ 
cal period and the question is solved. It is evident that for this purpose the gun is a 
clumsy and expensive weapon, the old fashioned scarecrow was after all much 
more scientific. It must be remembered that on the prairie wild berries were never 
common, and as the country comes under cultivation they are getting still more 
rare. Throughout the greater part of the United States wild fruits are in far 
greater abundance than with us, while orchards and gardens are not less common. 
It is therefore of great interest to compare the habits of Illinois birds in this respect 
with the general habits of the species. 
Of the total food of the robin in Illinois twenty-five per cent is cultivated 
and ten per cent wild fruit, in the whole United States the average is four per cent 
cultivated and forty-seven per cent wild. The propotions are thus completely re¬ 
versed. The figures for the brown thrush are no less surprising, twenty per cent 
cultivated and two per cent wild in Illinois to eight per cent cultivated and twenty- 
five per cent wild for the whole country. The catbird eats forty-one per cent culti¬ 
vated and five per cent wild with us against nineteen per cent cultivated and thirty- 
six per cent wild for the United States. Taking the average for these three birds we 
find of all the fruit they eat in Illinois eighty-three per cent is cultivated and in the 
United States only twenty-two per cent, and this in spite of the fact that the total 
amount of fruit of all kinds consumed averages one-fifth greater than with us. 
There must therefore be some peculiar condition here to make these birds four times 
more injurious to the garden than they are elsewhere in their range. Only one 
reason seems possible, that it is due to the scarcity of wild fruits in Illinois. 
Were a supply of berries of kinds worthless to us but prized by the birds, at 
hand, the pressure on domestic fruits would be greatly relieved. For instance if a 
few trees of the Russian mullberry were planted, preferably in our hen yards or 
hog runs, the chickens and hogs would appreciate them, and they would produce 
plenty of fruit of little value to us and yet offer the robins and catbirds a supply of 
food just when our cherries are ripe, and doubtless thus save many a berry for our¬ 
selves. Later in the season wild berries are more abundant and garden fruits suf¬ 
fer less, but still we should see that there is a supply of the former within reach. 
At this season water is often scarce and fruit juices may be the best substitute ob- 
