biomed

SB

995

N171b

1898

THE GIFT OF

FLORENCE V. V. DICKEY

TO THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES

THE DONALD R. DICKEY

LIBRARY
OF VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

THE

:RDS OF ONTARIO

•N RELATION TO
AGRICULTURE

CHARLES W. NASH, Toronto

PUBLISHED BY THE . . .

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, TORONTO

THE BIRDS OF ONTARIO

IN

RELATION TO AGRICULTURE

BY

CHARLES W. NASH, TORONTO.

(PUBLISHED BV THE ONTARIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, TORONTO.)

TORONTO:

WARWICK BRO'S & RUTTER, PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS, 63 AND 70 FRONT ST.

1898.

REPRINTED

FROM THE REPORT OF THE FARMERS INSTITUTES OF ONTARIO.

1897-8.

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THE BIRDS OF ONTARIO

IX

RELATION TO AGRICULTURE.

BY CHAELES W. NASH, TORONTO, ONT.

The agriculturist in the Province of Ontario has annually to suffer great loss
from the depredations of two classes of enemies, both individually insignificant,
but, by reason of their numbers, very formidable. These are insects and small
rodents, chief among the latter being rats and all the animals usually classed as
mice.

It is very difficult to make anything like a correct estimate of the average
damage inflicted upon the farmer by these little animals, but every man engaged
in farming knows by sad experience that he continually suffers from their work.
The enormous amount of grain they destroy, and the young trees girdled and
killed by them are visible to everyone ; but the creatures themselves, owing to
their nocturnal habits and secretive lives, are comparatively seldom seen. Their
enormous increase and consequent capacity for serious mischief is, of course, owing
to the fact that man has interfered seriously with the balance of nature, and has
thoughtlessly, perhaps, destroyed the principal natural enemies of these creatures.
Man himself is almost powerless to stop their ravages to any very great extent.
The constant exercise of his ingenuity in trapping, and so forth, results in very
little and occupies his time to no purpose. The natural enemies of these animals
are gifted with special faculties for their destruction, and so are able to cope with
them. Chief among the enemies of this class of farm pests, and the only ones we
shall consider now, are the birds of prey. These birds are wonderfully provided
by nature with the means to fulfil their part in .maintaining the correct balance
between the small rodents and the vegetable kingdom. They are in a manner
nature's police, and if not destroyed by man would so keep down the numbers of
these small four-footed thieves that their plundering would be scarcely noticeable.
Our birds of prey may be roughly divided into two classes, the hawks and the
owls, the first feeding by day and the other by night. Of the eagles we need say
but little. They are now so rarely found in the civilized districts that their influ-
ence for good or ill is practically nothing, except upon the game, and of that no
doubt,^they destroy a large quantity.

HAWKS.

Of the hawks there are eleven species, occurring regularly in this Province
in greater or less abundance every season. These are the Marsh Hawk, Sharp-
shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Goshawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered
Hawk, Broad winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Duck Hawk, Pigeon Hawk

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53522ft

and Sparrow Hawk ; there are two or three others, but they are only occasional
visitors. Of these eleven, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Goshawk,
Duck Hawk and Pigeon Hawk are the species which occasionally make raids upon
the poultry yards, and which at all times seem to prefer feathered game to either
fur or insects ; these should, therefore, be shot whenever the opportunity is given.
The Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper's Hawk are the two species which most
frequently attack the poultry. They are both small hawks, but make up for
their lack of size by their boldness and dexterity. It is but seldom that they
attack a full-grown fowl, but if they once find an accessible lot of chickens they
will continue to visit the flock until they have taken them all, or are killed in the
attempt to do so. The mischief done by these two species has been the principal
cause of the prejudice existing in the farmer's mind against all the hawk tribe,
and is usually given as the excuse for the slaughter of all the valuable species
whose constant work inures to man's benefit. The food of the Duck Hawk and
the Pigeon Hawk consists chiefly of wild birds, but they rarely visit the farms,
their usual resort being the marshes and shores of lakes frequented by water
fowl. The Pigeon Hawk is not so named because it has any preference for pig-
eons, either wild or domestic, but because it slightly resembles a pigeon in shape
both when on the wing and when at rest.

The Goshawk fortunately does not visit the cultivated portion of Ontario in
any numbers regularly ; it is a winter visitor only, and rather an expensive one to
entertain when it does come. The winter of 1896-97 was one of the seasons
in which it was particularly abundant throughout southern Ontario, and poultry
owners suffered greatly from its destructive powers in consequence. This hawk
is a large, powerful bird, quite capable of killing and carrying oft' a full grown
hen. The adult is dark, slaty blue above, blackish on the h^ad, the breast and
belly barred pale slate and white with sharp black streaks : the voung, dark
brown above, white beneath with oblong brown spots ; length, about two feet.
Owing to its boldness and strength it is capable of doing a good deal of damage,
and should consequently be killed whenever seen. As previously stated, this
hawk only occurs in winter, and therefore it is not likely to be mistaken for any
of the hawks whose food habits are of benefit to mankind. As a general rule, if
a hawk is seen about the farm-yard during the winter it is safe to assume that it
is there for no good purpose, and the gun should be brought into requisition at
once, as all our beneficial hawks migrate southward when cold weather sets in.

From the above species, all of which are undoubtedly injurious to the inter-
ests of the agriculturist by reason of the destruction they work in the poultry
yard, and amongst our insectivorous wild birds, we turn to the remaining six
species of the hawks frequenting this Province, every one of which spends the
greater part of its time and devotes its energies to work the destruction of the
animals and insects which are known to be amongst the greatest pests the farmer
has to contend with; these are the Marsh Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Red- shouldered
Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk and Sparrow Hawk.

Nearly everyone knows the Marsh Hawk and has seen it gracefully skim-
ming over the low meadows, occasionally hanging poised over one spot for a
second or two, and then dropping down into the long grass ; this drop generally
means the death of a meadow mouse, sometimes, but more rarely, a Irog ; of these
two creatures its food principally consists, and the number of meadow mice
destroyed by each of these birds in a season must be something enormous. As
many as eight have been found in the stomach of one of these hawks, and four
or five quite frequently. The hawk's digestion is very rapid, and their hunting
and feeding is continued with but few intermissions from daylight until dark.

How many mice each bird would take on the average each day would be difficult
to state exactly, but it is safe to assume that at least six would be required. Now
multiply that by the vast army of these hawks that resort to this Province and
the total number of mice destroyed would be amazing; and then against this good
work constantly going on there is no damage to be set off. Not one instance, in
thirty years' observation of this bird's habits, has ever come to the writer's know-
ledge of their having attacked a single domestic fowl. It does sometimes take a
meal off a dead duck or other bird it may find lying in the inarches, but it is
doubtful if it ever kills for itself a bird of any kind, at any rate in this Province.
Every farmer and every sportsman in the land should do his utmost for the pro-
tection of this bird. Unfortunately they are constantly destroyed by persons
who are ignorant of the good they do, and thousands are killed every autumn by
mischievious people who must shoot at everything the}' see that has life in it. If
people who wantonly shoot hawks would sometimes look at the stomach contents
of the birds they kill they would soon be convinced of the wrong they were
doing and would perhaps exercise sufficient common sense to refrain from con-
tinuing the evil practice.

For the sake of brevity the Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, and
Broad-winged Hawk may b^ considered together. These three common species
are usually known as " Hen Hawks." Why however, it would be difficult to say.
They are all fairly large, slow, heavy flying birds, whose food consists principally
of mice, squirrels, toads, frogs and snakes ; very rarely do they ever take a bird
of any kind. In fact it would be extremely difficult for them to do so, unless the
bird was very young, or injured seriously. They will, when pressed by hunger,
feed on carrion, but the staple article of diet with them is meadow mice and
squirrels, varied, as before stated, by toads, frogs and snakes, besides grasshoppers
and other insects.

I have specially omitted from this group, to which it really belongs, the
Rough -legged Hawk. This is done purposeiy, because the great value of the
species to the farmer should be particularly pointed out, the bird having been
most unjustly persecuted. It is the largest of the Canadian hawks, and one that
deserves the greatest consideration and protection from every man having an
interest in agriculture. It can be safely said that this so-called " Hen-Hawk "
has never killed a head of poultry at any time, nor do they ever kill birds of any
sort. During the fall of 1895 these hawks were very abundant in southern
Ontario and large numbers were killed. I obtained all the bodies I could for the
purpose of investigating the contents of their stomachs, and I spent much time
in watching their habits whilst feeding. All day long, every day from the first of
October of that year to November 28th, the birds were constantly passing slowly
along through southern Ontario, feeding as they went, and not one fowl was taken
or attacked by them anywhere, so far as I could learn, and I made enquiries from
poultry keepers wherever I could. In all, 32 specimens were examined by me,
and the result corroborated my experience during the last thirty years. In one
stomach I found a frog, in another the flesh of a musk rat — taken from a pile of
bodies of these creatures which had been thrown together hi Ashbridge's Marsh.
Another stomach was filled with large grasshoppers, and the rest contained mice,
and nothing but mice, or traces of them, ranging in quantity from a little fur and
a few bones to seven whole ones. From this it can be judged whether or not the
Rough-legged Hawk is the friend of the farmer.

The attention of the Department of Agriculture at Washington was some
time ago called to the fact that mice and other destructive rodents were largely
increasing throughout the United States, and it was suggested that the constant
destruction of the hawks and owls was the reason for it. In consequence of this

the Department placed the matter in the hands of Dr. Merriam and Dr. Fisher,
two of the leading ornithologists of America, with instructions to prepare a report
on the subject. This they have done, and the result of their investigations, which
I shall give at the end of this chapter, shows conclusively that all the hawks which
I have referred to as being beneficial to agriculture are of the greatest possible
value in ridding us of enormous numbers of destructive animals, and that they are
practically innocent of the commonly urged charge against them of poultry-killing.
There is only one more species of hawk to be considered, and that is the
beautiful little Sparrow Hawk, probably the commonest of all our hawks, and
which may be distinguished from any of the others by its smaller size and red
back. It may be constantly seen hovering over fields in Ontario, all through the
summer, for it breeds with us, raising its young in a convenient hole in a tree,
frequently choosing one that has been deserted by one of the large woodpeckers.
The very small size of this bird precludes the idea that it can take a full grown
fowl or even a pigeon, and I have never known in my own experience that it has
ever taken a young chicken. Its principal food consists of mice and grasshoppers,
of both of which it consumes immense quantities, but it does occasionally take wild
birds, more particularly those which frequent the open fields and skulk in the
grass or run about the stubbles. The birds taken by these species are, however,
so few in number compared to the number of mice which it destroys, and the
good it does in reducing the swarms of grasshoppers which infest our fields, that
we may well forgive its slight trespasses, the balance of good over evil being so
great that the birds deserve our protection. The following shows the result of
the investigation made by Dr. Fisher at the request of the Department of Agri-
culture of the United States :

Red-tailed Hawk. 562 stomachs examined : 54 contained poultry or game
birds ; 51, other birds ; 409, mice and other animals ; 37, reptiles, etc. ; 47, insects;
9, crawfish, etc. ; 13, oftal ; and 89 were empty.

Red -shouldered Hawk. 220 stomachs were examined : 3 contained poultry
12, other birds ; 142, mice and other mammals; 59, reptiles, etc. ; 109, insects
7, crawfish ; 2, offal ; 3, fish ; and 14 were empty.

Broad-winged Hawk. 65 stomachs were examined: 2 contained small birds ;
28, mice and other mammals ; 24, reptiles, etc. ; 32, insects, etc. ; 4 crawfish ; and

7 were empty.

Rough-legged Hawk. 49 stomachs examined : 45 contained mice and other
mammals ; 1, lizards ; 1, insects ; and 4 were empty.

Sparrow Hawk. 320 stomachs examined : 1 contained a quail ; 53 other
birds; 101, mice and other mammals; 11, reptiles, etc. ; 244, insects, etc.; and two
were empty.

Marsh Hawk. 124 stomachs examined : 7 contained poultry or game birds;
34, other birds ; 79, mice and other mammals ; 9, reptiles, etc. ; 14, insects ; and

8 were empty.

Thus it can be seen that of the 49 stomachs of the Rough-legged Hawk
examined by Dr. Fisher, and the 32 examined by me, in 1895, not one contained
a trace of any domestic fowl and nearly everyone contained mice. Yet many
people persist in calling this bird the " Big Hen Hawk " and in treating it as an
enemy, when both by law and public opinion it should be protected by every pos-
sible means. The statement as to all the other species that I have referred to as
beneficial is equally corroborated by my own experience, and shows how well
entitled these birds are to consideration at our hands instead of the persecution
they usually meet.

OWLS.

For some reason owls have always been treated with a certain amount of
ridicule and contempt. In the minds of the ignorant and superstitious they were
associated with cats and witches, and were supposed to possess a certain amount
of influence with the latter, whose orgies they entered into with a good deal of
spirit. In mythology, however, this bird was treated respectfully. Minerva, the
goddess of wisdom, selected it as her attendant, and "as wise as an owl" has
passed into a proverb by reason thereof.

Most of the owls seen in the day-time appear to be stupid, clumsy and inert
creatures, as they sit winking and blinking in the unaccustomed light, striving
as much as possible to shade their wonderful eyes from the too-powerful rays ;
but see these birds at dusk and after — what a transformation takes place ! They
are then as alert as any hawk ; their soft plumage enables them to skim noise-
lessly around our farm buildings and over the fields in search of their food,
unlucky then is the mouse or rat that ventures to show itself, or even utter a
squeak from its hiding place in the grass, (for an owl's ears are as wonderfully
constructed as its eyes, and their hearing is as acute as their sight). The fate of
that mouse will be sealed, and it will vex the farmer no more.

Some of the owls however, are day feeders — the Snowy Owl and the Hawk
Owl I think entirely so — while the Great Horned Owl seems to be almost as
active on dull days as at night ; and whether the day be bright or dull these birds
can always see well enough to take care of themselves and keep out of the range
•of a gun. In the cultivated portions of the Province of Ontario we have five
species of owls that may be treated here as residents. They are not strictly so,
as there is a certain migratory movement amongst them, caused probably by the
failure or abundance of their food supply, which may cause them to either leave
certain districts for a time or gather there in larger numbers than usual. Many
instances are on record of plagues of mice having been stayed and the trouble
removed by the arrival on the infested spot of large numbers of owls ; these birds
rapidly killed off the mice and then scattered again. Our resident species are the
Great-Horned Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl, Barred Owl and Screech
Owl.

The Great Homed Owl, or "Cat Owl," as it is often called, is the only one I
have ever know to attack poultry, and it can work havoc amongst them if they
are left out to roost in unprotected places. The destruction of this owl is cer-
tainly justifiable and necessary where it has taken up its quarters in a locality in
which poultry is kept. It also captures great quantities of our favorite game
birds, more particularly Ruffed Grouse, many a brood of which goes to satisfy the
hunger of the Horned Owl's family, and are so lost to the sportsman. But as
against the charge of poultry and game killing which has been proven against it,
this owl has some redeeming qualities. It kills great numbers of rats, mice,
squirrels and other rodents that are injurious to farmers, and strange to say it
seems to be a determined enemy to the skunk. Numbers of cases have been
cited in which the flesh and hair of this animal have been found in the stomachs
of these owls, more particularly in the spring, and I know that fully one-half of
the bodies of these birds that I have handled, were well perfumed with the odor
of skunk — in many cases so much so, that I have had to throw away many fine
specimens the smell being quite unbearable. Possibly these birds are fond of
strong odor, for those whose feathers are not scented with skunk perfumery,
have generally a strong odor of muskrat, the flesh of which they also appreciate.
I have frequently known them to hunt and kill these rats in the spring, during1

the day time when they were about the banks of the creeks, driven there by the
high water of our usual spring freshet. These owls are very powerful birdsr
usually killing for themselves all the food they eat, and only resorting to carrion
in the direst extremity of hunger. Turkeys and guinea fowls, from their habit
of roosting in trees, frequently fall victims to the strength and rapacity of these
creatures. In such cises only the head and neck of the slain will be eaten, the
bodies being left to animals of less power, or meaner ambition, to finish.

The Long-eared Owl is a much smaller bird than the last (being about fifteen
inches in length), and contents itself with much humbler fare than its big cousin.
It is fairly common throughout the cultivated districts, particularly in the autumn,
when it may often be found in clumps of willows and alders that have been left
in the low places about the fields and pastures. Quite frequently a pair will be
found together. These are not, however, always male and female. I have never
seen any evidence to show that this owl ever attacks poultry, and I do not believe
that it could kill any domestic fowl larger or stronger than a pigeon. It*
chief food consists of mice, varied occasionally by small birds and insects, more
particularly the wood-boring beetles ; of these one or more will generally be
found in the stomach or crop of every specimen examined. It is nocturnal in its
habits, rarely moving about during the day unless disturbed, and even then it seems
loth to move. Only once have I seen it attempting to hunt in daylight, and that
occurred in western Ontario on a very dull, still day in November, when about
four o'clock in the afternoon I saw a pair of them hovering over a field of long grass
into which we had driven a bevy of quail. I suspected the owls of quail-hunting on
their own account so followed them and shot both, but their stomachs contained no
tracp of feathers — nothing but mice. The only harm these owls can ever
justly be accused of doing is the occasional killing of a small bird, and that is so
far overbalanced by the great amount of good they do, that they are entitled to
all the protection possible.

The Short-eared Owl is about the same size as the last named species, but
may be distinguished from it by the absence of the long ear-tufts, which are a
conspicuous feature in the latter. This is probably the most abundant of all our
owls, but it seldom frequents cultivated land, usually resorting to low-lying
meadows and marsh hay lands. It is most commonly seen in the autumn, and
appears to be somewhat gregarious, large numbers sometimes arriving at one of
their feeding grounds together, and remaining there for a few days, then all move-
off again as they came, to be replaced after a short interval by another lot. The
great bulk of them leave this Province b}^ midwinter, or before if the snow
should become deep, their movement towards the south being regulated entirely
by the depth of snowfall. Whilst the ground is uncovered they are able to obtain
a full supply of mice, which form the staple article of their diet ; when the snow
is deep the mice work underneath it. The supply being cut off, they are driven
southward, whither the small birds have already gone, so they cannot fall back
upon them. Unfortunately this is a bad failing with the Short-eared owl — in fact
my experience shows that it feeds upon mice and small birds indiscriminately,,
and what is worse, I am satisfied that it kills far more birds than it can eat.
Near my home there is a large marsh partially surrounded by low meadows,
which support a rank growth of grass, rushes and weeds of various kinds. This
place is much frequented in the autumn by sparrows and warblers, migrating
southward ; in fact at times the place fairly swarms with them. Suddenly a
number of Short-eared owls will appear on the scene, and then numbers of small
birds will be found lying about dead, some partly eaten and others with only
the skull crushed and a few feathers plucked off. At these times I have shot many
'of the owls, and found the crops and stomach to contain mice and small birds.

mixed. This will go on for a few days, or until the owls leave, and each morning
the number of dead birds lying about will have increased. After the owls have gone
the destruction ceases, only to begin again when the next lot of owls arrive. The
small birds thus destroyed are of the greatest value to an agricultural community,
and their loss is much to be deplored ; but on the other hand the owls destroy an
immense number of mice, so that the good they do probably balances the evil, and
in such a case the best way is to let nature take its course without our intervention.

The Barred Owl is so rare with us that its influence on agriculture, either
for good or ill, is practically nothing. The few I have found in this Province
have always contained mice, but to the south of us, where the poultry are allowed
to roost in trees, it is charged with occasionally killing half-grown chickens.

The noisy little Screech Owl, that may in some winters be found in half the
barns in the country, is well known to every one, and should be protected by
every farmer. It watches the granary, the barnyard and the garden, and is the
most indefatigable mouser we have. It seems not only to kill mice for its
immediate wants but also for the pleasure of hunting them. If the roosting place
of one of these birds is examined after the bird has used it for a short time,
numbers of dead mice will be found, most of them untouched after being killed
and deposited there ; probably they lay up this store in order to provide against
nights of scarcity, but in nearly all cases it will be found that they are well ahead
of any danger ot' famine. Not only does this little owl rid the country of num-
berless mice but in towns and cities it does useful work in keeping the common
House Sparrow within proper limits. During the winter particularly, it may
often be seen hunting about verandahs, under eaves and among the Virginia
creeper growing around dwelling houses, for the sparrows that roost there, and it
will go regularly over the same beat night after night, until the accessible spar-
rows are thinned down, so that it tinds it more profitable to change its hunting
ground. Besides its great value as a destroyer of mice and House Sparrows, the
Screech Owl eats large numbers of large beetles, particularly the wood-borers
and May beetles, both of which classes of insects are capable of doing great injury
if suffered to become too numerous. Grasshoppers also form a considerable article
of this bird's diet. The good qualities of this little owl cannot be overestimated.
Its food consists entirely of such creatures as are most injurious to the crops, and
it has not a single evil habit. It should, therefore, be carefully pi elected and
encouraged to take up its abode in and about the farm buildings. This I believe
it would readily do if it was left unmolested. All it asks in return for its valu-
able services, is peace and quiet, and a dark corner to roost in during the day.

The Great Gray Owl, the Snowy Owl, the Hawk Owl, Richardson's Owl and
the Saw- whet Owl are only irregular visitors, usually occuring in the winter. The
two first named are large birds whose food consists chiefly of game birds when
in their northern home ; here they feed upon the small rodents.

The island and sandbar to the south of Toronto is usually visited by a few
Snowy Owls every winter. Here the birds feed upon the common house rats
which are altogether too abundant at this spot. As every owl of any kind that
visits the place is at once shot the rats, having it all their own way, are increasing
rapidly.

The Hawk Owl hunts by day on the prairies of the Northwest, and where it
occurs in sufficient numbers it must do much good by the destruction of meadow
mice. Its visits to us are so rare, however, that it need not be considered here.

Richardson's Owl and the Saw-whet Owl are two little owls that destroy
many mice and noxious insects, but are too rare to need further mention.

10

Of the ten species of owls before mentioned, nine of them are among the best
of the farmer's friends, watching and working when he is sleeping. In following-
out the natural law which governs their lives they greatly help to keep in check
that vast army of little animals which, if allowed to increase unrestrained by
their natural enemies, would in a few seasons destroy all vegetation on the face
of the earth. The chief and most effective check upon the undue increase of this
army of rats, mice, etc., are the birds of prey. These birds are endowed with
natural faculties specially adapted for the work they do, and they do it well, the
only trouble is that we have too few of them. If, however, public opinion can be
brought to bear on this important matter before it is too late, and the wanton and
useless destruction of our beneficial hawks and owls stopped at once, the balance
of nature may be restored, to the great advantage of mankind.

The following shows the result of Dr. Fisher's investigation of the food habits
of the owls as reported to the Department of Agriculture at Washington.

Great Horned Owl. 127 stomachs examined : 31 contained poultry or game
birds; 8, other birds ; 13, mice ; 65, other mammals ; 1, insects, etc. : 1, fish, and
17 were empty.

This shows that althought the birds does some injury by its raids upon game
an'l poultry, yet its evil propensities are somewhat counterbalanced by its destruc-
tion of mice, rats, rabbits and other small mammals. It is the only one of the
owls about whose record for good there can be any doubt. All the others should
be protected, while this one should certainly be killed off', if it takes to visiting the
barnyard.

Long-eared Owl. 107 stomachs examined: 1 contained a game bird; 15,
other birds; 84 contained mice; 5, other mammals; 1, insects, and 15 were empty.

Short eared Owl. 101 stomachs examined: 11 contained small birds; 77
contained mice ; 7, other mammals; 7, insects, and 14 were empty. My own
experience shows a larger proportion of small birds than the above.

Barred Owl. 109 stomachs examined . 5 contained poultry or game birds ;
13, other birds; 46, mice ; 1 8, other mammals ; 10, frogs, lizards, etc. ; 16, insects;
etc., and 20 were empty.

Screech Oivl. 254 stomachs examined : 1 contained the remains of a pigeon
38, other birds ; 91, mice ; 11, other small mammals ; 25, frogs, lizards, etc. ; 107
insects, etc., and 43 were empty.

The above examinations of the stomachs of our resident species show most
positively that, with the exception of the Great-horned Owl, the whole family are
of the greatest value to the farmer. My own experience, both in Manitoba and
Ontario, corroborates this, and is perhaps a little more favorable to the owls, for
(always excepting the Great-horned Owl) I have never found a trace of a game
bird or domestic fowl in any of them.

CROWS, BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC.

In this chapter I will deal with two families of birds, both of which are
charged with being amongst the worst of the feathered enemies of the farmer.
The mischief they do is plainly visible ; the good not always seen. When the
crow visits the corn field in the spring, and is seen digging into the hills, abstract-
ing the half-sprouted grain, and when the blackbirds in clouds alight on the

11

ripe wheat and oats, eating much and threshing out more, so that it is lost to its
lawful owner, it is not to be wondered at that the farmer loses his temper and
says in his wrath that all birds are a nuisance ; but these birds also do some good,
though, as they have not acquired the knack of advertising it, their benefits are
quite overlooked. If their case is tried impartially it may be found that even the
Crow, like another celebrated personage, is not quite " so black as he is painted."
I do not think the merits of the crows, or any of the so-called blackbird family,
will be found sufficiently great to entitle them to protection, but their faults
scarcely warrant their extermination, except in the case of the cow-bird, to be
spoken of hereafter.

Grow. Twenty-five years ago the Crows of the Province of Ontario were as
regularly migratory as the Robins. A few occasionally stayed through the winter
with us, and their doing so was considered a sign that we would have a mild
season. As the land has been brought under cultivation, and more particularly in
neighborhoods where market-gardening is carried on extensively, the number
remaining through the winter has steadily increased, so that the species may now
be considered a resident one. In the vicinity of Toronto vast flocks gather at the
•close of the autumn, feeding on the refuse vegetables left in the market gardens
outside the city, and resorting at night to some of the pine woods still left stand-
ing. In these they roost all through the winter. They may sometimes be pinched
by hunger, but, unless the snow becomes too deep, they can generally get at the
piles of manure drawn out on the market gardens, and other refuge left about
the land. At this time they do no harm, and probably a little good, as they pick
up many mice and insects in their foraging, but when spring opens they again
scatter over the country and seek their nesting places. Seeding operations are
now going on, and the first of the Crow's mischievous propensities asserts itself as
soon as the grain has absorbed sufficient moisture from the ground to become soft
and has slightly sprouted ; then it becomes a favorite morsel for the crows. Corn
is preferred to any other grain. I have rarely found any quantity of any other
grain in the stomach of a Crow, and even when the birds have been seen feeding
among the hills of sprouting corn and have been shot right on the spot, I have
always found the stomach contained quite as large an amount of insect remains
as of corn, the cut-worm forming one of the Crow's choicest articles of diet, and
the question arises as to whether it is not better to let the Crow have a little corn
and get rid of the cut-worm, than to let the cut-worm take off a lot of corn if we
get rid of the crow. Later on I will say something about the history of this same
•cut- worm. It is always wisest " of two evils to choose the least," and it must be
-conceded that the corn-eating propensity of the crow is an evil ; but it is certainly
less than the evil done by the cut-worm. So perhaps, so far as the Crow's
case goes here, it would be as well to call the balance even and give the Crow the
benefit of it.

The next scene in the Crow's proceedings shows him with a lively and
•decidedly hungry family of four or five little ones, whose cravings demand con-
stant attention from their parents ; the variety of food supplied to these insatiable
youngsters will vary somewhat according to the locality in which they are placed ;
in any case, no more grain will be taken by the parent birds ; their food now will
consist entirely of insects, mice and the young of other birds. Nor will they stop
at the young if they can catch an adult small bird. Sometimes they will try to
•elude the viligance of an old hen and will snatch up her chickens more adroitly
than any hawk ; ducklings fall easy victims to their cunning. It is at this season
they do the greatest amount of mischief, by destroying the nests and young of
more valuable birds, particularly of such as nest upon the ground. For this

12

reason chiefly Crows should be kept within proper limits as to numbers. Of late
years they have increased altogether too fast, and our small birds have suffered
in consequence.

After the younij birds leave the nest they move about with their parents and
feed on a most varied diet. They will make a raid on the fruit grower, and
demolish his cherries or raspberries if the idea strikes them, or they will prowl
along the lake shore and enjoy themselves for a few days on fish fare, after which
they will visit a pasture field and clear out all the wire worms, grubs and mice
they may find there : in fact, very few things come amiss to them, as they roam
about through the country until the cold nights warn them to get together in
some place where they can get at least a bare subsistence to carry them over the
winter.

As I have said before, Crows have increased too fast of late years, and we
have now too many of them in the country ; their numbers can easily be reduced
if a little attention be paid to the matter in the spring. Just at nesting time they
are less shy and wary than at any other season and can be approached in the trees-
within shooting distance. If one of each pair was shot off their numbers would
soon be reduced to such an extent that the damage they could do would not be
noticeable. These birds are so well able to take care of themselves that even
more stringent measures might be adopted against them without any danger of
extermination, their natural enemies being very few, and those, of that class-
against which man has carried on a most successful war. Of these the Great-
horned Owl was the most noteworthy, but the Great-horned Owl will kill the
poultry of a farmer who allows his fowls to roost out on winter nights, and so
the Owl must go and the Crow has one enemy the less.

Raven. This species only occurs in the more northerly portions of the Pro-
vince, having retired before the encroachments of civilization. To the pioneer it
is sometimes a nuisance, poultry and young lambs falling easy victims to this-
bird's strength and rapacity. They also destroy a large quantity of game, but
fortunately their number is so small, and the birds themselves so conspicuous,
that it is not difficult to get rid of then .

Blue Jay. It is a pity that so beautiful and interesting a bird as this should
be possessed of such mischievous propensities as it is, but I am afraid that neither
its good looks nor its good acts can be said to balance its evil deeds. This bird,
like the common Crow, seems to forget its usual shyness when spring arrives and
will leave its wooded haunts and build its nestnn gardens.orchards and shrubberies,
close to houses and quite within reach of every person passing, nor does it affect
any sort of concealment as a rule. 1 have seen many nests so placed that they
were visible from public roads where people and vehicles were continually passing.
The female could quite readily be seen sitting, yet the birds carried on their duties
regardless of prying eyes. It seems a pity that their confidence should be abused,
but I am compelled to say that in all cases that came under my observation the
Blue Jays badly repaid the persons in whose gardens they were protected and
allowed to raise their young. In the first place the> steal a large amount of small
fruit, and, further they rob and destroy the nests and young of other birds to
such an extent that they are positively injurious to agriculture, the birds they
destroy being all of that class whose food consists principally of insects, and with-
out whose assistance I doubt if we could succeed in raising any crop to maturity.
The Blue Jays themselves, however, destroy no inconsiderable number of
insects, and they do no damage to grain ; they may occasionally pick off a little
, corn from the cob, but that is about the extent of the injury they do in that
direction. Their unfortunate fondness for the young of other birds more valuable

13

than themselves makes it necessary that they should be destroyed when
take up their residence about our gardens, for it is there, and in our cultivated
fields, that our insectivorous birds do the most good, and to get them there we
must give them as much protection as possible from their natural enemies, and
teach them that they are in greater safety near our dwellings than they would
be in the woods. Birds of all kinds soon lose their fear of man if unmolested by
him, and particularly if they find that in his immediate neighborhood they can
raise their young safely. I know of several farms and large gardens where birds
have been encouraged and protected from their enemies ; to these places they
return in increased numbers year after year, until nearly all available breeding
places are taken up. On these premises the owners rarely suffer from the
depredations of cut worms or other insects, and so find themselves well repaid for
the little care they require to exercise on behalf of their feathered friends.

Bronze Grackle, better known throughout the country as the " crow black-
bird," is, when in full plumage, a very handsome bird, and may be distinguished
from the other so-called blackbirds by its large size and the brilliant metallic
lustre of its feathers. Like the Rook of Europe, it breeds in colonies, and is gre-
garious at all times of the year. To the farmer, the fruit grower and the lover
of birds generally, this bird is a nuisance ; all that can be said in its favour is,
that it is very beautiful and that it does, at times, eat a Jarge number of cut
worms, for which it may often be seen working industriously on the lawns and
grass fields near its nesting place, but as against that it has a heavy record of
•crimes to answer for. They are early migrants, arriving here about the end of
March and resorting at once to their nesting places. From this time until the
•oats are sown they probably feed entirely on insects, but as soon as the grain is
in the ground they visit the newly sown fields and help themselves liberally,
varying their diet by taking as many small birds' eggs and young as they can
•conveniently get at. I have on several occasions seen them attack and carry off
young Robins, in spite of the vigorous defence set up by the victim's parents and
all the friends they could summon to their assistance. The row made by the
despoiled nest owners on these occasions, together with the frantic dashes they
made at the robber, would be sufficient to shake the nerves of one of the hawk
family, but the Crow blackbird disregards it all, and goes off with its prey.

As soon as the strawberries, cherries, etc., are ripe these birds display a fond-
ness for fruit, and a persistency in gratifying it, that is maddening to the fruit
grower, whose profits dwindle day by day by reason of the visits of these thieves,
who will continue to carry it off until the young leave the nest. When the young
Grackles can fly they gather in large flock's and roam about the country all day,
roosting together in vast numbers in some marsh every night. The Dundas
marsh, near Hamilton, used to be much favored by them for this purpose ; it is
at this season they do the worst of their mischief to the fields of wheat and oats.
Not only do they eat an immense quantity, but as they flutter and struggle in
their efforts to balance themselves upon the straw of the standing grain, they
thresh out and cause the loss of much more. Nor does the cutting and shocking
stop their ravages : they still continue to feed upon it, until the last sheaf is in
the barn In the Province of Manitoba where these birds are abundant, I have
seen all the grain threshed out from the ears for a space of ten yards in width,
round fields which had been selected by them for their feeding ground. In this
Province they are rarely to be found in sufficient numbers to do as much damage
as that, nor are they likely to become so, for although their chief natural enemies,
the hawks and owls, have been too much reduced to be able to keep them entirely
in check, yet their number is still manageable and may be kept so by the judicious

14

use of the gun. I advise anyone who shoots them, particularly in the early
autumn, to try blackbird pie. Whoever does so will, I think, want to repeat the
experiment.

Rusty Grackle. This is a much smaller species than the last and is not of
any importance to us from an agricultural point of view. I merely mention it
as it occurs here in considerable numbers for a short time in the autumn, but as-
it does not arrive until the early part of September, the crops are safe from its
ravages. In Manitoba, where it is very abundant, it unites with the other black-
birds and destroys a large amount of grain. A few pass through this Province
in the spring on their way to the north to breed, but they make no delay and are
not noticeable.

Red-winged Blackbird. From an agricultural standpoint this bird has little
to recommend it, but to the lover of nature its beautiful coloring and cheery note
in early spring render it an object of interest. They are among our earliest
migrants, arriving about the middle of March, and resorting at once to the
marshes, in which they remain until after the young are able to fly. While in
the swamps their food consists almost entirely of aquatic insects, of which the
larvae of the dragon flies form the principal part. As these larvae form an import-
ant item in the food of some of our most valuable fish, and the mature dragon
flies feed largely on mosquitos and other small winged insects, the blackbirds are
not doing mankind a particularly friendly service by destroying them. This,
would perhaps not be worth sufficient consideration to warrant our interference
with the birds, were it not for their other and more serious failing. As soon as.
the young are able to fly strongly, which is about the middle of July, they leave
the marshes in which they were bred, and in great flocks resort to the grain fields,
where, like the grackle, with which they frequently associate, they do much
damage, particularly to oats, which they seem to prefer to any other grain. As
these birds are very abundant, the loss caused by their plundering must be very
great, but they can fortunately easily be managed if a little attention is paid to-
them in the spring, when they may be shot off on their breeding grounds.

After the grain is carried, they again return to the marshes and gorge them-
selves on the wild rice, until not a grain of it is left, thereby depriving the wild
ducks, etc., of a most attractive food. As soon as the first frost comes they retire
to the south, where they cause much worry to the rice-grower. Little can'be said
in extenuation of these serious faults. They never interfere with other birds or
their ne?ts, and they probably destroy some noxious insects, such as cut worms,,
etc., in meadows, lying near the swamps they frequent in the early part of the
season, but this is all that can be urged in their favor.

Cow Bird. Male in summer, all over, except the head, a lustrous, glossy
black ; the head glossy chestnut. Female and young — dull, sooty black. Length
of male, about seven inches, female rather smaller. This bird should be known
to everyone, and should be destroyed whenever the opportunity occurs. It is the
only feathered creature against which I would advocate a war of extermination,
and this I do, because it is not only of no value in itself, but the rearing of each
one of its young means a loss to the country of an entire brood of one of our
valuable insectivorous birds. It is true that during the early part of the season
it frequents the pasture fields where cattle are grazing, and" feeds principally on
the insects affecting such places, but this is easily counterbalanced by the grain it
destroys later on. These birds do not mate, nor do they build a nest for them-
selves, but the female deposits each of her eggs in the nest of some other small
bird The egg is whitish, thickly covered with greyish brown dots. I have
found the eggs of this bird in the nests of nearly all the sparrows, finches, and

warblers that breed in the Province. After the egg of the Cow bird is deposited,
the female takes no further interest in the matter, but leaves it to be hatched by
the real owner of the nest in which it has been placed ; in due time the young
will appear and then the trouble arises. In a few days the young Cow bird has
far outgrown its fellow nestlings, in size, strength and voracity, so that it requires
and manages to get all the food the parent birds bring to the nest, the result
being that the proper occupants of the nest are either starved to death or crowded
out by the interloper, who from that time until it is full grown taxes to the
utmost all the energies of its foster parents to supply its voracious appetite'
Nothing can be more pitiable than the plight of a pair of small birds upon whom
one of these parasites has been foisted. They are forced to raise an ugly foundling
instead of their own young, and then by reason of the long continued helplessness
of their foster child, they are prevented from raising a second brood ; for although
it quickly grows large and strong enough to crowd out its fellow nestlings and
its body develops rapidly, so that it can leave the nest and follow its foster
parents through the trees, yet its energy does not develop proportionately with
its body, and it requires to be fed for a longer period than the young of any other
small bird. The destruction of the natural enemies of this bird, and the con-
stantly enlarging area of cultivated land, both operate favorably for the increase
of this pest, so that of late years it has become altogether too abundant, Last
year (1897) in the southern part of Ontario it swarmed every where, and I noticed
an egg of this bird's in quite half the nes+s of other small species that I chanced
to tind ; of course, in every case I took it out and promptly smashed it, thereby
saving the proper brood. It is to the increase of these creatures that I attribute
almost wholly the decrease which has become so noticeable in our more useful
species. Some idea may be obtained of the terrible destruction worked among
the valuable species by Cow birds by just noticing the immense flocks of them
that occur here in the autumn, and remembering that for every one of those Cow
birds, a brood of some other species has perished. Most of our insectivorous
birds produce an average of about four young to a brood, and some of them
would raise two broods in a season ; the deposit of an egg by the Cow bird in a.
nest prevents the raising of any young at all of its own by the bird victimized.
Just how many eggs each Cow bird lays each season is rather uncertain ; in all
probability four or five are deposited. If that is so, every female Cow bird that
arrives here in the spring and is allowed to follow her own method of reproduc-
tion, causes the loss of from fifteen to twenty-five of the young of our most
valuable birds. In view of the great increase that has taken place in the num-
bers of this bird of late years, it is not to be wondered at that our other native
species are decreasing, and we should take steps at once to regulate matters.
Every person on finding a nest of any of our small birds should look over the
eggs contained in it, and if one is found therein differing from the others and
corresponding to the description of the egg of the Cow bird which I have already
given, that egg should be taken out and destroyed. School teachers throughout
the country would do well to impress this upon their pupils.

Shooting the females in early spring is perhaps the most satisfactory way of
keeping down the number of this most undesirable bird, and I strongly urge
everyone who has access to a gun to use it for this purpose, about his own prem-
ises ; for, as I have already pointed out, every Cow bird killed at this season
means the salvation of much valuable bird life and a corresponding lessening of
our insect pects.

Bobolink.^ One of the most familiar sounds of summer in the country is the
merry rollicking song of the Bobolink, to be heard at all times in the fields of
scent-laden clover ; its bubbling notes, poured out in the exuberance of its spirits,

16

.seem to express the feeling of joy that pervades all nature in June. The birds
arrive here about the middle of May, the males coming a few days before the
females. They resort at once to the hay meadows, and remain there through the
nesting season which is concluded by the time the hay is ready to cut. Whilst
on the farms their food consists entirely of insects, of which the caterpillars that
feed on clover form the greater part. These caterpillars are very abundant, and,
where they are not kept in check by the birds, sometimes do serious injury, so
that apart from its appearance, and its good qualities as a musician, the Bobolink
has a claim upon us which 'entitles it to our best care and protection. After the
hay is cut the males lose their black and white plumage, and become like the
females and young in appearance, of a yellowish brown color. They then asso-
ciate in small flocks and frequent the marshes, feeding on wild rice and the seeds
of some rush-like plants until the first frosts come, when they retire to the south
for the winter.

In the rice growing States these birds are sometimes accused of doing con-
siderable mischief to the planters' crops, but I am inclined to think that the
various species of blackbirds which also resort to these States, are the principal
depredators, and by reason of their greater abundance do the most of the damage.

Meadouiark. The Meadowlark is a common though, unfortunately, not
now an abundant bird on the farm. Some years ago it could be found wherever
the land was cultivated, all through the Province, but owing to its size and slow
straight flight, which makes it an easy mark for the gunner, its numbers are
decreasing very fast. This is a great pity, for it is an exceedingly valuable bird
to the farmer. From the time of its arrival here in March until its departure in
November it resorts to the cultivated land and grass meadows, feeding entirely
on insects, and never indulging in grain or fruit of any kind. All its work being
done amongst the crops upon which man expends his labor and to which lie is
compelled to look for his subsistence, the benefit conferred is direct and should
be appreciated. We cannot make any return for the good it does, but we can at
least refrain from destroying its life, and exert ourselves a little to prevent others
from doing so. The class of insects upon which this bird feeds during the early
part of the season is perhaps the most injurious to vegetable life of all our insect
enemies. Its food consists chiefly of those known as cut worms, wire worms, etc..
all of which work underground for the most part during the day and only emerge
from their hiding places at night. By some highly developed faculty the
Meadowlark is enabled to locate these creatures in their hiding places, and being
provided with a sharp beak of sufficient length for the purpose, is able to drag
them out and devour them. Of all the stomachs I have examined prior to
July, the principal contents were wire worms, cut worms, and some few
•other caterpillars and beetles ; later in the season the food consisted principally
of grasshoppers. On two or three occasions I have found a few of these birds
wintering with us, in the vicinity of market gardens, and being curious to know
if at that season they had been compelled to fall back on a seed or vegetable diet,
I shot one out of each lot, and I found the birds were in remarkably good
condition. Their stomachs contained, however, nothing but insects, chiefly bugs
and beetles, which they had probably obtained from manure heaps and the
refuse cabbages left in the gardens. These birds build a domed nest on the ground,
in grass fields ; their eggs and young are therefore liable to be destroyed by Crows,
skunks and other vermin, and those that escape their natural enemies are subject
to such continued persecution from gunners who ought to know better, that our
beautiful and useful Meadowlark is in danger of extermination, unless some
effort is made for its protection.

17

Baltimore Oriole. The Golden Robin, Fire Bird or Hang-nest, as this bird is
sometimes called, is of more importance to the fruit grower than the grain farmer,
.as it gleans its food entirely among the branches, only visiting the ground for
material with which to construct its purse -like nest. Its food consists largely of
leaf-eating caterpillars and beetles. It is also particularly fond of the moths
which frequent the trees for the purpose of laying their eggs ; of these moths it
devours large numbers, and in this way it materially assists in keeping down the
army of leaf eaters which so frequently strip our trees of their foliage. Very
few of our birds will eat a hairy caterpillar, but when they eat a female moth
before she has laid her eggs they destroy at one stroke a whole brood of these
pernicious creatures, and to this work the Oriole devotes itself with great industry.
I have on several occasions obtained a brood of young Orioles and hung them
•out in a cage near my house for the purpose of discovering the nature of the food
brought to them, and found that fully one-half consisted of moths ; unfortunately
I did not keep a record of the number of these brought in any one day, but it
was very large, and the usefulness of this bird in keeping down the swarms of
destructive caterpillars, by cutting off the source of supply, was clearly exempli-
fied. When the cherries ripen the Oriole displays a certain partiality for fruit,
but the small quantity they take may well be spared them, more particularly as
it is only in this direction that they levy any toll for their services. The bril-
liant coloring of the male, his flute like note, and the ingenuity displayed in the
construction of the nest, all commend these birds to the lover of nature, and
we could well spare a few cherries for the sake of having them about our gardens,
even if their usefulness was less pronounced than it is. In the south-western
portions of our Province the Orchard Oriole occurs. It differs from the Baltimore
in being smaller and in color being chestnut and black, instead of the orange and
black which marks the present species. Its habits are much the same as those
of the familiar Baltimore, but it is too rare to have any economic valne.

WOODPECKERS, NUTHATCHES, TITMICE, ETC.

The various species which constitute these families have been grouped
together, because of certain similarities in their habits, although structurally they
differ widely. They are all tree climbers, and obtain the greatest part of their
food from the trunks of trees, some of them by laboriously digging out the grubs
which bore into the solid wood, others by prying into every crack and crevice of
the bark, where they find insects in various stages of development.

Of the Woodpeckers we have in Ontario nine species, namely, the Pileated
Woodpecker (better known as the " Cock of the Woods "), the Arctic Three-toed
Woodpecker, the American Three-toed Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy
Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Golden- winged Woodpecker, Red -headed
Woodpecker, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. The first three are true birds of the
forest, very seldom showing themselves in the neighborhood of cultivation, so
that, although their services are of great value to the country, by reason of the
constant war they carry on against the borers, which are so injurious to our
timber, we need not consider them in this paper. The Hairy Woodpecker and
the Downy Woodpecker are two species that almost exactly resemble each other
both in habits and appearance, the only material difference being in their size,
the Hairy Woodpecker measuring about nine inches in length, the Downy
about six inches. Their food, which consists almost entirely of insects, is
2

18

obtained either by digging the grubs out of the wood, or picking them out of the
crevices of the bark in which they hide during the day. Sometimes during the
winter I have found the stomachs of these birds filled with the seeds of the hem-
lock. These seeds seem to form a favorite food with many of our birds at this
season ; the berries of the sumach are also occasionally eaten by the little Downy,
perhaps for the sake of the small beetles that are always to be found amongst
them. These are the only two vegetable substances that I have ever known
either of these species to feed upon.

Both these Woodpeckers are accused of injuring trees by boring holes in
them to obtain a flow of sap, which they are said to drink. This is a mistake.
The bird having the sap-sucking habit is the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, an
entirely different species, of which I shall speak presently. Nature has most
perfectly fitted these birds for their task of ridding the trees of the grubs which
bore into them. Their beaks are hard, sharp and chisel-like, so that they are
enabled to enlarge the holes inhabited by these insects sufficiently to enable them
to insert their long, barbed tongue, with which they extract the larvse from their
hiding places. In the winter these birds frequently visit the orchard, garden
and shrubbery, and there they do most valuable work, by destroying the chrysa-
lids of the moths that produce the leaf-eating caterpillars. The toughest cocoon
ever spun by a caterpillar is no protection against the sharp beaks of these birds,
even the strong case which encloses the chrysalis of the large Cecropia moth is
soon torn open when found by a Downy Woodpecker and the contents devoured.
Ants and borers in the trees are also greedily eaten by both species ; in fact,
nothing in the shape of insect life comes amiss to them, that can be found within
their reach. The valuable work done by these birds for the protection of our
trees should commend them to every lumberman, fruit grower and nurseryman,
and though we cannot do very much to protect them from their natural enemies,
we can cease destroying them ourselves and discountenance it in others.

Red-headed Woodpecker. This is the most beautiful bird of the whole
Woodpecker family, the strong contrast of the glossy black and the white of its
body and the brilliant crimson of the head of the adult birds render them very
conspicuous objects of the country ; their value from an economic point of view,
however, is debatable. From the time of their arrival here in April until the
first strawberry ripens these birds feed on insects entirely, and in pursuit of their
food they often adopt the tactics of the fly-catchers by mounting to the top of a
telegraph pole or bare limb of a tree, and from thence darting out at any passing
insect large enough to attract their attention, if the location selected is a favor-
able one and food abundant, they will remain at the same spot for some time ; but
after the small fruits ripen their tastes change, and they then visit the strawberry
patches, both wild and cultivated, and cherries and raspberries are also eaten by
them, and carried to their young. When the season for small fruit is over they
again resort to their insect eating habit, and so far as I have been able to observe,
are not in this Province ever addicted to pilfering grain. I have occasionally
seen an odd one make a raid on a vineyard and take a few grapes, and once or
twice have seen them pick holes in apples, but the habit does not seem general.

There is no doubt that in the spring they do much good by destroying num-
bers of mature insects which, if allowed, would deposit eggs to produce vast num-
bers of injurious caterpillars. Tt is true also that in districts where small fruit
is cultivated for profit they do much harm if they become sufficiently numerous.
As the case now stands they are too scarce to do much injury and, except when
they are too persistent in their visits to a garden or orchard, they may well be
left alone. Although these birds are regular migrants, arriving here about the

middle of May and leaving in September, I have once or twice met with them in
sheltered woods in south-western Ontario in the winter, where the bright plumage
showed to great advantage against the evergreens.

The habits of the Red-bellied Woodpecker are very similar to those of the
above species and its economic value about the same, but as it only occurs in the
south-western counties of the Province, and then in very small numbers, it need
not be further considered.

Golden-winged Woodpecker. Flicker, High Holder, Yellow Hammer, Pigeon
Woodpecker, and half a dozen other aliases, testify that this is a well known if
not always a popular character. Like the last species, the value of this bird from
the fruit-growers' standpoint is debatable, but it is not quite so much given to
fruit eating as the Red-head, though when it has seven or eight hungry young
ones to feed and it finds a cherry orchard handy, it will help itself to a good
many cherries, for which it has a decided predilection. Apart from this unlucky
habit the bird has many good qualities. In some of its ways, it much resembles
the Meadowlarks ; like them it may often be seen stalking about on the ground
searching for ants, of which it destroys vast quantities. I have often found their
stomachs filled with them, and have rarely examined one without finding it con-
tained some of these insects ; it also devours great numbers of grasshoppers,
beetles, moths and other ground insects. This bird is really a ground feeder, for,
though classed among the Woodpeckers by reason of certain similarities of struc-
ture, it does less woodpecking than any other of its class, the beak not being as
well fitted for that operation as the beaks of the others. It has also the peculiarity
of being able to perch crosswise on a branch, a method rarely adopted by its rela-
tions. There is one other evil trait I have seen this bird exhibit, on two occa-
sions only, that is the destruction by it of nests of the Bluebird : both the nests
destroyed were built by the Blue-birds in holes in trees much higher than usual,
probably from forty to fifty feet from the ground. I am not certain what the
nests contained at the time, but I saw the woodpeckers pull out the nests and
throw them piecemeal to the ground in spite of the resistance of the Bluebirds,
but I found no trace of eggs or young ; if there were any they must have been
eaten. It is probable that the woodpeckers wanted the nesting site for them-
selves, and so dispossessed the owners. If so they were disappointed, for I settled
the question by killing them, but am sorry to say I omitted to examine the
stomachs to see whether or not they had devoured the young Bluebirds, if there
were any. I am inclined to think these were exceptional cases ; they occurred
over twenty years ago and I have never seen a repetition of the trick. If these
birds become a nuisance in a garden or orchard, they can easily be killed off while
they are comitting their offence, but I think that through the country generally,
the good they do far overbalances the little damage they may do locally.

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker or Sapsucker. Adult male, crown and chin
crimson, back and wing coverts black and white, wings black with a large white
bar, tail black, inner web of the two central feathers white with black spots,
breast black edged with yellowish, the rest of the under parts dull yellowish, the
sides white with black streaks. In the female the crimson of the crown and chin
is wanting, the crown is black with sometimes a few traces of crimson on the
forehead, the chin is white. I give a description of this species in order that it
may be distinguished from the other small Woodpeckers, because it is principally
owing to the propensity for drinking sap which the bird has, that a certain pre-
judice exists in some localities against all the Woodpeckers or Sap suckers as
they are called. It is quite true that these Woodpeckers do, in the spring, when
the sap is rising, bore small holes in the bark of various trees for the purpose of

20

obtaining the sap as it flows from them, and also to attract the insects upon which
they feed to the same spot, so that they can satisfy their hunger and thirst with-
out having to over-exert themselves in so doing. If life was not so short I
might be tempted here to go into the question as to whether this bird had to
acquire this habit because its tongue was peculiarly fitted for it, or whether the
tongue became modified so as to just suit the habit after the bird had acquired
it ; for the bird's tongue certainly differs from that of other Canadian Wood-
peckers and is admirably fitted for the use to which it is put. A discussion of
the question would exceed the scope of this article, and probably not lead to
anything after all. We know the bird has this habit and the question is, what
is the effect of it upon the trees which are bored ? I have made what obser-
vations I could, and as many enquiries from others as possible, and have come
to the conclusion that the only real damage done is that a young tree may be
tendered unsightly for a time, or it may even be permanently disfigured by some
peculiarity in the healing of the bark, but usually no harm ensues. That a tree
ever was or could be killed by it I do not believe, for I have never yet seen or
heard any evidence in proof of it.

Apart from its sap drinking peculiarity the bird's record is excellent ; it is
not a fruit or grain eater, but devotes itself to the destruction of insects that
live on the trees or hide in the loose bark. Ants form a large proportion of its
food. These it obtains from the rotten wood in which they burrow, as it does
not descend to the ground in search of them. Beetles and moths are also sought
out and devoured, but as this bird's tongue is not as well barbed as that of some
of the other Woodpeckers, fewer grubs of the wood-boring class are eaten by it.
I suppose if any man believes that these birds are doing an injury to his trees
he should be allowed to protect himself in the only way possible, viz., by getting
rid of the birds on his own premises; but for his own sake he should be sure he gets
rid of the right one, and that neither the Downy nor the Hairy is destroyed by
mistake. Both the Downy and the Hairy Woodpecker remain with us all through
the year, whilst the Sapsucker is a summer resident only; so that whenever a Wood-
pecker is seen in the winter it should be spared, for it is most certainly a bene-
ficial one.

Nuthatches, Chickadee and Tree Creeper. Of these we have two species of
Nuthatches, — the White-breasted and Red-breasted, — one Chickadee and one
Creeper. They are all resident species, though more frequently seen about culti-
vated lands in the winter than in any other season. They are among the most
active insect destroyers we have, gleaning their food from the bark, branches
and leaves of trees, and seldom descending to the ground, though when wood-
chopping is going on in the bush the logs, sticks and chips will all be carefully
searched for grubs which have been exposed by the axe. The familiarity dis-
played by these little creatures at this time is very pleasing. As soon as work
begins and the first few strokes of the axe sound through the bush, they gather
round and investigate every piece of bark and decayed wood thrown open, and
from each one gather some prizes. It is very amusing to watch the little Chickadee
when he finds a large grub of one of the borers partly exposed. He pulls and
tugs at it until it comes out, and then securely holding it down with his feet he
tears it in pieces and devours it. Without the assistance of the chopper it is
but seldom that they can get at the larger grubs that bore deeply into the solid
wood, as they have neither the strength nor proper tools for digging them out ;
but th^y have found out that when the farmer gets out his cordwood their oppor-
tunity for a feast arrives, and so they take advantage of it. As a general rule,
however, they scour the bush, orchard and shrubbery in merry little parties
searching for food, from time to time uttering their musical notes, which always

•21

have a peculiar " woodsy" quality about them. The seeds of the hemlock are
occasionally eaten by the Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch, and the White-
breasted Nuthatch is said to sometimes eat beechnuts and acorns, but I have
never found any trace of them. The Tree Creeper eats no vegetable substance
whatever.

This little group of birds is of the greatest value to the fruit-grower, as
they feed principally on the minute insects and their eggs, which are individually
so small that they escape our observation until, having seen the damage done by
them, our attention is called to their existence, and then it is too late to enable
us to remedy the matter for the season.

THRUSHES.

We have in Ontario seven species belonging to this family, all of them
migratory, arriving here from the south in early spring and leaving us in the
autumn, as cold weather sets in. They are the Wood Thrush, Wilson's Thrush,
Grey cheeked Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Robin and Bluebird.
The Olive-backed Thrush, Hermit Thrush and Grey-cheeked Thrush pass on and
raise their young to the north of us ; the others remain throughout the summer
and breed here.

The Wood Thrush and Wilson's Thrush, or Veery, as it is sometimes called,
are strictly birds of the woodlands, and seldom venture far from the edge of the
bush, though both species will at times select a garden where there are shrubs
for their summer residence, if they find themselves unmolested, particularly if
there are no domestic cats about the premises. The cats at all times prefer young
birds to mice or rats, and are as much to blame for the decrease of our native
birds as bird-nesting boys or anything else, perhaps, except the Cow bird. Wil-
son's Thrush is one of our most abundant species, but it has the faculty of
concealing itself to such perfection that it is often overlooked though there may
be many within a few yards of where a person is standing. The Wood Thrush
is very rare with us. which is to be regretted, as it is a beautiful songster.

All these thrushes are very valuable birds to the agriculturist, their food
consisting for the most part of grubs that live under the surface of the ground,
and caterpillars. In the autumn they eat many wild berries, those of the
Elder and Viburnum being especial favorites, but they never help themselves to
the produce of the farm or garden. The best known and most familiar of the
thrush family is the Robin, and opinion is very strongly divided as to its utility.
Many fruit growers condemn this bird with great emphasis, stating that it is the
worst enemy they have ; others weigh its merits and demerits more carefully,
and are inclined to think that it at least pays for the fruit it eats by the destruc-
tion of insects. No doubt it does take a large number of cherries, strawberries
and raspberies, and some grapes, but it is open to question if it were not for the
birds whether there would be any cherries, strawberries or grapes, or, indeed,
whether any crop could be brought to maturity. The great merit of the Robin is
that in the early part of the season it feeds itself and its young almost entirely
on cut worms and on the large white grub, the larva of the May beetle. Of all
our insect enemies the underground cut worm is about the most destructive, for
in feeding it just comes above the surface and cuts off the entire plant, or if the
plants are very young and the stems small it cuts off half a dozen or more at one

22

time, only eating a small section out of the stem of each and leaving the plants
dead on the surface of the ground. Whole rows of peas, corn, beets, cabbage and
cauliflower are often so treated ; tomatoes, too, fare badly with them. The only
remedy that seems effectual against their attacks is to wrap paper around the
stems of the plants from the surface of the soil to the height of about three inches
above it. This is obviously impossible in the case of field crops, and it is equally
impossible to go over the fields and take the worms out by hand, so that we must
rely, for the most part, upon the ground feeders amongst the birds ; these are fitted
by nature for digging out the insects and devouring them.

Robin. Among the most conspicuous of these birds is the Robin and one
need only watch one of them at work in the garden, from April to about the
middle of June (which is the season of the cut worm's activity) to be satisfied as
to the Robin's good work. I will give the result of an experiment carried on by
myself, which will satisfy anyone as to the number of these insects a pair of
Robins will destroy when they are feeding a brood of young. In May, 1889, I
noticed a pair of Robins digging out cut worms in my garden, whu-h 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 cut worms and earth worms 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 cut worms. These grubs averaged thirty to the ounce, so the young
Robin ate one hundred and sixty-five cut worms in one day. Had it been at
liberty it would probably have eaten some insects of other species and fewer cut
worms, but this shows near about what each young Robin requires for its main-
tainance when growing ; the adult birds require much less, of course. The aver-
age 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. After the young have flown
they are apt to visit the small fruit, and it is no doubt very provoking to find a
flock of them helping themselves to strawberries, etc. If possible, they should be
kept off" without destroying them, a resort to the gun being avoided as long as
possible.

Bluebird. Twenty years ago the Bluebird was one of the most abundant of
the summer residents in the cultivated districts of the Province ; there was
scarcely a farm throughout southern Ontario upon which two or more pairs of
these birds did not breed. The same birds seemed to return regularly to occupy
their holes in the old apple trees and fence posts, year after year, and so familiar
were they that they actually seemed to know the members of the family whose
premises they occupied. In one case, near Niagara, a pair of Bluebirds for sev-
eral year in succession built their nests in a letter box which was placed at the
gate of the farm, opening on the main road. The mail carrier deposited letters
and newspapers in the box every day, which were duly taken out by the members
of the family. To all this the birds paid no attention whatever, but would con-
fidently sit upon their eggs or visit their young while the box was opened and
people stood close to them ; and I have seen many similar instances of confidence
on the part of these birds.

Of late years the Bluebirds have not remained with us, and they have been
much missed. Enquiries are constantly being made as to where the Bluebirds

have gone ? That is not so easy to answer, but that they still exist in undimin-
ished numbers I am able to state positively, for so late as last March (189») I saw
many thousands passing over Toronto from west to east. The flight lasted from
daylight to nine or ten o'clock every fine morning for about a week. I have seen
this same movement every spring for years. My opinion is that the birds have
gone back to the new settlements, where they can still Hnd snake fences and
pastures in which the old stumps are standing — our modern barbed wire which
which has taken the place of the old stake and rider fence having deprived them
of a favorite nesting place. The up-to-date fruit grower, too, no longer allows
his apple trees to go untrimmed and full of holes, but cuts out the old trees and
replaces them with young ones. This has removed many of the old nesting sites,
and the birds have spread out over the large area of new country now being
brought under cultivation. They introduced themselves to the Province of Mani-
toba about 1884, and have since become quite common there, having evidently
followed the settlers, as they were quite unknown in that country before it was
brought under general cultivation. The utility of this bird as an insect destroyer
is beyond question. It eats neither grain nor fruit ; occasionally in stormy
weather, in early spring when insect food is hard to obtain, it will eat the
berries of the sumach, but that is the only vegetable substance I have ever known
it to take. The beauty of its plumage, its sprightly spring song . and even the
rather melancholy farewell notes in which it bade us good-bye, as it drifted
southward in the last days of October, made it a f^reat favorite everywhere, and
every lover of nature would be glad to see it return and take its old place about
the farm once more.

Gat bird. Neither this nor the succeeding species belong to the Thrush
family, but there is a sufficient similarity in their food habits to warrant our con-
sidering them here. They are closely allied to the famous Mocking Bird of the
south, and their musical powers are not very much inferior to that splendid
songster. They do not, however, so frequently exercise their power of mimicry.
The peculiar mewing note uttered by the Cat bird has caused a certain amount
of prejudice to exist against it, and has made it subject to persecution at the
hands of most boys ; but apart from this unpleasant note, the Cat bird is one of
the most accomplished musicians we have, and it is more to be admired because
it does not retire into solitude to pour out its joyous songs, but rather seeks the
society of mankind, and in the morning and evening will sing its clear notes from
the top of some tree in close proximity to the dwelling house. Its food in the
early part of the season consists almost entirely of caterpillars and beetles, which
it obtains generally from the branches and leaves of trees, though sometimes
after rain it seeks for cut worms and other grubs from the ground. Later in the
year it feeds largely upon elderberries and other small wild fruits, and does occas-
sionally levy some slight toll from the garden ; but for all the cultivated fruit it
takes it has amply repaid the gardener by its efforts in the destruction of the
insect tribe.

Brown Thrush or Tkrasher. All that I have said of the Cat Bird applies to
this species, but it is not quite so familiar and confiding in its habits. It displays
a decided preference for thick shrubbery at some little distance from the house
Here it remains in seclusion for the greater part of the day, but in the early morn-
ing and evening the male bird mounts to the top of some tall tree near its haunt,
and for an hour or so will sing his beautiful song, which is much louder, though
less varied, than that of the Cat bird.

Wrens. This is a most interesting and useful family of very small birds. Four
species of them are found in this Province in the summer. Two of them-, the

24

Long-billed Marsh Wren, and the Short-billed Marsh Wren, as their name implies,
frequent our marshes and low swampy meadows, where they assist in keeping,
down the hordes of mosquitos that are bred in such places. The Winter Wren i&
a more transitory visitor, the great bulk of them only passing through here in the
spring and fall migrations. A few, however, remain here through the summer
and nest in some secluded ravine in the woods.

The pert little House Wren takes up its abode right in and around the farm
buildings, and even in our cities it will find a resting place, if it can get access to
sufficient garden room to give it a hunting ground, and as it is quite satisfied to
place its nest in a crevice or hole at no great height from the ground, it is not so
likely to be dispossessed of its home by the European House sparrow as are birds that
prefer a higher location. They are most indefatigable insect hunters, and should
be encouraged to build in every garden. All that is necessary is to furnish them
with a small box having a hole about one and one-half inches in diameter. Nail
this up to a fence or building, about eight or ten feet from the ground, so that
cats cannot get at it ; and if any wrens come that way in the spring they are
almost sure to take possession of it, and having once occupied it, they will in all
probability return every year. The domestic cat is their worst enemy, and they
seem to know it, for as soon as they catch sight of one of these detested creature*
they start such a scolding that they arouse the whole feathered tribe in their
neighborhood. In the autumn they eat a few elderberries, but this is the only
vegetable food I have known them to take.

Cuckoos. These birds do not seem to be very well known in our Province,
though we have two species, one of which is not uncommon. They are known as
the Black -billed Cuckoo and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Both of them are slim birds
about twelve inches in length, of an olive brown color above, and white beneath.
The Yellow-billed may be distinguished from its relative by the light chestnut
color of the inner webs of part of the wing feathers. This is quite noticeable
when the bird is flying. It also has the under mandible of the beak clear yellow.
In the Black-billed species, the beak is all black, sometimes showing slight dull
yellow marks below. Although the birds themselves are not known, most resi-
dents of the country must have noticed the loud harsh notes of ' kow kow "
uttered by them, most frequently heard before and during rain, by reason of
which the birds are in some localities called " rain crows."

The well known Cuckoo of Europe has the bad habit of laying its eggs in
the nests of other birds, but although I have heard our birds charged with the
same thing, I have never yet come across an instance of it, but have always found
their nesting habits to be quite orthodox, though the nest they build can hardly
be considered a model of bird architecture.

These two species of birds are the only ones, that to my knowledge habitu-
ally eat hairy catepillars, and of these noxious insects they must destroy a large
quantity, an examination of their stomachs generally showing a considerable num-
ber of them. On one occasion I found the stomach of a Black-billed Cuckoo
packed with the spiny caterpillar of Vanessa antiopa, an insect that feeds in col-
onies and does much damage to the elm and willow trees. The habits of the two
Cuckoos are much alike ; the only difference I have noticed is that the Yellow-
billed species seems to prefer the upper branches of tall trees in which to obtain
its food, while the Black-billed resorts more to orchard trees and shrubbery. I
have not found any evidence of habitual fruit-eating against either of them, so
that from an economic standpoint they must be considered as purely beneficial,
even if they do occasionally deposit an egg in the nest of another bird.

Warblers. This family contains a large number of species, among them
being some of our brightest colored and most interesting birds, though none of
them are remarkable as songsters. They are all entirely insectivorous, and con-
sequently of great value from an economic point of view. Thirty-one species are
known to occur in this Province ; of these five are so rare as to be considered acci-
dental visitors. They are the Prothonotary, the Golden- Winged and Hooded
Warblers, the Louisiana Water Thrush, and the Yellow-breasted Chat. Probably
when they do occur, they remain and breed here. The Cape May, Orange-crowned,
Tennessee, Cerulean, and Connecticut are regular but uncommon visitors. Of
these the Cerulean is known to breed in some localities in southern Ontario, but it
is not generally distributed.

The Parula, Black-throated, Blue, Myrtle, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Bay-
breasted, Black poll, Palm and Wilson's Warblers all pass on to the north before
nesting. Just how far they go is difficult to say, but in all probability the major-
ity of them at any rate will be found breeding in the unsettled districts of Mus-
koka, Algoma, etc., and some even south of that.

The Black and white, Nashville, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Pine, Redstart,
Black-throated green, Oven bird, Water Thrush, Mourning, Maryland, and Cana-
dian Warblers, are generally distributed and breed with us in suitable localities
and in varying numbers each season, the most familiar of them all being the
Yellow Warbler which habitually raises its young in and about our orchards and
shrubberies. All through the summer they are actively engaged in exterminating
the hosts of our smaller insect enemies, and many thousands of broods of cater-
pillars are destroyed by them before they have become large enough to do mis-
chief.

Flycatchers. These birds, as their name implies, subsist largely upon winged
insects, which they capture by darting upon them from some elevated post over-
looking an open space frequented by their prey. We have eight species, of which
the Crested Flycatcher, the King bird, the Phoebe bird, the Wood Peewee and the
Least Flycatcher are summer residents, and the Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and
Traill's Flycatcher are transient visitors, passing through in their spring and fall
migrations.

The King bird is probably the most obtrusive creature of the whole feathered
tribe in Canada. As soon as a pair take possession of a tree in an orchard they
immediately proclaim the fact to the neighborhood, and then trouble befalls every-
thing wearing feathers that ventures to trespass on what they are pleased to con-
sider their domain. Crows, Hawks, Jays, and Blackbirds are their especial detes-
tation, and should one of these birds appear near their tree an attack by the King
birds immediately follows, the assault being kept up until the intruder is igno-
miniously driven off, having lost a few feathers in the encounter, the loss serving
to remind him that other people have rights which he is bound to respect. The
King bird captures a vast number of mature insects, both in the air and on the
ground, and as at least half these insects would produce eggs to become cater-
pillars the service rendered is very great. In the early spring, when driven by
hunger, the King bird will eat the berries of the sumach, but as the clusters of
these berries form a favorite hibernating place for many beetles, it is quite possi-
ble that the insects form the attraction and not the fruit. This is the only vege-
table substance I have ever known the bird to touch. I have heard complaints
from bee-keepers that these birds will destroy bees. It is just possible that they
will occasionally take them, but I have seen no evidence that they have acquired
the habit. In case the King birds should be seen frequenting the vicinity of

26

hives, it would be well to watch closely before shooting the birds, as they are too
valuable to be wantonly destroyed, and in all cases an examination of the stomach
contents should be made, and the information gained should be reported.

There is scarcely a farm in the country that has not one or more pairs of
Phoebe birds nesting in or about the buildings, and I fancy there are not many
bridges of any size under which a nest may not be found ; and so I hope it may
continue, for the Phoebe is a most useful and friendly little bird. It has all the
good traits of the family without being too aggressive, and no suspicion of any
act which is in the least injurious attaches to it. If the birds and their nests
are left unmolested, they will return year after year to their old home, and as
none of our feathered friends are more valuable than they, we should give them
every encouragement to do so.

I have particularly mentioned the King bird and Phoebe because they may
be regarded as typical of the whole family to which they belong, and being
familiar in their habits, they are likely to be well known to everyone. All the
other species are more or less birds of the woods and orchards, but each one of
them in its own chosen locality is rendering us good service the whole summer
through.

SPARROWS, FINCHES, ETC.

This is a very large family represented in Ontario by thirty-four species.
Want of space prohibits my calling attention to the food habits of each of these
species in detail. It will, however, be sufficient for the purpose of this paper to
refer particularly only to those which in some manner are specially beneficial
or injurious to the crops usually cultivated for profit. All these birds are insect
eaters in the summer months, and their young while in the nest are fed entirely
on insects ; but in the autumn, winter and early spring, the mature birds subsist
principally on the seeds of wild plants and forest trees.

The Rose -breasted Grosbeak is one of the largest and most beautiful of the
family, and is of more than usual interest because it is one of the very few birds
that will eat the Colorado potato beetle and its larvae, and also the larvas of the
Tussock moth, this last being a hairy caterpillar, very destructive to almost all
shade and orchard trees. A specimen of this bird in my possession eats both
these insects readily. Unfortunately, these Grosbeaks are of a retiring disposition,
and usually resort to the seclusion of the woods, but it is one of the few species
that seems to be increasing in Ontario, and if unmolested it may possible become
more familiar in its habits. If so, its services in lessening the number of Tussock
moths would be of great value. None of the native members of this family are
addicted to eating the ordinary grain or fruit crops, but the Purple Finch (the
adult male of this species is crimson, not purple) in the spring is sometimes injur-
ious in orchards and gardens, where it destroys the buds of fruit trees. They
will also devour great quantities of sunflowers and other seeds. They are not,
however, generally sufficiently numerous to cause much loss.

A member of this family about which there has been much controversy, is
the imported European House Sparrow. This bird was introduced into Ontario
about the year 1873 by some gentlemen who no doubt were under the impression
that the sparrows would devote themselves exclusively to killing and eating the
caterpillars that infest the shade trees in our towns. They either forgot or did
not know that the sparrow belongs to a class of birds whose diet consists of

27

vegetable substance and insects in about equal proportion, and that the Sparrow,
having attached itself to the haunts of man, usually obtains its vegetable food
from the plants and seeds cultivated by men for their own use. I have read
many reports of so-called observers, who have stated that the House Sparrow
never eats insects of any kind, that it drives away our native birds, and that it
is altogether an unmitigated nuisance. Sweeping assertions of this kind are only
conclusive evidence that the so-called observer cannot observe. No onie with
ordinary perceptive faculties can walk through our public parks, or along one of
our streets where there are trees and grass in the summer time, without seeing
some Sparrows industriously hunting for insects with which to feed their young,
and should anyone have a sparrow's nest under his verandah or about his house
in such a position that some of the food brought by the parent birds to their
young will fall where it can be seen, the proof that they do eat insects, and in
large quantities too, will be very clear. The old birds also eat insects at this
season, varying their diet with such undigested grain as they may find in horse
droppings, and with bread crumbs and such like refuse from houses.

Sparrows, like the majority of birds, will not eat hairy caterpillars, but I
have seen them eat the spiny larvae of Vanessa antiopa, which is one of our
shade tree pests that few birds will touch. Besides this I have seen them take
moths of almost any kind, including the large Cecropia and Luna moths and the
Tussock moth (both the winged male and the wingless female), beetles of many
kinds, even such large species as the aquatic Dytiscus, which they find on the
sidewalks beneath the electric lights to which the beetles are attracted at night,
the green cabbage worm (the larvae of the cabbage butterfly) — of these they eat
great numbers. They also hunt about fences, and take the pupa of this same
butterfly. The currant worms and the mature insects are also taken in large
numbers, as are also grasshoppers, and both the black and green aphides that
occur on apple trees and rose bushes are eaten greedily. On one occasion a flock
of Sparrows completely cleaned off the green aphis from some rose bushes near
my windows. It took them several days to finish their work, but they did it
effectually in the end.

About harvest time the Sparrows show their grain-eaten proclivities, They
then gather into large flocks, and, leaving the town where they were bred, visit
the surrounding country and make serious raids upon the wheat and oats, and
•do more damage while the grain is standing by beating it out than by eating it.
It is in early spring, however, that the worst trait in the sparrow's character
becomes apparent. Vegetation awakens after the long winter's sleep ; the trees
put forth their buds, and seedlings break through the soil. The Sparrow, pro-
bably needing an alterative after the hard fare of the winter, attacks all these ;
nothing green conies amiss to him, and then the gardener, wrathful at the loss of
prospective fruit, vegetables and flowers, forgets the good qualities the bird has,
and would have the whole tribe exterminated. Whether or not he would be the
gainer by this is somewhat difficult to decide. My own opinion at present is,
that the number we now have do as much good as they do harm, But that they
should not be allowed to increase to any great extent.

The Sparrow is also charged with driving away our native birds. This
•charge is well founded only in the case of such birds as were formerly in the
habit of building in holes and crevices about our houses, such as the Swallows
and the Wrens. In the case of the Wrens the difficulty can easily be got over by
placing their nest boxes low down, say about eight feet from the ground ; the
Sparrows will not then occupy them. But the Swallow problem is not so easy
to solve. The trouble arises from the fact that the Sparrows remain here all

28

through the winter and use the Swallows' nests in that season as roosting places,
As spring comes they build in them and so have possession when the Swallows
return from the south. As they then, naturally enough, decline to turn out, the
Swallows have to seek elsewhere for a home ; the result being that we lose a
valuable, purely insectivorous bird and get in the place of it one whose value is
questionable. Continually shooting off the Sparrows as they appear heems to be
the only remedy, and I think eternal vigilance would be required to make it sue •
cessful in any place where the Sparrows are well established.

That Sparrows are rather quarrelsome amongst themselves in the season of
love-making is evident to everyone, but so far I have not seen them interfere
with any other species whose nesting interests do not conflict with theirs. In
my own neighborhood, House Wrens, Orioles, Vireos, Cat birds, Wilson's Thrushes,
Robins, Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows, the American Goldfinch, and the
Yellow Warblers have all bred in close proximity to many pairs of Sparrows and
have not been interfered with by them ; but if I had not kept a pretty close
watch over the nests, and taken out the eggs of the Cow birds which were
deposited therein, but few broods would have been successfully raised.

The Sparrow has one particularly good trait which should not be over-
looked ; that is, its fondness for the seed of the knot grass or knot weed. This-
pernicious plant frequently appears on our boulevards and lawns and destroys
the grass completely. The Sparrows soon find it out, and small parties constantly
visit it and feed upon it, so that it is kept down and in some cases is quite cleared
out.

SWALLOWS.

Of this family we have five species, viz : the Purple Martin, the Barn
Swallow, Cliff Swallow, White-breasted Swallow and Sand Martin, all regular
summer residents. Another one, the Rough-winged Swallow, occasionally occurs-
here, but as it closely resembles the Sand Martin its appearance is not readily
noticed.

The economic importance of these birds is very great ; without them the
smaller winged insects would multiply to such an extent as to become an unbear-
able nuisance to men and animals ; for it is, I believe, to these birds chiefly that
we are indebted for our freedom in the cleared and cultivated parts of the country
from the swarms of midges, black flies and gnats of various kinds that so abound
in the woods.

These birds seem to have a great predilection for the society of men, partly
because the clearing he makes in a forest country opens up to them the necessary
space for feeding grounds, arid partly because the buildings he erects affords them
convenient nesting places, of which the House Sparrow unfortunately is dis-
possessing them.

Except in very stormy weather the Swallows usually capture their food
whilst they are on the wing, but in the cold windy days that frequently occur in
early spring the insects on which they depend are too chilled to fly, and then the
Swallows seek them in open places on the ground. The sandy shores of our lakes
are particularly resorted to at such times.

In the latter part of July and the beginning of August the large female ants
swarm from their nests, each one prepared to found a colony for herself were she

29

permitted ; the Swallows, fortunately for us, however, interfere and gorge them-
selves upon these creatures, the Purple Martins particularly, destroying vast
numbers of them, even after the ants have divested themselves of their wings;
when this has taken place the Martins alight on the ground pursuing them there
with the greatest activity.

The Chimney Swift, which closely resembles the Swallows in its habits, except
that it never alights on the ground even to obtain the materials for its curiously
constructed nest, may be mentioned in connection with them, its economic value
being equally great.

Night Hawks. All the Swallow tribe gather their food during the day, and
the hotter and brighter it is the more active they seem to be ; the Chimney Swift's
period of greatest activity is the early morning and late evening. The Night
hawk and Whip-poor-will commence their work at dusk and keep it up till sun-
rise. Their food consists, for the most part, of the large night-flying moths and
beetles ; on one occasion, however, I found the stomach of a Whip-poor-will filled
with the large female wingless ants, which could only have been obtained from
the ground, and in all probability in the day time. The common June bug is a
favorite article of food with both these birds, and as this is a very destructive
insect both in its larval and mature stages, the birds are entitled to our best con-
sideration for the good work they do in lessening its numbers. None of the
Swallows, Swifts or Night Hawks ever under any circumstances take any
vegetable food, nor have they any habits that are open to objection of any kind,
so that our utmost efforts should be put forth to preserve them and encourage
them to build about our premises.

I have heard one or two people state that they did not like Swallows about
their houses because they brought bed bugs ; how such an idea got into any per-
son's head is difficult to understand, and let me say most emphatically that there
is no foundation for the belief whatever. Swallows, like all other living creatures,
nave their insect parasites, but no parasite affecting the Swallows will ever trouble
human beings.

CONCLUSION.

There are other families of birds more or less directly beneficial or injurious
to our interest, but space will not permit an extended notice of each. I hope
enough has been said to impress upon the mind of every one the great value of
the majority of our birds to the agriculturist.

I have seen some estimates of the amount of damage done to the crops by
insects in various countries, including our own Province, and although they
usually stand at some millions of dollars annually, I believe they are much below
the mark. It is difficult to form an estimate of the yearly loss from this cause to
ordinary field crops, because the plants are crowded so thickly together that a
large proportion may be destroyed in the earlier growing stages without being
noticed, and it is only when the matured crop fails to reach the expected quantity
that we realize the fact that something has gone wrong, but unfortunately it is
then too late to remedy the matter. In our gardens we can more readily see the
amount of injury done by insects, and can take measures to reduce it, but in spite
of our efforts the loss is still enormous, and consider what it would be if we had
not the birds to assist in keeping down the swarm of insect life. The great trouble
now is that we have not a sufficient number of birds to keep the balance between
vegetable and insect life in our favor.

30

We all know that the common cut-worm causes great loss every year in spite
of the fact that almost all our ground-feeding birds eat great numbers of them
and that the birds that feed among the trees and on the wing destroy very many
of the moths which produce them, and so we can easily imagine what the result
would be to the crops if these creatures were allowed to increase unmolested
by their natural enemies ; so prolific are they, that I believe the increase of one
season would provide a sufficient number to clear off all the crops we cultivate.

A constant war is being carried on between the insect world and the vege-
table kingdom. The laws of nature would keep the balance about evenly
adjusted. But man requires that it should be inclined in favor of the plants he
cultivates for his own use. To obtain this end it is necessary that we should
carefully protect and encourage all the forces that will work on our side against
our insect enemies, and while they are not the only ones, yet the birds are the
most important allies we can have in the struggle. We cannot very well increase
their number or efficiency by any artificial means, but we can protect them from
such of their natural enemies as occur in our own neighborhood, and we can
encourage them to remain and breed about our farms and gardens. If this was
done all over the country generally we should find ourselves amply repaid for the
small amount of trouble expended, by the protection they would give our plant
life against its destructive enemies.

H

ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF INSECTIVOROUS AND
OTHER BIRDS.

CHAP. 289, R. S. O. 1897

ER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative
Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows :

1. Nothing in this Act contained shall be held to affect The Ontario Game
Protection Act, or to apply to any imported cage birds or other domesticated
bird or birds generally known as cage birds, or to any bird or birds generally
known as poultry.

2. — (1) Except as in section 6 of this Act provided, it shall not be lawful to
shoot, destroy, wound, catch, net, snare, poison, drug, or otherwise kill or injure,
or to attempt to shoot, destroy, wound, catch, net, snare, poison, drug or other-
wise kill or injure any wild native birds other than hawks, crows, blackbirds and
English sparrows, and the birds especially mentioned in The Ontario Game
Protection Act.

(2) Any person may, during the fruit season, for the purpose of protecting
his fruit from the attacks of such birds, shoot or destroy, on his own premises,
the bird known as the robin without being liable to any penalty under this Act.

3. Except as in section 6 of this Act provided, it shall not be lawful to take,
capture, expose for sale or have in possession any bird whatsoever, save the
kinds hereinbefore or hereinafter excepted, or to set wholly or in part any net,
trap, spring, snare, cage, or other machine or engine, by which any bird whatso-
ever, save and except hawks, crows, blackbirds, and English sparrows, might be
killed and captured ; and any net, trap, spring, snare, cage or other machine or
engine, set either wholly or in part for the purpose of either capturing or killing
any bird or birds save and except hawks, crows, blackbirds and English sparrows,
may be destroyed by any person without such person incurring any liability
therefor.

4. Save as in section 6 of this Act provided, it shall not be lawful to take,
injure, destroy, or have in possession any nest, young, or egg of any kind what-
soever, except of hawks, crows, blackbirds, and English sparrows.

5. Any person may seize, on view, any bird unlawfully possessed, and carry
the same before any justice of the peace, to be by him confiscated, and if alive,
to be liberated ; and it shall be the duty of all market clerks and policemen or
constables on the spot to seize and confiscate, and if alive, to liberate such birds.

6. The chief game warden for the time being, under The Ontario Game
Protection Act, may on receiving from any ornithologist, or student of
ornithology, or biologist, or student of biology, an application and recom-
mendation according to the forms A and B in the schedule hereto, grant to such
an applicant a permit in the form 0 in said schedule, empowering the holder to
collect, and to purchase, or exchange all birds or eggs, otherwise protected by
this Act, at any time or season he may require the same for the purposes of study,
without the liability to penalties imposed by this Act.

32

7. The permits granted under the last preceding section shall continue in
force until the end of the calender year in which they are issued, and may be
renewed at the option of the chief game warden for the time being under The
Ontario Game Protection Act.

8 — (1) The violation of any provision of this Act shall subject the offender
to the payment of not less than one dollar and not more than twenty dollars
with costs, on summary conviction, on information or complaint before one or
more justices of the peace.

(2) The whole of the fine shall be paid to the prosecutor unless the convict-
ing justice has reason to believe that the prosecution is in collusion with and for
the purpose of benefitting the accused, in which case the said justice may order
the disposal of the fine as in ordinary cases.

(3) In default of payment of the fine and costs, the offender shall be
imprisoned in the nearest common gaol for a period of not less than two and not
more than twenty days, at the discretion of the justice.

9. No conviction under this Act shall be quashed for any defect in the
form thereof, or for any omission or informality in any summons or other pro-
ceedings under this Act so long as no substantial injustice results therefrom.

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK
Ac.cipiter velox

GOSHAWK
Accipiter atricapillus

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis

I

SPARROW HAWK
Falco sparverius

GREAT HORNED OWL
Bubo virginianus

LONG-EARED OWL

Asia icilsoiiianiis

SCEEECH OWL

Megascops asio

- •

BRONZE GRACKLE
Quiscalus qniscula ceneas

Cow BIRD

Molothrus ater

MEADOW LARK
Sturnella magna

2 ^

A *

O 5f

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Melanerpes erythroccphalus

^ V

y*y y v /• __

YKLLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER
Sphyrapicus Varius

DOWNY WOODPJBCKER
Dryobates pubescens

WHITE-BELLIED NUTHATCH
Sitta carol inensis

WOOD THRUSH

Turdus mustelinus

I

HOUSE WREN

Troglodytes aedon

BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO
Coccyzm erythrophthalmus

YELLOW-HUMPED WARBLER
Dendroica coronata

REDSTART

Setophaga ruticilla

HORNED LARK
Otccoris alpestris

PH(EBE

Sayornis phcebe

WHIP-POOR-WILL

Antrostomus vocijerus

Fox SPARROW
Passerella iliaca

SONG SPARROW
Melospiza fasciata

PURPLE FINCH
Carpodacus purpureus

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK
Habia ludoviciana

CEDAR WAXWING
Ampelis cedrorum

BARN SWALLOW
Ghelidon erythrogastei

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