3 
is wet, and even if turkeys demand a little extra care they 
are worth it. 
This is not a plea for the establishment of a few large 
poultry farms or large flocks of turkeys. The best results 
in the control of insects will be secured if each household 
owns a few turkeys and as many chickens as it can con¬ 
veniently care for. The money and labor to be expended are 
slight, and the aggregate wealth and benefit to agriculture 
reasonably to be expected are very great. 
The part that wild birds play in checking the locust pest 
Fig. 1. Colony poultry houses and pure breed fowls. (From British Columbia Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture Bull. No. 63.) 
is very important. Because of their size and smaller 
stomach capacity, they undoubtedly feed more upon the 
very young locusts and each bird will eat a great many of 
them. As a result swarms of adult locusts are less fre¬ 
quently developed than if there were no birds. What pro¬ 
portion of the locusts wild birds are able to kill is a matter 
difficult to estimate. The greatest consumption of insects 
is during the time that young birds are being fed in the 
nest. A nestling bird daily consumes one half its weight in 
insects. An adult bird of the size of the red-winged coucal, 
or sabacot, eats about 2.5 kilograms of insects during a 
year. It is very interesting to see hawks, beebirds, rollers, 
