BY TUB WAYS JOE 
OUR WINTER ALLIES 
It, is fitting that at this time we 
again call the attention of our readers 
to the service which some of our win¬ 
ter birds are rendering us. Much has 
been said and written on this subject, 
and many people are aware of the value 
of birds as a whole to us. We are not go¬ 
ing to open the whole question of the 
economic relations of our birds, but 
we are going to attempt to show by 
citations from the works of authorita¬ 
tive students, the valuable aid which a 
few of our common winter birds are 
giving us. 
All summer long the weed plants 
have been growing in an attempt to 
mature seeds, and so to perpetuate 
their species. This you must know i> 
the law of their existence, and the ef¬ 
fort to fulfill it is a very determined 
one as every farmer and gardener w.ll 
attest. In the meadows and pastures, 
these “plants out of place" strive to 
maintain themselves even though 
mowed down several times a season; 
and usually in the end they mature 
enough seeds to start the infection 
anew next spring. In the grain fields 
the story is the same. At first the 
weeds are held in check, but once the 
grain is cut, they no longer have to 
compete with their domestic relatives, 
but can appropriate all the sunlight, 
air. moisture and food to themselves 
and usually for a whole month they 
grow unrestrained. What a crop ot 
c*> 
seeds then! Well is it for the farmer 
1 hat not all of them get oven a chance 
1o germinate. 
r l he fall is a period of migration and 
our summer residents gorge them¬ 
selves to fatten up for the'r journey. 
A goodly number of the birds that 
breed with us devour weed seeds. 
However, many of them leave early 
when some plants perchance are still ma¬ 
turing. Hence it devolves on others to 
dispose of a portion of the plentiful 
crop of weed seeds which matures each 
fall. Many finches and sparrows nest 
in the far north. The intense cold and 
deep snow of these regions deprive the 
birds of winter food and the latter 
come south each fall, some staying 
over winter with us, others going to 
milder regions. Of the latter class, the 
fox sparrow and the white-throated 
:sparrow may be noted as types. These 
spend from about 2 to 5 weeks- with us 
and during that period consume quan¬ 
tities of seeds about the thickets. 
But it is the winter residents that 
must destroy the greatest number. Of 
this class we may mention the junco 
and tree sparrow. Of the tree spar¬ 
row, Dr. Judd says in his work on 
“The Relation of the Sparrows to Ag¬ 
riculture”, “The value of the bird lies 
chiefly in the fact that barely one per 
cent of its food consists of grain, while 
more than fifty per cent is made up of 
weed seed. As it is one of the most 
.abundant species, fairly swarming in 
.the hedgerows that skirt the fields, it 
.is capable of rendering considerable 
.service to agriculture.” This is a sum¬ 
marizing statement of its food the year 
round. The over fifty per cent of weed 
seed content is consumed chiefly dur¬ 
ing the tree sparrow’s stay with us, for 
insects and wild fruit which usually en¬ 
ter into the summer diet, are of course 
largely unobtainable in winter, lienee 
the fondness of this bird fc;* weed 
seeds helps our farmers more than any¬ 
body else, for it spends the winter on 
