ry Pa iy Va a BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN THE BLUE YELLOW-BACKED WARBLER. bER DS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN A Manual of Economic Ornithology for the United States and Canada BY CLARENCE M. WEED, D.Sc. PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY, NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND THE MECHANIC ARTS AND NED DEARBORN, D.Sc. ASSISTANT CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF BIRDS, FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM, CHICAGO ILLUSTRATED PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON js. LIPPINCOTD® COMPANY 1903 CopyRIGHT, 1903 BY Criarence M. Weep anp Nep DEaRBORN Published Fune, 19037 Electrotyped and Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U. S. A. TO STEPHEN ALFRED FORBES DIRECTOR OF THE ILLINOIS STATE LABORATORY OF NATURAL HISTORY WHOSE CLASSIC STUDIES OF THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF BIRDS WILL LONG REMAIN THE MODEL FOR LATER STUDENTS Chis Book IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED CONPENTS a) CHAPTER PAGE InTRODUCTION.—THE RELATIONS oF Birnps to Man. . . . 1 I.—Tue MetuHops or Srupyinc tHE Foop or Birps ~ . ; 9 Il.—Tue Devetopment or Economic ORNITHOLOGY... .. . 17 11.—Tar VEGETABLE Foop or Birps ... .. Se aes Mey AY, Darl IV.-—Tue Anima Foop or Birps ..-. ... . . Reeds. oY) V.—Tue Amount or Foop consumMeD By Birps ...... . 59 VI.—Brirps as Recutarors or Ourspreaks oF Insuntious Animats 68 VII.—Tue Retations or Brirps to Prepaceous anp Parasitic INSECTS emer ak sc RP om ee a Mae eR ee) a oe pe See ew VIII.—Tue TurusHEs AND THEIR ALLIES... ...... .. 86 IX.—Tue NournatcuHes, Tirmice, CREEPERS, AND WRENS. lO \e—TnE WARBLERS!) AND THe ViREOS .). . .... . . . . JL2 XI.—Tue SHrikes, Waxwineas, SWALLows, AND TanaGers .. . 122 XII.—Tue Finches anp SpaRROWS ............ . «182 Ni ake HNGLIsH SPARROW = 2:50. oes. os 2 2 se 144! XIV.—Tue Ortotes, BLackpirps, Crows, AnD JAYS... . . 156 XV.—Tue FiycatcHers, Humminc-Birps, Swirts, anp NigutHawks 174 XVI.—Tue Wooppeckers, KinGrisHERS, AND Cuckoos .. .. . 181 MV eeOwis. 3 ek ote MMe Selita aha hs vee 21 OD XVIII.—Tue Hawks, Facies, Kites, anp VuLtturrs ...... . 205 XIX.—Tue Pigeons, Grouse, AnD SHorE-Birps .. . . E see aD ene lre WATER-IRDS: <.).< «ewes ei a wk ee ws 289 vii vill CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXI.—Tue Conservation or Birps.—I. THe Non-Game-Birnps . 255 XXII.—Tue Conservation or Birps.—IlI. THe Gamse-Birps . .. 271 XXIII.—Preventing tHe Deprepations or Birps. .... .. . 298 XXIV.—EncouraGinG THE PRESENCE OF BIRDS ... . 5-05, Seo Ue APPENDIX I.—Tue Birp Law or THE AMERICAN OrRniTHOLOGISTS’ Union 3817 Ie —Tae Wacey Birp Law 2.) ye eee I1l.—Some FunpamMentat Principtes oF Birp Laws . . iat Hoe IV.—A PartiAL BisLioGRAPHY OF THE Economic RELATIONS OF Norra AMERICAN; BIRDS = 2 pees 326 INDEX. 2. 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'SAIQAMM, “5 I VIVAY VIA M'SI2WAA0H Sor ke No ei leases # | Zee nA ‘SYIMAZ OMG MOP V2\\( Parad yrag UdPAVH | PUD $QVANG 62240465 sap UAD “JAS PIY SOdiIf\ 'SAVWY2 WOH yA S$2Q 209 sparqgbury sur SMI\\UMS syringe Ag) Ooo Sey p2durm 'S5a0dd0u-Jvay ‘SONG S49) sisi $2\122q 521\\22 Ang Sav\a ROT FA YH BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN 5 a le Introduction. THE RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO MAN. Tue town of Durham, New Hampshire, in which this book has been written, may serve to illustrate in miniature the relations that exist between the world of birds and the world of man. This town abounds with homesteads distributed over its more habitable portions, with considerable areas of wood- land and rocky pastures, while on the east it adjoins that arm of the sea called Great Bay. Running into this bay is the Oyster River: below the dam which holds back the fresh water this is a tide-stream, overflowing salt marshes through part of its course. As a result of this unusual situation, Durham has an extraordinarily rich fauna and flora, making the region one to delight the heart of the naturalist. During the summer season birds are abundant in this town. In the yards about the houses the chipping-sparrows are cherished dwellers, building their horse-hair nests under the very windows, and supervising the lawns and roadways for grasshoppers, caterpillars, and many other insects found among the grasses and low herbage. The robins are also abundant, running over the lawns in search of earthworms, cutworms, and grasshoppers, often building their nests in the trees in the yard, though more commonly repairing to the 1 2 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. ol near-by orchard for that purpose. The bluebirds feed more freely upon low-living insects than even the robins do, eating ereat numbers of cutworms and similar pests about the borders of the garden, as well as searching for insects in the fruit and shade trees. Far- ther afield this area next the ground is supervised by various other birds: in the pastures and grass-lands sparrows, meadow-larks, bobolinks, blackbirds, and quails are always searching for caterpillars and other insects; along the borders of the forests chewinks and brown thrashers — scratch beneath the shrubbery for such insect fare as is there available; in the deeper woods the ruffed grouse is similarly engaged, while along the margins of ponds and streams the sand-pipers, plovers, woodcock, and snipe FEMALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. are always probing for hidden tidbits. Fortunately, trees are abundant in Durham: near the houses and along the streets shade and ornamental trees abound ; in the orchards apple-trees prevail ; along the water- courses alders and other shrubby trees hold sway, while in the forests oak and maple and beech and stately pines are everywhere. All of these trees have their insect enemies: in the trunk are borers of the bark, the sap-wood and the heart- wood ; on the branches are gnawing and sucking insects; on the leaves are caterpillars and plant-lice and leaf-hoppers and hosts of others. Set over against these destroyers are many feathered enemies: the woodpeckers, assisted by the nut- THE RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO MAN. Co hatches and creepers, look after the insects on and beneath the bark of both the trunk and branches; the chickadees and warblers and vireos and kinglets are always scrutinizing the leaves for their inhabitants, and are assisted in the case of the caterpillars and larger insects by the bluebirds, thrushes, cherry-birds, and many others. The air is no less thoroughly supervised by our feathered allies than are the grasses and the trees. Most insects at one stage of their existence are aerial: by day the butterflies, the beetles, some of the moths, the grasshoppers, the hosts of two-winged flies, and many others are upon the wing; while by night an even greater host of moths, fire-flies and other beetles, bugs, and many other insects are abroad. To keep in check these hordes of flying things there are certain well- inarked groups of birds: by day the swallows of lmany species and the chim- ney-swifts are constantly patrolling the larger spaces of the air, over both land and water, capturing mil- lions of these aerial insects ; the kingbird, pewee, and other fly-catchers, as well as to a more limited de- eree the cedar-bird and bluebird, capture the in- sects that pass within their range of vision as_ they perch upon fence or stump or tree; the warblers and vireos catch those insects THE KINGBIRD. flying in the immediate vicinity of the green-leaved trees, while the redstarts have well been named the fly-catchers of the inner tree-tops; by night the -nighthawks and whip- 4 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. poorwills are rushing everywhere through the air catching in their capacious maws insects of all sorts and sizes. With all these birds to devour them, it is evident that the insects of the air are well provided against, if we will only en- courage our aerial friends as they deserve. But insects are not the only pests troublesome upon our farms. In and about the barns and out- buildings mice and rats do much damage to grains, eggs, and poultry; in the grass-fields moles and meadow-mice are some- limes injurious; in the or- chards rabbits often girdle young trees by gnawing the bark. Against these also the birds help us: the hawks and owls feed largely upon all these rodents, and per- THE YELLOW WARBLER. form a great though little appreciated service in keeping them in check. After many years of study, in New Hampshire as well as many other States, of these relations of birds to agriculture, we are convinced that the birds are a most potent factor in inaking crop production possible, that without them we should be overrun with pests—vertebrate and invertebrate—to an extent of which we now have no conception. And so we are disposed to be lenient towards the few shortcomings of the birds which loom so large to many who see only one side of the picture. Fruit is pilfered by some of the birds, though in our region so few cherries and small fruits are raised and there is relatively so much wild fruit that the loss is of small THE RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO MAN. 5 account. In orchards near the woods a few trees are often disbudded in winter by ruffed grouse, and some other trees are treated in a similar way occasionally when the pine erosbeaks visit us. In corn-fields some corn is pulled up by crows, though our farmers prevent this largely by various means, and from us at least find no objection when they are able to shoot these wily thieves. And the same is true in the case of the yellow-bellied sap-sucker when it is girdling a tree, if only the owner will not extend his hatred to the woodpeckers that resemble it,—the downy and the hairy,— which are so eminently useful. In England some birds are HEAD OF HAWK. put on the black-list because they feed upon fish, but with us this is never thought of. We are sure the kingfisher is not begrudged his scaly diet by any one who is able to appre- ciate the fitness of the bird to our river scenery. And we can well spare the few fish our ospreys catch in the waters of the bay, when we are rewarded by the sight of the stately birds soaring through the air. About the only bird offence we are unable to condone is the robbing of our poultry-yards by the hawks and owls; and here, unfortunately, the inoffen- sive species generally have to pay the penalty for the crimes of their more ferocious kindred. 6 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. As to the relations between the birds themselves—especially the few that prey upon their kindred—in general we are con- tent to let Nature work out her balance of life in her own HEAD OF SHRIKE. way. The chief exception to this under our present condi- tions would be in the notable case where short-sighted man has interfered with Nature’s balance by introducing the Eng- lish sparrow, which, we regret to say, is becoming well estab- lished in our town. And we have the same feeling with regard to those parasitic and predaceous insects which birds undoubtedly devour: we are quite sure that by so doing they are helping to keep the balance of insect life where it will be most effective for man’s benefit. The birds are also to be credited with the destruction of an enormous amount of weed-seed, a service which is little appreciated by the general public. The estimate by Profes- sor F. E. L. Beal, that the tree-sparrows alone will eat eight hundred and seventy-five tons of weed-seed in Iowa in one season, should help to a more general appreciation of this phase of bird activity. There are various other benefits derived from birds which are not illustrated in our local conditions. One such is the THE RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO MAN. . X supplying us with down by the eider-ducks; another, the scavenger value of buzzards and vultures in our Southern States, as well as of gulls in the harbors of our cities; and yet another, the indication of shoals of fish by the presence of gulls, as along our Atlantic coast. Next in importance to the direct economic value of this bird life to our towns-people should be considered its value as an object of study and interesting recreation. Many people find in the birds a subject of constant interest in which they are kept out-of-doors in the health-giving atmosphere of our coastal region, finding always something to occupy and tran- quillize the mind. With the modern devices for such study, ——the splendid field-glasses, the improved long-distance cam- eras, the tents for close-range observations,—together with the constantly increasing number who are being attracted to it through the schools and the fascinating bird-books of later years, the class of people who thus find in the observation of bird-life a delightful pastime is certain to increase rapidly. And there are many people with no special liking for natural history studies who yet appreciate the value of birds in ministering to man’s love of beauty. To these the sight of a brilliant humming-bird poised before a flower, of a yellow warbler among the apple-blossoins, or of a splendid heron beside the rippling waters is a memory to be cherished certainly as much as the sight of a great masterpiece of paint- ing or sculpture created by human genius. There is also another relation the birds of Durham bear to its human inhabitants. In the woods everywhere ruffed erouse are plentiful; in the low swales woodcock, and in the wet meadows Wilson’s snipe are not uncommon; along the bay shores and by the marshes plover of various sorts are often found; on the waters of the bay wild ducks and wild geese are abundant during the fall migration. All of these birds afford those inhabitants who enjoy legitimate sport an opportunity for invigorating days of hunting, as well as a cer- 8 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. tain amount of excellent food. This game might also easily become a source of revenue to many other people in the town by attracting city visitors for the shooting season. In the following pages we have attempted to discuss in a broad yet specific way the relations of birds to man as illus- trated in temperate North America. The book has been made possible only through the labors of such investigators as Forbes, Merriam, Beal, Barrows, Fisher, Palmer, Judd, Warren, Herrick, Montgomery, and many others, upon whose published results we have freely drawn. ‘The need of the book was first shown when the senior author undertook to teach a college class the subject of economic ornithology, and its first draft consisted of the lectures prepared for that class. When later the junior author—a life-long student of birds— became associated with him, a joint study of the whole sub- ject was undertaken, the results of which are here presented. A considerable proportion of the illustrations in this book are from original photographs—chiefly of mounted specimens —hby the authors. The others have been gleaned from vari- ous sources, Which are credited beneath the pictures. HEAD OF CHIPPING-SPARROW. Se Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. THE KINGBIRD. OH Age WER THE METHODS OF STUDYING THE FOOD OF BIRDS. Tur accurate determination of the feeding habits of birds must form the foundation of any adequate knowledge of their economic status. To determine these habits two principal methods are available: (1) the birds may be watched in their natural haunts and the food they take be observed as care- fully as possible; (2) the birds may be killed and the food found in their alimentary canals examined to determine its nature. A third method, that of observing the food prefer- ences of birds in captivity, is chiefly valuable in helping to determine the amount of food eaten by birds, although con- siderable information may thus be obtained also regarding their choice of food. The first of these methods may be readily employed in determining the varieties of vegetable food that adult birds eat, and in exceptional cases is of value in determining the animal food of such birds. It is of greatest value, however, when applied to the nestlings, especially in the modification of the method first successfully employed by Professor F. H. Herrick, and described in detail later in this chapter. To the majority who would learn at first hand what birds eat, field-work is the only sort that appeals. Only those with the genuine scientific spirit are willing to soil their fingers with dissection or to spend hours in identifying the contents of a single stomach, even though possessed of sufficient expe- rience to carry on such an investigation. Even in field-work an extensive knowledge of animals and plants is necessary if one would name half the objects he sees in birds’ bills. But while it is highly desirable to ascertain exactly what birds eat, it by no means follows that a person should wait until he has 9 10 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. mastered botany, entomology, and kindred subjects, that will enter into his researches, before attempting to learn at least the general character of the food eaten by our various birds. To know whether a bird prefers insects or seeds is worth while, though the name of the insect or seed consumed may be beyond guessing at. The main thing, after all, in field- work, is to keep an attentive eye on the birds, to learn how to observe without frightening them, and to know when and where the different species feed. The study of food habits is not usually begun until after the student has gained a fair understanding of other habits that are more attractive to watch and oftener dwelt upon by ornithological writers. It is a sort of post-graduate course, so to speak,—another field into which the enthusiast, after covering the old run of species, distribution, migration, nests, egos, etc., may enter if his enthusiasm holds out. There- fore it is taken for granted that whoever is inclined to inves- tigate the food of birds is equal to his undertaking from the bird side, if no more. What he may not know about the items of food in the beginning, he will become so anxious to find out that his stock of information will rapidly increase. If one is interested in birds, the food problem will afford a good ** handle” for picking up an interest in other branches of natural history. For examining adult birds in the field, good vision and a note-book and pencil are the chief requisites, though an opera- or field-glass may often be used to advantage. War- | blers, vireos, and other active birds that live by foraging may - be quietly followed as they flit from tree to tree. In this way it is not difficult to discover the character of their food and about how much is consumed during a given interval of time. Now and then there will be favorable moments when it is possible to see for a certainty just what is taken. Cuckoos, kingfishers, flycatechers, and other birds that are more or less sedentary must be watched, an hour or two METHODS OF STUDYING THE FOOD OF BIRDS. et perhaps, from one position,—an occupation not nearly so irksome as it looks on paper. Wherever an abundance of some particular kind of food occurs, it is a good plan to sit down where you can see with- out being seen and wait for visitors. In this case your notes will take on a different look. Instead of having a bird’s name at the head and a list of food items beneath, you will have a food name at the top and the names of birds that partake in the columns below. Thus, you may sit on the shore and see what birds live on fish and what on mollusks. You may stroll across the fields at haying time and discover the birds that feed on the myriads of leaf-hoppers, grasshoppers, and ‘millers’ that take to wing at every step. So may you learn what birds are addicted to any seed or fruit that you may bring under observation. It is well to note in passing that birds are excellent judges of quality in fruits, for which reason it is well to see ‘* which way the birds fly” before selecting a site for operations. In the laboratory birds may be kept alive and tested as to their preferences for different kinds of food, though such ex- periments are not likely to be very. satisfactory, for the reason that birds in captivity quickly learn to relish things they would never taste in the wild state. A knowledge of the amount of food eaten by caged birds is of value, however, as whatever difference there may be between the quantity consumed in the wild and in the captive state is on the safe side. A prisoner cannot dispose of so much as the activity of a free bird demands. The’ determination of bird food by dissection requires an extensive outfit, if it is thoroughly done. There must be at hand good collections of botanical specimens, including seeds ; of insects, mollusks, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, and small maim- mals,—everything, in short, likely to be eaten by a bird,—in order to name correctly the visceral contents. Even the bones of the smaller vertebrates will be necessary for identi- Le; BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. . fying the food of hawks and owls. ) ? to) 1 See The Common Crow, Bull. No. 6, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. Orn. and Mam.; also Montgomery on the Food of Owls, Am. Nat., July, 1899, vol. xxxill. pp. 568-572. ‘Saye a ye ‘i »¥ ay La aa ~ hat i ’ 4 3 1 be at . oe J lj a = s i it a, i ‘a ey ul * 1 A ' i mT 1 a yt = : bie " at r | F a in " t \ fy ‘ ij a ‘~ 4 2 i BOBOLINK APPROACHING NEST IN PAIL. NEARER HOME. METHODS OF STUDYING THE FOOD OF BIRDS. is: fruit-eating birds do not digest their food so thoroughly but that its nature is apparent from the excreta. Wherever birds roost in numbers, pellets or excreta or both may be gathered, and when analyzed will give results scarcely less valuable than those obtained by dissection, with the advantage that there is no sacrifice of bird life. A study of the food of nestlings is less difficult and on the whole more satisfactory. Both the kind and the quantity READY TO FEED. may be accurately determined without injuring so much as a feather. If the nest is on or near the ground, asmall neutral-colored tent may be set up beside it as near as you please, into which you may retire, and, by watching the progress of affairs through a small ‘* peep-hole,” fill your note-book with an ac- count of the rations that are consumed. If on the ground the nest and young may be transferred to a sunken pail for better observation, as shown in the bobolink photographs herewith. It usually happens, however, that the nest is not in a position 14 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. where a tent can be placed beside it. In that case locate the tent in a good place as near by as may be, and then cut off the branch, fasten it strongly to a support by cords or screws, and by degrees move it to a place beside the tent. When it is not necessary to remove the nest, the tent may be pitched as early as the day of hatching, in most cases at least, without fear of causing the old birds to desert. But when the nest has to be moved, unless the degrees of progress are made very short, there is danger of desertion if the moving is undertaken before the young are well covered with starting pinfeathers. Then they are able to move about and usually OUTFIT FOR PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS IN NEST. lo make sounds that attract the parent birds. At that time also parental devotion is at its full strength, and the old birds are willing to face dangers that they would not otherwise encounter. ] an © ua iG W ta et ye peg % Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. AMERICAN LONG-EARED OWL. CreAP TERY. THE AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED BY BIRDS. Brrps as a class are the most active members of the ani- mal kingdom. They have rapid circulation and respiration ; are constantly on the alert during all seasons of the year; travel long distances in migrating or searching for food; rear large families, oflen two or more broods in a summer ; and, in short, perform for their size a prodigious amount of work. Because of this, one would expect them to require a large amount of food to keep up the energy they are so constantly expending, and the studies that have so far been made show that such is emphatically the case. Unfortunately, the problem of ascertaining just how much food wild birds need presents many difficulties in the way of its solution. So long as birds are at liberty, evidence must always be fragmentary and often uncertain. When they are kept in captivity, natural conditions are upset: the worry of confinement, the lack of exercise, and a changed diet are fac- tors of more or less importance; we can scarcely say how much. With nestlings the matter is simpler, though much time and patience and common sense are necessary in order to obtain creditable results. Thus, it is not to be wondered at that in the whole mass of ornithological literature—which latterly has increased to very respectable proportions—there is a striking paucity in this line. It is to be hoped that the gap will not be allowed to exist very much longer, as reliable data on the amount of food consumed is in economic importance second only to the kind consumed. Although information is scarce, yet there is enough to demonstrate that the quantity of food eaten by birds is relatively much greater than that consumed by any other class of vertebrates. 59 60 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. Sixteen canaries mentioned by Dr. Stanley! ate one hun- dred grains of food per day, about one-sixth of their own weight. ‘A gull kept and fed in a garden devoured in one day fourteen mice and two rats. Another was seen to swal- low an entire rat, an operation, however, not accomplished without some difficulty, the bird making several efforts before it succeeded, and even then the tail remained visible for sev- eral minutes.” * In The American Naturalist for July, 1899, Dr. Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr., gave some valuable data concerning the food of owls, based on a study of food pellets regurgitated at roosts. In the winter of 1898-99 four long-eared owls took residence in an arbor-vitee tree on Dr. Montgomery’s grounds at West Chester, Pennsylvania, and from December 26 till February 22 were under his observation. Pellets were gathered weekly and analyzed. In the fifty-nine days the pellets from beneath this one tree yielded remains of two birds, one shrew (Bla- rina), Ohne common mouse (J/us), and three hundred and forty-five field-mice (Microtus). Under a Norway spruce near by, where a short-eared owl roosted regularly and one of the long-eared occasionally, were found between February 26 and March 26, twenty-eight days, evidence of one crawfish, five birds, two shrews, one jumping mouse (Zapus), and one hundred and five field-mice. Pellets believed to have come from the same owls, found under trees within a radius of an eighth of a mile, contained remains of five birds (Regulus, Juneo, Certhia), seven shrews, and one hundred and forty- eight mice. Taken altogether here was an equivalent of one owl for two hundred and forty-six days, to which are credited twelve small birds, ten shrews, and six hundred mice, or about two and one-third animals, mainly mice, per day. For twenty-two consecutive days, December 25 to January 15, Dr. Montgomery counted four owls in the arbor-vite tree 1 History of Birds, p. 226. 2Id., p. 143. THE AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED BY BIRDS. 61 every day. The pellets taken from beneath the tree during that time showed parts of one finch, one shrew, and one hun- dred and ninety-nine mice. Dividing 201, the number slain, by 88, the number of days in which one owl would consume the same amount, we have 2.28,—what he would have eaten in one day. As it is probable that more or less pellets were dropped elsewhere, we may readily believe that the average daily consumption deduced from the whole number of pellets is within the lines of truth. An adult crow that had been slightly wounded in the wing was once brought in and kept alive by us awhile for a food experiment. He was put into a small box, twelve by thirteen by twenty inches, and kept supplied with water, cracked corn, and oats. In addition, from twenty to sixty angle-worms were given him each day for five days. By that time he was fairly tame and ate freely while being watched. We secured a quantity of small fish (Fundulus), which were abundant in the brackish creeks, and offered him some on the fifth day. He ate thirty grammes of them that day in addition to grain and the usual supply of earthworms. On the sixth day his animal food comprised sixty-eight angle-worms, ten shrimps, and eighty-five grammes of fish. By this time his wing was nearly healed, he was feeding well and showed a relish for fish, and, as we could procure them in unlimited numbers, we decided that the conditions were right for the final test. On the morning of the seventh day every eatable was re- moved from his cage, and a basin of water containing a num- ber of the living tish put in. As fast as the fish were taken out others were supplied. For three days he ate nothing else. During that time he consumed fourteen and a half ounces (avoirdupois)—making his daily consumption 4.83 ounces, more than a quarter of his own weight. It would take over four hundred grasshoppers at maturity to weigh as much as did his daily ration of fish. As there is no reason to suppose that uncaged birds would eat less than this cap- 62 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. live, a little multiplying will show that a crow devours an astonishing amount of food in a year. A ruffed grouse killed in winter had in its crop twelve leaves of sheep-laurel and four hundred and thirty-five buds and bits of branches from apple and maple trees. Some of the twigs were half an inch long. That was the morning meal. It would have been duplicated at twilight. The crop from another bird of the same species contained over five hundred buds and twigs. From these examples it appears that the daily requirement of this grouse lies between eight hundred and one thousand buds. At other seasons of the year it is impossible from an examination of its crop contents to judge with any certainty how much a grouse eats, as then the birds eat at all times of day. Professor Herrick,' in his study of the red-winged black- bird, noted that three nestlings received food forty times in four hours on one day, and forty-three times in three and a half hours on another day. Four young kingbirds” were fed ninety-one times in four hours. Two young red-eyed vireos? took grasshoppers, katydids, green larvee, beetles, and bugs of many kinds, also a few berries, once in fifteen minutes during two days and once in nine minutes on the third day. Four young cat-birds* received food forty-six times in four hours, after the old birds had become reconciled to the presence of the observer. Five times in succession large dragon-flies (Aeschna heros), just from their pupa-skins, were brought in. Beetles, moths, larvee, and strawberries were among the items. A brood of three young cedar-birds watched by us made an average gain during the first eleven days of 1.13 drams, avoirdupois, per bird per day. Excreta, voided on an average of three per hour, averaged to weigh one-sixth of a dram during the same period. Reckoning fifteen hours of activity ‘The Home Life of Wild Birds, p. 21. Noles 115 Wife Sadie psu: ANG TD Tesh THE AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED BY BIRDS. 63 per day, the total amount of excreta passed by each bird is 7.5 drams. Adding the daily gain to the daily excretion gives 8.6 drams, the daily food during the eleven days. After the eleventh day more nutrition goes into feathers and less to flesh, so that the gain in weight is not so great as before ; but the excreta continue to increase in proportion to the bird’s development, and the parents are in constant attendance, so il is clear that there is at least no diminution in the food supply after the eleventh day. During the fifteen days that the young birds spent in the nest, they devoured not less than ten ounces apiece, —more than ten times their weight on the day of flight. Another cedar-bird taken after it had left the nest, and kept under sur- veillance but not confined, took a good-sized black or choke cherry every ten minutes. When given two, he invariably doubled the time between meals. This bird was captured at night. The next morning the character of its excrement indicated that there was little or no food matter in the diges- tive organs. The fast was broken by two black cherries ; the stones were dropped forty-five minutes later. A blackberry was digested in half an hour. The cherries were given entire, and their large size evidently delayed their passage from the cesophagus into the proventriculus, for the bird stretched his neck as if in distress after they had been swallowed awhile. Photographed from life. CEDAR-BIRD AT NEST. 64 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. Mr. Daniel E. Owen has recorded! some interesting obser- vations on the food of a young hermit thrush recently from the nest. It ate regularly half its weight of raw beefsteak each day, and probably would have taken as much more had it been fed at sufficiently frequent intervals. Perhaps the most interesting point brought out was a method of deter- mining the rapidity of digestion in young birds. Having noticed that the blueberries eaten dyed the excrement, it oc- curred to Mr. Owen that ‘this fact furnished a ready method of finding the length of time required by the thrush to digest blueberries. The test was made July 26. At 12.56 p.m. of that day, the bird voided white excrement and was fed at once with blueberries. At 2.28 p.m., one hour and _ thirty- two minutes later, it dropped blue excrement mingled with berry seeds. If this experiment was trustworthy, and [ see no reason to doubt the accuracy of the method, the time re- quired for a blueberry to traverse the digestive tract was, practically, one hour and a half.” A brood of young cedar-birds confined by Mr. Frank Bolles? and fed by the old birds were supplied with eight thousand four hundred cherries in twelve days. Three robins about ten days old observed by us were fed in two hours one bird-cherry (P. pennsylvanica), one large cricket (Gryllus), one smooth caterpillar an inch and a half long, one moth (Noctuid), one harvest-man (Phalangiide), one tumble-bug (Copris), two earthworms (Lumbricus), two carabid beetles, twenty-nine grasshoppers (Acridiide), and eight small creatures thought to be spiders but which could not be made out with certainty. These forty-seven items were brought at thirty visits between 4.04 and 6.03 a.m. During the middle of the day the old birds came less often. Be- tween 10 and 10.30 there were four visits, from 1.25 to 1.51 1The Auk, vol. xiv. pp. 1-8. 2Jd., 1890, vol. vai. ps 290: THE AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED BY BIRDS. 65 there were six, and from 2 to 3 there were six. Ten visits per hour was the average the day through. Over three-fourths of the food brought consisted of adult grasshoppers, the great Carolina locust being often among them. Half of the time two were brought at a visit. Only a little calculation is necessary to show that each occupant of the nest consumed about eighty insects that day, of which at least sixty were grasshoppers. An average red-legged locust— the species most commonly brought—weighs five grains Troy ; sixty of them would weigh three hundred grains, and adding the twenty-five per cent. consisting of worms, beetles, berries, etc., we have four hundred grains as the weight consumed by each nestling on that particular day. They were then about ten days old; their average weight was seven hundred and eleven grains. Thus it appears that they ate per diem more than half their own weight. Mr. Charles W. Nash" gives this experience with the food of a young robin: ‘In May, 1889, I noticed a pair of robins digging out cutworms in my garden, which was infested with them, and saw they were carrying them to their nest in a tree close by. On the 21st of that month I found one of the young on the ground, it having fallen out of the nest, and in order to see how much insect food it required daily I took it to my house and raised it by hand. Up to the 6th of June it had eaten from fifty to seventy cutworms and earthworms every day. On the 9th of June I weighed the bird; its weight was exactly three ounces; and then I tried how much it would eat, it being now quite able to feed itself. With the assistance of my children I gathered a large number of cut- worms and gave them to the robin after weighing them. In the course of that day it ate just five and one-half ounces of cutworms. These grubs averaged thirty to the ounce, so the young robin ate one hundred and sixty-five cutworms in one ' Birds of Ontario, p. 22. 5 66 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. day. Had it been at liberty it would probably have eaten some insects of other species and fewer cutworms, but this shows about what each young robin requires for its main- tenance when growing; the adult birds require much less, of course. The average number of young raised by a robin is four, and there are usually two broods in the season. A very simple calculation will give a good idea of the number of insects destroyed while the young are in the nest.” Five young goldfinches which we watched were from the beginning fed by their parents almost exclusively upon seeds of the bull-thistle (Cnicus pumilus, Torr.). At the age of one week rather more than the product of one thistle-head was divided among them at each meal. They were fed every half-hour on an average, the old birds feeding independently. Not less than thirty thistle-heads were thus consumed in a day by these young birds when they were scarcely more than half-grown. A family of four song-sparrows seven days old received seventeen grasshopper nymphs, from five-eighths to three- fourths of an inch long, and two spiders between 1.55 and 5.02 p.m.—sixty-seven minutes. As they were out of the nest the next day, it may be accepted that they are hearty ealers. Eight days is a short time for the accomplishment of so great a change. A brown thrasher at ten visits made in one hundred and twenty-six minutes delivered to one of her young just out of the nest one spider, one earthworm, one hairy caterpillar an inch and a half long, two Carolina locusts, seven red-legged locusts, and three other insects which were not identified. A bobolink brought to two fledglings between 5.13 and 5.33 one afternoon,—twenty minutes,—nine grasshoppers. The next morning between 9.18 and 10.05,—forty-seven ten grasshoppers were brought. About that time one of the young birds escaped. To the remaining one he fed eleven grasshoppers in two hours. Of the thirty “hoppers minutes, G Babes taal- THE AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED BY BIRDS. 67 all but two were green, some belonging to the family Acri- diide and others to the family Locustide. Dr. Sylvester D. Judd,’ from an observation on the food of three young house-wrens about three-fourths grown, reports that ‘‘The mother made one hundred and ten visits to her little ones in four hours and thirty-seven minutes, and fed them one hundred and eleven spiders and insects. Among these were identified one white grub, one soldier-bug, three millers (Noctuide), nine spiders, nine grasshoppers, fifteen May-flies, and thirty-four caterpillars. On the following day similar observations were made from 9.35 a.m. till 12.40 p.m., and in the three hours and five minutes the young were fed sixty-seven times. Spiders were identified in four instances, erasshoppers in five, May-flies in seventeen, and caterpillars in twenty.” Four chipping-sparrows about five days old devoured thirty-seven grasshoppers, several of which were adults, but most of them half-grown nymphs, between 4.57 and 6.06 p.M., —eighty-nine minutes. The next morning between 9.56 and ~ 10.45,—forty-nine minutes,—they ate eighteen grasshoppers and two full-grown measuring worms (Cingilia). A single young chippy lately out of the nest was seen to take food —grasshoppers chiefly—thirty times in sixty-five minutes. A brood of three chipping-sparrows watched by us one entire day received food one hundred and eighty-seven times. It was not possible to determine the exact nature of all that was brought, but it appeared to be wholly insectivorous, cut- worms and other caterpillars being often observed.? These observations are certainly sufficient to establish the fact that birds as a class consume an enormous amount of food. "Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agr.,1900, p. 413. * Weed, Feeding Habits of the Chipping-Sparrow, N. H. C. Ag. Exp. St., Bull. 55. § CHAP TE he VI. BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS OF INJURIOUS ANIMALS. Ir is well known that, as a rule, the most damage to culti- vated crops is done by the species of insects and other noxious animals which fluctuate greatly in numbers. In this chapter we have to determine whether in the presence of an extraordinary abundance of a given edible animal birds vary their food ratios by taking unusual numbers of the species in question. If they do, it is evident that they assist in reducing the pest to its normal limit; if they do not, they neglect an opportunity for usefulness. Four examples may serve to illustrate the tendencies of birds under such conditions. The first relates to the canker- worm, the second to the Rocky Mountain locust, the third to the army-worm, and the fourth to the European vole, or field- mouse. A few years ago a large apple-orchard in central Illinois was severely attacked by canker-worms. As aresult of their depredations a considerable part of the orchard had the ap- pearance at a little distance of having been ruined by fire. To determine whether the birds of the region were exerting themselves to check this outbreak, Professor 8. A. Forbes visited the orchard for two successive seasons, shooting each time a number of birds of the various species present. The stomach contents of these were afterward carefully examined : from the published record! of the results we have made the following summary. 1 Bulletin of the [llinois State Laboratory of Natural History, vol. 1., No: 6. 68 THE CAT-BIRD. BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS. 69 Nine robins had eaten only animal food, of which canker- worms formed twenty, cutworms twenty-eight, and vine- chafers fourteen per cent., making a total of sixty-two per APPLE-LEAVES ATTACKED BY CANKER-WORMS. cent. for these three groups of insects. Eleven per cent. of the remainder consisted of click-beetles (Hlateride). Fourteen cat-birds were examined: they had eaten fifteen per cent. of canker-worms, ten per cent. of cutworms and other cater- pillars, fourteen per cent. of ants, and thirty-three per cent. of vine-chafers. Four brown thrushes had eaten canker- worms, vine-chafers, June-beetles, click-beetles, ground-beetles, and other insects. Combining these food elements of twenty- seven members of the thrush family, Professor Forbes found that “none of them had eaten any vegetation whatever; that ninety-six per cent. of their food consisted of insects (myriapods and earthworms making up the remaining four per cent.); that sixteen per cent. was canker-worms, and only four per cent. predaceous beetles.” The vine-chafer made just twenty-five per cent. of the entire food. The most important element in the food of five bluebirds was the vine-chafer (thirty-six per cent.), while canker-worms formed twelve per cent. Two black-capped chickadees had 70 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. eaten only canker-worms and beetles, the former making sixty-one per cent. of the food and the latter belonging principally to a wood-boring beetle of the genus Psenocerus. Nearly half of the food ofseveral house-wrens consisted of canker- worms. ’assing now to the warblers (Mniotiltide), we come to many spe- cies feeding largely on canker-worms. Four- fifths of the food of a single Tennessee war- bler consisted of these insects. — Two-thirds of that of five sum- mer yellow-birds was canker-worms, and the same was true of two chestnut-sided warblers and also of four black-poll war- blers. A single black- throated green war- bler had eaten seventy per cent. of canker-worms, and two Maryland yellow-throats had eaten forty per cent. of these and forty per cent. of other caterpillars. Consequently canker- worms composed nearly or quite two-thirds of the food of these fifteen warblers. Seventy-nine per cent. of the food of three warbling vireos consisted of caterpillars, more than half of them being canker-worms. Out of a flock of about thirty cherry-birds, or cedar wax- wings, seven birds were shot. With the exception of a few Aphodii (small beetles) ‘eaten by three of the birds in THE BLUEBIRD. BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS. fe! numbers too insignificant to figure in the ratios, the entire food of all these birds consisted of canker-worms, which therefore stand at an average of one hundred per cent. The number in each stomach determined by actual count ranged from seventy to one hundred and one, and was usually nearly one hundred. Assuming that these constituted a whole day’s food, the thirty birds were destroying three thousand worms a day, or ninety thousand for the month during which the caterpillar is exposed.” A specimen each of the cliff-swallow, American gold- finch, and yellow-winged sparrow had eaten no canker-worms. About one-third of the food of eight chipping-sparrows con- sisted of caterpillars, half of them being canker-worms. Three field-sparrows had eaten largely of canker-worms and various beetles, forty-three per cent. of the food of fourteen black-throated buntings consisted of canker-worms, and a very few of these worms had been eaten by two rose-breasted grosbeaks ; they also formed fifty-nine per cent. of the food of eighteen indigo-birds. No canker-worms were found in the stomachs of a single cow-bird and two red-winged blackbirds. Three Baltimore orioles, however, had eaten forty per cent. of these worms and fifty per cent. of vine-chafers. Two orchard-orioles made even a better showing. ‘ More than three-fourths of the food of these consisted of canker-worms, and other caterpillars made an additional twenty per cent.” Three bronzed grackles had eaten no caterpillars. Passing now to the family of flycatchers we find that more than one-fourth of the food of three kingbirds consisted of canker-worms and fully one-half of vine-chafers. The food of three wood-pewees consisted entirely of flying insects. Two specimens of Traill’s flycatcher had eaten twenty-five per cent. of canker-worms, and a single yellow-bellied fly- catcher had eaten an equal percentage of vine-chafers but no canker-worms. A single black-billed cuckoo had eaten of We, BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. canker-worms seventy-five per cent., other caterpillars twenty per cent., and vine-chafers five per cent. Four red-headed woodpeckers had eaten fifteen per cent. of canker-worms, while a single golden-winged woodpecker had eaten only ants. No canker-worms were found in one mourning-dove and two quails. Summarizing the above results into one general statement, it is found that one hundred and forty-one specimens be- longing to thirty-six species were studied. ‘* Twenty-six of these species had been eating canker-worms, which were found in the stomachs of eighty-five specimens,—that is to say, seventy-two per cent. of the species and sixty per cent. of the specimens had eaten the worms. Taking the entire assemblage of one hundred and forty-one birds as one group, we find that thirty-five per cent. of their food consisted of canker-worms.” A comparison was made, in the case of the robin, cat-bird, black-throated bunting, and indigo-bird, of the food in this orchard and that of the species during May under ordinary circumstances. These results showed that there was a gen- eral diminution of vegetable and miscellaneous food in the orchard specimens to compensate for the increase of cater- pillars. ‘*Three facts,’ says Professor Forbes, ‘stand out very clearly as the result of these investigations : (1) Birds of the most varied character and_ habits, migrant and resident, of all sizes from the tiny wren to the blue-jay, birds of the forest, garden, and meadow, those of arboreal and those of terrestrial habits, were certainly either attracted or detained here by the bountiful supply of insect food and were feeding freely upon the species most abundant. That thirty-five per cent. of the food of the birds congregated here should have consisted of a single species of insect is a fact so extraordinary that its meaning cannot be mistaken. Whatever power the birds of this vicinity possessed as checks BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS. to upon destructive irruptions of insect life was being largely exerted here to restore the broken balance of organic nature. And while looking for their influence over one insect outbreak we stumbled upon at least two others, less marked, perhaps incipient, but evident enough to express themselves clearly in the changed food ratios of the birds. ‘*(2) The comparisons made show plainly that the reflex effect of this concentration on two or three unusually nu- merous insects was so widely distributed over the ordinary elements of their food that no especial chance was given for the rise of new fluctuations among the species commonly eaten. That is to say, the abnormal pressure put upon the ecanker-worm and the vine-chafer was compensated by a gen- eral diminution of the ratios of all the other elements, and not by a neglect of one or two alone. If the latter had been the ease, the criticism might easily have been made that the birds in helping to reduce one oscillation were setting others on foot. (3) The fact that, with the exception of the indigo-bird, the species whose records in the orchard were compared with those made elsewhere had eaten in the former situation as many caterpillars other than canker-worms as usual, simply adding their canker-worm ratios to those of other caterpil- lars, goes to show that these insects are favorites with a majority of birds.” One of the most notable series of studies of the relation of birds to outbreaks of injurious insects was that carried on for thirteen years by Professor Samuel Aughey, of the Uni- versity of Nebraska, concerning the extent to which birds feed upon the Rocky Mountain locust or grasshopper during the periodic outbreaks of thatinsect. Fortunately, the results of these studies have been preserved by the United States Entomological Commission.’ Between 1865 and 1877 Pro- ' First Report, Appendix IT, 74 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. fessor Aughey made a careful investigation of this subject, both by out-door observations of living birds and by in-door examinations of stomach contents. His tabulated results show conclusively that birds of all kinds were doing their best to reduce the numbers of the locusts. A brief summary of the principal facts will indicate the truth of this. Beginning with the thrushes and their allies, we find that six robins had eaten two hundred and_ sixty-five locusts, three wood-thrushes had taken sixty-eight locusts, one hermit-thrush contained nineteen locusts, two olive-backed thrushes were responsible for the death of fifty-five “hoppers, while two Wilson’s thrushes had destroyed seventy-three more. Five cat-birds had eaten one hundred and _ fifty-two of these insects. Sixty-seven locusts were taken from the stomachs of three bluebirds and twenty-nine from one little ruby-crowned kinglet, while four tufted titmice yielded two hundred and fifty of the pests and nine long-tailed chickadees contained four hundred and eighty-one of them. Four slender-billed nuthatches—the western representative of the white-breasted nuthatch—had eaten ninety-three locusts. Even the little warblers ate many of the pests, naturally choosing the younger specimens. Seven golden warblers had taken sevy- enty-seven locusts and one hundred and seventy-six other insects. Five black-throated green warblers contained one hundred and sixteen “hoppers and one hundred and four other insects. Four black-poll warblers had eaten one hundred and twenty-three locusts, varying their diet with forty-seven insects of other kinds. Eight prairie-warblers devoured one hundred and sixteen of the locusts and a greater number of other insects; while the golden-crowned thrush had fed upon both the “hoppers and their eggs. Many warblers were seen feeding their nestlings with young locusts. While the warblers paid most attention to the immature grasshoppers, the swallows fed chiefly upon the adult winged BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS. Ua insects, probably catching them in the air. Seven barn- swallows had eaten one hundred and thirty-nine, eight eaves- swallows three hundred and twenty-six, five bank-swallows one hundred and four, and ten purple martins two hundred and sixty-five locusts. The vireos and shrikes were found to eat many of the pests, while some of the grosbeaks and finches ate the eggs as well as the “hoppers. Three bobolinks had devoured an average of fourteen locusts each, while nine meadow-larks had taken two hundred and thirteen of the pests besides some of their eggs. Fifty-one locusts were taken from the stomach of a single yellow-headed blackbird, while the Baltimore oriole, Brewer's blackbird, and the purple grackle were noted as feeding almost exclusively upon the pests when the latter were abundant. Even the raven, the crow, the magpie, and the blue-jay fol- lowed the prevailing fashion in the feathered world, eating large numbers of the locusts, although no doubt they did not wholly neglect the occupants of any of the nests of the smaller birds with which they came in contact. The flycatch- ers and pewees proved to be doing good service, while the stomachs of the whippoorwill and nighthawk were crowded with “hoppers, three hundred and forty-eight being taken from seven specimens of the latter species. It seems almost incredible that the tiny ruby-throated hum- ming-bird should also have followed the fashion, yet Professor Aughey assures us that a specimen caught by a cat * had four small locusts in its stomach.” After this we are prepared to learn that the stately kingfisher varies his scaly diet with an occasional “hopper. Nor is it surprising that ten specimens of the highly insectivorous yellow-billed cuckoo had eaten four hundred and sixteen locusts as well as one hundred and fifty-two other insects. The woodpeckers evidently varied their usual diet to an extraordinary degree on account of the presence of the grass- 76 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. hoppers. Six hairy woodpeckers had taken one hundred and fifty-seven locusts and one hundred and ninety-three other insects ; four downy woodpeckers had eaten one hundred and sixty-five locusts and ninety other insects; five yellow-bellied woodpeckers contained one hundred and thirty “hoppers and ninety-three specimens of other species ; six red-headed wood- peckers had devoured one hundred and forty-nine locusts and two hundred other insects ; while eight flickers contained two hundred and fifty-two of the “hoppers together with one hun- dred and forty-nine insects of other species. The extent to which birds of prey fed upon the locusts would surprise the many people who look upon hawks and owls only as enemies of the poultry-yard, deserving extermi- nation. One barn-owl had eaten thirty-nine locusts, twenty- two other insects, and a mouse. Eight screech-owls contained two hundred and nineteen “hoppers and many other insects, while nine burrowing owls had devoured three hundred and eighteen locusts. The hawks patterned after the owls; six marsh-hawks ate two hundred and forty-nine locusts, while two Swainson’s buzzards had devoured one hundred and twenty-nine of the pests. Even the pigeons and the gallinaceous birds which usually feed so largely upon grains and seeds added a considerable pro- portion of locusts to their diet. Professor Aughey writes that in locust years the wild turkey makes the pest its principal food. Four sage-cocks had eaten one hundred and ninety grasshoppers, while the sharp-tailed grouse, prairie-hen, and quail ate enormous numbers of them. Passing now to the shore birds, the records of the golden plover, the American snipe, the various sand-pipers, godwits, tattlers, and curlews all tell the same story of locust destrue- tion. Even the great blue-heron, American bittern, and sand- hill crane devoured the pests, while the rails and American coot added their efforts to subdue them. The snow-goose, the Canada goose, and the various ducks—including the mal- BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS. fl ~I lard, dusky duck, pintail, and blue-winged teal—contained quantities of “hoppers. Two out of five white pelicans exam- ined had varied their diet of crayfish and frogs by picking up locusts, one containing forty-one and the other sixty-seven specimens. The gulls—including the black-backed, herring, ring-billed, and Franklin’s rosy gull—had eaten many grasshoppers, as had also the least and the black tern. It certainly would be difficult to obtain more striking evi- dence than this concerning the utility of birds in checking out- breaks of injurious insects. The fact that birds of all sorts and sizes, from the giant pelican to the tiny humming-bird, —hirds of the prairie, the forest, the air, the shore, the sea, and the inland lake,—fed so largely upon the locusts proves beyond doubt that these feathered allies were using to the fullest extent a tremendous force to check the ranks of the invaders. A few years ago the army-worm appeared in great num- bers in Pennsylvania, causing much damage to field crops. The State zoologist, Professor B. H. Warren, made a careful series of investigations to determine the extent to which birds fed upon the pests. The results showed that a large propor- tion of the common birds devoured them eagerly. Crows, blackbirds, rebins, cat-birds, thrushes, meadow-larks, and bluebirds were found to get a large part of their food from the hosts of the army-worms. Kill-deers, sand-pipers, and sparrows also fed freely upon them, while the screech-owl and the sparrow-hawk devoured great numbers of the pests. Insects, however, are not the only animals against whose undue increase the agriculturist needs protection. In many parts of Europe there have been for centuries periodic out- breaks of field-mice that have caused enormous injury. The species oftenest concerned appears to be the short-tailed field- mouse (Arvicola agrestis), related to the common meadow- mice of the United States. There is abundant evidence that 78 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. at the times of such uprisings the birds of prey ilock to the in- fested fields in great numbers. More than three centuries ago this fact was noticed, as is shown by the following paragraph from Stow’s ‘ Chronicle :” “About Hallontide last past (1581), in the marshes of Danesey Hundred, in the county of Essex, there suddenly appeared an infinite number of mice, which overwhelming the whole earth in the said marshes did shear and gnawe the erass by the roots, spoyling and tainting the same with their venomous teeth in such sort that the cattell which grazed thereon were smitten with a murrain; which vermine by policy of man could not be destroyed, till at last it came to pass that there flocked together such a number of owls as all the shire was able to yield, whereby the marsh holders were shortly delivered from the vexation of said mice. The like of this was also in Kent.” Another ‘sore plague of strange mice” occurred in Essex in 1648. In 1754 a correspondent of the Gentleman's Maga- zine wrote from Market Downham, England: ‘* Once in about six or seven years Helgay, about one thousand acres, is in- fested with an incredible number of field-mice, which like locusts devour the corn of every kind. Invariably there follows a prodigious flight of Norway owls, and they tarry until the mice are evidently destroyed by them.” Similar testimony exists concerning the more recent out- breaks. That of 1875-6—one of unusual severity, in which one-third of the pastures of the affected district were de- stroyed was attributed partly to a series of mild winters and partly to the destruction of predacous birds and mammals. A recent English writer, Dr. W. B. Wall, says that ‘the chief enemies of the voles are the short-eared owl and the kestrel hawk, which will do more to reduce their ranks than all the traps of the agriculturist and the microbes of the scientist combined. The kestrel hawk is known to all, duly appreciated by a few, but still destroyed by too many. The BIRDS AS REGULATORS OF OUTBREAKS. 79 short-eared owl is one of our most valuable winter visitors, arriving about October and leaving usually in March. — It fre- quents open moors, alights and secretes itself on the ground in preference to trees, and feeds by day as well as in the evening. In this winter of 1887-8 the moors were crowded with these birds, it being no uncommon occurrence to start two or more at the same time from the long grass; the ex- planation of their numbers no doubt being that the preceding dry summer had been most favorable to the increase of the animal life of the moors, which supplied ample food and in- ducements for the birds to congregate.” Mr. W. H. Hudson, in his fascinating book, ‘* The Natu- ralist in La Plata,” gives a graphic account of the suppression of an outbreak of mice on the pampas of South America. These little creatures had increased to an enormous extent, and animals of many kinds lived upon them. ‘In the au- tumn of the year countless numbers of storks (Ciconia mag- nari) and of short-eared owls made their appearance. They also came to assist at the general feast.”” The mice were soon reduced in numbers to a point far below their normal limit. A similar abundance of birds is noticed, Mr. Hud- son says, whenever other animals—grasshoppers, crickets, or frogs—become excessively numerous on the pampas. He explains the concentration of these birds—usually seldom seen—upon the spot where food abounds by the statement that when not breeding they are constantly travelling in search of food, flying at great heights and covering a large territory in their wanderings. ‘* When the favorite food of any one of these species is plentiful in any particular region, all the individuals that discover it remain and attract to them all of their kind passing overhead. This happened in the pampas with the stork, the short-eared owl, the hooded gull, and the dominican or black-backed gull,—the leading species among the feathered nomads; a few first appear like harbingers ; these are presently joined by new-comers in considerable 80 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. numbers, and before long they are in myriads. Inconceivable numbers of birds are doubtless in these regions continually passing over us unseen.” In the presence of an-unusual abundance of food the rate of increase of some birds becomes greater. It has been noticed that owls multiply rapidly when outbreaks of mice occur. Testimony of this kind could be multiplied indefinitely : it unquestionably is sufficient to demonstrate that when an out- break of mice or similar pests occurs the hawks and owls find an abundant food supply, of which they readily avail them- selves, and in so doing check to a great extent the damage that might be done. The evidence furnished by these examples suffices to show that birds do exert a decided influence in checking unusual outbreaks of injurious animals. They have been well likened to a great standing army which may be concentrated at short notice upon any locality where an outbreak occurs. CHIPPING-SPARROW AT NEST. GAP TER: V-LT. THE RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC INSECTS. Tue attempt is frequently made to belittle the usefulness of birds by the argument that they do as much harm by feed- ing upon predaceous and parasitic insects as they do good by devouring the injurious ones. For example, B. D. Walsh, the first State Entomologist of Illinois, claimed that a bird must eat at least thirty injurious insects for every beneficial one in order to be of economic value; and since then similar arguments have frequently been used. During the last few years students of bird food have commonly placed the results of their studies under these headings: ‘“ Beneficial,’ ‘ In- jurious,” ‘“‘ Neutral ;”’ including in the former all parasitic and predaceous insects. Before proceeding to a general discussion of the principles which underlie this whole subject, the ab- surdity of this assumption may easily be shown. Suppose an ichneumon parasite is found in the stomach of a robin or other bird: it may belong to any one of the following cate- gories : (1) The primary parasite of an injurious insect. (2) The secondary parasite of an injurious insect. (3) The primary parasite of an insect feeding on a noxious plant. (4) The secondary parasite of an insect feeding on a nox- ious plant. (5) The primary parasite of an insect feeding on a wild plant of no economic value. (6) The secondary parasite of an insect feeding on a wild plant of no economic value. (7) The primary parasite of a predaceous insect. ; 6 81 82 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. (8) The primary parasite of a spider or spider's egg. This list might easily be extended still farther, and the assumption that the parasite belongs to the first of these categories is unwarranted by the facts and does violence to the probabilities of the case. A correct idea of the economic réle of the feathered tribes may be obtained only by a broader view of nature’s methods, —a view in which we must ever keep before the mind’s eye the fact that all the parts of the organic world, from monad to man, are linked together in a thousand ways, the net result being that unstable equilibrium commonly called ‘“ the bal- ance of nature.” The fact that in eating insect parasites birds do not neces- sarily cause an economic loss was first pointed out by Pro- fessor S. A. Forbes in an admirable essay entitled ‘* On some Interactions of Organisms.’ As we find it impossible to im- prove and difficult to condense the argument there printed, we quote the following extended extract. ‘“‘ Evidently a species cannot long maintain itself in numbers ereater than can find sufficient food year after year. If it is a phytophagous insect, for example, it will soon dwindle if it seriously lessens the numbers of the plants upon which it feeds, either directly by eating them up, or indirectly by so weakening them that they labor under a marked disadvantage in the struggle with other plants for foothold, light, air, and food. The interest of the insect is therefore identical with the interest of the plant it feeds upon. Whatever injuriously affects the latter, equally injures the former; and whatever favors the latter, equally favors the former. This must there- fore be regarded as the extreme normal limit of the members of a phytophagous species, a limit such that its depredations shall do no especial harm to the plants upon which it de- pends for food, but shall remove only the excess of foliage or fruit, or else superfluous individuals which must either perish otherwise if not eaten or, surviving, must injure their species BIRDS IN RELATION TO PARASITIC INSECTS. 83 by overcrowding. If the plant-feeder multiply beyond the above limit, evidently the diminution of the food supply will soon react to diminish its own numbers, a counter reaction will then take place in favor of the plant, and so on through an oscillation of indefinite continuance. ‘On the other hand, the reduction of the phytophagous insect below the normal number will evidently injure the food plant by preventing a reduction of its excess of growth or numbers, and will also set up an oscillation like the pre- ceding except that the steps will be taken in reverse order. ‘“T next point out the fact that precisely the same reason- ing applies to predaceous and parasitic insects. Their inter- ests also are identical with the interests of the species they parasitize or prey upon. A diminution of their food reacts to diminish their own numbers. They are thus vitally inter- ested in confining their depredations to the excess of indi- viduals produced or to redundant or otherwise unessential structures. It is only by a sort of unlucky accident that a destructive species really injures the species preyed upon. “The discussion thus far has affected only such organisms as are confined to a single species. It remains to see how it applies to such as have several sources of support open to them,—such, for instance, as feed indifferently upon several plants or upon a variety of animals or both. Let us take, first, the case of a predaceous beetle feeding upon a variety of other insects,—either indifferently upon whatever species is most numerous or most accessible, or preferably upon cer- tain species, resorting to others only in case of an insufficiency of its favorite food. ‘Tt is at once evident that, taking its food-insects as a unit, the same reasoning applies as if it were restricted to a single species for food: that is, it is interested in the maintenance of these food-species at the highest number consistent with the general conditions of the environment, interested to con- fine its own depredations to that surplus of its food which 84 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. would otherwise perish if not eaten, interested, therefore, in establishing a rate of reproduction for itself which will not unduly lessen its food supply. Its interest in the numbers of each species of the group it eats will evidently be the same as its interest in the group as a whole, since the group asa whole can be kept at the highest number possible only by keeping each species at the highest number possible.” Professor Forbes goes on to show that when the rate of reproduction of a parasite is relatively too great it causes fluctuations in numbers which are injurious both to the parasite and its host, and concludes that in a state of nature ‘the annihilation of all the established enemies of a species would, as a rule, have no effect to increase its final average numbers.” Such being the case where man has not interfered with nature, we have next to inquire to what extent these princi- ples hold good, under the conditions of modern agriculture, for those insects which feed upon cultivated crops. Evidently a chief element of disturbance of the natural order here lies in the enormously increased food supply, an increase so great and so subject to multiplication by man that it is a rare event for an insect to reach its limit. If a crop in a given locality is destroyed by insects, seed from another region is usually planted the following season, so that, while under natural conditions the insect would have been starved out, it is instead given an increased opportunity to develop. In consequence of this, the law that no animal can multiply beyond the limits of its food supply becomes practically inoperative. But while this is true of the plant-feeding species, it is not true of the parasite that preys upon it. The latter is still under the operation of the primal food law: when it has reduced the numbers of its host to a point where it must cease to multiply because there are no caterpillars in which to deposit its eggs, man does not step in and furnish a supply of caterpillars to keep up the activities of the parasite. Con- BIRDS IN RELATION TO PARASITIC INSECTS. 85 sequently there is a great and sudden decrease of the numbers of the parasite. In other words, while the law that no species can multiply beyond the limits of its food supply is rendered inoperative in the case of the host caterpillar, it continues to act in the case of the parasite, because man does not artificially increase the food supply of the latter. Man’s interposition evidently has the effect of extending and intensifying the oscillations which would occur under natural conditions. We must next determine the probable effect produced when a bird eats some of these parasites. It need hardly be said that the species of insects which live exposed are very much more likely to be eaten by birds when they are unusually abundant than when not numerous. When a hymenopterous parasite is found in a bird’s stomach, the chances are greatly in favor of the assumption that the species to which it belongs is at the time more numerous than usual. The destruction of a portion of the parasites may not only involve no loss from an economic point of view, but may actually be a bene- fit, in that it will extend the period of effective operation of the parasite, and put off the time when it will cut off its own food supply by its too rapid increase. The probabilities do not justify the assumption that a bird usually does harm rather than good in eating a parasite of an injurious phy- tophagous insect. Nothing has been said in regard to those parasites upon parasites which are called the secondary or hyper-parasites of noxious insects. Our knowledge of the precise biological relations of these is limited. On general principles it is prob- able that when a bird eats one of these it is at least as likely to be doing man a benefit as an injury." 1 For an account of the relations between hymenopterous parasites and their hosts, see Fiske, ‘‘The Parasites of the Tent Caterpillar,”’ New Hampshire College Agricultural Exp. Station, Technical Bulletin, No. 6. CH AsP EER. Vier THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. THE BLUEBIRD. THERE is, perhaps, no feathered songster which has so endeared itself to the people of the northern United States as the bluebird. Clad in modest but beautiful colors, endowed with a voice of plaintive melody, and familiarly associating with man, it is one of the most delightful harbingers of spring. THE BLUEBIRD. (After Biological Survey.) Its insect-eating habits are well known, for the bird may often be seen flitting from its perch in chase of some passing moth or grasshopper. The food of one hundred and eight Illinois specimens, taken in every month of the year except Novem- ber and January, was studied by Professor S. A. Forbes. In February cutworms and ichneumon-flies formed the most important elements of the food, twenty-four per cent. of the 86 THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 87 former and twenty-two per cent. of the latter having been eaten. The larvee of the two-lined soldier-beetle, a pre- daceous species, had been eaten to the extent of eight per cent. and young grasshoppers to the extent of nine per cent. Ground-beetles formed five per cent. of the food, soldier-bugs seven per cent., spiders and crickets each four per cent. The ratios of parasitic and predaceous species were very high, these making thirty-nine per cent. of total food for the month. In March thirty-eight per cent. of cutworms and related caterpillars, part of them being army-worms, and one per cent. of crickets and grasshoppers were eaten. In April large numbers of small dung-beetles were present in the stomachs. Light per cent. of ground-beetles, nine per cent. of spiders, and twenty-one per cent. of caterpillars were also present. The number of spiders eaten in May was unusual, these forming twenty-one per cent. of the food. Moths, caterpillars, June-beetles, and grasshoppers had been eaten freely this month, forming fifty-five per cent. of the stomach contents. In June winged ants and various spiders had been eaten, as well as measuring worms and ground-beetles. A few birds had eaten a small number of raspberries and goose- berries. The most remarkable elements of the food in July con- sisted of grasshoppers and crickets (twenty-seven per cent.) and June-beetles (twelve per cent.). Caterpillars, ground- beetles, and spiders composed the more important parts of the remainder. The chief business of the month of August was the pursuit of locusts, crickets, grasshoppers, moths, and caterpillars. The three first named amounted to more than half of the food for the month, and the moths and caterpil- lars to more than one-fourth. The only fruits present were a few wild cherries and elder-berries. In September the common red-legged grasshopper was largely eaten. This and related grasshoppers, together with 88 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. eutworm-like caterpillars, formed almost nine-tenths of the food for the month. The bluebird winters to a considerable extent in southern Illinois, where its food consists very largely of wild fruits, especially the berries of the mistletoe. A few beetles, bugs, and spiders fill out the winter bill of fare. In the case of six young bluebirds yet in the nest, though well feathered, Dr. Judd found that the food consisted of ‘beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, and a few snails.” Although the bluebird eats a large percentage of preda- ceous and parasitic species that are often considered bene- ficial to man, the probabilities are largely in favor of the assumption that in devouring these the bird is assisting in keeping up a proper balance of organic forces, while in eating the insects injurious to crops it is doing a very great good. Professor Forbes estimates that ‘‘one hundred bluebirds at thirty insects each a day would eat in eight months about six hundred and seventy thousand insects. If this number of birds were destroyed, the result would be the preservation, on the area supervised by them, of about seventy thousand moths and caterpillars (many of them cutworms), twelve thousand leaf-hoppers, ten thousand curculios, and sixty-five thousand crickets, locusts, and grasshoppers. How this frightful horde of marauders would busy itself if left undis- turbed no one can doubt. It would eat grass and clover, and corn and cabbage, inflicting an immense injury itself, and leaving a progeny which would multiply that injury indefi- nitely. The bluebird is easily encouraged on the home grounds and will well repay a little trouble in furnishing nesting sites. It breeds readily in boxes and bird-houses, and if these are provided in abundance it seems likely that the numbers of the birds may be materially increased. THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 89 THE ROBIN. With the exception of the English sparrow and _ possibly the crow, the economic status of no American bird has been discussed so fully and freely as that of the robin. Appear- ing early in spring and remaining late in autumn in regions where it does not reside throughout the year, commonly fre- quenting lawns and meadows, building conspicuous nests near the haunts of man, feeding freely upon the fruits of the garden and orchard, greeting the rising and the setting sun THE ROBIN. (After Biological Survey.) with bursts of no mean melody,—these and other consider- ations have combined to render the robin familiar to every lover of the out-door world. The robin obtains most of its insect food upon the ground, where it searches diligently for cutworms, white grubs, ground-beetles, and allied creatures. One of the most familiar sights of spring in the Northern States is that of dozens of robins searching the grass of lawns and meadows for food. These birds are decidedly gregarious, migrating in flocks of considerable size and remaining together in the 90 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. South during winter. Even during the breeding season the young birds and the old males gather nightly to roost in cer- tain woods.' The nest is so well known that we need here only mention its bulky size and the fact that at least two broods of four or five young each are reared during the season. Several studies of the food of the robin are on record. One of the most authoritative of these is that of Professor S. A. Forbes, who made two separate investigations of the food in Illinois: the first included forty-one and the second one hundred and fourteen specimens. We have summarized the results in the latter case as follows: Ninety-nine per cent. of the food of eleven robins shot in February consisted of insects: cutworms and other caterpillars constituted four- teen per cent., and the larvee of the white-winged Bibio *—a two-winged fly—seventy-six per cent. These Bibio larvee have repeatedly been found in several widely separated States to form the principal food of the robin during spring. The larve live in colonies of a hundred or more individuals, and generally feed upon decaying organic matter, though some naturalists have stated that they are capable of doing serious injury to grass-lands. Professor Forbes took one hundred and seventy-five Bibio larve from the stomach of a single robin. In addition to these insects a very few beetles, erasshoppers, bugs, spiders, and thousand-legs had been eaten. About five per cent. of the food was estimated to consist of beneficial insects. . Thirty-seven per cent. of the food of nine March robins consisted of Bibio larvee; cutworms and other caterpillars formed thirty per cent. The remaining food elements were 1 For an interesting account of these little-known ‘‘ robin roosts,’ see Bradford Torrey’s book, ‘‘ The Footpath Way,’’ and Mr. Brewster's ac- count in Zhe Auk, October, 1890. ? Bibio albipennis, Say. THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. — 91 composed of scavenger-beetles, wire-worms, ground-beetles, srasshoppers, and sumach-berries. Six per cent. of the food was considered to belong to beneficial species and thirty- seven per cent. to those injurious. In April caterpillars formed one-fourth of the food and beetles forty-two per cent. ‘Tt is in this month that the bird makes its principal attack upon the predaceous beetles, which are represented by an average of seventeen per cent. eaten by eleven birds.” A few Bibio larva, earthworms, Orthoptera, bugs, and sumach- berries had also been eaten. ‘‘ The record of May is sub- stantially a duplicate of the April list, except in a few particu- lars. The Bibio larve are replaced by seven per cent. of adult crane-flies and the ground-beetles drop to four per cent., the balance being almost replaced by the scavenger- beetles and leaf-chafers. . . . With June the robin revolu- tionizes his commissariat. The insect ratios, which have averaged ninety-five per cent. during the preceding months, now drop to forty-two, and remain at or below this point for the rest of the year; and this lack is compensated by the appearance of fifty-five per cent. of cherries and raspberries. The loss falls chiefly upon the two-winged flies and beetles, the former dropping from eleven per cent. to less than one and the latter from forty-four per cent. to fifteen. The four- teen July birds were evidently revelling in the fruit garden, raspberries, blackberries, and currants forming seventy-nine per cent. of the food.” The partial disappearance of fruit supplies in August sent the robins back to insects, although the twenty birds taken during the month had eaten fifty-six per cent. of fruit. ‘Cherries made forty-four parts of the food of the month, eaten by fourteen of the birds, but two- thirds of these cherries were wild. Tame grapes made three per cent. of the food, berries of the mountain-ash about four per cent., and blackberries from the woods not far from five per cent.” Cutworms, crickets, and grasshoppers are impor- tant insect elements for the month. In September fifteen 92 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. per cent. of winged ants were eaten and seventy per cent. of fruits, more than half of the fruits being grapes and the re- mainder berries of the moon-seed and mountain-ash. Dur- ing October and later months large numbers of wild grapes were eaten. Taking the year as a whole, insects form almost two-thirds of the food of the robin. In the investigations of the United States Department of Agriculture three hundred and thirty stomachs of the robin have been examined. In the summary of the results, by Professor F. E. L. Beal, it is said that more than forty-two per cent. of its food consists of animal matter, chiefly insects, the rest being composed for the most part of small fruits and berries, largely of wild sorts. Noxious insects are believed to constitute at least one-third of the robin’s food, grasshop- pers alone forming ten per cent. of all the material eaten. ‘Vegetable food forms nearly fifty-eight per cent. of the stomach contents, over forty-seven per cent. being wild fruits, and only a little more than four per cent. being possibly cul- tivated varieties. Cultivated fruit amounting to about twenty- five per cent. was found in the stomachs in June and July, but only a trifle in August. Wild fruit, on the contrary, is eaten in every month and constitutes a staple food during half the year. No less than forty-one species were identified in the stomachs; of these the most important were four species of dogwood, three of wild grapes, four of greenbrier, two of holly, two of elder; and cranberries, huckleberries, blueberries, barberries, service-berries, hackberries, and per- simmons, with four species of sumach and various seeds not strictly fruit.” Six robins shot in Nebraska by Professor Aughey had eaten two hundred and _ sixty-five Rocky Mountain locusts and eighty-four other insects. In Wisconsin Professor King exam- ined the stomachs of thirty-seven specimens taken during the interval between March and October. “Five birds had eaten THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 93 eleven cutworms; three, five wire-worms; two, two hairy caterpillars; one, a hog-caterpillar of the vine; five, eight scarabeid beetles; two, two curculios; one, a click-beetle ; one, an ichneumon-fly ; two, two spiders; one, a millipede ; two, two angle-worms; six, nine grasshoppers; two, eight grasshopper’s eggs; one, a moth; three (young birds), pellets of grass; one, choke-cherries; two, black cherries; one, raspberries ; one, grapes; one, sheep-berries ; and one, ber- ries of Indian turnip.” A few years ago we examined the stomach contents of a robin shot in Michigan between a row of cherry-trees and a raspberry-patch, both with ripe fruit. The stomach was almost filled with maggots, apparently belonging to some species of Anthomyia. Sixty of these larvee were present. The earliest extended investigation of the food of the robin was that made in Massachusetts about half a century ago by Professor J. W. P. Jenks. The study was continued throughout the year, and in the main the results obtained are very simi- lar to those of Forbes summarized above. Bibio larvee formed the principal food in early spring. Audubon states that in the South during winter the robins feed on the berries and fruits of the holly, sweet-gum, gall-berry, and pokeweed, as well as the caperia-berry, wild-orange berry, and the berries of the pride of India. The seeds of most of the berry-like fruits which the robin eats are not digested, and doubtless are widely scattered by the birds. In 1891 Mr. E. V. Wilcox examined the stomach contents of nearly two hundred Ohio robins, taken during April, May, June, July, and August. “The great majority of the birds were killed on the Ohio Experiment Station grounds, about fifty being taken in other parts of the State.” These grounds were largely devoted to the cultivation of cherries, strawber- ries, raspberries, blackberries, and other fruits. On this ac- count it would seem probable that the percentage of fruit eaten would be greater than under ordinary field conditions, but the 94 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. fruit ratios are uniformly less than those obtained in Illinois by Professor Forbes. The results throughout are quite similar to those of the last-named investigator. The economic percent- ages are summarized as follows: Beneficial species (plants and animals), 52.4 per cent.; injurious species, 18.6 per cent. ; neutral species, 28.9 per cent. It will be seen that these are much more unfavorable to the robin than Professor Forbes’s results. The difference is largely due to the fact that the latter includes the months of February, March, and Septem- ber in addition to the months covered by Mr. Wilcox; and also to the fact that in Illinois the Bibio larvee were considered injurious, while in Ohio they were ranked as neutral. While these insects may now confine themselves to decaying organic matter, it seems, from the feeding habits of their allies, very probable that were the check the robin places upon their in- crease removed they would soon be compelled to resort to living vegetation for at least part of their diet, and become injurious. Consequently I think the robin entitled to credit for their destruction. The interesting point is brought out that ‘during the fruit season the robins shot in the station gardens were in the proportion of nine young to one old bird, and that the old birds took much more insect food than the young. While the young birds were feeding upon raspberries and other garden fruits, the old birds might be found more abundantly on newly mown meadows or in woodlands.” Similar conditions have often been noticed in other localities. To show how omnivorous a bird the robin is, Mr. Wilcox states that he found in the stomachs examined “ caterpillars of all sorts, from the smooth geometrids, or spanworms, and cutworms to the more hairy kinds, such as the walnut cater- pillar (Datana angusi) and even the common brown caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella). Coleoptera of several families were noted,—Staphylinidze, Dermestidee, Carabidee, Scarabzeide, Lampyridee, Elaterids, Otiorhynchidee, Curculionidee, Niti- tulide, Chrysomelidee, and Buprestidee. There were found THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 95 adult and pupal Hymenoptera, adult and larval Diptera, Co- leoptera, and Lepidoptera, adult and nymphal Heteroptera, Homoptera, and Orthoptera, adult Neuroptera (a small dragon- fly), spiders, small snails, sowbugs, and Myriapods.” In ad- dition to this animal food, “a great majority of the fruits, cultivated and uncultivated, which have a juicy nutritious portion are included in the dietary of the robin.” Concerning the fruit-eating proclivities of the robin, Mr. W. J. Green, of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, writes : “The capacity of the robin for berries is enormous, and when hundreds come at once the grower suffers serious losses. On the station grounds nearly all of the early raspberries and blackberries are taken by the robins, and only in the height of the season are there enough berries left to give the pickers a chance to earn fair wages. If left to themselves the robins would take the greater share of the black raspberries that grow on a plantation of more than an acre. Growers in other parts of the country have complained of losses quite as large.” The above accounts relate to the food of the adult robins. We have next to consider that of the nestlings. Properly to appreciate the importance of the latter, we must remember that as far north as Massachusetts three broods of nestlings are commonly reared; that from early spring till late in the summer each pair of old birds is engaged at least half of the time in providing food for four, five, or six ravenous birdlings ; and that each of the latter probably requires more food while in the nest than does one of the adults during the same period. It seems to us that the chief claim of the robin upon man’s favor rests upon these facts. In 1884 we examined the stomach contents of six young robins from Michigan nests. The largest single element of the food consisted of cutworms and related caterpillars, which formed twenty-seven per cent. of the total dietary. Among other insects present were seven per cent. of beetles, includ- 96 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. ing curculios and ground-beetles, and various undetermined species. There were also present twenty per cent. of earth- worms, one per cent. of snails, three per cent. of myriapods, and about thirty per cent. of grass blades. The latter seem almost always to be found in the stomachs of nestling robins ; they may be introduced accidentally with the cutworms or possibly may have a dietetic value. The food of fourteen nestlings examined by Beal consisted of caterpillars, locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles, with afew spiders, snails, and earthworms, and seven per cent. of berries of various kinds. Professor King found the stomachs of three Wisconsin nestlings to contain wire-worms, white grubs, caterpillars, beetles, small seeds, and grass. Dr. T. M. Brewer watched the feeding of a set of young robins near his house, ‘and, so far as they were seen, the nestlings were fed until they left their nest entirely with the moths of the family Agrotiidee or subterranean caterpillars, commonly known as cutworms.” We suspect he meant to write the larvee of the moths, instead of the moths themselves, although it is known that the latter are sometimes fed to the young. In his admirable account of the nesting habits of the robin,’ Professor Herrick states that the young are fed with grasshop- pers, crickets, katydids, and angle-worms, as well as such fruits as choke-cherries, blueberries, and raspberries. Evidently for the nestlings, as for themselves, robins take the kind of food that is most abundant. Years ago Wilson Flagg watched a pair nesting near his house. They were rearing ‘‘a second brood in the month of July, when the soil was so greatly parched by drought that if robins lived only on berries and earthworms they must have starved to death. I had often seen the birds at a distance pecking vigorously upon the sward and then drawing out a worm. I knew that there were at this time no ' Home Life of Wild Birds, chap. iv. THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 97 earthworms near enough the surface to be within the reach even of the long-billed snipes. But when the bird was near enough I could distinctly see, by the form and appendages of the creature, that it was invariably a cutworm of a large species and of an olive-green color. The female bird was most . industrious. She would carry off one of these grubs as often as once in five minutes, whenever I watched her movements, and very often she would have two in her billatatime. One day close under my window, I saw her bear off three cut- worms at once, all of which were taken before my sight in a space about a rod square.” The robin appears to be one of the birds that thrives fully as well under the conditions of modern agriculture as when the soil was owned by the red man. A knowledge of its feed- ing habits would lead one to expect this. In many localities it is believed that these birds are now more numerous than in earlier times. On the whole, there can be no doubt that it is an eminently useful bird, but it is equally certain that too often the fruit-grower alone has to pay heavily for services rendered to the community at large. In concluding his dis- cussion of an elaborate investigation of the food of adult robins, Professor Forbes expresses his belief that the horti- culturist cannot ‘sell his small fruits anywhere in the ordi- nary markets of the world at so high a price as to the robin, provided he uses proper diligence that the little huckster does not overreach him in the bargain.” If this is true when the food of the adult alone is considered, it is much more so when the food of the nestlings is also taken into account. _ Nevertheless, we believe the fruit-grower should be allowed to protect his crops when necessary, doing so in such a way as to accomplish the greatest results with the least expen- diture of robin life. But the indiscriminate destruction of © the birds for food, “sport,” or millinery purposes should be stopped, and the robbing of the nests should be properly punished. (/ QS BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. THE CAT-BIRD. While the cat-bird in most localities is much less abundant than the robin, it is almost as well known. It is a shyer species, commonly haunting shrubbery and underbrush in clearings and along running streams. It is a migrant and rarely winters very far north. The food of seventy Illinois specimens, shot during May, June, July, August, and Septem- ber, was studied by Professor Forbes. Insects formed eighty- three per cent. of the food of twenty-two May examples: the remainder consisted of spiders, myriapods, and sumach- berries. ‘Among the insects were about equal ratios of ants, crane-flies, and beetles, the first composing eighteen per cent. of the food, the second nineteen, and the third twenty-three. Caterpillars formed twelve per cent. of the food, and about one-sixth of these were distinctly recognizable as cutworms. More than one-third of the beetles were Carabidee, including specimens of Platynus and Harpalus pennsylvanicus.” Four per cent. of Orthoptera were present, there being specimens of the snowy tree-cricket, grasshoppers, and young walking- sticks. ‘ During the first part of June large numbers of ants and crane-flies were again eaten. Many May-beetles were also taken. During the last half of the month these insects were largely replaced by cherries, currants, raspberries, and strawherries.”” Three-fourths of the food of eleven July cat- birds consisted of small fruits, mostly (sixty-four per cent.) blackberries. Nine per cent. of beetles had been taken, most of them being predaceous. ‘It is clear that the cat-bird in midsummer eats only such insects as come in its way while regaling itself on the smaller fruits.” ‘The food-record of August resembles that of June, owing doubtless to the diminution of the smaller garden fruits at this time and to the fact that the wild fruits have not yet come into bearing. The insect percentages are therefore much larger than in July, and it is instructive to notice that THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 99 this increase is first apparent and most evident in the ratios of ants, an indication of the positive preference of the cat- bird for this food. Nearly one-half of the forty-six per cent. of insects eaten this month were ants.” Among the beetles eaten was one striped cucumber-beetle, and among the bugs were a few chinch-bugs. Blackberries formed the staple fruit element. During the first half of September cherries, wild fruits, and grapes formed seventy-six per cent. of the food. The final percentages of the food for the five months are: beneficial, forty-one ; injurious, fifteen; neutral, forty-four. Five cat-birds examined in Nebraska by Aughey had eaten one hundred and fifty-two Rocky Mountain locusts. _Twenty- five specimens shot during May in the Illinois orchard where canker-worms were at work, and studied by Professor Forbes, had eaten fifteen per cent. of canker-worms. This author also reports having seen cat-birds ‘“ busily scooping out the fairest side of the ripest early apples, unsurpassed in skill and industry at this employment by the red-headed woodpecker or the blue-jay.”’ Evidently there is room for improvement in the economic status of the adult cat-bird. But the dietary sins of the parents are largely atoned for by the food of the young. In 1884 we examined the stomach contents of three Michigan nestlings of this species : ninety-five per cent. of the food con- sisted of insects; two per cent. of spiders; and three per cent. of Myriapods. Sixty-two per cent. of the food con- sisted of cutworms; eleven per cent. of ground-beetles; four per cent. of grasshoppers ; three per cent. of May-flies, and two per cent. of dragon-flies. The large proportion of cut- worms strongly favors the usefulness of the species. Pro- fessor Herrick’s observations’ show that dragon-flies, caught Just as they emerge from the nymph state, are commonly fed the nestlings, as are also “insect larvae, beetles, moths, millers, 1 Home Life of Wild Birds, chap. viii. 100 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. and a great variety of smaller insects, varied with liberal courses of strawberries.”” Fourteen nestlings studied by Judd had eaten but four per cent. of fruit, their diet being chiefly ants, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, and grasshoppers. While the cat-bird by no means deserves the cruel and senseless persecution it too often receives, it seems to us that the fruit-grower should be allowed to protect himself from ruinous injury by it. We have no doubt that, on the whole, the benefit which it does is much greater than the harm, and its destruction should never be permitted except when necessary to save precious crops. Professor F. E. L. Beal be- lieves that * cultivated fruits can be protected from the cat-bird by the simple expedient of planting wild species or others which are preferred by the birds.”” Dr. Judd has shown that Russian mulberries are preferred to cherries by these birds. OTHER THRUSHES. Every farmer’s boy in the Middle States has heard the song of the Brown Turusu or TurasHer. In many respects its vocal powers excel those of any of the northern birds that are known by every body. It is a shy creature, haunting shrub- bery and underbrush and skulking away on the approach of man. When scratching the dry leaves or running over the surface of the ground, the rustling noise it makes is sur- prising: in the palmetto brush of southern Florida we have often been led to think some larger animal was present. It is a regular migrant, breeding in the north and wintering south. We are indebted to Professor Forbes for quite a full knowl- edge of the food of the brown thrush. Two separate inves- tigations were made, the first including twenty-eight birds shot in Illinois during April, May, June, and July, and the second sixty-four specimens covering the six months from April to September. The feeding habits for this time are thus recapitulated. ‘‘The brown thrush, arriving in April, finds nearly one- THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 101 half of its food in fragments of corn and other grains and seeds picked from the droppings of animals. This curious habit it maintains throughout the year, evidently taking this food from preference as well as from necessity. In fact, I have often found these vegetable fragments associated with black- berries in the food. After April this element averages about sixteen per cent. throughout the season. Insects amount to about half the food for each month, except in May, when THE BROWN THRUSH. (After Biological Survey.) they rise to three-fourths, and in July, when they drop to one-fourth. The excess in May occurs at the time of the greatest number and activity of the beetles, and the diminu- tion in July coincides with the period of the greatest abun- dance of the small fruits. One-half the insects eaten are beetles, which stand at one-fourth of the food in April and June, rise to one-half in May, and fall to about one-eighth in July and August. Half the beetles of the year are Scara- beeidee, chiefly June-beetles and Euryoma, all taken previous to July. Nearly one-fourth of the beetles are Carabid, which remain at about five per cent. of the food, except in May, when they rise to ten per cent. Although the ratios 102 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. of spring-beetles and snout-beetles are but two per cent., the numbers eaten are of some significance. My notes show that these birds were eating each at the daily rate of one and one- half curculios, and consequently had averaged a total of about two hundred and fifty to each thrush for the season. The brown thrush takes ants more freely than the robin, but eats comparatively few caterpillars; seven per cent. of each were found in the food of the year. Diptera are taken in very trivial quantity and Hemiptera in moderate numbers only. BOLL-WORM. a, b, eggs, side view and top view, magnified ; c, larva; d, pupa, in cocoon ; e, moth with wings expanded ; /, moth with wings closed. (After Riley.) This bird eats thousand-legs mere freely than the robin, espe- cially in early spring. In the garden it plays a part very similar to that of the other thrushes, but is less mischievous, on the whole. Its average of the edible fruits for June, July, and August is thirty-eight per cent., as against sixty per cent. of the robin and forty-nine per cent. of the cat-bird. It relishes the whole list of garden fruits, and later in the season resorts to the wild fruits of the woods and thickets.” THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 103 The nestlings of this species are fed upon spiders and insects, especially the various grasshoppers and caterpillars. The famous Mockine-pirp, whose music is to Americans much what that of the nightingale is to Europeans, is com- monly found in the Southern States. As a rule, it is rare north of latitude 40. Its food appears to be much like that of the other thrushes, consisting of about equal proportions of insects and various wild and cultivated fruits. The young appear to be fed chiefly upon insects, among which the moth of the cotton-boll-worm deserves special mention. In the North the Woop-Turusu is the most famous songster of its family. It is common, but not abundant, in most of the Eastern States, north to New England. It is usually a shy bird, haunting woodland shrubbery, but there are indications that it is becoming more familiar with man, and there seems good reason for hoping that in time it will be much more com- monly seen upon the home grounds. Professor Forbes’s studies of the food of twenty-two Illinois birds show that it is one of the most useful of the thrushes, eating large numbers of injurious insects and comparatively little fruit. One speci- men had stuffed itself with rose-beetles (Macrodactylus sub- spinosus) and others had eaten large numbers of ants and crane-flies. Insects as a whole formed seventy-one per cent. of the food. Of course every one is eager to encourage the advances of this beautiful songster. The economic relations of the other thrushes—such as the Hermit, Aticr, or Swainson’s—appear to be very similar to those of the wood-thrush. The hermit is credited—or rather debited—with the destruction of many predaceous beetles during its northward migration, and the other two species mentioned are unusually fond of ants and caterpillars. In summarizing the food of the family of thrushes as it occurs in Illinois, Professor Forbes says: ‘Sixty-one per cent. of the food consists of insects, one per cent. of spiders, two per cent. of Myriapods, and thirty-two per cent. of fruits, 104 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. eleven per cent. being blackberries, eight per cent. cherries, one per cent. currants, and five per cent. grapes. Thirty parts of the food consist of injurious insects and eight parts of beneficial species, while twenty-six parts consist of edible fruits.” This, however, refers only to the adult birds, the food of the young not being sufficiently known to be included in the estimate. All the observations on record indicate that the nestlings of thrushes are fed upon insects, especially smooth caterpillars like the cutworms, so that there is little doubt that this factor would largely increase the already con- clusive evidence as to the great value of this splendid family. The charming little kinglets of the family Sylviide are among the most delightful of the pygmy birds. They frequent the tops of tall trees so constantly that they are seldom seen by most people. Two species are rather common in our Northern States, the GoLtprn-crownep and the Rupy-cRowNep KINGLETS. Both are insectivorous in their feeding habits. THE GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. CHAP TE Ry IX. THE NUTHATCHES, TITMICE, CREEPERS, AND WRENS. THE NUTHATCHES. Tue nuthatches (Sittinw) comprise a small group of creeping birds which inhabit woodlands chiefly, although they often visit trees in orchards and groves or along the highway. Most of their food consists of insects gathered from the bark of trees, but part of it is composed of seeds of various kinds. They are compact flattened birds, with plumage of modest colors and hard barbed and pointed tongues. Four species and one variety occur in the United States, a common form in the Northeast being the Wurre-Breastep Nuruatcu, which in the Middle and Western States is replaced by a variety with a more slender bill. This bird is frequently abundant in wood- lands, and moves actively about over trunks and branches in search of food. Professor King examined the stomach con- tents of twenty-five Wisconsin specimens, and found that fourteen of them had eaten beetles, including elaters and longicorns, while others contained ants, caterpillars, and beetle- erubs, a spider and a chrysalis, a few small toadstools, some acorns, and a little corn. Four Illinois specimens had eaten beetles of various kinds, some of them being lady-beetles. The food of this species in winter and spring was made the subject of a special study by Professor E. D. San- derson. ‘During the winter the larger proportion of the food was composed of seeds, which gradually decreased as insect life became more abundant.” Seeds of Indian corn, ragweed, and wild sunflowers were recognized; the insects were largely in egg or larval stages. In spring nearly eighty per cent. of the food consisted of insects, chiefly adults. No traces of acorns were found in the stomachs examined. From 105 106 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. these studies Professor Sanderson reaches the conclusion that this species is ‘either absolutely neutral or of comparatively small economic importance,”—a conclusion which, it seems to us, is by no means warranted by his results. During the spring, he writes, ‘‘ Hymenoptera were found in considerable numbers, all being beneficial.” Probably it is on this account that the usefulness of the birds is doubted. But we believe, as indicated in Chapter VI., that investigators err in saying that all parasitic insects are beneficial. The nest of this bird is built in a hole in a tree, the cavity being sometimes excavated by the nuthatch and sometimes by another bird or a falling limb. The rapid destruction of forests and the thinning out of dead trees in orchards and woodlands must reduce the available nesting sites and thus tend to lessen the numbers of the nuthatches. There is some reason for supposing that if suitable artificial nesting places were provided in orchards these birds would breed in them. It is an experiment well worth trying. The Rep-preastep or Canapa Nouruatcnu is much rarer than the last-named species in many parts of the United States, although the two birds seem to be very similar in their feed- ing habits. It breeds in holes and stumps, and feeds on beetles, ants, and other small insects. In Nebraska it has been seen eating young grasshoppers. THE TITMICE. The titmice, or chickadees, which with the nuthatches and wren-tits form the family Paridee, are represented in North America by nearly a score of species and varieties, the great majority of which, however, are rare or only locally distrib- uted. The common Cuickaper, or BLack-caprpepD TiTMouss, is much the most familiar species in the Eastern States, remain- ing with us throughout the year. It takes a great variety of food, gleaning through the winter from the bark and twigs of both deciduous and evergreen trees, and in summer NUTHATCHES, TITMICE, CREEPERS, AND WRENS. 107 devouring insects of many kinds. In a canker-worm infested orchard sixty-one per cent. of the food of two chickadees con- sisted of these caterpillars, while injurious beetles constituted the remainder. In a recent investigation of the winter food of the chick- adee, we studied! the stomach contents of forty-one speci- mens taken during November, December, January, February, and March. The results as a whole show that more than half of the food of the chick- adees during winter consists of insects, a very large pro- portion of which are taken in the form of eggs. About five per cent. of the stomach contents consisted of spiders or their eggs. Vegetation of various sorts made up a little less than a quarter of the food, two-thirds of which, bn . rt | THE CHICKADEE, OR BLACK-CAPPED however, consisted of buds ee and bud-scales that were be- lieved to have been accidentally introduced with plant-lice eges. These eggs made up more than one-fifth of the entire food and formed the most remarkable element of the bill of fare. This destruction of the myriads of eggs of plant- lice which infest the fruit, shade, and forest trees is probably the most important service the chickadee renders during its winter residence. More than four hundred and _ fifty eggs sometimes occur as the food of one bird in a single day. On the supposition that one hundred were eaten daily by each of a flock of ten chickadees, there would be destroyed one thousand a day, or one hundred thousand during the days of winter, a number which we believe to be far below ‘ New Hampshire College Agricultural Experiment Station, Bull. 54. 108 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. the actual average, could we determine it precisely. Insects’ _eggs of many other kinds were found in the food of the chick- adee ; many of these it was impossible to recognize, but there was no difficulty in identifying the eggs of the common Ameri- can tent caterpillar and of the fall canker-worm, the eggs of which remain upon the trees through the winter. There were also present the eggs and egg-sacs of many spiders of kinds commonly occurring under loose bark. While spiders as a class are doubtless beneficial creatures, the destruction of some of them is not in our opinion seriously detrimental to the usefulness of the chickadee. The larve of several differ- ent kinds of moths were also found. One of the most abun- dant species was believed to be the common apple-worm, the larvee of the codling moth. The bark-beetles of the family Scolytidee, which are destructive to forests all over our coun- try, were also freely eaten by the chickadees. The hairy skins of the fruits of the common wild sumachs were among the most abundant elements of the vegetable food present. The edible portion of these fruits is evidently eaten to a con- siderable extent throughout the winter and early spring. An- other common element of the food appears to consist of the curious little fruits of the bayberry or waxberry myrtle—an abundant shrub along the sea-coast. In winter chickadees have been observed to hide away surplus food, to eat at a later time. A careful study of the food of the chickadee in Michigan has also been made by Professor E. D. Sanderson, with re- sults very similar to those recorded above. As an indication of the usefulness of these birds, he writes: “If fifty-five in- sects were consumed per day by each bird, as will be shown to be the case, three hundred and eighty-five would be con- sumed per day by a flock of seven, which is believed to be a fair average for each square mile: this would be about one hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred per year in each square mile. Thus upon the land surface of Michigan NUTHATCHES, TITMICE, CREEPERS, AND WRENS. 109 there will annually be about eight thousand million insects destroyed by chickadees alone. Surely no mean number.” The closely related Lone-raitep CuickapEe of the Western States feeds largely upon grasshoppers when the latter are abundant. The Caroiina Tirmouse of the Southern States appears to have food-habits similar to those of its northern representative, except that through the winter months. it doubtless finds a larger percentage of insect food. THE CREEPERS. The small family of creepers (Certhiide), of which only about a dozen species are known in the entire world, has but one representative in the United States. These birds in outward appearance and habits are suggestive of the wood- peckers. They have rigid tail-feathers and a slender de- curved bill, with toes adapted to running up the sides of trees. The Brown Creeper is the common American representa- tive of this family. It is a small bird, very restless and active, which may often be seen by bird-lovers going in spirals up tree trunks, but never hanging head downward like the nut- hatches. It nests behind loose bark on the trunks of trees, and in most of the Northern States may be found through- out the year. Very few precise determinations of its food have been made: three stomachs examined by King contained small beetles and other insects, and Nelson reports that he has seen several of these creepers on the sides of a house searching for spiders. In June, 1895, Aughey saw two parent birds bring to a nest of young twenty-seven locusts in an hour. In Maryland, Judd found that one bird had eaten beetles, sawflies, flying ants, spiders, and seeds of the scrub pine. There can be no doubt that this is a very useful little bird, deserving all possible encouragement. 110 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. THE WRENS. The elegant little wrens, in their suits of brown and drab, belong to a small family (Zroglodytide) of highly insectivo- rous birds. The saucy House-Wren is much the most familiar representative. It occurs throughout the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the western being considered a THE HOUSE-WREN. (After Biological Survey.) distinct geographical race. In the Northern States it is migra- tory, spending the winter in the South. It nests about barns and dwellings in almost any situation, and is easily encour- aged by putting up nesting-boxes. The house-wren is a very useful bird to have searching constantly for insects in the shrubbery of the ornamental grounds, the trees of the orchard, or the vines of the garden. Its diet appears to be exclusively insectivorous ; including on its bill of fare larvee and caterpil- lars of many kinds, as well as ants, grasshoppers, gnats, bee- tles, bugs, spiders, and myriapods. Professor Aughey repeat- NUTHATCHES, TITMICE, CREEPERS, AND WRENS. 11] edly observed both this and other wrens carrying young locusts to their nestlings. Nearly half the food of several specimens shot in an orchard infested by canker-worms con- sisted of these pests. Fifty-two stomachs were examined at the United States Department of Agriculture, the record show- ing ‘ that ninety-eight per cent. of the stomach contents was made up of insects or their allies, and only two per cent. was vegetable, including bits of grass and similar matter, evidently taken by accident with the insects. Half of their food con- sisted of grasshoppers and beetles; the remainder, of cater- pillars, bugs, and spiders.” The house-wren is accused,’ apparently on good evidence, of sometimes pecking holes in the eggs of chipping-sparrows and throwing them out of the nest. Probably this is a special habit of certain birds, due to unusual conditions, although it may well lead bird-lovers to watch the wrens to see how general it is. A mother wren observed by Judd made one hundred and ten visits to her nest in feeding her young in four hours and thirty-seven minutes, feeding them one hundred and eleven insects and spiders. Two species of Marsu-Wrens are common in the United States, the long-billed and the short-billed. They especially haunt swampy ground, the former building an enormous glob- ular nest among the reeds. Both species feed upon insects, spiders, and snails. Of fourteen Wisconsin specimens of the long-billed marsh-wren, one had eaten “one ant; one, a cat- erpillar; one, three beetles; three, three moths ; one, a small grasshopper ; one, five grasshoppers’ eggs; one, a dragon-fly ; and one, a small snail.’ (King.) Five Maryland specimens had eaten spiders, beetles, bugs, leaf-hoppers, flies, four-winged parasites, and ants, the first two forming the major portion of the food. ' Bird Lore, ii, 90. CHAPTER X. THE WARBLERS AND THE VIREOS. THE WOOD WARBLERS, OR AMERICAN WARBLERS. Tue beautiful-plumaged American warblers (JJniotiltide) form next to the largest family of our native birds. Nearly all of them are small. As a group they are abundant and widely distributed, migratory, and insectivorous. In many species the plumage varies greatly with the age and sex. There are about sixty North American representatives of the family. ‘With tireless industry do the warblers befriend the human race,’ writes Dr. Elliott Coues ; ‘their unconscious zeal plays due part in the nice adjustment of nature’s forces, helping to bring about that balance of vegetable and insect life without which agriculture would be in vain. They visit the orchard when the apple and pear, the peach, plum, and cherry are in bloom, seeming to revel carelessly amid the sweet-scented and delicately tinted blossoms, but never faltering in their good work. They peer into the crevices of the bark, scruti- nize each leaf, and explore the very heart of the buds to detect, drag forth, and destroy these tiny creatures, singly in- significant, collectively a scourge, which prey upon the hopes of the fruit-grower, and which if undisturbed would bring his care to naught. Some warblers flit incessantly in the terminal foliage of the tallest trees; others hug close to the scored trunks and gnarled boughs of the forest kings; some peep from the thicket, the coppice, the impenetrable mantle of shrubbery that decks tiny water-courses, playing at hide and seek with all comers; others, more humble still, descend to the ground, where they glide, with pretty, mincing steps and affected turning of the head this way and that, their delicate 112 THE WARBLERS AND THE VIREOS. Es flesh-tinted feet just stirring the layer of withered leaves with which a past season carpeted the ground.” The Buiack anp Wuite Creeping WARBLER, sometimes called the black and white creeper, is abundant in most wooded portions of eastern America, extending westward to Dakota and Nebraska. It resembles the creepers and nuthatches in its manner of taking food, searching every cranny and crevice of the bark of trees for the insects sheltered there, occasion- ally chasing for short distances moths or other creatures frightened from their hiding-places; and sometimes scruti- nizing the foliage, like other warblers. The nest is placed on or near the ground, very often on a rocky ledge. Four or five young are reared. The insects eaten by the bird belong mostly to species of small size. Seventeen Wisconsin specimens had eaten five ants, twenty small measuring worms and one other caterpillar, four moths, five two-winged flies, one curculio and fifteen other beetles, seven bugs, a caddis-fly, and a small snail, besides more than a hundred insects’ eggs. One Nebraska bird had swallowed forty-one locusts and twelve other insects, together with a few seeds. The Biur YELLOw-BAcKED WARBLER is a beautiful little bird which spends much of its feeding time among the topmost twigs of the tallest trees. It is common in eastern America and is found as far west as the Rocky Mountains. In New England it has been observed feeding on May-flies, measuring worms, and spiders; in Wisconsin six small insects were taken from a single stomach, and in Nebraska it has frequently been seen picking up locusts and other insects. A picture of it is shown in the frontispiece of this book. The NasuvitteE WarsiLer is found, occasionally at least, throughout almost the whole of North America, specimens of it having been taken as far north as Greenland, as far west as Utah, Nevada, and California, and as far south as Mexico. Its chief distribution, however, is in the region east of the 8 114 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. Mississippi River, where it is a regular migrant, breeding as far south as the northern counties of Illinois and the central portion of New England. The nest is placed on the ground. The only food records that we have show that two Wisconsin specimens had eaten four small green caterpillars and some: other insects not identifiable, and that one Nebraska fledgling _had devoured twenty-one locusts and several other insects, while the adult birds have frequently been seen feeding on locusts. The TennesscEE WARBLER is a very interesting migratory species that passes regularly and abundantly through the Mis- sissippi Valley States during its spring and autumn migrations. It also occurs sparingly west to the Rocky Mountains and east to the Atlantic Ocean. It breeds in the far North and winters, in part at least, in South America. It searches diligently for the insect mites that infest the foliage of trees, seeming to have a special fondness for aphides, forty-two of which have been taken from the stomachs of three of these birds. Among the other food elements of thirty-two specimens there were found two small Hymenoptera, thirteen caterpillars, fifteen two-winged flies, thirteen beetles, thirty-five small bugs, and eleven insects’ eggs. Four-fifths of the food of one bird shot in an orchard infested by canker-worms consisted of these pests. Tennessee warblers have also been seen feeding on small grasshoppers. This, however, is one of the very few warblers against which a charge has been brought by the fruit-growers. In some sections it is known as the ‘ grape-sucker,” because it punctures ripe grapes with its little beak, presumably to get at the juice. Testimony on this point appears to be conclusive, and considerable injury occasionally results. There can be no doubt, however, that in the aggregate the bird does vastly more good than harm. The YeLLow-RuMPED Wars.Ler, or Myrrtie-Brirp, is an ex- ceedingly hardy little creature, often enduring the rigors of a THE WARBLERS AND THE VIREOS. 115 New England winter when its congeners are basking in the sunshine of the South. It is distributed over a large North American range, and is abundant in all sorts of situations, especially during the spring and autumn migrations. — It breeds regularly in the far North, commonly nesting, how- ever, in the northern tier of States and in southern Canada. According to Ridgway, it is a common winter resident in southern Illinois. Of twenty-one specimens studied by King, ‘‘one had eaten a moth; two, twenty-one caterpillars, mostly measuring worms; five, fourteen two-winged flies, among which were three crane-flies ; fifteen, forty-eight beetles ; one, four ichneumon-flies; one, a caddis-fly ; and one, a spider.” Our own studies! of many specimens show that in autumn three-fifths of its food consists of myrtle-berries, the remainder being largely insects, while in spring the insect ratios are much greater. The Yettow WarBLER, or SuMMER YELLOW-Birp, is probably the best-known member of its family. It seems perfectly at home throughout the whole of North America, from the trop- ical regions of the South to the arctic lands of the North. It is a familiar and confiding bird, associating freely with civilized man, and building its neat nest of vegetable fibre in the trees of the orchard, park, family residence, and public thorough- fare. Three or four eggs are usually deposited in the nest, and when an additional one is left by a skulking cow-bird, the warblers—with a wisdom beyond their size—sometimes add another story to the nest and begin again their domestic duties, leaving the stranger egg and if necessary some of their own to go unhatched. The food habits of the yellow warbler are all that could be desired. It freely visits farm premises and feeds on minute insects of many kinds. Two-thirds of the food of five Illinois 1 Dearborn and Weed, Tech. Bulletin No. 3, N. H. C. Exp. St., Food of the Myrtle-Warbler. 116 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. specimens consisted of canker-worms, and most of the re- mainder was an injurious beetle. An equal number of Wis- consin birds contained small caterpillars and beetles; and from various other specimens spiders, myriapods, moths, bugs, flies, grasshoppers, and other insects have been taken. The Buack-rHroATED GREEN WarsLeR, which is especially characterized by its jet-black chin, throat, and breast, is abundant in New England and extends westward to Ne- THE MAGNOLIA WARBLER. braska, breeding in pine trees throughout the northern por- tion of its range. Its food is obtained among the branches of tall trees, largely while upon the wing, and consists of a great variety of small insects, including caterpillars and larvee of many kinds, curculios and other beetles, small bugs, and various Hymenoptera. An idea of the number of insects it THE WARBLERS AND THE VIREOS. ig ery consumes may be obtained from the statement that the stomachs of five birds taken in Nebraska during June con- tained one hundred and sixteen small locusts and one hun- dred and four other insects, an average of forty-four to each bird. Seventy per cent. of the food of one Illinois specimen consisted of canker-worms. The beautiful American Repstart is a much commoner species in most of the Northern States than would be sup- posed by those who have paid no special attention to the study of birds. Living amidst the foliage of trees, it is seldom seen except by those looking for the warblers found in such situations. The redstart is “the flycatcher of the inner tree- tops,’ capturing on the wing the numerous insects that flit about among the branches and occasionally taking a cater- pillar hanging by a thread or crawling on a twig. The food of the few specimens that have been critically examined con- sisted of small two-winged flies, a few parasitic Hymenoptera, an occasional small bug, and some minute larve. Seven Nebraska specimens had eaten one hundred and _ sixty-one small locusts and one hundred and seventeen other insects. The young are fed with moths and other insects caught when upon the wing. The handsome little MaryLanp YELLOw-THROAT, in its typical form or that of a subspecies, is found throughout the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, and in many localities is one of the most abundant of the warblers. — It especially frequents the shrubbery about standing or running water, where it can be found throughout the summer busily searching for insect food. It often visits orchards, where canker-worms and other caterpillars are greedily devoured, these forming in three cases on record four-fifths of its food. The little case-bearing caterpillars of the genus Coleophora and its allies are often eaten, while butterflies, moths, two-winged flies, beetles, grasshoppers, leaf-hoppers, bugs, dragon-flies, Hymenoptera, and insects’ eggs are all included on the bill of 118 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. fare. The young are sometimes fed with small grasshoppers, and these insects are a favorite item of food with the adult birds. Like the yellow warbler, this species sometimes outwits the cow-bird by its intelligence. Mr. A. W. Butler thus describes the three-storied nest of a yellow-throat in his possession: “In the original nest had been deposited the egg of a cow- BUTTERFLY CAUGHT BY MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. bird, then within that nest and rising above it the yellow-throat had built another nest, which also became the depository of the hope of offspring of this unnatural bird; again the little warbler constructed a third nest upon the other two, burying the cow-bird’s egg, and in this nest laid her complement of eggs.” These examples will suffice to make manifest the fact that the warbler family is one of extraordinary economic value, the members of which are immensely useful in checking noxious insects and with very few exceptions have no injurious habits. It is particularly gratifying that these charming birds, whose song and plumage draw to them the good will of all intelli- gent people, should show so well that utility and beauty are not always dissociated. Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. RED-EYED VIREO. YOUNG. THE WARBLERS AND THE VIREOS. 119 THE VIREOS, OR GREENLETS. The vireos, or greenlets, are universally recognized as among the sweetest of feathered songsters. They are small birds, modest in manners and dress, very different from the shrikes, to which the ornithologists state that they are closely related. This is exclusively a New World family, composed of half a dozen genera and a little over half a hundred spe- cies: only one of the former, the genus Vireo, and thirteen of the latter occur in the United States. Of these thirteen species about half are common over a considerable area. In color our forms are mostly greenish olive or gray above and white or yellow below. They build slightly pendent nests in trees, migrate southward in autumn, and are almost exclu- sively insectivorous. They are more often heard than seen. “Clad in simple tints that harmonize with the verdure,”’ writes Dr. Coues, ‘‘these gentle songsters warble their lays unseen, while the foliage itself seems stirred to music. In the quaint and curious ditty of the white-eye, in the earnest, voluble strains of the red-eye, in the tender secret that the warbling vireo confides in whispers to the passing breeze, he is insensible who does not hear the echo of thoughts he never clothes in words.” The Rep-Eyep Vireo seems to be the most abundant and widely distributed species of the genus. It is found in all the States except those of the extreme West, and in summer sometimes migrates as far north as Greenland. It prefers woodlands to the cultivated fields, but frequently finds its way to parks and orchards. It commonly seeks its food among the foliage and branches of trees and shrubs, some- times chasing moths and other flying insects for short dis- tances on the wing. It is universally recognized as a great in- sect-eater. An excellent idea of its food may be obtained from Professor King’s studies of fifty-four Wisconsin specimens: ‘From the stomachs of eighteen of this species were taken 120 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. fifteen caterpillars; five other larve; eight beetles, among them five weevils and one long-horn; seventy heteropterous insects, among them sixty-seven chinch-bugs ; sixteen winged ants; one ichneumon (?); five dragon-flies ; two dipterous insects, one of them a large horse-fly (Zabanus atratus) ; three small moths; two grasshoppers; one aphis; one chrysalid ; two spiders ; and seven dogwood-berries. Of thirty-six other specimens examined, fifteen had eaten caterpillars; two, other larvee ; nine, beetles, among them two lady-bird beetles ; three, grasshoppers ; two, ants ; two, moths; four, unidentified insects; and seven, fruits or seeds, among which were rasp- berries, dogwood-berries, berries of prickly ash, and sheep- berries.” During locust outbreaks in Nebraska four-fifths of the food of this vireo has been found to consist of these insects. Of his studies of the food of the young of this - species, Professor Herrick writes: ‘* Grasshoppers, katydids, green larvee, beetles, and bugs of many kinds were served again and again; but it would be a mistake to suppose that there was no fruit to vary this diet. Upon the third day the mother brought a ripe red raspberry, its juice fairly stream- ing down her bill, and after a few beetles had been taken she appeared with a large blackberry. Fruit was served to the young about half a dozen times in the course of four hours during which watch was kept on this particular day, but I had not seen a single berry brought to the young before this time.” Professor Beal found that nestlings three days old had been fed with spiders, sphinx caterpillars, butterflies, assassin-bugs, and tree-hoppers. | The Warsiine Vireo frequents cultivated fields, orchards, and the vicinity of houses, as well as the wilder woodlands. It is an abundant species in most States and is highly insec- tivorous. Its food consists chiefly of caterpillars, including such destructive species as the canker-worm, beetles of various kinds, among them the twelve-spotted cucumber- beetle and occasionally a lady-bird, crane-flies and other THE WARBLERS AND THE VIREOS. — 1 | two-winged flies, grasshoppers, bugs, and sometimes dog- wood-berries. The young are known sometimes to be fed with grasshoppers. Canker-worms formed forty-four per cent. of the food of three specimens shot in an orchard infested by these pests. The YeELLow-THROATED Vireo is a larger bird than either of those above mentioned. It is common in the eastern regions of North America, and feeds on caterpillars, including meas- uring worms, moths, weevils and other beetles, grasshoppers, leaf-hoppers, and various flies. It evidently is a highly bene- ficial bird. The Wuire-ryep Vireo is abundant in the Eastern States as far north as Massachusetts, and is occasionally found as far west as the base of the Rocky Mountains. It usually haunts clearings where there is much underbrush. Dr. Brewer reports that it feeds on canker-worms, and De Kay says it eats insects and berries. No precise records of the examina- tion of the stomach contents appear to have been published, but its diet is probably similar to that of the other species of the genus. Judd summarizes’ the food of ten specimens of this species along with that of fifteen specimens of other species. Ninety-one per cent. of the food of the twenty-five vireos consisted of insects and nine per cent. of the fruit of mulberries and sassafras. 1 Birds of a Maryland Farm, U. 8S. Biol. Surv., Bull. 17, p. 102. CHA PTE walk THE SHRIKES, WAXWINGS, SWALLOWS, AND TANAGERS. THE SHRIKES, OR BUTCHER-BIRDS. Ir is difficult to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion concern- ing the economic status of our North American shrikes (Lani- ide), of which there are two well-defined species, the great northern shrike and the loggerhead shrike. They are birds of extraordinary habits and feed upon an unusual variety of animal life. On the one hand it is clear that they devour large numbers of injurious insects, birds, and mice, and on the other hand that they destroy many beneficial birds. The balance of evidence, however, seems to show that on the whole the shrikes are of economic value. The complexity of the problem is increased by their peculiar habit of impaling many of their victims upon thorns, often leaving them there indefinitely. Many explanations of the origin of this habit have been sug- gested. The most plausible one seems to be that the victims are thus spitted for convenience in tearing up preparatory to eating, Dr. Judd having shown that this is necessary on account of the comparative weakness of the shrike’s feet as grasping organs. The Great NorTHERN SHRIKE is a bold and fearless bird. ‘‘ Appropriating to himself sufficient territory, where no other bird may safely intrude, he becomes the terror of the neigh- borhood, and woe to the unlucky finch or warbler that ven- tures to trespass on these hunting-grounds. Like a veritable sentinel on guard, the shrike stands in wait upon his chosen spot, ready to pounce with unerring aim upon the first little bird that may dare to rustle in the nearest bush.’ (Coues.) Besides the small native birds that are thus destroyed, the shrikes are known to attack the imported English sparrow. 122 ‘ SHRIKES, WAXWINGS, SWALLOWS, AND TANAGERS. 123 On this account it has been recommended that they be pro- tected by law. Shrikes also feed upon shrews and mice and many kinds of insects, including grasshoppers, caterpillars, crane-flies, and ground, tiger, carrion, and leaf beetles. Dr. 5. D. Judd, who has made a careful study of the food of this species, writes : ‘*The present investigation shows that bene- ficial birds form less than one-fourth of the food of the butcher- bird. It also shows that, in addition to being an enemy of THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE, mice, it is a potent check on the English sparrow and on several insect pests. One-fourth of its food consists of mice ; another fourth, grasshoppers; a third fourth consists of na- tive sparrows and predaceous beetles and spiders, while the remainder is made up of English sparrows and species of insects most of which are noxious.”’' The young are fed very largely with grasshoppers, though mice and birds are sometimes given them. The LogGeRHEAD SHRIKE is a smaller bird than the last. In some of its racial forms it is found very generally throughout 1 Div. Biol. Surv., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1898, Bull. No. 9, p. 20. 124 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. the country in summer, retiring southward at the approach of winter. Inhabiting a warmer climate than its northern rela- tive, it is able to subsist more largely upon insects. In eighty-eight stomachs reported by Dr. Judd,' only seven birds were found. Mice formed fifty per cent. of the winter food, or sixteen per cent. of that for the whole year. Beetles and their larvee constituted twenty per cent., of which half were predaceous. Caterpillars, grasshoppers, wasps, and spi- ders were all found in considerable numbers. The nestlings are fed mainly upon insects, with an occasional mouse or small bird. Although the loggerhead shrike destroys a few birds and beneficial insects, these seem to be more than compensated for by its destruction of mice and noxious insects. THE WAXWINGS. The beautiful family of waxwings (Ampelide) is repre- sented in North America by three species, only one of which is at all common and widely distributed. Of the other two, one, the Bohemian waxwing, is found in the far North, coming to the southern line of Canada in the winter, and the other, the shining fly-snapper, occurs in the Southwestern States. Another species included by some ornithologists in this family is Townsend’s fly-catching thrush, a peculiar bird found in the Rocky Mountain region. The only member with which we are especially concerned in the present connection, however, is the handsome Cepar Waxwine, or Cepar-Birp, sometimes also called the CHEerry- Birp. This “gem of ornithological beauties” is found in nearly all the United States and throughout a large part of Canada. It commonly goes in small flocks which wander from place to place in search of food, and is usually present in all but the most northern States both winter and summer. 1 Div. Biol. Surv., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1898, Bull. No. 9, p. 20. SHRIKES, WAXWINGS, SWALLOWS, AND TANAGERS. 125 Its name has been given it because of its fondness for cedar- berries, to obtain which it frequents cedar thickets. ‘* These birds are exceedingly hardy and voracious, and for this reason have become adapted to a wide range of food. During the early spring and summer they are said to feed almost exclu- sively upon insects, and during the last of July and August they feed to a considerable extent upon them. They are dex- terous fly-catchers, and when in the woods they labor in a field almost peculiar to themselves. They often station them- selves upon the top- most branches of some dead _ tree-top which commands a view above the forest, and there watch hours together for insects, every few minutes beating off and up into the air to secure the winged forms that are passing above them. On the borders of woods they often fly out six or more rods for passing insects. Besides being fly-catchers they search among the foliage of trees for larvee of various kinds.” ' Unfortunately, the cedar waxwings are also very fond of cherries, and on this account are in bad re- pute among fruit-growers. Yet it has been shown that they generally eat only the earliest cherries, and there can be little doubt that during the year they abundantly pay for the fruit taken during the cherry season. In some localities cherry- trees have been so generally planted that there is more than enough for birds and men; in such places the depredations THE CEDAR-BIRD. PH. H. King: 126 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. of these birds are not noticed. Raspberries, elder-berries, myrtle-berries, mulberries, and various other wild fruits are also eaten largely by the cedar-birds. In the orchard infested by canker-worms treated of in Chapter VI., Professor Forbes shot seven specimens out of a flock of thirty cedar-birds. The stomachs of all these were full of the worms, averaging one hundred to each, so that it was estimated that this flock would destroy ninety thousand of the pests if they stayed in the orchard a month. Among other insects which are known to be eaten by this species may be mentioned beetles, crickets, crane-flies, lace- wing flies, and ichneumon-flies. At the Department of Agriculture the food-contents of one hundred and fifty-two stomachs of this species have been examined, the results showing that seventy-four per cent. of the food consisted of wild fruits, thirteen per cent. of cultivated fruits, only five per cent. of this being cherries. The remaining food con- sisted of insects,—grasshoppers, bugs, bark-lice, and beetles (among the latter the elm-leaf beetle) being the principal items of the insect bill of fare. An exceedingly interesting account of the nesting habits of the cedar-bird has been given by Herrick. ‘* The food con- sisted of choke-cherries and red bird-cherries, varied with raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, together with in- sects, which during the last days of life at the nest constituted about one-quarter of the fare.” Our own observations show very similar feeding habits. In one case nestling birds were found by another observer to have been fed largely upon the little dung-beetles of the genus Aphodius. THE SWALLOWS. Few families of birds are more highly insectivorous than that of the swallows (Hirundinide). Members of this group have long, pointed wings, small feet, and a short, broad, deeply cleft bill, well adapted to catching insects in the air. SHRIKES, WAXWINGS, SWALLOWS, AND TANAGERS. 127 They are migratory, having extraordinary powers of flight, and are almost constantly on the wing. ‘The habits of swal- lows,” writes Dr. Coues, ‘best illustrate the modifying influ- ences of civilization on indigenous birds. Formerly they all bred on cliffs, in banks, in hollow trees, and similar places, and many do so still. But most of our species have forsaken these primitive haunts to avail themselves of the convenient THE BARN-SWALLOW. (After Biological Survey.) artificial nesting-places that man, intentionally or otherwise, provides. Some are just now in a transition state; thus, the purple martin in settled parts of the country chooses the boxes everywhere provided for its accommodation, while in the West it retains the old custom of breeding in hollow trees.” On account of this adaptability to the environments of civilization, swallows should be encouraged as much as pos- 128 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. sible by having breeding-places provided in barns and about premises. A little trouble in this direction will be more than repaid by the destruction of injurious insects. There are seven species of North American swallows, five of which are fairly abundant. Of these the Barn-Swa.Low is one of the commonest, occurring and breeding throughout most of Canada and the United States. Too many of the new barns are so planned that these birds cannot get inside to build their nests and rear their young, but the wise farmer will leave openings for this purpose. Most of their food is captured on the wing, and consists of small moths, two- winged flies, especially crane-flies, beetles in great variety, flying bugs, and occasionally small dragon-flies. The young are fed with insects. During ‘‘locust years’? in Nebraska, Professor Aughey found that these swallows fed very largely on the pests after the latter began to fly: of three specimens shot after the middle of June, two contained thirty-four locusts each and the third one thirty-seven locusts. At such times they appear to feed almost exclusively on locusts, as their stomachs con- tained very few other insects. The Cuiirr-SwaLLow, or Eaves-Swa..ow, is irregularly dis- tributed over the United States, breeding abundantly in many localities and being rare in other districts. It flies over up- land meadows and pastures, often skimming along near the surface of the ground to catch the numerous leaf-hoppers and other insects found there. 4 r F | THE FLYCATCHERS. 175 insects are chiefly of species injurious to man’s interests, so that these feathered friends are of great utility in reducing the hordes of noxious pests. The nest of the phoebe is built by preference upon the timbers of a bridge, with the murmur of running water just beneath. It is composed of mud and moss plastered against the side of the support. When it is completed the mother bird lays four or five white eggs, which are faithfully incubated until they hatch into hungry birdlings that keep the parents busy bringing food. The young are fed wholly with insects and their allies, including chiefly moths, grasshoppers, ants, spiders, and similar creatures. The pheebe is so universal a favorite that it has not wanted champions wherever it is found. But the knowledge of its exceeding usefulness should win for it more friends, who shall encourage its increase in every way possible. For surely there can be no straining of the quality of mercy in protecting these feathered creatures: such mercy is thrice blessed,—for it blesses first the birds, second ourselves, and third our children and our children’s children in trans- mitting to them undiminished Nature’s heritage of man’s allies. The Kineprrp is noted for its pugnacious antipathy to hawks and crows, and is esteemed by agriculturists for this quality which makes it a veritable knight of the farm. It is familiar with mankind, makes its home in the orchard, and takes no pains to hide its nest. The protection it affords against marauding birds is not more important than _ its benefits as an insect destroyer. Ninety per cent. of its food consists of insects, including such noxious species as May- beetles, click-beetles, wheat and fruit weevils, grasshoppers, and leaf-hoppers. Bee-keepers have made the claim against the kingbird that it is destructive to bees, but evidence furnished by dissections tends to prove that this damage is really of slight conse- 76 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. quence. It is recorded of an Iowa apiarist that he suspected these birds of eating his bees and shot several near his hives, but when examined by an expert entomologist no bees were found in their stomachs. Of two hundred and eighty-one stomachs opened by the Biological Survey, only fourteen contained honey-bees, fifty in all, forty drones, four workers, and six undetermined. The destruction of the drones was a benefit, and the few workers were more than compensated for by nineteen robber flies that had been eaten. Small fruits, such as elder-berries, blackberries, and wild cherries, make up ten per cent. of its food. In southern Louisi- ana it partakes of berries of the prickly ash and tobasco pep- pers and is regarded as a pest by pepper- planters. This spicy diet gives its flesh a pungent _ flavor which makes tt sought for the table, and numbers are annually killed for market. The food THE KINGBIRD. (After Biological Survey.) of the young kingbirds consists almost wholly of insects, nearly half of it being crickets and grasshoppers when these are abundant. The other common flyeatechers—the Great Crestep, the Least, and the Woop Pewrs—appear to have feeding habits very similar to the phobe and the kingbird, although, of course, woodland species find insects of quite different sorts from those in cultivated spaces. THE HUMMING-BIRD AND THE CHIMNEY-SWIFT. 1 = =I THE HUMMING-BIRD. Only one species—the RusytHroat—of the beautiful family of humming-birds (Trochilide) occurs in the Northern States. This feathered sprite is rather common and may often be seen hovering before flowers, from which it extracts nectar and minute insects and spiders. Considerable discussion has taken place as to whether its food consisted mainly of insects or nectar: the relative proportion of the two elements prob- ably varies with the season and locality. When the sap of trees is obtainable, the birds appear to prefer it to any other food. They regularly visit trees perforated by yellow-bellied sapsuckers: Mr. Frank Bolles says that in the White Moun- tains of New Hampshire, ‘* the humming-birds, at ‘ orchards’ where they are not molested by the woodpeckers, drink scores of times in the course of the long summer day. When not drinking they are usually perched on twigs a few yards from the holes, keeping their nervous heads wagging from side to side while watching for intruders. In a few instances I have seen humming-birds perch upon the bark below the holes, in order to drink long without being forced to keep their wings "' The young are fed chiefly upon minute insects, such as gnats, ants, and small bees. According to Mr. William Brewster’s observations, the young are fed by regurgitation. moving while enjoying the sweet sap.’ THE CHIMNEY-SWIFT. The swifts (Cypselide) are represented in eastern North America by but one species, the abundant CHIMNEY-SwirT, or CHIMNEY-SWALLow, a bird of marvellous powers of flight, with small and slender body, long, pointed wings, and not a grain of superfluous flesh: an aerial thoroughbred, built for cleaving the air in chase of the insect quarry that forms its 1 Science, vol. xx. p. 318. 12 178 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. food. Before the discovery of America, when the rude smoke-holes that served as chimneys for the wigwams and long-houses of Choctaw or of Iroquois extended no invitation for these birds to nest in- them, hollow trees more or less open at the top took the place of the modern chimney. In thinly settled districts of the West such trees are still used for the purpose. The nest is built of little twigs broken off from the trees while the bird is in full flight, which are stuck together and to the sides of the chimney or tree by saliva. The same nest is sometimes used for two or three seasons. A large number of birds often choose the same tree or chimney for breeding and roosting purposes. The chimney-swifts are abroad at all hours of the day and night, but fly most freely from earliest dawn till soon after sunrise, and again before sunset till after dark. Doubtless at such times the insects on which they feed are most abundant in the air. Their food is varied, probably consisting of almost all the flying insects with which they come in contact. Three specimens studied by Professor 5. A. Forbes had eaten ants, moths, ground-beetles, rove-beetles, plant-beetles, flies, bugs, and spiders. The young are fed largely upon grasshoppers when these are abundant, and at other times on various kinds of insects. There has long been prevalent a popular idea that these birds winter in a lethargic state in chimneys and hollow trees, but all well-informed ornithologists declare this statement to be preposterous. According to Stejneger the chimney-swifts are found in Mexico in winter. It would be very strange if a bird of such powers of flight as this should choose to sleep away the cold season, instead of basking in the sunshine of the South to be reached in so short a time. THE NIGHTHAWK AND THE WHIPPOORWILL. The strange family of goatsuckers, or night-jars (Caprimul- gide), is represented in the United States by eleven species THE NIGHTHAWK AND THE WHIPPOORWILL. 179 and subspecies, only two of which, however, are commonly found over the largest portion of our country, the others occurring in the Southern or Southwestern States. Every one is familiar with the plaintive cry of the Wuiproorw1Lt, one of the commonest members of this group. It is a noc- turnal bird and secludes itself by day in the darkest recesses of the woods. In such places also the young are reared, the two creamy white, brown-blotched eggs being deposited on the ground or on a log or stump, with no attempt at a nest. By night it flies rapidly through the air, catching in its capa- cious mouth flying insects of many kinds. The few stomachs that have been examined show that it feeds largely on night- flying moths, sometimes taking those having a wing expanse of two inches. Click-beetles and other beetles are also often devoured. Four-fifths of the food of one specimen consisted of injurious grasshoppers. One Ontario specimen had _ its stomach filled with ‘the large female wingless ants, which could only have been obtained upon the ground, and in all probability in the daytime.”! The Nieguruawk, or Buui-Bat, is seen much oftener than the whippoorwill, on account of its greater abundance and its habit of flying about everywhere, especially on dark days and towards dusk. Small flocks of them may frequently be seen cleaving the air in all directions, coming close to men and houses in their rapid evolutions. Its two eggs are laid on the eround, generally in secluded situations, although of late it often uses the flat roofs of Boston houses as nesting-places. It is a great insect eater, its food consisting of May-flies, dragon-flies, beetles of many kinds, ** water boatmen,” scor- pion-flies, bugs of various sorts, and many grasshoppers. From seven Nebraska specimens Professor Aughey took three hundred and forty-eight Rocky Mountain locusts, an average of forty-nine to each bird. An Arkansas specimen examined ' Nash, Birds of Ontario, p. 29. 180 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. by F. L. Harvey contained more than six hundred insects,— gnats, beetles, flies, ants, and grasshoppers. Professor Her- rick has found that the young are fed largely on firefly beetles. The nighthawk frequently suffers from the thoughtless cruelly of amateur gunners who shoot at them as they fly in the air. This is unworthy “sport” for boy or man. These birds are not only very useful as insect destroyers, but, as Mr. E. B. Williamson has written, they are also ‘‘ handsome birds, adding much to the twilight beauty of a summer evening as the scattered flocks pass with easy and graceful flight over fields and woodland.” THE LUNA MOTH. Slightly reduced. Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, CHAE TT Hay 2c V i THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. THE WOODPECKERS. In a general way each family of birds is set apart to perform certain special functions in the economy of nature. To the woodpeckers has been assigned the task of keeping in check the borers concealed beneath the bark of trees, and, inciden- tally, of devouring any other insects which may be scattered about the trunk and branches. With the single exception of the yellow-bellied species, all our woodpeckers appear to be eminently beneficial. The peculiarities of their structure eminently fit them for their special work: the feet generally have two toes in front and two behind, all armed with sharp claws, enabling the birds to hop up trees with ease; the tail feathers are short, stiff, and rigid, serving as a support when the bird gives hammer-like strokes with its chisel-shaped beak ; and the tongue, in all except the yellow-bellied species, is extensile and generally barbed on the edges near the tip, so that it can be thrust into burrows to impale the occupants. There are about thirty forms of the Picide—the woodpecker family—recognized in North America. Most of them remain throughout the year in the localities in which they occur. The Ivory-BitLep Wooppecker is the monarch of the family. It is a large, handsome, powerfully built bird, twenty inches long, with a wing expanse of thirty inches. Occurring only in the Southern States, it there is found in the deepest woods and swamps, far away from human habitations. The Pitearep WooppEckER is a species nearly as large as the one just men- tioned and has similar habits, though it is more generally distributed over the United States. Both are rare birds, inhabiting solitary forests; on account of their shyness, they 181 182 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. are not likely ever to have much economic importance in civilized communities. Analyses of the stomach contents of the pileated species have shown that it feeds largely on ants, beetles, and other insects which it finds in dead trees and logs, the beetle larvee that bore into the trunks of trees being especially taken. It also feeds upon the seeds and berries of many sorts of wild fruits, such as the sour-gum, flowering dogwood, black haw, hackberry, persimmon, wild erapes, Virginia creeper, greenbrier, sumac, and poison-ivy. In the stomachs analyzed by the Biological Survey the animal and vegetable matter was about equally divided. THE HAIRY WOODPECKER. (After Biological Survey.) Kither the typical form or that of some variety of the Hairy WooppeckerR occurs commonly in most parts of North America. This is a particularly useful bird, visiting freely the kings of the forest, as well as the fruit-trees of the orchard and the shade and ornamental trees of the home grounds, the park, or the public thoroughfare. It nests in holes in THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 183 trees, usually in the forest, and rears from four to six young. No birds search more persistently for the wood-boring grubs living beneath the bark of trees, many of which—like the flat-headed borer—are the most vexatious enemies of the fruit-grower. During their meanderings over the trunk and larger limbs they often startle moths and other nocturnal insects, which they devour whenever opportunity offers, and they also penetrate the disguise of many geometric caterpillars and cut short their deceptive careers. A good idea of the gen- eral diet of the species may be obtained from Professor King’s statement that of twenty-one specimens examined, “ eleven had eaten fifty-two wood-boring larvee ; five, thirteen geometric caterpillars ; ten, one hundred and five ants; six, ten beetles ; two, two cockroaches; two, nine egg-cases of cockroaches ; two, two moths; one, a small snail; one, green corn; one, a wild cherry ; and one, red elder-berries.””. More than two- thirds of the food of eighty-two specimens studied by the Department of Agriculture was animal matter, chiefly insects. In the presence of an unusual abundance of grasshoppers the hairy woodpeckers feed freely on them; four Nebraska specimens had eaten one hundred and fifty-seven of these insects. They also do good service in penetrating the cocoons of the cecropia emperor moth, the larvee of which devour the foliage of fruit- and shade-trees. A number of observers have reported that these birds push their beaks through the tough cocoons until the pupz inside aré reached, the juices of the latter being sucked away. They have also been credited with having in 1880 “ cleaned elm-trees in Cleveland, Ohio, of the cocoons of the tussock-moth.” Concerning the beneficent habits of the hairy woodpecker, Dr. P. R. Hoy, a well-known naturalist, wrote many years ago: ** Cheerful and industrious, he is always on the lookout for those worms that burrow in the substance of the wood or under the bark of trees. He is an expert at auscultation and percussion, and he is not indebted to Laennee for the art 184 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. either. As he explores suspicious localities with gentle taps, he quickly detects the evidences of unsoundness, and is not slow to learn the cause. Worms is his hobby: soon he chips an opening, and with his long, slender tongue, armed with a barbed lance-point, a capital tool,—he soon extracts the cause of the evil. While engaged in ‘ worming’ he continues to utter his cheerful Plick, plick! in a major key, as if con- scious that he is engaged in a good cause and not ashamed % THE CECROPIA MOTH AND ITS COCOON (REDUCED). to own it. You can always tell where he is. A few ears of corn is about all the pay he takes for his valuable work. Protect him; he is our friend.” In habits, manner, and dress the Dowyy Wooppecker seems but a miniature copy of its hairy cousin. It more com- monly frequents orchards and is often called the “ sapsucker,”’ but this is a misnomer, as that name should be confined to the yellow-bellied species. Although it bores holes in the THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 185 bark of apple-trees, it does not revisit them to suck the sap, according to the habit of the last-named bird; and the holes seem usually not to injure the tree. Seventeen Wisconsin specimens had eaten forty insect larvee, including twenty wood-boring grubs and three caterpillars, seven ants, four beetles, a chrysalid, one hundred and ten small bugs, and a spider, together with a few acorns and small seeds, and a little woody fibre apparently taken by accident along with the erubs. Three-fourths of the food of one hundred and forty specimens examined by the Department of Agriculture con- sisted of insects. Nearly one-fourth consisted of ants, taken chiefly from those which are attending aphides or burrowing in wood. Audubon states that in autumn these woodpeckers eat poke-berries and wild grasses. Mr. W. E. Cram observed one of these birds opening the seed cases of mullein in Au- gust. ‘I found that seed vessels that contained grubs were brown, while those on the same stalk free from them were still green, and observed that the woodpecker only opened the brown ones.” Dr. D. S. Kellicott has reported that the downy woodpecker has been ‘‘ most industrious in Columbus, Ohio, in boring for the larve of the maple aegerian,”’ a pest of shade-trees. Mr. A. W. Butler has ‘“ often found them feeding upon sunflower seeds, of which they are very fond.” The young birds are fed with insects, ants forming a large percentage of their diet. The only injury that can be charged to the account of this bird is that of spreading the seeds of poison-ivy, the berries of whichit eats. The seeds pass through the body unharmed as to their germinating qualities. Probably this is a chief reason why these plants are so generally found growing around the bases of trees. The Fricker, although one of the woodpeckers, has habits quite different from the majority of its tribe. Instead of drilling holes in trees for a living, it gets most of its food from the ground. Its structure, especially that of its bill, is modified 186 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN, to suit its peculiar habits. The ordinary woodpecker’s bill is shaped like a chisel at the tip, but that of a flicker is like a pickaxe. It has the same long, extensile tongue which charac- terizes most of the woodpeckers. This is used for catching small insects, by being thrust out covered with sticky saliva and entangling them. Larger insects are grasped by the bill. Flickers relish fruit as much as robins do. The two species are usually associated when the berries of the sour-gum and black-cherry trees are ripe. In winter flickers eat the berries of Ampelopsis. Nearly half the flickers’ diet consists of ants. HEAD OF FLICKER. In two hundred and thirty stomachs examined at Wash- ington fifty-six per cent. was animal matter, thirty-nine per cent. vegetable, and five per cent. mineral. Two of them contained over three thousand ants each. Other insects were beetles (Coleoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), May-flies (Ephemerida), and white ants (Jsoptera). In 1860 a writer in the Southern Planter stated that flickers were the only birds he had ever seen pulling out worms from the roots of peach- trees,—referring evidently to the destructive peach-tree borer. The Rep-neapep Wooppecker is another species that, like THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 187 the flicker, has got above hard work. Instead of delving in wood, he sits on a post or a telegraph-pole or similar point of vantage, taking beetles, grasshoppers, and other insects which come along or are seen on the ground. At times he darts out for flying insects and captures them on the wing. He is fond of corn and nuts. In autumn these birds store nuts in all sorts of crevices for future use. It has been THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, ( After Biological Survey. ) observed that in years when there are many beechnuts, red- headed woodpeckers spend the winter in the Northern States, except New England where they are rare. About half the food taken by this species is animal and half vegetable. Beetles are eaten oftener than any other order of insects, forming about a third of the total food. Among these beetles are many carabid and tiger beetles, which, being carnivorous, are more or less useful. There are other com- 188 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. plaints against this woodpecker besides that of killing useful beetles. Itsometimes devours cultivated fruits,—blackberries, strawberries, cherries, apples, pears, etc.,—thereby raising the farmer's ire, and at times robs birds’ nests of their young. On the other hand, many of the beetles and other insects are harmful and most of its vegetable food is valueless. Even though it were proved that its food habits were against it, a 7) Ls VY Ve SPINES ON ROOF OF TONGUE. Magnified. (After Lucas.) TONGUE OF RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, Magnified. (After Lucas. ) bird of its rare beauty is worth seeing now and then, though we may have to pay for the pleasure. One of the most notable illustrations of the value of wood- peckers has been brought to light through the investigations of spruce insects in the Northeast by Dr. A. D. Hopkins, forest entomologist of the United States Department of Agri- culture. Dr. Hopkins found that great damage was being THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 189 done by the spruce-destroying bark-beetle (Dendroctonus piceaperda), but that its work was being largely checked by woodpeckers, probably chiefly the Arctic THrer-rorp Woop- PECKER and the Banpep THree-rorp Wooppecker, as_ these species come from the far North in winter and live in northern New England in numbers. Dr. Hopkins writes: ‘*Woodpeckers are the most important enemies of the bark- beetle, and appear to be of inestimable value to the spruce- timber interests of the Northeast. Indeed, I feel confident that in the many hundreds of infested trees examined, at least one-half of the beetles and their young had been destroyed by the birds, and in many cases it was evident that even a greater proportion had perished from this cause alone. “Estimating one hundred beetles to the square foot of bark in the average infested tree and an average of sixty square feet of infested bark, it is possible for each tree to yield an average of six thousand individuals, one hundred trees six hundred thousand, and so on. It is therefore plain that if one-half or two-thirds of this number are destroyed by the birds and other enemies, the amount of timber the remainder can kill will be lessened. This is all the more apparent when il is remembered that it is only when the beetles occur in great numbers that they can overcome the resistance of the living trees.” In California, however, Dr. Hopkins has found the wood- peckers to be in some respects of doubtful utility in’ their relations to forest insects. There certain clerid beetles and other enemies of bark-borers are abundant, and are especially exposed to the attacks of woodpeckers. The result is that they are eaten to a large extent and so are prevented from killing the bark-beetles. The YELLOW-BELLIED Wooppecker, or true Sapsucker, either in the typical or a varietal form, occurs throughout the United States. Although seldom an abundant species, it is rather common within its range. The structure of its tongue differs 190 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. from that of its congeners: it is only slightly extensile and is not adapted for penetrating the channels of and dragging forth wood-boring larvee. Consequently these pests are seldom found in its food. Its usual diet appears to consist of insects and berries of various sorts, together with the sap and more or less of the inner bark (cambium) of trees. Like the flicker it takes great numbers of ants, the other insects eaten including beetles, crane-flies, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and bugs. Fifteen out of thirty Wis- consin specimens had eaten nothing but ants. Of x berries, wild grapes and dogwood-berries are de- voured., There can be no question that the yellow-bellied woodpecker habitually feeds upon the sap of trees : the testimony of naturalists and fruit-growers in many widely separated localities is conclusive on this point. To obtain the sap the birds make horizontal series of punctures in the bark of many trees; these holes extend through the bark and slightly into the wood. They are deeper than those made by the downy woodpecker and run horizon- tally around the tree, a half-inch or more apart. Two or more series, one above the other, are usu- TONGUE OF sapsucker. ally made in the trunk of the chosen tree. The sap Magnified. ied, monzes into these holes and the birds revisit them constantly to suck it up, just as the owner of a sugar-orchard visits his pails to gather the sap from the maple- trees. During recent summers we have repeatedly seen these birds thus visiting the hundreds of punctures they had made in a row of English white birches along the border of Dart- mouth College park. The woodpeckers were by no means the only visitors attracted by the flowing sap : humming-birds, hornets, wasps, flies, and ants were there in abundance. The two first named were not on good terms, for whenever a ruby- throat would appear, one or more of the great white-faced THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 191 hornets would attempt, often successfully, to chase it away. But they did not interfere with the proprietors of the saccha- rine establishment. These sapsuckers seem to have surprisingly little choice in the trees selected to supply their food; besides the English white birch, they puncture the common birch, sugar-maple, pignut-hickory, pine, apple, white beech, and probably many other trees. Mr. A. W. Butler, the well-known Indiana or- nithologist, writes concerning this species: ‘* They do great damage in spring to fruit- and shade-trees, especially the sugar- maple. They perforate the bark with holes arranged in bands on spirals about the trunk of the tree or larger limbs, from which the sap sometimes flows in streams. I have counted six of these birds on a dozen sugar-maples in front of one lot in my own town. In winter they are especially severe on coniferous trees. Norway pines in my yard have been girdled until they became puny, sickly trees and were cut down.” Mr. Butler further reports that a friend, spending a day in the woods, ‘ was attracted by the actions of a yellow-beliied woodpecker which had tapped a young tree near its top. It would sip the sap and then wait for it to collect and feed again. This was continued for several hours. The observer watched until five in the afternoon and left the woodpecker just where he first saw it. It had not moved more than a yard from the hole in the entire seven hours.” The young of this species seem to be fed with both sap and insects. There is no doubt that this species is undeserving of en- couragement, and when it appears to be injuring valuable trees it should be shot. The fruit-grower, however, should be sure that the birds in his orchard are not of the other species, which are highly beneficial and deserving of protection. THE KINGFISHER. The northern United States have but one representative of the interesting family of kingfishers (Alcedinide). ‘This is 192 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. the well-known and widely distributed Bretrep KineFisHer. ‘Amidst the roar of the cataract or over the foam of a torrent, he sits perched upon an overhanging bough, glancing his piercing eye in every direction below for his scaly prey, which with a sudden circular plunge he sweeps from its native element and swallows in an instant. His voice, not unlike the twirling of a watchman’s rattle, is naturally loud, harsh, and sudden, but is softened by the sound of the brawl- ing streams among which he generally rambles. He courses along the windings of the brook or river at a small height above the surface, sometimes suspending himself by the rapid action of his wings, like certain species of hawks, ready to pounce on the prey below; now and then settling on an old dead limb to reconnoitre. Mill-ponds are particularly visited by this feathered fisher; and the sound of his pipe is as well known to the miller as the rattling of his own hopper.”” So wrote Alexander Wilson many years ago; the same picture might be drawn to-day. The kingfisher goes south late in autumn, winters in Florida and other Southern States, and returns north early in spring. Many reside at the South throughout the year. The nest is made in a horizontal burrow, five or six feet long, excavated by the birds in river or other banks. The food consists principally of fish, but occasionally mice, frogs, or erasshoppers are captured. The young are fed chiefly upon fish, but are also given various sorts of aquatic insects. The kingfisher is a handsome bird, whose presence adds much to along the enjoyment of excursions—by boat or on shore the margins of streams and lakes, although in trout-streams it is sometimes troublesome from the point of view of the fisherman. THE CUCKOOS. With a large proportion of the general public the word “cuckoo” brings to mind a bird which has the habit of placing its eggs in the nests of other birds, the resulting young ousting THE WOODPECKERS, KINGFISHERS, AND CUCKOOS. 193 the rightful occupants from the nest. This picture is due to the influence of the European cuckoo upon our literature, and it by no means portrays the domestic habits of the American species, of which we have two, the YELLow-piLLep and the BLAcK-BILLED, the latter having the more northerly range. Both of these cuckoos are shy and secluded in habits, oc- curring mostly in woods and underbrush along streams, but often visiting orchards and groves. They now appear to be more worthy, since their food habits have been investigated, than they were formerly held. It is a well-known fact that the common birds of the orchard, par- ticularly the robin, expostulate loudly, and frequently show fight, when a cuckoo comes on the scene. From this it might be inferred that the cuckooisanenemy. Zz “TAN . Zh v Wa 490 <= A>} : YING y, = "(GY a Ce Dyyp Wf Some of the older (4 Jif FLY LY WES => “f writers onornithol- ogy ascribe to it the habit of invading birds’ nests. If such a habit exists, it is an exception, and not arule. Both species feed upon practically the same matter. Fruit is seldom eaten. Of one hundred and _ fifty-five stomachs of cuckoos taken between May and October, inclu- sive, by the Biological Survey, only one contained berries. Nearly half of the food consisted of different kinds of cater- pillars, mainly hairy ones. During May and June, when tent caterpillars (Clisiocampa americana) are stripping orchards of everything green and leaving on the bare branches their unsightly nests, they form 13 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. (After Biological Survey.) 194 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. nearly half of the cuckoos’ fare. These birds are unique in having a taste for insects that other birds reject. Most birds are ready to devour a smooth caterpillar that comes in their way, but they leave the hairy varieties severely alone. The cuckoos, however, make a specialty of devouring such unpal- atable creatures: even stink-bugs and the poisonous spiny larve of the Io moth are freely taken. About six per cent. of the food for the year consists of beetles, among which are a few potato-beetles. No preference for any particular sort of beetle is apparent: probably any beetles found crawling over branches of trees would be eaten. Investigation has shown scarcely more bugs (Hemiptera) than beetles, probably for the same reason,—both live principally on the ground,—those that were found being largely cicadas, which dwell almost wholly in trees. Grasshoppers, katydids, and tree-crickets are eaten to a considerable extent, orthopterous insects amount- ing to about thirty per cent. of the year’s food. Flies, ants, and other hymenopterous insects are taken in small quantities. The nestling birds are fed chiefly with smooth caterpillars and grasshoppers, their stomachs probably being unable to endure the hairy caterpillars. All in all, the cuckoos are of the highest economic value. They do no harm and accomplish great good. If the orchardist could colonize his orchards with them, he would escape much loss. That curious member of the cuckoo family known in the Southwest as the CHaparraL Cock, or ROADRUNNER, is especially noted for its speed on foot and its droll manner of darting about in pursuit of its food. Its economic interest lies wholly in what it eats. Insects, snails, lizards, small birds, and snakes are food for it. It is even credited as an enemy of the rattlesnake. It is occasionally tamed and allowed to go at will about the premises to wage war on mice and other household pests, though it generally becomes so mischievous that it proves a nuisance rather than a benefit. Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shu feldt. YOUNG BARRED OWLS. CHAP a hee Ne E THE OWLS. Frew birds make a stronger appeal to the imagination than do the owls. Their nocturnal habits, their grotesque appear- ance, their weird and unearthly voices, and their secluded haunts all combine to render them birds of note to the human mind. Our literature is full of allusions to the owl, such allusions, especially in the older writings, being chiefly due to the barn-owl, which in Europe commonly inhabits the belfries and towers of churches and castles. With few exceptions the owls are nocturnal birds, though many of them can see very well by daylight. . Their eyes are large and of peculiar structure, the ears are remarkably de- veloped, and the plumage is so soft and fluffy that the birds seem much larger than they really are. Many of the species have a wide distribution, being found almost the world over under the guise of slightly varying geographical races. The nest is generally placed in a hole in a tree, the cupola of a building, or some other sheltered situation. The eggs are whitish and vary from two to eight or more, according to the species. The owls live wholly upon animal food, which, as a rule, is captured alive. Small animals, especially mice and gophers, birds, frogs, reptiles, and the larger insects form their staple diet, though fish are sometimes caught in the water and eaten. The indigestible portions of the food are regurgitated in the form of small pellets, in which the hair and bones of the victims are all present. On this account it is an easy matter to determine precisely the food of a given species of owl by examining the pellets in the nest or beneath the roosting-site. Large numbers of such pellets have been examined by com- 195 196 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. petent naturalists, both in Europe and America, and the re- sults prove beyond question that the owls as a group are of great value as vermin destroyers. The most complete ac- count of the economic status of these birds as yet published is the report of Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, to which we are indebted for much of the information in this chapter. There is but one North American representative of the family Strigide, the common Barn-Owt of the Southern and Western States. This handsome bird is occasionally found as far north as New England on the Atlantic coast, while in the Pacific region it extends northward to Oregon. In most parts of the United States it is not an abundant species, but in California it is said to be the commonest of the owls. — It nests in towers or hollow trees, depositing from three to six yellowish-white eggs on the mass of regurgitated pellets which have accumulated in its abode. The barn-owl is a crepuscular or nocturnal bird, hiding during the day and sallying forth in search of prey during the evening. The record of its food is unusually complete, and shows that on the whole it is a very useful species. Of thirty- nine stomachs examined by Dr. Fisher, one contained a pigeon; three, other birds; seventeen, mice; seventeen, other mam- mals; four, insects ; and seven were empty. These stomachs were collected from Delaware to California, and contained specimens of the following small mammals: meadow-mice, jumping mice, harvest and house mice, white-footed mice, shrews, cotton-rats, pocket-rats, kangaroo-rats, wood-rats, and pouched gophers. Two hundred pellets from beneath a nest of these birds in Washington, D. C., contained four hundred and fifty-four skulls, of which ‘‘two hundred and twenty-five were meadow-mice; two, pine-mice; one hundred and seventy-nine, house-mice ; twenty, rats; six, jumping mice ; twenty, shrews; one, a star-nosed mole; and one, a vesper- sparrow.” THE OWLS. te Mr. J. H. Reed, who has made a special study of the barn- owls in Pennsylvania, says that their food consists chiefly of meadow-mice. A German ornithologist thirty years ago examined seven hundred and three pellets regurgitated by barn-owls. Of the two thousand five hundred and _ fifty-one skulls found, one thousand five hundred and seventy-nine belonged to shrews, nine hundred and thirty to mice, sixteen to bats, one to a mole, nineteen to English sparrows, and three to other birds. In the Southern States the barn-owl feeds very largely upon the destructive cotton-rat, and in California the main staple of its diet is the pouched gopher, an abundant and vexatious rodent, and the ground-squirrel, a related pest. All accounts agree in showing that it is a rare and exceptional trait for the barn-owl to feed on small birds. The SHortT-EARED Ow is said to have the greatest geo- graphical range of any land bird. It is found in all the principal divisions of the globe except Australia, and is com- mon throughout most of North America, going northward to breed in summer and returning southward for the winter. It prefers open to wooded country, and in many regions is the most abundant of the owls. Its food consists principally of field-mice, but moles, shrews, gophers, small rabbits, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and rarely small birds are also eaten. Fully ninety per cent. of the stomachs of about fifty specimens examined in the Department of Agriculture con- tained nothing but meadow-mice. In England this species is noted as being one of the chief agencies in subduing the up- risings of field-mice that periodically occur. The Barrep Own is a larger bird than either of the pre- ceding species. The typical form is found in eastern North America, while closely related representatives inhabit the West and Southwest. It is generally accused of being a serious enemy to poultry, and in southern regions where 198 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. fowls roost in trees it probably does considerable damage ; but of the one hundred and nine stomachs examined by Dr. Fisher only three contained domestic fowls, while in one was a pigeon, in another a ruffed grouse, and thirteen contained smaller birds, including screech-owls, sparrows, and a red- bellied woodpecker. Mice were found in forty-six stomachs ; rats, red squirrels, and chipmunks in eighteen; insects and spiders in sixteen; crawfish in nine; frogs in four; fish in two; a lizard in one; while twenty of the stomachs were empty. Audubon records the fact that these owls are very fond of a brown wood-frog found in Louisiana. ‘“ Dr. C. Hart Merriam took the remains of at least a dozen red-backed mice from a single specimen killed near Moose River in northern New York.” ‘In summing up the facts relating to the food habits of this owl,” writes Dr. Fisher, “it appears that, while the general statements of certain authors, especially the earlier ones, charge the bird with the destruction of poultry, game, and small birds, such destructive habits are comparatively un- common. That it does occasionally make inroads upon the poultry-yard and does more or less damage among game- birds is true; but the systematic collection and examination of a large number of stomachs show the exceptional char- acter of such acts and reveal the fact that a large part of its food consists of mammals. And it is to be noted that among the list are some of the most destructive rodents that the farmer has to contend with. If a fair balance be struck, therefore, it must be considered that on the whole this owl is beneficial, and hence should occupy a place on the list of birds to be protected.” The barred owl makes its nest in hollow trees or among the upper branches. It often uses the deserted nest of a crow or hawk for the purpose, remodelling it slightly to suit the new occupant. The complement of whitish eggs is usually two or three, but four or five are sometimes found. These THE OWLS. tag owls prefer heavy woodlands or wooded swamps—such as the cypress swamps of our South Atlantic regions—where they may be found much oftener than in more open regions. The ScreecH-Ow1 is one of the best-known and most abundant of the group: it inhabits all parts of the United States, and is found throughout southern Canada. It is one of the most beneficial birds of prey and deserves the encour- agement and protection of farmers everywhere. Its food is varied, consisting of insects, crawfish, frogs, fish, lizards, small birds, and es- pecially mice, of which it destroys enormous numbers. In summer insects form a large part of its fare: an owl in captivity has shown a fondness for cater- pillars, and the stomachs of two examined in New Jersey were full of full-grown nymphs of cicadas or harvest- flies. In warm win- SEO ae ter weather it stores a a up in its hiding-place mice, moles, and similar creatures to serve as food during more inclement periods. The only bad habit attributed to it is that of occasionally catching small birds, but since the introduction of the English sparrow this trait is favorable to the owl’s usefulness, since it is known to prey to a considerable extent upon these unwelcome immi- grants. In the nest of a screech-owl at Columbus, Ohio, were 200 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. found the bodies of two English sparrows and one field- mouse. The Lone-EaRED OwL is a common and widely distributed species in North America. In some parts of the Southwest it is considered the most abundant of the owls; and the tes- timony of all competent observers points to the fact that it is one of the most beneficial members of its family. That its food consists very largely of mice is shown by the fact that out of one hundred and seventy-six skulls taken by Dr. Fisher from beneath the roosting-site of one of these owls, one hun- dred and thirty-seven were of mice of various species, while twenty- six were of shrews, the remaining thirteen consisting of eleven sparrows, one warbler, and one bluebird. The same observer found that out of one hun- dred and seven stom- achs from many parts of the country eighty- four contained mice; five, other small mam- LBL ISIE SERIE ES) OTE mals; sixteen, small Se leiecapiei see aie) birds, one being a quail; while one contained insects and fifteen were empty. Dr. b. H. Warren found that twenty-two out of twenty-three Pennsylvania long-eared owls had eaten only mice, while the twenty-third one had taken beetles and a small bird. The remains of eight field-mice were taken from the stomach of one specimen by Mr. Townend Glover; while in Oregon THE OWLS. 201 Captain C. E. Bendire found the food to consist principally of ‘mice and the smaller rodents. The long-eared owl commonly breeds in trees, using the deserted nest of a hawk or crow for the purpose. From three to six eggs are deposited. It is a nocturnal bird, hiding in groves of evergreens and other sheltered retreats during the day. There are a number of very small owls in the United States. In the South and Southwest are found two species of pygmy owls, usually less than seven inches long; while in Arizona occurs the litthe Eur Own, the smallest species of its family in North America. These owls feed upon insects, the smaller mice, and occasionally small birds. In the Eastern and Northern States the smallest owl is the Acapian or Saw-Wuet Ow1, a bird usually about eight inches long, which is occasionally found from Canada as far south as North Carolina. Its nest is built in hollow trees, generally in holes made by flickers, during early spring. Its food consists chiefly of mice and shrews, with the addition of insects in summer, and an occasional sparrow or other small bird. The young are fed chiefly upon mice of various kinds and small birds. The Great Hornep Ow is found over almost the whole of North America. In strength and ferocity it has no equal among our rapacious birds. Of all the owls which we have, itis the only one distinctly harmful. During the day it keeps very closely hidden, more to escape persecution from crows and other birds that delight to torment it than because the light of day is painful to it. As a matter of fact, there is scarcely a keener-visioned creature in the woods than this owl, in spite of the general impression that it cannot see well when the sun shines. Its food consists mainly of mammals and birds, though it sometimes catches insects. A specimen examined by us had eaten a caterpillar (/acles imperialis) in addition to a chicken. 202 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. Nocturnal mammals are frequent victims. Four out of every five of these owls that are brought in have been scented by a skunk. Two nests that have come under the writers’ obser- vation both had the remains of skunks upon them beside the young. Rabbits are caught in large numbers. Musk-rats, rats, mice, and shrews are on the regular bill of fare. Many birds are snatched from their roosts and borne away by this HEAD OF GREAT HORNED OWL. literally ‘‘ silent messenger.” The ruffed grouse is often taken. Farmers who carelessly allow their turkeys, chickens, or guinea-fowls to roost on fences and trees are frequently made to repent. The writers have known an owl to dispose of two guinea-hens in one night, leaving only a few bones and a lot of feathers on the snow to tell the tale. In his account of THE OWLS. 203 this owl, Dr. C. Hart Merriam! states that he has known one to decapitate three turkeys and several hens in a single night, leaving the bodies fit for the table. It occasionally catches fish. Of one hundred and twenty- seven stomachs of the great horned owl that were examined at the Department of Agriculture, thirty-one contained poultry or game-birds; eight, other birds; thirteen, mice; sixty-five, other mammals; one, a scorpion; one, fish; ten, insects ; and seventeen were empty. In the arctic regions of North America the beautiful Snowy Owt is a rather common species. It is one of the largest members of its family, often being more than two feet long. In winter it is occasionally found in the Northern States, especially in New England, but during summer it remains in the far North. The summer food of this bird consists very largely of the small rodents known as lemmings, which abound in most arctic regions. These and related rodents seem to be the fa- vorite food. except in winter, when other animals, including the ptarmigan and arctic hare, are eaten. During its winter visits to southern Canada and the Northern United States, it lives upon rabbits, rats, mice, and various birds. It is expert in catching fish, which form a favorite article of food. The snowy owl is so rare in our country that it has little economic importance, but it probably deserves to be left un- molested when it visits us. The Burrowine Own is found in some parts of Florida, but is best known on the Great Plains, where it is abundant, living in prairie-dog towns and the burrows of ground- squirrels. Its food is varied, but consists chiefly of rodents, young rabbits and prairie-dogs, chipmunks, gophers, mice, and shrews. It also feeds on grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, scorpions, and centipedes. In localities where prairie-dogs ' Birds of Connecticut, 1877, p. 97. 204 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. are plentiful, the young ones form a large share of the food of this species. The old story of how these owls live in harmony with prairie-dogs and rattlesnakes, all in the same burrows, is a BURROWING OWL. (After Biological Survey.) myth. The owl and the snake are both parasites, the dog, an unwilling host, being forced to yield its home and often its life to its unwelcome guests. SPARROW-HAWKS. (After Biological Survey.) CHAP PT Hig evel ET. THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. THE HAWKS. THe SpaRrRow-Hawk is one of the most abundant species of its family in many parts of North America. It is a small and handsome hawk, and breeds throughout the United States, as well as in Mexico on the south and in Canada on the north. It goes south in autumn, occasionally passing the winter as far north as southern New York. Its nest is built in holes in trees, those made by the larger woodpeckers often being appropriated for the purpose, and five eggs are usually deposited. It is a valuable bird and deserves protection and encouragement. Dr. A. K. Fisher, who made a special study of its economic relations, writes that it ‘is almost exclusively insectivorous, except when insect food is difficult to obtain. In localities where grasshoppers and crickets are abundant, these hawks congregate, often in moderate-sized flocks, and gorge themselves continuously. Rarely do they touch any other form of food until, either by the advancing season or other natural causes, the grasshopper crop is so lessened that their hunger cannot be appeased without undue exertion ; then other kinds of insects and other forms of life contribute to their fare, and beetles, spiders, mice, shrews, small snakes, lizards, or even birds may be required to bring up the balance.” In the sparse pine woods of the sandy barrens of southern Florida we have found the sparrow-hawk one of the com- monest of winter birds, and much more abundant than any other hawk. One of its favorite methods of obtaining food there is to perch in trees on the outskirts of the forest fires that frequently occur, and catch the grasshoppers, lizards, and other animals driven from cover by the flames. At such 205 206 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. times lizards enter largely into the bird’s diet. Professor King reports that of seven sparrow-hawks which he examined in Wisconsin “two had eaten two mice; four, twenty-five erasshoppers; three, twenty-five crickets; one, six beetles; one, five moths; and one, two hairy caterpillars. One was seen to take a young robin from the nest and one to capture another bird not identified.” Ten Nebraska specimens ex- amined by Professor Aughey had eaten large numbers of insects, comparatively few being locusts; three of them had also eaten mice, three others gophers, one a rabbit, one a quail, one an unidentified bird, and one some frogs. All the evidence goes to show that the sparrow-hawk preys only to a limited extent upon our native insectivorous birds. The Broap-wincep Hawk is comparatively a common species throughout eastern North America, spending the winter south of the fortieth degree of latitude, but coming north for the summer. It breeds in trees, building a bulky nest similar to that of other common hawks; and feeds on mice, frogs, small snakes, toads, crayfish, chipmunks and red squirrels, earth- worms, and many insects,;—making a specialty among the latter of the large caterpillars of the sphinx- and emperor- moths, such as the cecropia-caterpillar so often destructive to shade-trees. This is one of the few birds that venture to attack these formidable-looking creatures. This hawk very seldom attacks poultry or small birds. Several species of the birds of prey are of great benefit to man as insect destroyers. In the Western States none of them surpasses in this respect the common Swarnson’s Hawk, a large bird which during the late summer and early autumn months feeds to so great an extent on grasshoppers and their allies that it might well be called a grasshopper hawk. The evidence on this point is abundant and conclusive, as is also that in regard to the work this bird does in destroying ground- squirrels (Spermophiles) and related pests. Flocks of several hundreds of these hawks have repeatedly been seen foraging THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. 9207 | for grasshoppers, and from examinations of many stomachs it is safe to say that each bird during the grasshopper season destroys at least two hundred of the pests each day. They very rarely attack poultry or birds of any kind, and unques- tionably deserve the protection of the husbandman. Of the various birds to which the name hen-hawk is ocea- sionally applied it is least deserved by the Rougu-Leccep Hawk. All the evidence obtainable goes to show that this species is not in any sense a hen-hawk, but that instead it is a mouse- hawk, feeding aimost exclusively upon meadow-mice. Forty out of forty-nine stomachs examined at the United States Department of Agriculture contained mice, while five of them contained such small mammals as shrews, gophers, rabbits, and weasels, one contained insects.and a lizard, and four were empty. No poultry or birds of any kind were found. Similar testimony from many other sources has been pub- lished; in Massachusetts hundreds of these birds were killed along the Connecticut River, and all the stomachs examined contained only meadow-mice ; in Oregon, Utah, and Nebraska field-mice are reported as the staple diet, while cotton-tail rabbits, gophers, and other animals are also included in the bill of fare. The rough-legged hawk is a northern bird in summer, as a rule visiting the United States only in winter. It is said generally to keep south of the snow line in order to capture its favorite prey more easily. It hunts in the twilight, watching for victims from some low perch or slowly flying over meadows and marshes It breeds in the far North. The typical form of the Rep-sHoutperep Hawk is common in the Eastern States and closely related races are found in the South and West, though the bird is absent from the Great Plains region. It breeds throughout its range, the nest being built in early spring in the upper branches of some tall tree, and a brood of from three to five young being reared. This is a heavy, slow-flying hawk, an adept at catching mice 208 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. and frogs, but paying little attention to poultry or small birds. It takes a great variety of food: two hundred and twenty specimens, taken daring every month of the year in thirteen widely separated States, Territories, and Provinces, were ex- amined by Dr. Fisher. Two of these contained chickens, with a fair probability that they had not been killed by the hawk; one, a quail; twelve, other birds, including a flicker, meadow-lark, screech-owl, Carolina dove, snow-bird, sora rail, robin, crow, and various sparrows; one hundred and two, mice, including the house, pine, field, white-footed, red-backed, and meadow varieties, chiefly the latter; forty had eaten other mammals, among which were the musk-rat, chipmunk, skunk, rabbit, opossum, and various shrews; twenty contained rep- tiles, including ribbon, water, striped, garter, and green snakes, as Well as lizards; thirty-nine had eaten batrachians, princi- pally frogs, though toads, tree-frogs, and salamanders were also present; ninety-two contained insects, the most important ele- ment being grasshoppers and crickets, although large caterpil- lars, beetles, white grubs, katydids, cicadas, and cockroaches were also present; sixteen of the hawks had eaten spiders ; seven, crawfish; one, earthworms; two, offal; three, fish; while fourteen stomachs contained nothing. Such a showing as this ought to convince any one of the general beneficence of a bird whose food consists of sixty-five per cent. of mice and not more than one per cent. of poultry. The typical form of the Rrp-rarLep Hawk is found in eastern North America, ranging west as far as the Great Plains, while five closely allied geographical races occupy the western portion of the continent from Central America northward. It is one of our larger hawks, usually measuring nearly or quite two feet in length and having a wing expanse of four or five feet. It is a migratory species, often travelling in large flocks and spending the winter in the Central and Southern States. In many regions it is common and is often persecuted as a hen-hawk. i THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. 209 Our knowledge of the feeding habits of this species is unusually complete. Besides the isolated observations of a large number of competent observers, we have the results of the special studies of Dr. B. H. Warren, in which the con- tents of one hundred and seventy-three stomachs were ex- amined, and Dr. A. kK. Fisher, who studied five hundred and sixty-two stomachs from twenty-six widely separated States, Territories, and Prov- inces, ranging from Ontario to Florida and Massachusetts to Califor- nia. Dr. Warren found mice in one hundred and thirty-one of the one hundred and seventy- three stomachs he ex- amined, while six of them contained rabbits ; three, red squirrels; two, skunks; and eigh- teen, small birds. Poul- try was found in four specimens, insects in three, snakes in three, and carrion in four. Thus, less than ten per cent. of the birds had eaten poultry. Dr. Fisher’s results as to poultry were similar; fifty-four out of the five hundred and sixty-two specimens contained poultry or game-birds. Various other birds, as the robin, mourning- dove, crow, shore-lark, king-rail, meadow-lark, oriole, blue- bird, grackle, screech-owl, and several species of sparrows, were found in fifty-one stomachs. Mice—including the house, meadow, pine, white-footed, harvest, and Cooper’s mice—had 14 RED-TAILED HAWKS. (After Biological Survey.) 210 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. been eaten by two hundred and seventy-eight of the birds ; while other small mammals—as the gray, red, and rock squir- rels, the gray, striped, and pouched gophers, chipmunks of various species, the musk, cotton, kangaroo, and common rats, three kinds of rabbits, as well as shrews and skunks—were found in one hundred and thirty-one stomachs. Frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes had been eaten by thirty-seven of the hawks; insects, chiefly grasshoppers, by forty-seven ; craw- fish by eight; centipedes by one ; and offal by thirteen ; while eighty-nine of the stomachs were empty. That this hawk on the whole does considerably more good than harm there is no doubt, but the balance in its favor is not so great that it is worth while to extend to it too much protection in thickly settled communities. There are three species of hawks whose bill of fare consists principally of birds and poultry. They are the sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper’s hawk, and the American goshawk. To these three birds is largely due the obloquy which rests upon the family as a whole. They are all trimly built birds, strong of wing and foot, and inveterate enemies of other birds. Their only redeeming features are that they occasionally capture a rabbit, a mouse, or an English sparrow. The Suarp-suinneD Hawk is the smallest of the three, measuring from ten to fourteen inches in length. It is com- mon and widely distributed, breeding throughout the United States and British Provinces, and migrating with the changing seasons. It passes the winter as far north as the fortieth parallel. More than any other hawk this species seems to feed on birds. Dr. Fisher examined one hundred and seven stomachs which contained food; in six of them were the remains of poultry or game-birds and in ninety-nine of them were the remains of other birds; all but two had eaten birds of some kind. Mice had been eaten by six of them and insects by five. The variety of birds taken was surprising ; besides the young or half-grown chickens there were evidences THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. Dat. of the presence of the quail, robin, oriole, swift, bluebird, downy woodpecker, flicker, cow-bird, mocking-bird, cat-bird, oven-bird, hermit-thrush, mourning-dove, chickadee, snow- birds, and various wrens, warblers, buntings, and sparrows, including the English variety of the latter. No bird with such a record deserves protection. : Cooper’s Hawk may be considered a larger type of the sharp-shinned species. It measures from fourteen to twenty inches in length, is found throughout North Amer- ica as far north as the British Provinces, mi- grates south to spend the winter, and is an invet- erate enemy to poultry, game and other birds. Of ninety-four — food- containing stomachs ex- amined by Dr. Fisher poultry or game-birds were found in thirty-four and other birds in fifty- two stomachs. Small mammals, including two mice, one cotton-rat, three chipmunks, one red squirrel, one gray COOPER’S HAWK. A fler Bioloc ical Survey. Hh i squirrel, one ground- squirrel, and one rabbit, had been eaten by eleven of the hawks. Two others had taken insects, one a frog, and three had eaten lizards. The game- birds destroyed included pigeons, quail, and ruffed grouse, and on the list of other birds one finds the chewink, purple grackle, meadow-lark, flicker, nuthatch, hermit-thrush, dove, robin, snow-bird, mourning-dove, and various warblers and sparrows. Ff BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. This species is, as Dr. Fisher remarks, ‘ pre-eminently a chicken-hawk. Its devastations in this direction are much greater than those of all the other hawks and owls together, with the possible exception of the sharp-shinned hawk, which attacks much smaller chickens.” This bird is also learning to add the English sparrow to its bill of fare. The GosHawk is not a common species in the United States, although in winter it is occasionally found. It is a northern bird, occurring frequently in the British Provinces, where it breeds. It feeds largely on good-sized birds, such as chickens, ruffed grouse, quail, and mourning-doves, as well as on rab- bits, squirrels, mice, and sometimes the larger insects. It can scarcely be ranked as a beneficial bird in cultivated regions. It is fortunate that the Duck-Hawk is a rare species, because it is a savage bird, extremely destructive to other birds of many kinds. It is a powerful hawk, of good size, our form being simply a geographical race of the famous peregrine falcon of Europe. As its common name implies, it feeds largely on water-fowl, and is seldom found far away from the coast or the neighborhood of large bodies of water. When a pair breed in the vicinity of a poultry yard,—a rare event,— the chickens are liable to suffer severely. Among its other feathered victims one finds the meadow- lark, robin, cat-bird, mourning-dove, gray-cheeked thrush, and various warblers and sparrows. In Florida it feeds largely upon the cool, enormous numbers of which still inhabit the inland lakes. At times it is very destructive to terns along the Atlantic coast. The beautiful Osprey, or FisH-Hawk, is of chief interest on account of its relations to the bald eagle, which so persistently robs the osprey of its prey in mid-air. The fish-hawk is chiefly a bird of the shore-line, where it finds its food abundant. The Marsu Hawk, sometimes also called the Marsn Har- riER, inhabits almost the whole of North America, breeding a Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shafeldt. HEAD OF OSPREY. THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. 9213 from Cuba to Alaska. It is most abundant in the prairie States. The nest is placed upon the ground in marshy situ- ations, where grass and sedges help conceal it. From four to six young are reared in each brood. This is one of the most useful of the hawks and deserves man’s protection. ‘Its food,” writes Dr. Fisher, ‘consists largely of small rodents, such as meadow-mice, half-grown sauirrels, rabbits, and eround-squirrels. In fact, so extensively does it feed upon the last-named animals, that the writer rarely has examined a stomach from the West which did not contain their remains. In addition to the above, it preys upon lizards, frogs, snakes, insects, and birds; of the latter, the smaller ground-dwelling species are usually taken. When hard pressed it is said to feed on offal and carrion ; and in spring and fall when water- fowl are abundant it occasionally preys upon the dead and wounded birds left by gunners.” The stomach of a speci- men shot at Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1892, when grass- hoppers were very abundant, which we examined, was full of these insects, showing that the bird was doing what it could to check the outbreak. In the Southern rice-fields these birds do good service in scaring away the flocks of bob- olinks. The marsh hawk is the farmer’s friend, and its rare visits to the poultry-yard may well be excused on account of the enormous number of vermin it destroys. THE EAGLES. Bap Facies are usually seen about the coast and larger inland waters, where they are able to find a supply of such food as best suits their taste. In the North they live almost exclusively upon fish, show- ing little or no regard for quality or condition, generally de- vouring any sort of fish that may come in their way, and are seemingly as well satisfied with a half-decayed subject washed up by the waves as with one freshly killed. In the Southern States, where water-fowl congregate in vast numbers during 214 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. the winter months, their food relations are somewhat modified, as is indicated by the following extract, written by Dr. William L. Ralph and published in Bendire’s ‘ Life Histories of North American Birds.”’ Speaking of a community of bald eagles in the vicinity of Merritt Island, he says: ‘‘ These eagles seem to breed earlier than those in other parts of Florida, due no doubt to the immense number of water-fowl, especially coots (Fulica americana?), that frequent this vicinity during the winter, and which form the principal part of their food, though they will sometimes condescend to eat fish, like their more northern brothers and sisters. I have often seen them eatch wounded birds, and I visited one nest that contained in addition to two well-grown young birds the remains of thir- teen coots and one catfish.” The Gotpen Eacie inhabits mountainous districts through- out the country, though it is more common West than in the East, where it is rare, owing to the denser population. It preys on grouse, ducks, hares, ground-squirrels, and other creatures of similar size, and occasionally troubles sheep-owners by carrying off young lambs. Sometimes it eats carrion, but probably only when pressed by hunger. The thrilling stories told of the fierceness of this eagle are not credited by those who have invaded its nests; yet its power is unquestioned. An instance is recorded in which one throttled and killed a black-tailed deer that had been crippled by a hunter. If this were an abundant species, it would plainly be-a harmful one; but, owing to its scarcity, its depredations are generally insignificant. THE KITES. The kites are a branch of the hawk family especially noted for the ease and elegance of their flight. The commonest and most widely diffused species is the SwaLLow-TaILeD Kure, which has a geographical range from Pennsylvania to Minne- sota and southward. Six stomachs of this kite opened by THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. a's Dr. A. K. Fisher showed sixty locusts and five other insects in one, sixty-nine locusts and three other insects in another, and seventy-five locusts in a third. Lizards were found in two and a tree-frog in one. All contained insects—wasps, beetles, and grasshoppers being among them. Aughey reports of three stomachs that two of them contained sixty and sixty- nine locusts respectively, while the third contained seventy- five other insects. All the evidence tends to prove the swallow-tailed kite to be harmless at least and generally beneficial. Two other species, the white-tailed and Mississippi kites, have practically the same bill of fare, which besides the animals above noted is sometimes varied with snakes and mice. THE BUZZARDS. No birds are more familiarly known throughout the Southern States than the Turkey-Buzzarp and the Brack VuLturE or Carrion Crow. These birds may be seen at all hours of the day sailing through the air in majestic circles or lazily resting on stumps or trees after a feast of their filthy food. They perform an important service as scavengers, disposing of all sorts of animal matter that would pollute the air. On this account, they are seldom molested by man and in some States are protected by law. They devour both fresh and putrid meat, and in many localities save the butchers the trouble of disposing of the refuse of the abattoir. They are known sometimes to capture live snakes and to attack helpless animals of many kinds. Along the sea-shore they feed upon dead fish cast up by the waves, and Audubon re- ports having observed themin the Florida Keys sucking the eggs and devouring the young of herons and cormorants. As another offset to the good these birds do, mention should be made of the fact that Mr. E. B. Williamson has suggested that they are ‘‘ doubtless an important factor in the spread of some diseases,—hog cholera, for example.” 216 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. It was formerly supposed that these birds discovered their food through the sense of smell, but a number of experiments by Audubon seem to prove conclusively that they depend upon sight rather than smell. In one of these experiments “a dead hare, a pheasant, and a kestrel, together with a Wheelbarrow full of offal from the slaughter-pens, were de- posited on the ground at the foot of my garden. A frame was raised above it at a distance of twelve inches from the Va 7 ¢ 41)? -$ ; As SHishee Skiba cee TURKEY-BUZZARDS, (After Brehm.) earth ; this was covered with brushwood, allowing the air to pass freely beneath it so as to convey the effluvium far and wide.”’ Although left for nearly a month, with hundreds of vultures passing over it daily, none of them discovered its presence. Another time a perfectly dry stuffed deerskin was placed in a field, and immediately attracted the vultures, which were of course unable to get any food. To test still further whether the birds were attracted by sight alone, ‘a a THE HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, AND VULTURES. 917 = coarse painting on canvas was made, representing a sheep skinned and cut open. This proved very amusing. No sooner was the picture placed on the ground than the vul- tures observed it, alighted near, walked over it, and some of them commenced tugging at the painting. They seemed much disappointed and surprised, and after having satisfied their curiosity, flew away. This experiment was repeated more than fifty times, with the same result.”” In other cases pieces of meat were placed beneath tables and other pieces THE BLACK VULTURE. ( After Brehm.) on top. The vultures would eat those in sight, but made no attempt to reach those just beneath their noses. The way in which vultures from far and wide rapidly con- centrate on a dead animal is explained by Audubon by the fact that, when the first discoverer pounces down upon its prey, the action is seen and understood by others in the vicinity ; these fly immediately to the spot. As they start they are seen by others, which in turn signal to more dis- tant birds, so that in a very short time the vultures for miles 218 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. around are aware that something in the shape of food has been found. The turkey-buzzard is a summer and winter resident throughout the United States as far north as the latitude of 40 degrees, and occurs in summer still farther north. For instance, it is abundant throughout the year in southern Illinois, and is sometimes seen in summer in northern Illinois. It is a more graceful bird than the carrion crow. In the breeding season each female lays two eggs on the ground or in a hollow tree or stump. The black vulture is darker colored than the turkey- buzzard and the feathers extend farther up on the back of the neck. Its nesting habits are similar to those of the other species. It is not commonly found so far north as the turkey-buzzard, although like that bird it is abundant in Central and South America. These birds both belong to the family Cathartide, which is composed of the American vultures. The only other member of the family occurring in the United States is the Californian condor, a large bird found on the Pacific coast with habits similar to those of the turkey-buzzard. = bene eit i has ve . k Blake Webster. ran 7 From specimens mounted by I RUFFED GROUSE, OF A FAMILY CE AVP iii XTX. THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. THE PIGEONS. Most educated Americans are familiar with accounts of the enormous numbers of PasseneerR Pigeons which formerly in- habited many of our States. Some of the stories seem almost incredible, but there can be no doubt that they are substantially true. Audubon’s graphic description is well worth quoting in this connection. ‘Let us now inspect the places of nightly rendezvous. One of these curious roosting places on the bank of the Green River in Kentucky I repeatedly visited. It was, as is always the case, in a portion of the forest where the trees are of great magnitude and where there was little underwood. I rode through it upward of forty miles, and, crossing it in different parts, found its average breadth to be rather more than three miles. My first view of it was about a fortnight subsequent to the period when they had made a choice of it, and I arrived there two hours before sunset. Few pigeons were to be seen, but a great number of persons, with horses and wagons, guns and ammunition, had already established encampments on the borders. Two farmers from the vicinity of Russelsville, distant more than a hundred miles, had driven upward of three hundred hogs to be fattened on the pigeons which were to be slaughtered. Here and there the people em- ployed in plucking and salting what had already been procured : were seen sitting in the midst of large piles of these birds. The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roosting place like a bed of snow. Many trees I observed were broken off at no great distance from the ground; and the branches of many of the largest and tallest had given 219 220 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN, way, as if the forest had been swept by a tornado. Every- thing proved to me that the number of birds resorting to this part of the forest must be immense beyond conception. As the period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously prepared to receive them. Some were provided with iron pots containing sulphur, others with torches of pine knots, many with poles, and the rest with guns. The sun was lost to our view, yet not a dozen had arrived. Everything was ready and all eyes were gazing on the clear sky which ap- peared in glimpses through the tall trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of ‘ Here they come.’ The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of ar that surprised me. Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole men. The birds continued to pourin. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent as well as wonderful and almost terrifying sight presented itself. The pigeons arrived by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above another, until solid masses as large as hogsheads were formed on the branches all around. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, and falling to the ground destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion. I found it quite useless to speak or even to shout to those persons who were nearest to me. Even the reports of the guns were seldom heard, and I was made aware of the firing only by seeing the shooters reloading. ‘“No one dared to venture within the line of devastation. The hogs had been penned up in due time, the picking up of the dead and wounded being for the next morning’s employ- ment. The pigeons were constantly coming, and it was past midnight before I perceived a decrease in the number of those that arrived. The uproar continued the whole night; and, as I was anxious to know to what distance the sound reached, THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. O71 I sent off a man accustomed to perambulate the forest, who, returning two hours afterwards, informed me he had heard it distinctly when three miles distant from the spot. To- wards the approach of day the noise in some measure sub- sided. Long before objects were distinguishable, the pigeons began to move off in a direction quite different from that in which they arrived the evening before, and by sunrise all that were able to fly had disappeared. The howlings of the wolves now reached our ears, and the foxes, lynxes, cougars, THE MOURNING-DOVE. (After Biological Survey.) bears, raccoons, opossums, and polecats were seen sneaking off, whilst eagles and hawks of different species, accompanied by a crowd of vultures, came to supplant them and to enjoy their share of the spoil. ‘““Tt was then that the authors of all this devastation began their entry amongst the dead, the dying, and the mangled. The pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps until each had as many as he could possibly dispose of, when-the hogs were let loose to feed upon the remainder.” 229, BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. The food of the passenger pigeon is almost wholly of a vegetable nature, although occasionally a few insects are eaten. Its usual diet consists of acorns and other nuts, to- gether with seeds and grains. Even the young are fed upon beechnuts. In the United States the passenger pigeon is now practically an extinct bird, the ruthless persecution it has en- dured having led to this result. The Movurnine or Carouina Dove is a beautiful bird whose plumage and habits entitle it to high consideration. It is vegetivorous, but seems to feed more freely on the seeds of weeds than on cultivated grains. Professor King took four thousand and sixteen seeds of pigeon-grass (Setaria) from the stomach of a single bird, while from that of another seven thousand five hundred seeds of oxalis have been taken. The young are fed with the regurgitated vegetable food of the adult. The Banp-raitep Piceon (Columba fasciata), which ranges westward from the Rocky Mountains and southward through Mexico, is about the only pigeon that we now have worthy to be called game. It is sought by sportsmen both for its flesh and for its gamy qualities. Its food consists of grain, berries and other soft fruits, and buds of certain trees, notably of balsam-poplar. THE PARTRIDGE AND GROUSE. The Bos-Wuirr, or Quai, is found from Minnesota to Texas and eastward. It is favorably regarded by epicures and gunners and deserves the good will of those interested in agriculture. It lives in fields and pastures and during the summer feeds largely on insects. Colorado potato-beetles are frequently eaten: one hundred and one of these pests have been taken from the stomach of one bird. Army-worms are also devoured. When insects are not plentiful, vegetable matter, which is always taken in greater or less quantities, becomes the staple form of diet. This includes grains, seeds, THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. DUS nuts, berries, and green leaves. Twenty-one quail taken in Nebraska between May and October had all eaten seeds and from thirty-one to forty-seven insects each. Of two taken in New Hampshire in the winter when the ground was covered with snow, and examined by us, one had eaten seven oats, ten barberries, one poison-ivy seed, and soine bits of ereen leaf that were not determined; the other had eaten twenty-five oats, twelve barberries, seven small seeds, and THE BOB-WHITE OR QUAIL. nine leaves of white clover. The oats had evidently been taken from horse droppings in the road near by. According to the studies of the Department of Agriculture, ‘seeds of rib-grass, tickfoil, and berries of nightshade are sometimes eaten, and pigeon-grass and smartweed are frequently con- sumed in large quantities. The amount of grain food in the stomachs thus far examined is surprisingly small, while the proportion of weed seed is astonishingly large, in some cases 224 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. crops and gizzards being literally gorged with hundreds of seeds of ragweed.””! The Rurrep Grouse as a game-bird ranks higher in popular esteem in the East than any other bird. The flesh is white and delicious, and its wariness and rapid flight exact the best efforts of even the most experienced sportsman. Its food habits are of secondary importance, but nevertheless interesting. The following, from the pen of Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the Depart- inent of Agriculture, Washington, bears directly on this point. THE RUFFED GROUSE. “The ruffed grouse is very fond of grasshoppers and crickets as an article of diet, and when these insects are abundant it is rare to find a stomach or crop that does not contain their remains. One specimen, shot late in October, had the crop and stomach distended with the larvee of Ldema albifrons, a caterpillar which feeds extensively on the leaves of the maple. It is called the red-humped oak-caterpillar. "Judd, Yearbook, Dept. Ag., 1898, p. 231. THE RED-HUMPED OAK-CATERPILLAR. a, larva; b, pupa; c, moth, wings expanded ; d, moth at rest. 15 226 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. Beechnuts, chestnuts, and acorns of the chestnut and white oaks are also common articles of food. Among berries early in the season the blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and elder-berries are eaten with relish, while laler in the year wintergreen, partridge-berry, with their foliage, sumach-berries (including those of the poisonous species), cranberries, black alder, dogwood, nanny-berries, and wild grapes form their chief diet. In the fall the foliage of plants often forms a large part of their food, that of clover, strawberry, buttercup, wintergreen, and partridge-berry predominating. In the win- ter these birds feed on the buds of trees, preferring those of the apple-tree, Ironwood, black and white birch, and poplar.” In isolated cases ruffed grouse cause some damage to fruit- trees by eating the buds in winter. The extent of the injury which a grouse is capable of doing in a season may be esti- mated from the contents of a crop examined by us. It was taken from a female shot in January, and contained three hundred and forty-seven apple-tree buds, eighty-eight maple buds, and twelve leaves of sheep-laurel. This was, of course, a single meal, and, as two such meals are eaten per day, it must be reckoned as half the daily consumption. One of the crops of four birds killed during the latter part of September and subjected to the same scrutiny showed barberries five per cent., sumac seeds twenty per cent., and apple pulp twenty per cent. Another contained ten per cent. of mushrooms and ninety per cent. of red-humped oak-cater- pillars (Edema albifrons). The other two were shot from the same flock at the same time. Their crops were packed with the oak caterpillars above mentioned and white-oak acorns, the ratios being sixty per cent. and seventy-seven per cent. of caterpillars against forty per cent. and twenty-three per cent. of acorns respectively. The Prairiz-Hen is of more importance than any other member of the grouse family. It is abundant in the prairie region drained by the Mississippi, and furnishes regular occu- THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. DPA | pation for a multitude of gunners. Markets east and west are supplied with great numbers of these birds. The food of this species seems to be not materially different from that of other grouse in temperate latitudes. Insects form the major portion of the diet in summer. It is fond of grasshoppers and lives on them almost exclusively when they are sufficiently abundant. In autumn and winter it is usually found in the grain-fields feeding on cereals as well as seeds and berries. In the north- ern portion of its range the females usually migrate southward to escape the rigors of winter, leaving the stronger males on the home ground. The CoLumBIAN SHARP-TAILED GRousE, which ranges over the Great Plains and from northern California to Alaska, ranks among the highest as a game-bird and its flesh is unexcelled for the table. It feeds on berries, among which may be mentioned the snow-berry, bear-berry, whortleberry, and haws of the wild rose, seeds, grains, and insects. The Dusky Grouse and its closely allied races, the Sooty Grouse and Ricuarpson’s GrousE, which together extend through the Rocky Mountains and westward to the Pacific, are perhaps the finest of our grouse. The dusky grouse is large, weighing about three pounds, and during the greater part of the year its flesh has a resinous flavor much relished by those accustomed to it. Except for a little while in summer, when it descends to the ground to feed on berries and seeds, it lives mainly in the pines and firs, the leaves of which constitute its main food. Of all our game-birds none are so handsome as the several species of plumed partridges found west of the Rocky Moun- tains. The Mountain Parrriner, found along the Pacific coast from San Francisco to Washington, and the Catirornia Par- TRIDGE, With two races representing it in the southwestern part of the United States, have an economic value, both as to food habits and table qualities, similar to the eastern bob- 298 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. white. They may readily be kept in confinement and are therefore well adapted for stocking preserves wherever the environment is suitable. THE PLOVERS. The plovers are generally distinguished by their bills, which are of oniy medium length and are constricted between the base and tip; most of the birds lack a hind toe. Economi- cally they stand with the rest of the shore-birds. Of the half-dozen species found in our territory, we will consider the three most important,—namely, the ring-neck plover, the killdeer, and the golden plover. The Rine-Neck PLOVER is a diffused species, abundant during the seasons of migration, especially along the beaches. Though numbers of them are shot, the bit they furnish seems hardly worth the ammunition. They are of more value living, as eleven stomachs examined by Professor Aughey testify: in each were from fifty-three to sixty insects, more than half being locusts. In many parts of the United States the KiLtpeEr, or the KILLDEER PLover, is one of the most familiar country birds. It is a summer resident in most of the Northern States. It commonly occurs in upland pastures, as well as along the margins of shallow ponds or the beaches of lakes or the ocean. It winters in the South: in Florida we have seen these birds abundant during January, in small flocks spending most of their time along the shores of the numerous ponds and lakes of that State. The major portion of the food con- sists of insects; angle-worms, crayfish, and similar creatures making up the remainder. In the stomachs of thirteen speci- mens examined by King there were found ants, grasshop- pers and crickets and their eggs, caterpillars, moths, wire- worms, curculios, plant-beetles, a crane-fly, and angle-worms. “The food-habits and haunts of the killdeer are such as to bind it closely in economic relation with that all too small Photographed from life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. ADULT MALE. THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. 229 band of birds which like the meadow-lark frequent the open cultivated fields. On account of this relationship the killdeer plover should be stricken from the list of ‘ game-birds,’ and encouraged to breed in greater abundance in cultivated fields and meadows.’ Many years ago a writer in the Southern Planter stated that the Southern farmers erroneously thought that the killdeer destroyed young turnips. ‘I have several times dissected the gizzards of killdeers,” he writes, ‘to show their destroyers that they contain no vegetable substance, and nothing, indeed, but the little bug so famous for destroying young turnips and tobacco plants. These little hopping beetles are a great nuisance in the land, and seem to be rapidly increasing. The killdeers are their natural enemies, and formerly collected in large numbers to fulfil the purposes of their mission.””! The Go_pen Piover breeds in the Arctic regions, but in the migration season it is very abundant and is highly esteemed as agame-bird. It feeds on grasshoppers and other insects, worms, and berries. THE SNIPES. In the snipe family are many birds highly valued as game- birds, and some that are useful as insect destroyers. At the head of the list stands the American Woopcock, a familiar game-bird in the Eastern States and occurring as far west as Nebraska. Few birds have so many good points as this: it is pre-eminently a game-bird in every sense of the term, de- manding all the skill of the hunter and being unexcelled in the quality of its flesh. It is one of the earliest arrivals in spring and the return flight is not completed until late in autumn. In spring and early summer it lives in swampy places, probing the black mud with its long bill for worms. In August it flies out to * Quoted by Wilson Flagg, Agr. of Mass., 1861, pt. If. p. 55. 230 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. the corn-fields, where it finds an abundance of worms, grass- hoppers, and otheir insects, the shade of the tall corn being quite as agreeable to these birds as the tangles of the swamp. Later they return to the runs, but after the leaves have begun to fall they may often be found on high ground, in hard-wood forests, or among the high shrubbery of neglected pastures. Here they turn over leaves, looking for hidden insects and larvee that lie underneath. This is in October when the woodcock is at its best. A curious feature of a woodcock’s bill, recently discovered, is that it is able to bend its upper mandible upward towards the point, which must aid it in the process of feeling about for worms deep in the soft earth. “The growing scarcity of woodcock,”’ writes Dr. A. K. Fisher, ‘is a matter of serious alarm, and one demanding prompt action. It must be remembered that there is far more diffi- culty in saving it from extinction than in preserving gallina- ceous birds, such as quail and grouse. In the case of these birds, with their extraordinary fecundity, it is not difficult to restore a depleted covert; for with the addition of a few im- ported birds, aided by a short term of protection, they should soon reach their former abundance. With the woodcock, however, the situation is different; for the impracticability of restocking, the nature of the food, the migratory habits, and the small number of young are serious obstacles to successful restoration. Quick and effective measures are needed. In many localities in the North where twenty-five years ago a fair shot with a good dog could secure forty or fifty birds in a day’s hunt, it is doubtful if ten per cent. of the former bag could now be obtained. During the past autumn (1901) the writer visited hundreds of acres of good woodcock ground in northern New York without flushing a bird or seeing any considerable signs. Reports as to the scarcity of birds come from numerous points, and even in the most favored localities the decrease within the past twenty years has been fifty to sixty per cent.” HHL “MOOIGOOM NVOTHUNV Cue Sera fig aly Wont” paydnsbojong PIALNYS “A THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. Doi This scarcity is to be attributed chiefly to lack of protec- tion by law in the Southern States, where the species passes the winter, and to the spring and summer shooting in many of the Northern States. It is greatly to be desired that these evils should be remedied before this valuable bird becomes practically extinct. The American or Witson’s Snipe is similar in its make-up to the woodcock, but it chooses different abodes. This snipe is found in open wet places, in meadows, or on sedgy banks, where it can force its long, sensitive bill into the soft turf. Besides the worms taken in this way, it also catches many grasshoppers and other insects found upon the surface. Eight out of eleven stomachs opened by Professor Aughey contained from thirty-eight to sixty locusts each, besides other insects. The toothsomeness of the snipe is equal to that of the woodcock, though its size is somewhat less. The Gray Snive, or Dowitcuer, is similar to the last, except that it is chiefly confined to the coast and consequently destroys few noxious insects, though it is quite as much a favorite with the gunner. The Marsiep Gopwir is one of the largest of the shore- birds; it is known on the Atlantic coast only in the South, but is widely diffused’in the temperate regions of the interior. During the breeding season it is often found on the prairies some distance from water. Its diet is purely insectivorous. Richardson tells us that on Saskatchewan plains it frequents marshes and bogs, walking on the swamp moss, and thrusting down its long bill to the nostrils in quest of worms and leeches. The Hupsontan Gopwir is somewhat smaller than the last, and, though more widely distributed, is far less common. The WiLuer occurs as a summer resident throughout the country, though more commonly coastwise. It is a large, noisy species, not different in its food habits from shore-birds in general. It follows marshes, often annoying hunters by its 232 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. shrill notes of alarm. Other birds have learned te take warn- ing when the willet cries, and leave a dangerous neighborhood. The name tattler has been applied to it and to others of its class. In spite of all their acuteness, willets often fall victims to the huntsman, large numbers of them being shot every season. The GREATER YELLOW-LEGS is another tattler much sought in the marshes. It is chiefly a migrant through the country at large, noisy and restless like the willet. The UpLanb SAND-PIPER, commonly called the UpLanp PLoveEr, is something of an anomaly, being fitted out with a wader’s bill and legs, yet avoiding the water. It is common from the Rocky Mountains eastward, breeding on the prairies of the Western States and on high grass-land in the East. It feeds on beetles, grasshoppers, and other insects, and is a continual benefit while it stays. Aughey states that in Nebraska in locust years “the bulk of the food of this species consisted of locusts.” Rev. J. H. Langille relates that this sand-piper some- times devours cantharides; its flesh then becomes a violent emetic. It holds a high place as a game-bird and is unsur- passed for the table. THE CURLEWS. The curlews are distinguished from the other snipes by their size and long decurved bills. Of the three species found in our limits, the Lone-BILLED CuRLEW, or SICKLE-BILL, is the largest and most abundant. Its habitat is the whole of North America. It breeds throughout its range, but most abundantly along the Atlantic coast and on the prairies of the Northwest. These birds are generally found near the water, feeding upon the various forms of animal life common to the shore. In summer they devour many grasshoppers and kindred insects. Of ten stomachs examined by Aughey, eight had from fifty-one to seventy locusts, besides seeds and other insects; the other two had from fifty-three to sixty-one other insects and from fifteen to twenty seeds. Wilson tells us that in the fall they THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. 233 frequent uplands in search of bramble-berries, upon which they get very fat. The Hupsonian and Eskimo CurLews are migrants only, breeding in high latitudes and mostly passing beyond our southern boundaries in winter. Their food habits are quite similar to those of the sickle-bill. All eat more or less seeds and berries, differing in this respect from the majority of sand-pipers. All are excellent for food. There is quite a list of small sand-pipers which are very sim- ilar to each other in economic value. Their diet consists chiefly of aquatic insects, worms, and small mollusks. Their open habits do not commend them to sportsmen and they are too small to be of much consequence as food. The pot-hunter, however, destroys numbers of them each season along the beaches, preferring thus to earn a few pennies by a slaughter of the innocents and to gratify a lust for murder rather than to turn his hand to honorable labor THE PHALAROPES. The phalaropes are a family of small sand-piper-like birds, having lobed toes and thick under feathers which enable them to swim. They are usually seen floating lightly about upon the water, catching flies in the air or gathering larvee from the water; on shore they take worms and various aquatic forms found there. The best-known representative of the family is Witson’s Puatarope, which is abundant in the Mississippi Valley and westward, though rarely occurring east of Illinois. Two other species, the Rep and NortHern PHALAROPES, appear in limited numbers during migration, but they are of comparatively little importance. THE RAILS. The rails are narrow-bodied birds of medium size which live in reedy marshes. They are much sought by sportsmen and are considered very good birds for the table. They are very 234 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. shy and hard to flush, depending for safety more upon their legs than upon their wings. They fly awkwardly and with seeming difficulty, a puzzling matter when the extent of their migration is considered. The members of the genus Rallus, comprising the CLapper, Kine, and Vireinia Rais, have bills longer than the head, and feed chiefly upon grasshoppers, snails, slugs, small crabs, aquatic insects, and occasionally a few seeds. The clapper rail frequents salt-marshes as far north as Massachusetts. HEAD OF CLAPPER RAIL. The rails are found from Texas to Kansas and eastward, though in the East not usually north of the Middle States. Seven stomachs of king rails taken at different times between May and October and opened by Aughey each contained from seventeen to forty-eight locusts and from fourteen to forty-nine other insects, besides a few seeds. The Virginia rail is the most common rail in the Eastern States as far north as New England. Members of the genus Porzana, including the Caro.ina Raw, the Biack Ram, and the YeLttow Crake, have rather THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. 2a thick bills, shorter than the head, and feed more on vegetable matter. The only one of the group common enough to be of any special importance is the Carolina rail. Thousands of the latter are killed annually in the Atlantic States for market. They feed largely on seeds in the fall, when they become fat and are excellent eating. They are a diffused species, breeding from the Middle States northward. THE GALLINULES, COOT, AND CRANES. The gallinules resemble the rails in their habits and appear- ance; they are larger than most rails, however, and are dis- tinguished by a horny plate, or shield, which extends from the bill upward over the forehead. Their food is not noticeably different from that of the genus Porzana of the rails. The PurpLe GALLINULE is a resident of the South Atlantic and Gulf States. The FLoripa GALLINu_e is found throughout the warmer portions of the country, frequently reaching New England. Both are called mud-hens by gunners. The term mud-hen is also applied to the Coor, which is allied to the gallinules, having the same outline and frontal shield. It is peculiar in having lobate toes, which enable it to swim easily. Most of its time is spent on the water along marshy shores, where it finds shelter among the tall grass and reeds. Its food consists of insects, aquatic plants, and small mollusks. Its flesh is frequently eaten, though generally it is not highly esteemed. The cranes are large waders resembling the herons in out- ward appearance, but differing from them in structure and habits. The Wuooprtne Crane is chiefly a migrant, moving up and down the Mississippi Valley with the changing seasons; it is an omnivorous feeder. Audubon found these birds in November tearing up lily-roots from the bottom of a dry pond. Again in the same month he says, ‘‘ They resort to fields, and feed on grain and peas and dig up potatoes, which they devour with remarkable greediness.”” In April they had left the fields 236 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. and removed to the swamps and lakes, where they caught frogs, lizards, snakes, and young alligators. He saw one catch and swallow a butterfly, and from the stomach of another he took a fifteen-inch garter-snake. Wilson credits them with eating mice, moles, and rats. The Sanp-HILL CRANE is common in the South and West, being a more southerly species than the whooping crane. Four stomachs of this crane examined by Aughey showed from thirty-seven to eighty locusts and from thirty-six to seventy-eight other insects in each, besides more or less seeds. Both species are edible, but they should not be sacrificed for this purpose. THE HERONS, IBISES, AND STORKS. The herons are waders, with sharp, spear-like bills, that fre- quent shores and marshes, feeding on any sort of animals small enough to be swallowed that may come in their way. Their flesh has a fishy taste which renders it unpalatable to most people. Taxonomists separate the ibises and storks from the herons proper, but, as they all have the same economic value, it will best serve our purpose to consider them under the same heading. The Wuire Isis is an abundant resident of Florida, common throughout the South Atlantic and Gulf States and northward to Ohio. It feeds upon crabs, crawfish, snails, and the like. Audubon relates that when the crawfish burrows deeply to find water in dry seasons, this ibis crushes the mound raised about the burrow; some of the dirt falls down upon the crawfish, which hastens to the surface to throw it out again, when the crafty bird quickly plucks him from his hiding- place. The Woop Stork, better known as the Woop Isis, is a large, gregarious wader, usually found in the thickly-wooded swamps of the Southern States. It devours fish, snakes, frogs, young alligators, crabs, rats, and young birds. It is related to the famous white stork of Europe. THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. OBIT The Brirrern, or STAKE-DRIVER, is common throughout the country. [tis a solitary bird, inhabiting weedy marshes, but known by its peculiar cry. During the day it hides among the tall grass and reeds, picking up a grasshopper or a beetle, or perchance a young mouse now and then. Towards even- ing it seeks the water and partakes of its regular meal, which consists principally of small frogs and fish. The Great Brut Heron, the largest of its tribe in America, is well known in all quarters. Its tall and awkward form is often seen on the borders of ponds and streams, when it moves with a stealthy tread, on a combined watch for food and enemies. It lives principally upon fish and frogs, but readily devours grasshoppers, dragon-flies, water-boatmen, seeds, and even meadow-mice. Small pickerel, which like to bask in the sunshine in shallow water, are destroyed in great numbers by this heron. The Green Heron is another widely diffused species. It is the common small heron found beside brooks and in muddy places at or near water margins. Being small, its diet is re- stricted to worms, insects and their larvee, tadpoles, small fish, and frogs. The Great Wuite Eeret is found in the Southern States, but in much smaller numbers than formerly. This egret, in com- mon with several smaller species, has for years been the object of unremitting persecution by plume-hunters. As the coveted plumes appear only at the nuptial season, they are easily pro- cured by visiting the heronries when the egrets assemble in ereat numbers to breed. One man has been known to kill several hundred old birds in a day, leaving the young to starve and the dead bodies to rot after a few choice feathers have been plucked. Egret-plumes are worn by certain dressy organ- ized bodies of men, military and otherwise, and by ladies. Much has been said and written of late against wearing feathers of wild birds, and it is to be hoped that the tide of popular sentiment may be turned against the practice before such 238 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. unfortunately beautiful birds as the egrets shali have been exterminated. Although there are a number of herons that have not been mentioned, a complete enumeration would add nothing to what has already been said concerning the relations of herons to the welfare of man. While the direct economic value of these graceful and beautiful birds may not be very great, they add a charm to the scenery of lakes and ponds, the value of which is not likely to be over-estimated even by those keenly alive to the beauties of nature. It is a pity so many thought- less people consider such birds legitimate prey for gun and rifle. They deserve the fullest protection of the law and the good-will of all intelligent people. CHAP TH ROX THE WATER-BIRDS. THE DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. Tue members of this group are omnivorous birds, eating animals and vegetables in varying ratios, as may be readily guessed by any one familiar with domestic varieties. Their economic status, however, does not depend so much upon what they eat as upon the quality of their flesh. Their feathers have a value, to be sure, but that is a secondary consideration, which is pretty nearly constant throughout, while the great variation in ducks and geese from a gastro- nomic standpoint is worthy of particular attention. The Matiarp Duck is an abundant species, except in New England, where it is rather rare, being replaced by the black or dusky variety. The common greenheaded domestic duck is of mallard stock, though probably introduced from Europe, where the mallard is a common wild species. During autumn the mallards come into the United States in great numbers— the majority breeding beyond our northern limits—and are much sought by sportsmen. They weigh from two to three pounds each. The Brack Duck, or Dusky Duck, is a favorite in the Eastern States, where it is abundant, breeding in New England and northward. It is nearly related to the mallard, which it equals in size and quality. The Trats, blue-winged and green- winged, are two small ducks well known through the country, except in New England, where they are not so common as elsewhere. Being little, they are of less importance than the preceding, though they are quite as good for eating. Other ducks of equal rank with those already mentioned are the gadwall, widgeon, shoveller, pintail, and wood-duck. All are 239 240 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. inland birds, feeding upon insects, mollusks, nuts, grass, and grain. In the West they visit the vast grain-fields in harvest- time and soon get in excellent condition for the table. “The Woop-Duck, or Summer Duck,” writes Dr. A. K. Fisher, ‘is the most beautiful of all the members of the large and diver- HEAD OF DUSKY DUCK. sified duck family, and, on account of its beauty and lack of shyness, is one of the best-known species in the country. It is not seclusive, often making its abode near towns, or perhaps in the vicinity of farm-houses, where it may be found feeding or associating with barn-yard ducks. It takes kindly to domestication, and is easily tamed and induced to breed in captivity. Its favorite haunts are small lakes, weedy ponds, or shady streams in the midst of, or in close proximity to, scattered woodlands, and, except during migration, it is rarely met with about open bays or large bodies of water.” THE WATER-BIRDS. 241 This beautiful bird seems in danger of extermination, an event to be deplored by every lover of Nature. Special effort should be made to protect it in its nesting sites and to prevent its being shot during the spring season. Our most popular duck is undoubtedly the Canvas-sack, famed among epicures for its delicate flavor, resembling that of celery. This is due to feeding on a water-plant known as wild celery ( Vallisneria), and is not acquired till the birds get to the Chesapeake region, where the plants grow abundantly. Canvas-backs from Chesapeake Bay bring a much higher price HEAD OF OLD SQUAW DUCK. than those from other localities. Except for its peculiar appe- tile in the one instance of wild celery, the canvas-back’s menu shows no appreciable difference from that of the group just treated of. An associate and relative of the canvas-back is the Rep-HEAD, another excellent table bird. In both size and color there is such a strong resemblance between the two that dishonest market-men have been known to impose on customers, not well informed in ornithological matters, by selling red-heads for canvas-back. The Rine-neck and the Greater and LEssER 16 242 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. Scaups belong to the same genus as the canvas-backs and red-heads, but they feed more on mollusks and other forms of animal life and are less palatable. The WuisTLer, or GOLDEN-EYE, OLD Squaw, BuTTER-BALL, or Dipper, and Ruppy Duck are all easy divers, which feed chiefly on mollusks and similar creatures that they obtain from the bottoms of ponds and lakes. They are often eaten, but pos- sess a fishy flavor that is not relished by most people. Of the more distinctively sea-ducks, only the surf-ducks and eiders need be mentioned. Surr-pucks or Scoters of various species are abundant along the coast from autumn till spring. HEAD OF SURF SCOTER DUCK. Many of them are killed every year, but they are of inferior quality, having a rank taste that comes from a diet of shell-fish. The American Ermer and Kine Erper are both arctic species that rarely come further south than New England. They, in common with other varieties of eiders, furnish eider-down. This down is in great demand in northern European countries for fillmg coverlets. The best, known as live down, is that plucked by the duck from her breast to line her nest, and afterwards abstracted by the down-gatherer. Greenland, Ice- land, and Norway are the chief sources of eider-down. The following quotation from Newton's ‘Dictionary of Birds’”’ tells THE WATER-BIRDS. 243 how the down is obtained in Iceland and Norway, and inci- dentally carries an impressive lesson concerning what may be accomplished by the kindly treatment of wild birds. ‘This bird generally frequents low rocky islets near the coast, and in Iceland and Norway has long been afforded every encour- agement and protection, a fine being inflicted for killing it during the breeding season, or even for firing a gun near its haunts, while artificial nesting-places are in many localities contrived for its further accommodation. From the care thus taken of it in those countries it has become exceedingly tame at its chief resorts, which are strictly regarded as property, and the taking of eggs or down from them except by author- ized persons is severely punished by law. . . . The nest is generally in some convenient corner among large stones, hol- lowed in the soil, and furnished with a few bits of dry grass, sea-weed, or heather. By the time that the full number of eggs (which rarely if ever exceeds five) is laid, the down is added. Generally the eggs and down are taken at intervals of a few days by the owners of the eider-fold, and the birds are thus kept depositing both during the whole season; but some experience is needed to insure the greatest profit from each commodity. Every duck is ultimately allowed to hatch an egg or two to keep up the stock, and the down of the last nest is gathered after the birds have left the nest.” The Fisu-pucks, or Mereansers, are characterized by den- ticulate mandibles, which have given them the name of saw-bills. They are expert divers, living chiefly upon fish. We have three species, two of which are commonly called sheldrakes. The largest, to which the books give the name of goosander, spends the winter as far north as_ possible, usually in the larger rivers which have a current swift enough to defy frost. They closely follow the ice as it retreats north- ward in spring, and April finds them at their summer homes. The red-breasted merganser is the sheldrake that reaches the New England coast about the first of May. It is more com- 244 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. mon than the goosander, particularly near the sea. Both of these mergansers are good-sized birds, weighing from three to four pounds, but they are ill-flavored and not generally rel- ished as food. The hooded merganser is a handsome little duck, bearing a high, fan-like crest the whole length of its head. It shows a fondness for small streams and ponds, and eats more or less insects, though small fish, tadpoles, ete., make up the major part of its food. The AmericAN WHITE-FRONTED Goose, best known towards the Pacific coast, differs little from the European white- fronted species, of which the ordinary tame goose is a descendant. Its habits and qualities are similar to those of the domestic bird. Two other species of equal worth are the Snow-Goose, common in the interior, and the Canapa or WILD Goosr. Canada geese have been crossed with the domestic breed with good results, the hybrid being considered more hardy than the common stock. The Brant-Goose is a mari- time variety, more abundant on the Atlantic coast than elsewhere, though it is sometimes found inland. It feeds on shell-fish and other marine products, both animal and vege- table. Its flesh is not much esteemed. The swans do not differ materially from geese, either in food or flesh. They are wary creatures, rare in the East and nowhere abundant, breeding in high latitudes and appearing in the United States only during the winter. The Trumpeter Swan is found from the Mississippi Valley westward, while the other species, the WHISTLING Swan, reaches the Atlantic coast as far north as New Jersey. Of the two kinds of swans seen in captivity, the white one comes from England, where it has lived in royal favor for centuries, and the black variety is brought from Australia, where it still exists in a wild state. THE GANNETS. The gannets are large marine birds, goose-like in size and contour, which as they fly seek their finny victims and take them THE WATER-BIRDS. 245 by a headlong plunge into the water quite out of sight. They feed entirely on fish,—herring and mackerel being preferred. Wuite Ganner are found on both sides of the Atlantic. On the American side they breed on Gannet Rock, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at one or two other places in that region. Like other gregarious sea-fowl, they suffer much at the hands of the fishermen and are rapidly decreasing in numbers. After the breeding season they follow the open sea in quest of their favorite quarry, and often guide the fishermen to an abundance of herring and mackerel. Their manner of fishing is as methodical as the evolutions of a mili- tary company. They fly in single file, and as each individual comes over a shoal of fish he closes his wings and dashes down with unerring aim into the waves, to appear again in a moment and take his place in line. Along the south Atlantic and Gulf coast is found the Brown GanneT, better known among sailors as the ‘ booby,” so named because it has in many instances been so foolish as to alight on ships at sea and allow itself to be caught by the hand. The booby’s habits do not materially differ from those of the white gannet. A South American species known only along the coast of Peru contributes to the guano supply. THE DARTER. The Darter, or SNAKE-BirD, is a native of the Southern States, ranging in summer as far north as the Carolinas and Illinois. Its appearance is that of a duck with rather long fan-shaped tail, extremely long slender neck, small head, and long pointed bill. It is an expert diver, having a curious faculty of being able to swim at any degree of submergence, from high floating to such a depth that only the head remains in sight, when its apparent snakiness is startling. It feeds on a great variety of fish, frogs, lizards, crawfish, leeches, shrimps, young alligators, snakes, terrapin, which it can overtake under water like a true diver. It is a shy, watchful bird, living in secluded swamps. 246 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. THE CORMORANTS AND PELICANS. The Cormorants are large birds, principally maritime yet often straying into the interior, which are represented by dif- ferent species in every temperate quarter of the globe. They are proverbial fishers. In China they are domesticated and trained to fish for their masters, being prevented from swal- lowing their game by a close-fitting ring put about their necks. The common cormorant is found along the Atlantic coast down to the Middle States in winter. The double-crested cormorant is the only one diffused throughout the country. The Mexican cormorant is a tropical species that occasionally makes its way up the Mississippi Valley. They all agree in living exclusively upon fish, and, as they are not sufficiently abundant to interfere with human interests in that line, may be regarded as of no economic account in this country. The pelicans are large, cumbersome birds, remarkable for a capacious pouch of extensible skin between their lower jaws. They are common in temperate regions, feeding mostly on fish and other animals, yet not averse to insects. The Wuire Petican is common in the Southern States, rang- ing well up the Mississippi Valley. It feeds by scooping up its prey as it swims on the water, letting the water run out at the sides of its mouth, and swallowing the luckless creatures left within. It walks readily and is able to pick up more or less food on shore. Five Nebraska birds that came into the hands of Aughey had fed as follows: One had eaten a frog; all had eaten fish, crawfish, and insects. None had taken less than twenty-one insects. Forty-one locusts were found in one stomach and forty-seven in another. A stomach opened by Audubon was found to contain about a hundred small worms. The Brown Pe.ican, a more southerly bird, confined to the coast, feeds wholly on fish taken at a flying plunge, after the manner of a gannet. THE WATER-BIRDS. 247 THE FRIGATE BIRD AND THE GULLS. The Frigate Birp, or Man-or-war Birp, is a maritime species, having its four toes webbed together; it resembles in this par- ticular the gannets, darters, cormorants, and pelicans; indeed, it has a double relationship to the pelicans, by reason of its gular sac or pouch. Having a comparatively small body, with extremely long pointed wings and a long forked tail, its powers of flight are astonishing. Frigates fish for themselves when necessity demands it, but they much prefer robbing gulls and terns of their well-earned sustenance by forcing them to dis- gorge. They are found on the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The gulls are long-winged, web-footed birds, well equipped for both aerial and aquatic navigation. Most of them are winter visitors along the coast, though many frequent the great lakes and other inland waters. Fishermen watch their move- ments and are often led to good luck by them. The Manx government protects them because of their usefulness as an index of mackerel schools. Gulls have moderately long bills, somewhat hooked at the tip, suitable for taking animal food. Their diet, however, varies considerably in different species, and, even in the same species, more or less according to the situation and relative abundance of eatables. The Great Biack-BackEeD GuLL, one of the largest of its kind, belongs to the class which chooses to live on meat and fish. Audubon states that it devours all sorts of food except vege- tables, even the most putrid carrion, but prefers fresh fish, young birds, small quadrupeds, or eggs. A specimen ex- amined by Professor Aughey had eaten a few grasshoppers and other insects, but mostly fish and frogs. The Herring GuLL, a much commoner species, that is found both coastwise and interiorly, has similar good habits. A stomach examined by Dr. Coues contained the remains of a marsh-hare. Two which were examined by Professor Aughey had grasshoppers, fish, and mollusks. One shot by us had eaten only refuse of 248 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. an oily consistency. This gull breeds from New England and the great lakes northward. Their eggs, like those of the guille- mot, are taken in great quantities, and young birds are salted and laid in store by dwellers in the far North, although in a land where food is plentiful gull flesh is not relished. The Karrrwake GuLL, so far as food habits go, may be classed with those already mentioned. It is a winter visitor, known as far south as the Middle States, chiefly along the coast. Other species range more or less over marshes and high grounds and take a larger proportion of insects. One of these is the Rrine- BILLED GULL, a common species the land over. Those found in the interior consume many insects. One stomach opened by Professor Aughey contained forty locusts; four others had from ten to thirty-three insects each. All had partaken of fish, crawfish, or mollusks. Bonaparte’s Rosy Guti is another common gull interiorly and coastwise, being especially abundant along the Atlantic coast during migration. It is often seen coursing over stubble and ploughed land. Two stomachs opened by Nuttall were gorged with ants, ants’ cocoons, and moth pupze. FRANKLIN’s Rosy Gut moves quite across the United States in its migra- tions, its main route lying west of the Mississippi River. Of ten stomachs examined by Aughey, six had from thirteen to fifty-three locusts each, besides a few other insects and remains of fish and frogs; the rest had from twelve to thirty-nine other insects, together with mollusks, snails, fish, crawfish, and lizards. THE TERNS AND JAEGERS. The Terns resemble the gulls in form and habits, though they are readily distinguished by their smaller size, their buoyant airy flight, and sharply pointed bills. Among those that are most often found away from salt water, and con- sequently the only ones whose food relations especially interest us in this connection, are the least tern, Forster’s tern, the gull-billed or marsh tern, and the black tern. The THE WATER-BIRDS. 249 least tern is hardly longer than a swallow. It feeds with equal readiness on insects and aquatic animals; beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders are all set down as forming part of its diet. Four stomachs out of eight examined by Pro- fessor Aughey contained from twenty-three to forty-nine locusts each. The others had from four to forty-nine other insects and remnants of fish, lizards, and crawfish. The three other species have like records. Several gull-billed terns killed by Wilson had eaten nothing but large aquatic spiders. Professor Aughey’s examination of six black terns revealed from forty- seven to eighty-four locusts each in four, and from twenty- eight to fifty-nine insects in the other two. There was the usual complement of water animals in each. Among the more maritime terns are the royal, sandwich, caspian, roseate, and sooty terns, and the noddies. These feed almost wholly on small fish and mollusks. The more delicately tinted terns have been subjected to an outrageous slaughter for their skins for millinery use, to gratify a lingering taint of savagery in woman, a desire to adorn her- self with feathers,—a la primitif. Wholesome legislation and a more enlightened public opinion, however, are slowly com- ing to the rescue of the disappearing birds. The Brack Skimmer is a peculiar tern-like bird, which has its lower mandible about an inch longer than the upper. Its food consists of shell-fish, shrimps, small crabs, sand-fleas, ete., which are plowed from the water by the knife-like lower mandible as the bird skims along with lowered head just above the surface. The Jarcers form a small family. They resemble gulls in their appearance, and are chiefly maritime, though sometimes drifting inland; they are parasites of the smaller terns and gulls. Their favorite method of gaining a livelihood is to pursue a gull or tern and so tire and pester it till it disgorges its last meal, which is quickly devoured by the robber. An inland straggler was found to have eaten fish, frogs, crawfish, 250 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. and even a few grasshoppers. They catch their food when they cannot steal it. The four that visit us are the skua gull, the pomarine, parasitic, and long-tailed jaegers. None of them are common. THE PETRELS AND AUKS. The Perrets, including fulmars and shearwaters, are pelagic birds, adapted for both flying and swimming, that rarely land except to lay their eggs. They will follow a ship for days together, picking up such bits of food as may be thrown over- board. The stomachs of several specimens of Wilson’s petrel, opened by the naturalist for whom they were named, showed barnacles, seeds of gulf-weed, and greasy refuse from vessels. Leach’s petrel, a common species off the New England coast and northward, attends fishing-vessels for the sake of the waste from the cleaning tables. Fulmars accompany whalers and feast upon scraps of blubber. All petrels are especially fond of fatty matter. The Avuxks are an exclusively marine family of diving birds that feed wholly on animal substances, such as small fish, shrimps, roe, and crustaceans. The puffins, which constitute one branch of this family, exhibit strange nuptial changes in their bills. As the breeding season advances, the bill increases in a vertical direction until it is nearly as deep as the head itself. This increase is caused by the growth of additional flakes, which are shed with the feathers during the moulting season. The Common Purrtn, or Sra Parrot, is the only one to visit our eastern coast. Other auks have seasonal changes of bill, but none of them belong on the Atlantic coast. The Great Aux, which has been extinct for more than fifty years, was formerly killed in great numbers for its flesh and feathers, Its wings were so small that flight was out of the question, and, though able to take pretty good care of itself in the water, when on land it was at the mercy of any foe larger and more THE WATER-BIRDS. 251 powerful than itself. The early fishermen sought great auks - on the barren northern islands in nesting time, slaughtered them right and left with clubs, and salted their flesh. This ruthless destruction could have but one result. Only a few skins, eggs, and bones in museums remain as tangible evi- dences of this once abundant bird. Another branch of the auk family, including several species which have been and still are to some extent severely perse- cuted, comprises the GurtLEmots, or egg-birds. In this case it is not the birds themselves so much as their eggs that attract marauders. Each spring the guillemots congregate by thousands on certain rocky islands and shores to deposit their eges. In such vast numbers do they come that they fairly cover the ground while incubating. The eggs are quite pala- table while fresh, but most of them are sold for use in the arts, the albumen they contain being a requisite in several industries, such as the manufacture of patent leather and in clarifying wine. Gathering the eggs of this and other sea- birds was formerly a fixed occupation for a class of rough characters known as eggers, who regularly plied their trade while the season lasted. In order to insure fresh eggs, they would first break every egg on the ground, then come daily afterwards for their harvest. An easy way to smash the eggs, and one often followed, was to roll barrels back and forth over the whole nesting-place. Egging was carried on so per- sistently that the number of birds became seriously decreased, and our Eastern States as well as the Canadian government have prohibited it. The following extract from Audubon’s “‘ Eggers of Labrador’ presents a vivid picture of the people and their business as he saw them there. ‘The vessel herself is a shabby thing: her sails are patched; her sides are neither painted nor even pitched; no, they are daubed over, plastered and patched with strips of seal-skin along the seams. Her deck has never been washed or sanded; her hold—no cabin has she—though ZO BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. at present empty sends forth an odor pestilential as a charnel- house. The crew, eight in number, lie sleeping at the foot of their tottering mast, regardless of the repairs needed in every part of her rigging. . . . As I suspect her crew to be bent on the commission of some evil deed, let us follow her to the first harbor. The afternoon is half over. Her crew have thrown their boat overboard; they enter and seat them- selves, each with a rusty gun. One of them sculls the skiff towards an island for a century past the breeding-place of myriads of guillemots, which are now to be laid under contri- bution. At the approach of the vile thieves, clouds of birds rise from the rock and fill the air around, wheeling and screaming over their enemies. Yet thousands remain in an erect posture, each covering its single egg, the hope of both parents. The reports of several muskets loaded with heavy shot are now heard, while several dead and wounded birds fall heavily on the rock or into the water. Instantly all the sitting birds rise and fly off affrighted to their companions above, and hover in dismay over their assassins. . . . See how they crush the chick within its shell, how they trample over every egg in their way with their huge and clumsy boots. Onward they go, and when they leave the isle not an egg that they can find is left entire. The dead birds they collect and carry to their boat. Now they have regained their filthy shallop; they strip the birds by a single jerk of their feathery apparel, while the flesh is yet warm, and throw them on some coals, where in a short time they are broiled. The rum is produced when the guillemots are fit for eating, and after enjoying themselves with this oily fare, and enjoying the pleasure of this beastly intoxication, over they tumble on the deck of their crazed craft, where they pass the short hours of night in turbid slumbers. . . . On Guillemot Isle the birds have again settled and now renew their loves. Startled. by the light of day, one of the eggers springs to his feet and arouses his companions. . . . The master, soon recollecting THE WATER-BIRDS. 253 that so many eggs are worth a dollar or a crown, casts his eye towards the rock, marks the day in his memory, and gives orders to depart. The light breeze enables them to reach another harbor a few miles distant, in which, like the last, lies concealed from the ocean some other rocky isle. Arriving there they reénact the scene of yesterday, crushing every egg they can find. Fora week, each night is passed in drunken- ness and brawls, until, having reached the last breeding-place on the coast, they return, touch at every isle in succession, shoot as many birds as they may need, collect the fresh eggs, and lay in a cargo.” THE LOONS AND GREBES. The Loons are large, powerful divers, that are equally at home in fresh and salt water. Owing to their wariness, and also to the fact that they cannot fly without a long course in which to get a good start before leaving the water, they are not usually found in the smaller streams and ponds. Except during the period of incubation they rarely venture ashore. They feed almost wholly upon fish, which they dive for and pursue with great energy. In the economical balance they have little weight either way. The fish they consume are generally worthless, while their own flesh is hardly better. The common loon is a picturesque element in the scenery of our northern lakes in summer. In winter it may be found in the sea or wherever there is plenty of open water. The red-throated loon is a more northerly bird that breeds entirely beyond our limits, but is found fairly common out of breeding season. The black-throated loon is an arctic species rarely appearing in the United States. The Greses constitute a branch of the diver family. Their chief peculiarities are wide, flat, unwebbed toes and an entire lack of tail. They are essentially fresh-water birds, designed, like divers in general, to glean a livelihood in the liquid ele- ment. Small fish, lizards, tadpoles, and aquatic insects, with 254 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. had now and then a blade of grass or a few seeds, constitute their usual diet. Inasmuch as they are unable to travel on land with any ease, owing to the rearward position of their legs, only such insects as belong to the water or accidentally fall into it are eaten. Of the four varieties common to the eastern half of the United States, the litthe Dascuick, or Prep-BILLED Gree, is perhaps the best known. Its bill is shorter and thicker than the bills of other kinds, and it may readily be guessed that its food is not so strictly of an animal nature. A single stomach examined by us contained the broken wing- covers of many beetles, a few feathers, evidently from its own breast, and considerable sand. The other three species have spear-like bills and have practically identical food habits. They are the Rep-neckep GreBe, the Hornep Grese, and the Earep Grese. ‘The first two are found at large throughout the country. The eared grebe belongs west of the Mississippi River. Of two stomachs of the last named opened by Pro- fessor Aughey, of Nebraska, one contained nine locusts, some erass, a few seeds, and the remains of crawfish; while the other had five grasshoppers, a few other insects, fish, and crawfish. None of the grebes are much esteemed as food, being rather coarse and rank-flavored. Both loons and grebes are levied upon to satisfy the demands of fashion, the breast portions of their skins being prized by milliners. CabA PAR Xe xe. THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. I. NON-GAMEBIRDS—THEIR DESTRUCTION, PROTECTION, AND ENCOURAGEMENT. Accorpineé to the latest classification, there are eleven hun- dred and twenty-four species of birds inhabiting America north of Mexico. They are included in seventeen orders. For our present purpose we will divide them into two classes, —namely, gamebirds and non-gamebirds. The gamebirds, comprising only five orders, amounting to two hundred and twenty-two species, will be considered in the next chapter. The nine hundred and two species and subspecies in the twelve orders of non-gamebirds are of all sizes and of a wide variety of habits. While of little or no use as food, and generally. recognized as important aids in keeping insects within supportable limits,—or, in case of birds that prefer other food than insects, either beneficial or at least harmless, —they have too often been slaughtered and otherwise per- secuted. It seems a well-established fact that birds, as a class, are now less numerous in the United States than they were a century or more ago. While some species have doubtless become more abundant under the changed conditions of modern civilization, others are very much rarer, and a few appear to be approaching extinction. It was, of course, inevitable that the changes produced by man’s interference with natural conditions should have a tremendous influence upon the native fauna. Some birds have found the new dis- pensation better suited to their wants than the old; others have changed their habits and made the best of it; while others have been so relentlessly persecuted that their only 255 256 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. hope of survival lay in retreating to inaccessible localities. The wholesale destruction of primeval nesting-sites has been a potent factor in the change produced, but, fortunately, many of the most useful birds found substitutes that answered the purpose very well: kingbirds, chipping-sparrows, cedar-birds, and robins have apparently been glad to adopt the imported apple tree for a home tree; swallows, swifts, and phcebes have left the cliffs and hollow trees they formerly possessed for rafters and chimneys and artificial houses put up for their benefit. Meadow-larks, vesper, savanna, and other ground” sparrows inhabiting grass-lands have undoubtedly increased in numbers and widened their habitat since mowing fields have so largely superseded timbered areas. Even under normal conditions birds have to encounter erave perils that many of them, particularly of the smaller varieties, are unable to withstand. Of these their annual migration over hundreds and thousands of miles of land and sea probably is most fatal. Their periods of travel are sea- sons of strenuous weather. Gales carry them out to sea and leave them exhausted to perish on the waves. Unwonted cold in the South sometimes destroys them in great numbers. A backward spring in the North, by retarding insect develop- ment, adds hunger to cold. At the end of the long journey, tired and lean, the birds suffer greatly when spring is late. Warblers, orioles, tanagers, and other sylvan species may be seen searching among the stubble for something to eat. Their feebleness is apparent. Sometimes a cold storm follows, and when such is the case many invariably die. It is interesting to note that during such a stress of weather many birds that ordinarily frequent the woods come to the vicinity of houses. A parula warbler has been known to seek refuge in a store doorway, a humming-bird to craw] into a crevice in a garden gate, and redstarts and a Canadian warbler to find shelter in a barnyard. Birds found dead after such a storm are greatly emaciated, showing plainly the effects of starvation. Well fed, THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 257 they could stand the weather, but hunger and cold combined they could not endure. Young birds are subject to many dangers before reaching maturity. Foxes, cats, skunks, minks, weasels, squirrels, hawks, owls, crows, jays, and snakes are always seeking to devour them. The percentage of young birds preyed upon by predaceous animals is certainly quite large. Heavy rains destroy many more. Adult birds also fall victims to preda- ceous animals, particularly hawks and owls, though less often than the young. Light-houses, situated as they are in a main thoroughfare of migration, cause the death of many birds. Most birds fly by night, and, coming into a beam of light, they follow it to their destruction. Telegraph and telephone wires are another dan- ger. Fortunately, many birds that hit them are not killed, so they are able to profit by experience. A western writer has noted that in a certain locality the number killed during the first few years after the wires were put up was much larger than the number killed in later years. But besides these natural causes and the inevitable results of the white man’s occupation of the American continent, certain causes have been, and still are, at work which tend greatly to decrease the number of birds possible under exist- ing conditions. To a large extent these agencies are the result of human greed, cruelty, and ignorance, and the havoc they commit may be avoided by proper laws based upon and sup- ported by the opinion of an enlightened public. Perhaps one of the most constant and serious of these agencies is the egg-collecting or nest-destroying small boy. In almost every town or village there may be found a dozen or more youths who have frequent attacks of the collecting fever. Unfortunately, the fever is often of the intermittent type, and the season’s collections are allowed to go to ruin before the advent of another spring. Every nook and cranny for miles around the head-quarters of such a coterie is examined i? 258 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. by sharp eyes, and the great majority of birds’ eggs are gath- ered in. Probably with ninety-nine boys out of a hundred these egg collections are soon forgotten, while the hundredth boy is too likely to become a mere collector who strives to see how many varieties of eggs he can get together without refer- ence to their natural history values. To this class of collec- tors we owe the existence of the egg-dealers who collect eggs in large numbers to sell. The latter are the mercenary collec- tors, while the intermittent types are the aimless ones,—a classification suggested by Col. W. H. M. Duthie, a Scottish ornithologist, who well defines the ‘true collector’ as ‘‘a nat- uralist acquainting himself with birds, their habits, flight, migration, and breeding haunts; his egg-collecting being only one of the means of acquiring knowledge.” Birds’ eggs are sometimes collected by children to serve as Kaster gifts the following season,—a sacrilege to which atten- tion need scarcely be called to reveal its inappropriateness. Such an Easter present is a sacrifice of innocence rather than a thank-offering. Unfortunately, the boy of the period does not limit his destructive powers to the gathering of eggs. The recent increase in cheap fire-arms has placed within his reach the means of killing feathered ‘‘ game” at all seasons of the year. To this fact is due much of the diminution in the number of small birds in the vicinity of towns and cities. Dr. R. W. Shufeldt thinks that the wholesale destruction carried on by the army of unscrupulous small boys ‘is a reason for bird decrease before which other reasons stand aghast.” He reports meeting near Washington, D. C., ‘one such youngster, and upon examining his game-bag, found it absolutely full of dead bodies of birds which he had killed since starting out in the morning. One item alone consisted of seventy-two ruby and golden-crowned kinglets. The fellow boasted of having slain over one hundred cat-birds that season.” That the small boy is recognized in other countries as a THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 259 prime factor in decrease in birds is shown by the recent rec- ommendation of a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science that particular pains should be taken to instruct the youth concerning the birds that should be protected. Enormous numbers of birds are sacrificed annually for millinery purposes. There is an opinion prevalent that the birds worn on women’s hats in America are largely derived from the faunas of tropical regions. Some justification of this is found in the impossible colors of all sorts assumed by the plainest songsters when they have passed through the dye-pot of the preparator. But there can be no question that an immense quantity of bird life is annually destroyed in the United States to gratify the caprice of fashion, the birds thus killed being very largely used within our own borders, while many are exported to Paris and other European cities. The evidence on this point is abundantly sufficient ; some of it may properly be introduced here, as the subject is one which is greatly in need of more general knowledge on the part of the public. An editorial article in the Forest and Stream a few years ago mentions a dealer who, during a three months’ trip to the coast of South Carolina, prepared no less than eleven thousand and eighteen bird-skins. A considerable number of the birds killed were, of course, too much mutilated for preparation, so that the total number of slain would be much greater than the number given. The person referred to states that he handles on an average thirty thousand bird-skins a year, of which the greater part are cut up for millinery purposes. About the same time, according to a writer in the Baltimore Sun, a New York milliner visited Cobb’s Island, off the coast of Virginia, to get material to fill a foreign order for forty thou- sand bird-skins. She hired people to kill the birds, for which she paid ten cents apiece. The birds comprised in this whole- sale slaughter were mainly gulls and terns, or sea-swallows, 260 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. of which large numbers of several species could formerly be found on this island. But now only a few of these graceful birds remain, and the pot-hunters, or rather skin-hunters, have to go some distance to carry on their cruel occupation. If we consider that with each old bird killed—the killing is done mainly in the breeding season, as only adult birds have suitable plumage—many young, unable to care for themselves, die of starvation, this wholesale slaughter appears the more infamous and criminal. Further south, in Florida and along the Gulf coast, the herons and egrets have been ruthlessly persecuted for their plumage. The heronries, where enormous numbers of these graceful birds formerly bred unmolested, have been largely broken up, and only the shyness of those remaining enables them to survive. In a paper read before the World’s Congress of Ornithologists, at Chicago, in 1893, Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson describes a visit to a locality known as Horse Hummock, Florida. In 1888 he found several hundred pairs of little blue, snowy, Louisiana, and black-crowned night-herons at a heronry there. Three years later, when he returned to the spot, silence reigned, and only fragments of nests and bleaching bones were to be seen. Plume-hunters had either killed or driven off the entire community. Concerning another heronry Mr. Pearson writes as follows: ‘‘A few miles north of Waldo, in the flat pine region, our party came one day upon a little swamp where we had been told herons bred in numbers. Upon approaching the place the screams of young birds reached our ears. The cause of this soon became apparent by the buzzing of green flies and the heaps of dead herons festering in the sun, the back of each bird raw and bleeding. The smouldering embers of a camp-fire bore witness to the recent presence of the plume-hunter. Under a bunch of erass a dead heron was discovered from whose back the plumes had not been taken. The ground was still moist with its blood, showing that death had not long before taken place. THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 261 The dirt had been beaten smooth with its wings ; its neck was arched; feathers on its head were raised, and its bill was buried in the blood-clotted feathers of its breast, where a gap- ping wound showed that a leaden missile struck. It was an awful picture of pain. Sorely wounded, this heron had crawled away and, after enduring hours of agony, had died, the victim of a foolish fashion. Young herons had been left by scores in the nests to perish from exposure and starvation. These little sufferers, too weak to rise, reached their heads over the nests and faintly called for food, which the dead mothers could never bring.” This slaughter of the innocents is by no means confined to our Southern States. During four months seventy thousand bird-skins were supplied to the New York trade by one Long Island village. ‘On the coast-line of Long Island,’ wrote Mr. William Dutcher, not long ago, ‘the slaughter has been carried on to such a degree that, where, a few years since, thousands and thousands of terns were gracefully sailing over the surf-beaten shore and the wind-rippled bays, now one is rarely to be seen.” Land-birds of all sorts have also suffered in a similar way, both on Long Island and in adjacent locali- ties in New Jersey. Nor have the interior regions of the United States escaped the visits of the milliner’s agent. An Indianapolis taxidermist is on record with the statement that in 1895 there were shipped from that city five thousand bird- skins collected in the Ohio Valley. He adds that ‘no county in the State is free from the ornithological murderer,” and prophesies that birds will soon become very scarce in the State. These isolated examples can only suggest the enormous number of birds that are sacrificed on the altar of fashion. The universal use of birds for millinery purposes bears suffi- cient testimony to the fact. Yet it is probable that most women who follow the fashion seldom appreciate the suffer- ing and the economic losses which it involves. 262 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. A few years ago the Committee on Bird Protection of the American Ornithologist’s Union issued an appeal in which occurs this paragraph : “So long as the demand continues, the supply will come. Law of itself can be of little, perhaps of no ultimate avail. It may give check, but this tide of destruction it is powerless to stay. The demand will be met; the offenders will find it worth while to dare the law. Only one thing will stop the -cruelty,—the disapprobation of fashion. It is our women who hold the great power. Let our women say the word, and hundreds of thousands of birds’ lives will be preserved every year. And until woman does use her influence it is vain to hope that this nameless sacrifice will cease until it has worked out its own end and the birds are gone.”’ The destruction of the smaller birds for food is much ereater than is commonly supposed. It is due not so much to the demand created by native white Americans, as by the foreigners in the North and negroes in the South. During the migrations to and from the southern regions, enormous num- bers of birds which are commonly considered non-edible are killed for food. In the larger cities hundreds of such victims are displayed daily. Besides the reed-birds, robins, meadow- larks, and blackbirds that one would expect might be found, there occur woodpeckers, thrushes, sparrows, warblers, wax- Wings, and vireos. An interesting example has been reported by Mr. Walter E. Bryant in the case of the ‘‘ reed-birds” of San Francisco markets. For years there have been exposed for sale small California birds, picked, and six of them ranged side by side with a skewer running through them. These are sold as ‘“reed-birds,” though, of course, they are not the Eastern bobolink, which does not occur in California. They are most commonly the horned lark (Otocoris), but there may often be found on the skewers housefinches, goldfinches, various sparrows (except the English variety), blackbirds, and sand-pipers. Many thousands of birds are thus destroyed THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 263 annually. The tendency, as Mr. Bryant says, is steadily ‘‘ to increase in severity, and it has long since arrived at that stage of importance which should bring it to the notice of the au- thorities interested in bird protection.” In the South all sorts of small birds appear in the city markets. Ina statement concerning the destruction of small birds in the vicinity of New Orleans, Professor Nehrling says : “There is scarcely a hotel in New Orleans where small birds do not form an item on the bill of fare. At certain seasons the robin, wood-thrush, thrasher, olive-backed thrush, hermit- thrush, chewink, flicker, and many of our beautiful sparrows form the bulk of the victims; but cat-birds, cardinals, and almost all small birds, even swallows, can be found in the markets.” A few small birds have ranked as game more or less gener- ally. Of these the bobolink is one. Although one of the best-beloved birds in the North, where it is given all the pro- tection accorded to any bird, in the Middle States it is killed in enormous numbers during the autumnal migration. To one familiar with the bobolink’s liquid melody and parental devotion such slaughter seems a sacrilege. In the rice-grow- ing regions along the Carolina coast, bobolinks are veritable pests and as such are destroyed. Robins are also killed in the Southern States during the winter. A notorious example of robin slaughter is that of a consignment of twenty-seven hundred in one lot received by a Washington, D. C., dealer in the spring of 1897. During their stay in the South they occupy regular ‘roosts, where they assemble at nightfall by thousands, and it is at these ‘roosts’ that most of the slaughter is accomplished. Flickers, meadow-larks, and blackbirds have been quite generally slain the country over, especially by those unable to kill anything bigger; but among true sportsmen they have 1 See W. T. Hornaday, 2d Ann. Rept. N. Y. Zool. Soc., p. 86, 1898. 264 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. been put on the ‘retired list.” Nevada is the only State in which flickers are legally reckoned among game-birds. Larks are so classed in less than half a dozen States. Event- ually all birds of this sort, with the exception of bobolinks and blackbirds in certain localities where they are noxious, will be struck from the game list in practice as well as in theory. The segregating habit of sea-birds at certain breeding places, so advantageous to plume-hunters, is not less so to “‘eggers,” nor less fatal to the birds. Audubon, in his Ornithological Biography, devotes a chapter to “ eggers,”’ with whom he came in contact on his Labrador exploration. Their ruthless invasion of the barren islands inhabited by countless murres and gulls, resulting in the loss of every egg that could be dis- covered, all summer long, evidently aroused the displeasure of the great naturalist. Even down to a few years ago, when Dominion laws put a stop to it, egging was continued on the islands off New Brunswick and northward. The eggs were brought off by boat-loads and sold for various purposes. Wherever colonies of sea-birds assemble to breed along our Eastern coast, the practice of turning the eggs to commercial use has been in vogue. The eggs of the laughing gull (Larus atricille) are an esteemed delicacy in Virginia. The gulls, terns, and herons, which formerly bred in immense numbers along the coasts of Florida and Texas, have been subject to the same blasting influence. An article’ by Mr. H. W. Elliott gives an idea of the abundance of eggs and the wholesale manner in which they have been gathered in the Pacific. Mr. Elhott states that when he visited Walrus Island, in Behring Sea, in July, 1872, six men loaded a four-ton boat with murre eggs in less than six hours. Concerning egging in California, Dr. T. S. 9 Palmer writes :? “A still more striking example of wholesale 1 The Auk, vol. v. p. 377. 2 Yearbook, Dept. of Agr. for 1899, p. 271. THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 265 egg-collecting, and probably the most important one in the United States, from a financial stand-point, is that of the Faral- lones. These islands, or rather rocks, situated on the coast of California, thirty miles west of the Golden Gate, are the breed- ing-erounds of myriads of sea-birds, chiefly western gulls (Larus occidentalis) and murres, or California guillemots (Uria troile Californica). For nearly fifty years murre eggs were collected here and shipped to San Francisco market, where they found a ready sale at from twelve to twenty cents a dozen, a price only a little less than that of hens’ eggs. During the season, which lasted about two months, beginning near the middle of May, the eggs were shipped regularly once or twice a week. The main crop was gathered on South Faral- lone, the principal island, and mainly from the ‘great rookery’ at the west end. The birds lay only one egg, which is deposited on the bare rock. When the season opened the men went over the ground and broke all the eggs in sight, so as to avoid taking any that were not perfectly fresh. The ground was then gone over every day, and the eges were systematically picked up and shipped to market. The business was in the hands of Italians and Greeks, who were also engaged in fishing, and, although a dozen or fifteen ‘eggers’ were employed on the islands, the number of eggs gathered was simply enormous. It is said that in 1854 more than five hundred thousand eggs were sold in less than two months, and that between 1850 and 1856 three or four mill- ions were taken to San Francisco. . . . Since then the value of the eggs has declined, and the number has fallen off con- siderably. In 1884 there were gathered three hundred thou- sand, in 1896 about one hundred and eight thousand, while in 1896 the crop was reduced to a little less than ninety-two thousand.” As a cause of reduction in the number of sea-birds, egging undoubtedly is entitled to first place. Millinery shooting, though equally destructive in operation, was begun at a date ' 266 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. so comparatively recent that, wicked as it admittedly is, it must be given second rank. For a long time all birds not used for food were ignored by the American people. Before there was a demand for their feathers and skins they were simply let alone. But when game-birds became scarce, and many foreign immi- grants, accustomed abroad to eating small birds, had come to our shores, and rampant fashion had set bird plumes among her gods, destruction began. All the serious dangers that beset the birds, at least those of human origin, have been operating only a comparatively short time. Then, again, it is only a few years since the food habits of such birds have been well understood. In view of all this, it is not strange that protective laws were late in making their appearance on our statute-books. Although game-birds were protected by law early in the nineteenth century, it was in 1850 that “small and harmless birds” were given a legal standing. In that year both Connecticut and New Jersey protected most of the com- mon small birds and their eggs by fixing a fine for each bird or ege destroyed. Other States gradually followed suit, but in fourteen years only twelve States and the District of Columbia had adopted such laws. It was not long, however, before bird-slaughter became notorious, and then legislation quickly became general. ‘“Insectivorous and song-birds” was the term often employed in framing these laws; but that term was too loose and narrow. The slaughter of plume-birds led to their protection in Florida and Texas, where it was espe- cially severe, and by degrees they have come to be included in the number protected by many States. Even birds of prey, since it has been found that there are only half a dozen injurious species out of the whole family—or, rather, so much of it as is found in the United States, numbering about ninety —have come in for statutory shelter in several States. There is a deeply-rooted prejudice against them, however, that can- not be overcome in one generation, even by figures; the acts THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 267 of the evil few have so blackened the reputation of the whole family, that it is not probable that hawks and owls will be protected generally or specifically in most States for a long time to come. Utah alone grants protection to the whole tribe. Illinois protects all but ‘“chicken-hawks.” Rhode Island protects fish-hawks. Three other States have pre- scribed fines for killing bald eagles. The turkey buzzards (Cathartes aura), which prefer carrion to freshly-killed meat, are useful as scavengers and are protected in the District of Columbia and in eight States and Territories. They ought to be protected wherever they occur. Besides birds of prey there are a number of other birds to which several States have thus far denied protection. Of such are the grain-eating birds,—crows, blackbirds, etc.; those which live upon fish,—loons, auks, mergansers, herons, and kingfishers; and English sparrows. The last-named is the one most generally condemned; only a few States have exempted fish-eating birds from protection, and less than half have announced a prejudice against crows and blackbirds. Legislation primarily intended for game has in a few instances afforded protection to all birds. Laws prohibiting shooting on Sunday and those requiring gun licenses are of this sort. Speak- ing of gun licenses, the protection of non-game-birds is the only reason that can be logically urged in their favor. The declara- tion that game is the property of the State is the foundation of all game legislation. That all citizens of the State have equal right to it must be conceded. A game law establishing a gun license discriminates against the poor sportsman and in favor of the rich one. On the other hand, a gun license re- quirement would undoubtedly delay the day when precocious youngsters go forth with two-dollar guns until many of them, at least, are old enough to be out of the bird-killing stage. In the vicinity of some of our larger cities trapping native song-birds to sell as pets has been carried on to such an extent that several States have prohibited it by law, so they 268 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. may neither be captured nor kept in captivity. Other States specify what birds may be caged. Whether birds are caged or not, so long as they are not subject to traffic, is a matter of no importance to birds in general. The few taken from the wild state usually prove good missionaries. People that keep a tame bird a year or two are usually friendly to the race thereafter. Although every State and Territory except Alaska has its bird law, there is a great lack of uniformity among the differ- ent States, and many of the laws are very incomplete. Their enforcement is usually left to State or county officials, gener- ally to game wardens or commissioners. Offences that do not come directly to their notice are rarely heard of, for the reason that most persons, even though favorable to bird pro- tection, dislike to report the misdeeds of their neighbors. The utility of birds and the causes and extent of decrease among them are so little understood by the general public that there is no popular interest either in making or enforcing laws for their preservation. So far as law-making is con- cerned, it is easy as compared with the task of preventing law-breaking; but even law-making—adequate law-making has proved uphill work. Protection should be uniform, because most of our birds cover vast areas. Federal legisla- tion, excepting that of an indirect character, like the Lacey Act, which will be noticed in the next chapter, would be unconsti- tutional, and is therefore impossible, though it would meet the requirements more quickly and effectively than State laws. To meet the need of uniformity, and at the same time to suggest a safe, intelligent measure, the Committee on Bird Protection of the American Ornithologists’ Union have pre- pared an act which has already been adopted in its main features by several States. At this time it appears probable that, through the efforts of the ornithologists and others inter- ested in protecting birds, this proposed act will ultimately be the. basis of protective laws throughout the Union. " ITT EEK LLL ee OY WI pp "Ty fll, + = pt 2 —— CANADA YAY eee WY nn a ce " ork ms AIL YA ea Gi Te LALLY [ae LEE — ch AE) i jf7oeo—EoE—Ee DIAGRAM SHOWING CLOSE SEASONS FOR WILD DUCKS IN 1901. Mississippi Y ae Tennessee * The shaded areas indicate close seasons. 1 Seasons vary in different counties. (From Biological Survey. ) ar) i on THE CONSERVATION OF BIRDS. 285 is no reason why States should not and cannot agree to concerted legislation. In this, as in all movements involving numbers, there must be pioneers,—individuals to move first. There have been pioneers. New York was the first one. To-day there are all degrees of protection offered. In a few States itis nearly or quite up to the desires of those who have given the subject most thought. It now remains for others to get in line. A suggestion made by Mr. Charles Hallock, in an address to the National Game, Bird, and Fish Protective Association, in 1897, relative to uniform laws, is worthy of notice. He pro- posed a division of the United States into three districts which might readily adopt game laws of the same general tenor, if not actually identical. The original scheme of Mr. Hallock, some- what modified as to boundaries, was presented by Messrs. Palmer and Olds, of the Biological Survey, in Bulletin No. 16, United States Department of Agriculture, from which the map at the beginning of this chapter is taken. The Rocky Mountains form a natural barrier between the Northern and Pacific divi- sions, while the line between the Northern and Southern divisions is established with reference to climate. This plan is worth trying, if not in detail, at least as a working basis. Undoubtedly as soon as those interested in the preservation of game thoughout the Union are better organized, some such scheme for securing a reasonable uniformity will be carried into effect. | An important piece of legislation in favor of birds is the Lacey Act, so called, a national law, approved May 25, 1900. By the provisions of this act the preservation, distribution, introduction, and restoration of game-birds and other birds is included in the duties and powers of the Department of Agricul- ture. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to purchase and distribute such birds as may be required, subject to the laws of the various States and Territories ; and also from time to time to collect and publish useful information as to their 286 “BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. propagation, uses, and preservation. The importation of for- eign wild animals and birds without a special permit from the Secretary of Agriculture is made unlawful. The introduction of English sparrows and starlings is specially prohibited. This act also’ prohibits interstate commerce in the dead bodies of animals or birds, or parts thereof, when killed contrary to the laws of the State or if the State prohibits their export. All birds, or parts thereof, when brought into a State are subject to the same laws that would apply in case the birds were pro- duced in that State. This act is designed to supplement State laws and to give a double check to transportation of game by bringing to bear on each transaction the laws of the State. Besides the protection afforded by game laws, there is the method of establishing preserves where birds are either given complete immunity from slaughter or are carefully guarded from excessive depletion. The associations of wealthy sports- men that exist in various parts of the country, where they control much land, look after their game very carefully, as has already been stated. Such preserves are maintained at so large an expense that they can never become numerous enough to be of appreciable assistance in repopulating the woods. But it is perfectly feasible for owners of adjoining farms, if they are so minded, to combine their properties into preserves that would accomplish everything.