SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
hee SconomicaValuevot Oun Native 
Birds. 
By S. A. WHITE, C.M.B.0.U. 
The economic aspect of Ornithology has been very much neglected in 
Australia, and there is not the slightest doubt the country will suffer severely 
through this neglect. The food habits of our native birds is of the greatest 
importance, owing to the steady increase of the worst insect enemies to 
agriculture, because ib is well known that these insect pests have their 
enemies in many of our native birds. Mention only need be made of such 
destructive insects as wireworms, leafhoppers, weevils, black beetles, to ~ 
understand the enormous number of enemies the farmer has to contend with 
If insect pests are considered from the point of view of their attack upon 
the most important crops, those that come first would be those which live 
upon corn or grain crops, the foremost being the wireworm, the leafhopper, 
and the weevil. It is known to o.nithologists that 29 species of our native 
birds prey upon these very insects, as has been proved by stomach contents. 
Two species of small bugs are injurious to corn, by the larve boring into 
the stems, and this family of insects is known to be devoured by 32 of our 
native birds. ; = 
They are not only the worst enemies to agriculture which attack grain 
crops, but there are insects destructive to fruit, forests, garden crops, and a 
host of others, causing economic loss. Each and every one has its bird 
enemies. Is this fact not sufficient to induce the man upon the land to 
encourage his best friends around him, and for him to do all in his power to 
protect them? Next to the enforcement of protective laws, no method is of 
more value than the education of school children in a knowledge of bird 
life. If the children are taught that the bird life around them is necessary 
for their existence, and that they should not: disturb, much less kill, 
many birds will nest and bring up their young which otherwise never reach 
maturity. Courses in Nature Study have been found not only interesting, 
but exceedingly profitable. Boys and girls in the country should be taught 
to know every animal, bird, tree, shrub, and plant by its correct name, and 
its uses; then we will have the men and women of the future protecting our 
fauna and flora beneficial to the country. . ; 
_ The United States is an example of a country having made mistakes in 
~ this respect in the past, but it is now spending large sums of money annually 
to encourage the increase of her useful indigenous avifauna. Many European 
countries have their rigid game and bird protection laws, and what is of 
greater importance, they see that these laws are enforced. Many of these 
countries are struggling for an existence at the present time, but past ex- 
perience has shown them the value of preserving the useful birds indigenous 
to their land, and, although they can ill afford it, they are devoting public 
funds to this purpose. Surely it is high time Australia awakened to the 
fact that it is necessary to protect her bird life in the interests of her primary 
industries. 
Always the cry is for greater, production—for two blades of grass where 
but one grew before. These people who are continually reiterating this 
parrot cry should pause for a moment to reflect upon how much insect pests 
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