Two YEARS WITH THE
BIRDS ON A FARM.

BY EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH,

ORNITHOLOGIST, MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE PUBLIC WINTER MEETING OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE,

AT NORTH ADAMS, DEC. 2, 1902.

SECOND EDITION. REVISED JUNE, 1908.

BOSTON :

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS,

18 POST OFFICE SQUARE.

1908.

Two YEARS WITH THE
BIRDS ON A FARM./

BY EDWARD HOWE J>ORBUSH,

ORNITHOLOGIST, MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE PUBLIC WINTER MEETING OF /THE

MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE,

AT NORTH ADAMS,' DEC. 2, 1902.

SECOND EDITION. REVISED JUNE, 1908.

BOSTON :

WRIGHT £ POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS,

1 8 POST OFFICE SQUARE.

1908.

APPROVED BY
THE STATE BOARD OF PUBLICATION.

TWO YEARS WITH THE BIRDS ON A FARM.

BY EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH, ORNITHOLOGIST, MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF
AGRICULTURE.

Some investigations made by your ornithologist, under the
auspices of this Board, in the last years of the nineteenth cen-
tury, gave you abundant evidence of the usefulness of the
smaller land birds in orchard and woodland; but no oppor-
tunity offered to study the influence exerted by birds on small
fruit and vegetable growing until the year 1900.

This lecture is, mainly, the result of observations made by
your ornithologist while at work on the land, and, much of
the time, in his kitchen garden. The facts ascertained are
such as any other observing farmer might gather, were he
familiar with our common birds. The observations of which
this lecture constitutes a partial record were begun in July,
1900, and have been continued up to a very recent date.

Since it is intended to pursue these investigations further
in the same field for the benefit of this Board, it may be well
first briefly to describe the geographical position of the farm,
climate, soil, flora and fauna. The place is situated in Ware-
ham, Mass., on the north bank of the Agawam River, near
its junction with the Wankinco. These two rivers, uniting
here, form the Wareham River, a tidal stream. The salt water
flows for some distance up each of these tributaries, and, return-
ing, empties into Buzzard's Bay three miles below.

The farm was selected as one lying directly in the migration
route of both land birds and water birds, and is well adapted
to sustain a large and varied bird population. It lies near the
head of Buzzard's Bay, in or near the line of flight of those
migrating sea and shore birds which come up along the waters
or shores of Long Island Sound in their northward migrations,
and, crossing the mouth of Narragansett Bay, pass up Buz-

zard's Bay or its west shore, crossing Wareham and Plymouth,
and thus reaching the shores or waters of Cape Cod Bay, leav-
ing Cape Cod out of their itinerary. The distance saved by
such a course is from fifty to one hundred miles.

Observation shows that many birds take advantage of this
saving of time and distance both in their northward and south-
ward journeyings, though many more follow on around the
devious shores of the Cape. Flights of land birds which have
crossed the comparatively narrow channels of Narragansett
Bay into Tiverton, Westport and Dartmouth are checked and
turned northward by the broad expanse of Buzzard's Bay,
most of them passing up its western shore, and, becoming
somewhat massed here, spread out again over Warehain,
Plymouth, Carver and Middleborough, on their way north-
ward and eastward. The field of observation, therefore, is
particularly favorable for the study of certain migrating birds.

The winters are comparatively mild, with more rain and less
snow than falls in western Massachusetts. The thermometer
usually remains well above zero, dropping below that point
occasionally, but seldom remaining long below it. Snow does
not often lie at great depth, or long at a time. In winter the
bird population is comparatively large. We are somewhat
protected from the east and northeast winds, which sweep the
coast of Massachusetts Bay, by a tract of hilly and partially
wooded country, sixteen miles wide, which lies between the
head of Buzzard's Bay and the coast at Plymouth. Many
birds, which forsake the colder and more snowy regions of the
State in winter, remain along the shores of Buzzard's Bay all
this inclement season. Jays, crows, flickers and cedar birds
are commonly seen. Song sparrows, robins, shore larks, myrtle
warblers and other land birds are more or less plentiful, in
addition to the usual winter residents or migrants. Gulls and
certain other sea birds winter here in some numbers. For the
past two winters a kingfisher has been seen along the river,
and swamp sparrows and meadowlarks are sometimes seen.

The extreme heat of summer is tempered here by the south-
west winds, which come laden, not with heat, as in many parts
of the State, but with the cooling influences of the broad Atlantic
and the salt flavor of the bay. The soil of the uplands is largely

of a sandy or gravelly nature, with some clay deposits. Here
and there rocks, left by the ancient continental glaciers, lie near
the surface, either projecting above the ground or buried at
moderate depths. As is the case with most soils of glacial
origin, there is usually a greater variety in the character of the
soils of limited areas (such as are contained in the ordinary
farm) than in soils otherwise formed. One may readily pass
at a single step from a dry and sandy soil to one very retentive
of water, where he will sink into mud ankle deep. The soil
being thus varied, the vegetation is, in consequence, quite
diversified. We have not only the pitch pine, scrub oak, pov-
erty grass, beach plums and bearberry of the stratified sands
of Cape Cod, but also the birches, elms, oaks, maples, horn-
beams, sassafras, white pine and cedars of a more fertile soil.
These and other trees both of the coast region and the interior
flourish here, with a profusion of berries of native kinds, except
perhaps the raspberry, high blackberry and wild strawberry,
none of which is plentiful. There are very few nut and ash
trees or white oak groves. There is a profusion of wild flower-
ing plants, a great variety of shrubbery, and there are some
grasses which are not found in the interior.

A few birds that are common on the rocky hillsides of the
western part of the State are not common in Wareham or its
vicinity; but their absence is more than made up by the greater
number of water, shore and marsh birds found here.

The tract of land which has been kept under observation
consists of the farm, extending from the highway at the north
to the water way — the river — at the south, together with the
lands adjacent, and the waste lands in which the river rises
and out of which it flows. From the shore of the river at the
southern boundary of the farm we may look across a fine sheet
of water, where the three rivers join, to the village at Wareham
station. Beneath these waters oysters, clams and quahaugs
grow naturally. The river at times swarms with edible migra-
tory fish. Shrimp, crabs and other aquatic and marine forms
of life abound.

Such a variety of food animals is sure to attract water birds.
Down the river, toward the bay, gulls or terns, or both together,
may be found according to the season. Bay ducks are not

wanting. Loons and grebes come and go. The upper river,
flowing through salt marshes backed by pine woods, offers
secluded retreats for eagles, fish hawks, herons, bitterns and
various water fowl and shore birds. One large, solitary pine
tree standing on our shore has been used for at least two years,
in the fishing season, by an immense bald eagle as a perch,
from which he watches the evolutions of the fish hawks.

If we follow the river above the head of tide water toward
the Plymouth woods, we shall see another feature of this region
which renders it attractive to birds. Here lies an uninhabited
country. There are no dwellings and no fences. The only
buildings to be seen are the "bog houses," where cranberries
are housed, screened and packed for shipment each fall. The
land is undulating, consisting of a series of low hills, with
occasionally a well-watered valley. Many of these valleys have
been made into cranberry bogs. There are many natural ponds
lying in sheltered basins, and other artificial ponds which are
used for flowing the bogs.

This country no doubt was once well wooded. Then white
pine woods extended well down on the Cape, and oak timber
grew there; but, for years past, parts of this region have been
visited by forest fires, until much of the wild land down through
Sandwich, Barnstable and Falmouth has been burned over.
Large tracts are now denuded of trees. On these tracts scrub
oaks, pitch pines and berry bushes spring up. When these
are burned, the ashes from the fire supply the earth with
sufficient potash to produce a great crop of berries. Large
tracts of this burned land are covered mainly with berry bushes;
hence the saying that "the Cape is one great berry pasture."
The low or dwarf species clothe the hills, while in the lower
valleys and swamps the higher berries grow to perfection. Here
birds find an abundance of fruit during the summer and early
fall months. The swamps furnish them sheltered roosting
places. The ponds and bogs furnish food and resting places
for wild fowl and marsh birds.1 The dead wood is an attrac-
tion for woodpeckers, and the wood birds find a congenial
habitat in those portions of the standing timber still spared by
the flames. Most of the country for miles to the north is of

1 Since 1902 many of the swamps have been made into cranberry bogs.

this character. To the west toward Rochester the land is
divided into farms, consisting of cultivated land, grass land
and woodland, such as may be seen generally throughout
eastern Massachusetts.

Now, let us look at the condition of the farm itself, when
acquired, that we may consider its unaided capacity for attract-
ing and sustaining a variety of bird life. The owner having
left the place, it had been occupied for some years by tenants.
This occupation had not conduced to its improvement, inas-
much as some land that might have been tilled had been left
to the processes of nature, and had grown weeds, shrubbery
and young trees. Such tangles, however much they interfere
with good farming, seldom fail to hold out some attraction to
birds, and for this reason they may be allowed to remain,
wherever it can be done consistently with the purpose of the
utilitarian.

As there were less than nine acres of land cleared, it was in
the owner's power largely and immediately to control the con-
ditions necessary to accommodate a change or increase of bird
life, for trees can be cut much quicker than they can be grown.
One cannot expect to have many species of useful birds about
his farmstead unless he has, or can provide, in addition to his
open or cultivated fields, a variety of trees and shrubbery.
These will furnish birds food and shelter, roosting and nesting
places, and retreats to which they may fly when pursued by
their enemies of the air. Most land birds prefer the neighbor-
hood of trees, and many species will not inhabit a treeless
locality, for some nest almost altogether in the woods. Most
birds prefer a well-watered locality. Water is furnished to the
farm and adjacent land by several springs and small streams
flowing to the river.

The kitchen garden, where most of the observations herein-
after recorded were made, is situated in the rear of the farm-
house, and is devoted to the cultivation of vegetables and small
fruits. The soil, vegetation and management of the land
immediately about it vary greatly. To the west are, first, a
few orchard trees; next, a line of evergreens for a wind-break;
and beyond these about seventy-five acres of open fields and
meadows, where meadowlarks and other native ground-breed-

ing birds resort. The lower portions of the meadows nearest
the river I are frequented by blackbirds. Along the bushy
borders of the higher fields birds of both upland and lowland
mingle. Here the quails and pheasants lead their tender broods,
always alert to guard them from the low-flying marsh hawk or
the sneaking fox.

\fc North of the garden the lowland is grown up mainly with
birch andjmaple, hedged about with a thicket of shrubbery
in which are mingled alders, berry bushes and fruiting vines.
This tract is largely covered with thick undergrowth, where
the treesjare scattering. It is backed to the east by a few tall,
lone pines, beyond which lies a high, sandy, open field, and
then a small orchard. To the north it is bounded by a small
cranberry bog, and beyond this a sandy knoll rises to the road.
This low-lying open woodland, with its rich soil, dense under-
growth and tangle of vines, furnishes a good wind-break for
the garden, shutting off the cold northwest winds. It also
provides a sheltered, sunny retreat for birds in the piercing
cold, but usually pleasant, winter weather when these winds
are very searching on the open fields. Such a retreat is equally
grateful to birds on cold days in spring and fall; and it forms
an admirable breeding place for thrushes, robins, vireos, to-
whees, song sparrows, and warblers.

East of the garden the ground rises gradually, the soil chang-
ing from a bluish-black to a dark brown, then from brown to
yellow, until, as we reach the hilltop, we find what was un-
doubtedly once a sand dune, like those of Cape Cod or Cape
Ann. Here the only soil is almost a pure sand, and little
grows but poverty grass and other primitive plants. Most of
this rise is covered with a rather thin growth of pitch pines
and white pines, but a thick belt of trees on the north gives
additional protection to the garden and the poultry houses.
Fowls do well here, for the exposure is sunny and the soil
sandy. In the scrub oaks along the hillside, towhees, brown
thrashers and cuckoos thrive. Here the notes of the pine
warbler, wood pewee and field sparrow are heard in spring.
East of this wood an open field with scattering trees leads to
a neighbor's house on the hilltop.

South of garden, house and barn lies the "robin roost," a

grove of white pines, about forty-five years old and some three
acres in extent. Here the robins roost in numbers in early
spring, late summer and early fall, when they come in at dusk
by hundreds. This is a breeding ground for jays, robins and
squirrels. Green herons often roost here. Warblers, kinglets,
titmice or creepers may be found in this grove almost any day
during the entire year. For most of the season the grove is
left to the birds, except for a part of each summer, when two
summer cottages within its confines are occupied. There
is a spring-fed pool in this grove, where water lilies, fish, frogs
and turtles form a combination which seems to attract both
feathered and unfeathered bipeds. This pool provides a bath-
ing and drinking place for the birds of the grove. Here herons
and kingfishers stop to fish. Here hawks stoop and wild fowl
occasionally rest. In 1903 a family of wood ducks often came
here. South of the grove is a field of three acres, devoted now
to the cultivation of sweet corn, roots and other vegetables.
This field is also surrounded by woods on three sides, with a
belt of trees and shrubbery for a wind-break on the fourth or
west side. This wind-break separates the field from a tract of
lowland of some fifteen or twenty acres, once mainly salt marsh,
but now, diked off and reclaimed from the river, it forms a
cranberry bog. A pool of an acre or more lies in the centre
of the bog. This was formerly an arm of the river called the
"toad hole," and often swarmed with fish. It is still a breed-
ing place for toads, and also a resort for herons, bitterns or
shore birds in their seasons. Swamp sparrows, sharp-tailed
finches and rails frequent its marshy borders.

I have been thus particular in describing the surroundings
of the farm, because its fitness for attracting a variety of birds
seems to be almost ideal.

In studying orchard birds, we learned that orchards sur-
rounded in part by woods and in part by open fields were
more frequented by birds, and therefore ' better protected
against injurious insects, than were those surrounded by fields
alone. The assumption that a garden similarly situated would
also receive a like measure of protection was perhaps war-
ranted. On such an assumption the selection of the location
for a garden was partially based. Our first task was to attract

10

as many birds as possible to the garden. No attempt will be
made now to give a list of the different species of birds found
in the locality. Were such a list given from the experience
of only two years, it would be merely provisional. Most of the
birds common to the farms of Massachusetts are found here;
a few exceptions will be noted later.

As the place was not acquired until July, 1900, all that
could be done that season was to attract the fall and winter
birds to the farm yard and garden. When the frosts came,
suitable food materials, attached to the trees and scattered
upon the ground or snow, caused a gathering of the birds from
far and near.

The larger part of the birds remaining with us during the
winter belong to the sparrow family, and are all seed eaters.
Most of them feed their young largely upon insects, but breed
far to the north, mainly beyond the limits of agricultural regions,
so that during the breeding season their value to man as insect
eaters is not great. As fall approaches, and frosts drive to
their winter hiding places the insects on which these birds
feed in spring or summer, the sparrows begin to feed on the
now ripened seeds of wild grasses and other plants which
sparrows are especially fitted by nature to destroy. At this
time our native sparrows, the song sparrow, chipping sparrow,
field sparrow and others, which have been feeding largely for
some time on the seeds of weeds and grasses, begin their south-
ward migration, and the northern sparrows come in to take
their place. The white-throated sparrow is among the first to
appear, followed closely by the fox sparrow, the junco (or
black snow bird), and last of all the tree sparrow. Still later,
when heavy snows fall, one may see the snowflake, also called
the snow bunting or white snow bird, to distinguish it from
the black snow bird or junco. The fox sparrow lingers awhile,
and follows the whitethroat south; but the junco and the tree
sparrow remain all winter, or so long as they can find food.
A few song sparrows also linger through the winter. Now, if
you watch these birds during the fall and winter months, you
will find them feeding almost constantly on the seeds of weeds
and wild grasses. They visit neglected cornfields and potato
fields, roadsides, gardens and old fields grown up to weeds

11

where they literally cram themselves with the seeds, and put
on fat rapidly.' These birds are so full of seeds in the fall or
winter that often if one is shot, held up by the feet and shaken,
the seeds will flow from its mouth. These seeds are almost
never passed whole through the alimentary canal of the bird
and left to germinate when dropped in the excreta; but they are
first hulled by the beak and then ground up by the tough, giz-
zard-like stomach, and their nutritious parts are thoroughly
digested.

The goldfinch, which remains with us throughout the winter,
is often seen clinging to the tops of the weeds, taking the seeds
directly from the plant. More or less of this kind of work is
done by redpolls, siskins and crossbills. The tree sparrows
also feed largely by alighting on the plants and pecking off the
seeds. The juncos and song sparrows take more of the seeds
from the ground after they have fallen. These birds and the
fox sparrows also scratch away the fallen leaves or grasses to
get at seeds buried beneath them.

Where native sparrows are numerous in the fall, winter and
early spring, they destroy nearly all the weed seeds to be found.
This is well shown by Dr. Judd, in his admirable report on the
relation of sparrows to agriculture. On a Maryland farm in
1896 he found sparrows swarming during the month of De-
cember. In a tangle of smartweed the ground was literally
black with seeds which had been cracked open by the birds
and the meat removed. In a rectangular space eighteen inches
square were found 1,130 such remains of seeds and only 2 whole
seeds. The birds fed in the locality well into May, and no
smartweed grew the ensuing year where the birds had caused this
extensive destruction.1

Prof. F. E. L. Beal, who has perhaps made as extensive
studies of the food of birds as any one now living, estimates
that the tree sparrows in the State of Iowa eat 875 tons of weed
seed each winter, and he allows only 10 birds to the square
mile.2

Good farmers are supposed to grow no weeds; but any
one travelling through Massachusetts in August or September

1 Bulletin No. 15, Division Biological Survey, United States Department of Agricul-
ture, p. 28.

« Farmers' Bulletin No. 54, United States Department of Agriculture, p. 28 (1897).

12

may be surprised, perhaps, to see that most farmers grow
them abundantly. Most of the fields where corn, potatoes
and other crops have been grown are so covered with weeds
at that season that in many places it is difficult to see the crop
from a distance. No doubt these rank growths are a compli-
ment to the soil, but they are no compliment to the cultivation.
The fields of Massachusetts are not alone in this condition.
Let the farmers of other States speak for themselves. In truth,
there are more weed seeds for the birds than birds to take care
of them. Where the hay fields and meadows are closely and
often cropped, fewer weeds have a chance to mature their
seed; but even there some low-growing plants are left, which
survive the cutting, and weeds come in. Where weeds are
allowed to grow unhindered all through the fall months, birds
cannot be expected to destroy them all.

In our garden we attempted to keep the weeds in subjection.
This in 1900 was almost an impossibility. In 1901 it was a
serious task, and necessitated frequent weeding or hoeing all
summer and into the fall. In 1902 the labor was much lightened,
and this was in part due to the birds. All farmers know that,
while hoed crops in the main may be kept nearly free from
weeds, it is impossible to weed a squash or melon patch without
injuring the plants. Such crops invariably foul the land. It
is also very difficult to keep all fences and borders of fields
clear of weeds. We depended mainly on the birds to take care
of such weed seeds as were left in the squash or melon patch or
along the borders, and they did their work well.

The first year, birds were not numerous enough to destroy
all the weed seed; the second year, there was hardly enough
seed to gather an increased number of birds. A small patch
of Japanese barnyard grass was planted north of the garden.
The seed of this millet proved very attractive to birds, but it
was not molested except by goldfinches and an occasional
English sparrow until the seed began to fall. The millet was
then reaped and the seed saved, but not until a great quantity
of it had fallen to the ground.

All the fall and winter this seed proved a great attraction
to the birds. Sparrows were almost constantly feeding in the
vicinity, and the seed seemed to be relished by all of them.

13

There were probably some bushels of this seed on the ground
in the fall, but by spring hardly one could be found, and only
a very few scattering plants grew there the following spring.
This plant is merely a cultivated variety of a common wild
grass or weed, hence its attractiveness to birds.

Juncos and tree sparrows came in greatest numbers. They
not only destroyed the millet seed, but they also found and ate
practically all of the weed seeds remaining. The sparrows
eat, usually with avidity, the seed of many of the worst weeds
known. Dr. Judd mentions the following weeds which are
troublesome in fields and hoed crops, and which are eaten by
some twenty species of sparrows: ragweed; several species of
the genus Polygonum, including bindweed; smartweed and
knotweed; pigweed; nutgrass and other sedges; crab-grass;
pigeon-grass; lamb's-quarters; and chickweed.

Chickweed, ragweed, smartweed and purslane are among
the weeds whose seeds have been freely eaten by sparrows in
our garden. Purslane is so tenacious of life that branches
cut off by the hoe and thrown on the soil will at times take
root and grow lustily. Chickweed is particularly prolific,
because of its deceptive habit of blossoming and developing
seed at the same time. In all these weeds the farmer will
recognize foes worthy of his steel. Some of the sparrows are
also particularly useful as insect destroyers, as we shall see
later.

While speaking of sparrows, lest error be promulgated, it
should be definitely stated that the house sparrow or English
sparrow cannot be included in the list of birds beneficial to the
garden. This bird feeds on grain to the amount of more than
two-thirds of all its food; is destructive to peas and other
garden vegetables, as well as fruit; and destroys comparatively
few insects. It eats perhaps less than half as many weed seeds
as any of our common native sparrows, and makes itself gen-
erally so disagreeable as to prevent many other birds from
breeding in the neighborhood it inhabits.

Our work, in conjunction with that of the birds, had been
so efficient in exterminating the weeds that during the winter
of 1901-02 it frequently was necessary to scatter chaff and
hayseed from the barn floor around the dooryard, to provide

14

sufficient food for the birds. In severe winter weather the
scratching sheds connected with the poultry houses always
furnished them a place of refuge. These sheds open toward
the south (which side is covered with poultry netting), but are
closed on all other sides. The ground in these sheds is some-
what deeply covered with litter, in which wheat screenings
and small grain are scattered, to give the hens exercise in
scratching it out during the day. The fowls are not admitted
to these sheds very early on cold or stormy mornings. Two
sheds having no curtains, the sparrows invariably occupy
them at such times, even if they do not remain through the
night. They are protected from hawks and cats by the netting,
and they busy themselves in searching and scratching among the
litter for weed seeds and the small particles of grain overlooked
by the fowls.

Here and in two open sheds at the barn the winter sparrows
can always find food and shelter. The woods and shrubbery
around the garden offer the sparrows a refuge to which they
can retreat at the least sign of danger. This is an advantage
which not all gardens possess. The song sparrow and the
junco do not like to go far afield, if they can secure food, as
in this case, near cover. The snowflake, on the contrary, seems
to prefer open fields and pastures, trusting perhaps to its pro-
tective coloring or to its skill in flight, for it rarely stops in the
vicinity of the garden.

During the first winter some little attention had been paid to
methods for attracting the insect-feeding winter birds. Animal
food, such as bones, suet and dried meat, was hung upon the
fruit trees, and attracted some attention from chickadees, jays,
nuthatches and woodpeckers. These and the sparrows formed
a merry company, which served to attract other birds, so that
before the end of the winter most of the commoner land birds
found at that season frequented the place. The effects of their
presence was noticeable in the scarcity of injurious insects in
the spring. The next problem in the sequence of the seasons
was to induce members of the spring flight of birds to remain
with us to breed. To this end it became necessary to increase
the inducements to nest building, and offer material for bird
homes.

15

As spring opened, the place was looked over to see what
nesting sites were available to those birds that prefer to breed
in hollow trees. There were practically none. The recent
tenant on the place had been allowed to use for fuel such dead
wood as he could find. He had availed himself of his oppor-
tunities, until hardly a dead tree remained. Having continued
this practice for the past two years, I am led to believe that
usually it is bad policy. It has resulted in a scarcity of the
smaller woodpeckers, which ordinarily hold destructive bark
beetles and other wood-boring insects in check. As a probable
effect of this scarcity of these useful birds, the Scolytidce and
some of the larger borers are now beginning to injure the living
trees. The practice of cutting out dead timber also removes
the breeding places for wrens, swallows, bluebirds, screech
owls, chickadees and other useful birds. No bluebirds, swal-
lows or wrens were found breeding on the place. The screech
owls and flickers were driven to take refuge in the summer
cottages. It was evident that an attempt should be made to
bring back such birds as wrould accept artificial substitutes for
their natural breeding places in trees.

Early in March, 1901, a number of bird boxes were put up
on the trees about the borders of the woods. These were pur-
posely made of old, weather-beaten lumber,
and were inexpensive, four of the shingles re-
moved when shingling the barn and a bottom
and top piece of boards completing each box,
as shown in Fig. 1. Bird boxes put up in this
locality should face to the south or west. If
placed thus and on the south or west side of
a building or tree trunk, they are not so much
exposed to the cold storms which so often occur
in early spring; but they should be put in shady
situations. The hole should be placed near
the top, and for a wren should not be over
seven-eighths of an inch in diameter (Fig. 2),
and the one and one-half-inch size will do for
the bluebirds and tree swallows. The seven-eighths-inch hole
will certainly exclude English sparrows from wren boxes, and,
if there is no perch connected with the box, it will be diffi-

FIG. 1. — Shingle
Box.

18

tially decayed birch stumps by simply boring a one and one-
fourth-inch auger hole into the side of the stump, at a point some
distance from the ground. The birds, finding a hole already
begun, will finish it and build a nest
there, as they do sometimes in the ex-
cavations made by woodpeckers. Be-
lieving that these birds might take
advantage of a nesting box if it were
provided for them, we first cut away all
the dead stumps within a radius of
about two hundred yards of the house
and garden. Then food was put out
in the winter on branches fastened to
the house. A small pine tree was
placed near the kitchen window and

FIG. 3. — Observation Box 1 > .

closed. another at the dining room window,

and these were hung with bits of meat, bone and suet. The
chickadees and other birds soon found them, and came to
them regularly day after day and hour after hour, continuing
their Christmas festivities all winter and well into the early
spring. A single bird box was then put
up at a window in a loft over the wood-
shed. This was made after a pattern I
began using thirty years ago, and may
be called an observation box (Fig. 3).
As shown in Fig 4, it is provided with
a door, which consists of a hinged side
facing the window, and which can be
opened at will by the observer. A
pane of glass is also inserted in this
side, so that, when the door is opened,
the eggs or nestlings are protected by
the thick glass from dangers without.
Such a box must be so placed that the
sun cannot shine into it, as this might endanger the lives of
the young birds. Before this time the English sparrows had
been all shot, or driven away from the premises, the mice and
squirrels had been ejected from the bird boxes, and the chicka-
dees began to manifest some curiosity as to the purpose of these

FIG. 4. — Observation Box
open.

19

curious habitations. As spring approached, a chickadee was
seen now and then to enter one of the boxes. The one over
the woodshed was inspected frequently, and it is believed that
toward spring one or more of the birds passed the night in its
shelter.

When spring opened and most of our little friends retired
to the woods, one pair remained behind and made their home
in the observation box. Another pair set up housekeeping in
a birch stump not far away in the edge of the pine grove. The
pair in the box, having abundant nesting material at hand,
soon began building. Here was an excellent opportunity for
watching the construction of the nest, but the box was not
opened or disturbed, for fear that the birds might forsake it.

All in the house were enjoined to keep away from the box
until the birds were seen carrying food to the nest. The box
was then opened, and seven young birds were found. From
this time on the feeding and growth of the young birds were
observed through the glass. Mr. C. A. Reed, the editor of
"American Ornithology," became interested in this young
family; and on June 10, having been notified that the birds
were ready to leave the nest, he came with his camera to photo-
graph them. The old birds had now become so accustomed
to our presence that they would come and feed the young while
people were at the open window within a foot or two of the
box. When sitting at the window, one could see plainly the
insects held in the beaks of the parent birds. Large insects
were brought singly, smaller ones in bunches or masses, —
one might say almost in mouthfuls.

The old bird gathered ants, plant lice, spiders, etc., in its
bill until that was well filled, when it flew quickly to the box,
fed the young, cleaned the nest, and, taking the excrement in
its bill, flew away for more food. Sometimes the most greedy
youngster got the whole mouthful; at other times the food
was divided among the young. The following notes, taken
at the nest while the camera was in position, June 10, will show
how little the birds were disturbed by our presence, and how
often they came with food that forenoon. The box was opened
and the camera set up at 9.50 o'clock. At 9.52, the female
chickadee came with a large, dark caterpillar. At 9.54, the

16

FIG. 2. — Sparrow-proof
Box.

cult for the sparrows to drive the wrens away. The hole
always should be small enough to keep out blue jays, gray
squirrels and owls. The openings to the
boxes put up in 1901 were too large, and,
although many birds came to them, they
were so annoyed by their many enemies
that only one pair of bluebirds succeeded
in raising a brood, no other birds occupy-
ing the boxes. Two pairs of English spar-
rows began operations, but were not allowed
to proceed.

Nesting materials were scattered about
and hung from the branches of the trees,
so that bluebirds, wrens and swallows might
have unlimited material at hand. This
was continued in the spring of 1902, but
only three broods of bluebirds, two of which were raised,
were hatched in these boxes. No swallows, martins or
wrens succeeded in occupying any of the boxes. The experi-
ments in this direction have resulted in a partial failure,
mainly through the abundance of the birds' enemies. In
respect to the chickadee, however, this experiment has given
results which will compensate in a large measure for its failure
in other directions. Studies of the food of the chickadee have
convinced me that it is perhaps the most useful of all birds in
the orchard, and as valuable as any in the forest or woodland.
This bird destroys vast numbers of such orchard pests as the
cankerworms and other soft caterpillars, taking also the hiber-
nating forms of these insects, whether eggs, larvae or pupse, in
great quantity. It also destroys the eggs of the forest cater-
pillar moth and those of the common tent caterpillar to some
extent, killing large numbers of the caterpillars of both these
insects, as well as those of the gypsy moth, the brown-tail moth
and other hairy caterpillars. It is a great feeder on the plant
lice, and the bark beetles are also eaten by it. These insect
families contain some of our worst tree pests. Chickadees are
continually searching over the bark of the trunks, limbs and
twigs of trees. In this occupation they find and destroy the
eggs of moths and plant lice, the cocoons of the codling moths,

17

case bearers, leaf miners and many injurious minute insects.
They also open decaying twigs infested by borers, removing
them with certainty, though with less skill than the wood-
peckers exhibit. Nor is their work confined wholly to the
trees and shrubbery, for in the early spring, when the snow
has gone and the warm sun begins to cause the first stir of life
among hibernating insects hidden in the forest floor, the chick-
adees descend to the ground, where they search among the
leaves, extracting worms from decaying chestnuts or acorns
which have been overlooked by jays and squirrels, or digging
out pupse which have either hibernated among the leaves on
the ground or fallen with them from the trees. Such insect
food as given above forms the main part of this bird's suste-
nance, nor has it any bad habits, so far as known. When
driven by extremity, it may eat a few bits from worthless apples
frozen upon the trees, or pick up a few fragments of corn or
oats by the roadside or in barnyard or poultry yard; but appar-
ently it prefers, in such cases, the berries of the sumach, and
never injures cultivated fruit or grain of any value. It has
none of the bad habits of some of its European relatives. Its
nesting habits and its confiding nature led to the belief that it
might be so domesticated as to become as attached to our
homes, in time, as the English sparrow is to-day. What a bene-
fit might have been conferred on our city parks, had we induced
these birds to breed there, instead of importing the redoubt-
able sparrow.

European titmice breed quite freely in boxes put up for
them, and their numbers can be increased readily under man's
protection. The American crested titmouse is said to breed
occasionally about human habitations; but the chickadee, our
most common titmouse, has mainly held aloof from human
dwellings during the breeding season.

Thirty years ago, before the English sparrows became plenti-
ful, this bird bred in the hollow trunks of old apple trees in
orchards or dooryards, and does so to-day where the sparrows
have not obtained a foothold; but it has been driven from such
localities by the sparrow, returning to its old haunts mainly in
the winter, when sparrows resort much to the city or village
streets. Chickadees may be induced at times to build in par-

20

male bird came with a light, geometrid caterpillar. At 9.57$,
the male bird brought two caterpillars. At 9.57$, the female
brought one large, green caterpillar. At 10.02, the male brought
a pupa about like the codling moth. At 10.07, the male brought
a grasshopper with legs trimmed off.

While the male was there the female came also with a bunch
of spiders' eggs, and, following the male, fed immediately.
We then removed the glass, and, reaching out, pushed down
the side of the nest so that an attempt could be made to photo-
graph the young, which were sunk down in the nest quite out of
sight from the camera. At this the young made a noise which
sounded much like the loud hissing of a snake, but proved to
be an attempt of all seven at once to scold in chickadee language.

This disturbed the old birds, who showed some anxiety,
and did not feed again until, at 10.14, the female brought a
green caterpillar; at 10.17 a heavy team went by, but the, male
came again, at 10.19, with a large caterpillar, and again at
10.22 with smaller caterpillars. At this time the largest and
most active young bird, which had been quite restless and
several times had attempted to reach the entrance hole, made
a dash, and flew, at the first attempt, to a maple tree near by;
but failing to alight there, it fluttered on to a stone heap at the
foot of a pine tree some four rods away. In this remarkable
feat it no doubt was aided by the strong breeze then blowing.
This bird was later captured and returned to the box, but
refused to remain, and the second time flew to a pine tree
several rods farther off, reaching it in two flights. This diver-
sion somewhat interrupted the regularity of the feeding, as
the old birds devoted most of their attention to the young
truant. The female came to the nest once at 10.23 with ants,
plant lice and a spider, and the male came directly afterward
with similar food. At 10.24 the female came again, and at
10.24$ the male came; at 10.28i, the female; at 10.34, the
male. At this time the food, which came in large mouthfuls,
consisted mainly of ants and plant lice. At 10.36, as I leaned
from the window to put in the glass, the mother bird came
with her beak full of insect food and alighted at the entrance
hole. At this time one hand held the glass, while the other
rested on the box. The bird clung to the side of the box, re-

21

garding me at first with some suspicion, but soon went in and
fed the young a large, green caterpillar which she had brought.
While I kept this position both birds came again, the female
going in at once and feeding the young as before; but the
male alighted on top of the box, scanning my face with his
bright dark eyes for some time before he would trust himself
to enter. The young were evidently fully fledged and ready to
fly. Two of them had flown already and had been returned
to the box. The parent birds stopped feeding them and began
to call. They were answered by the young. At this moment
the old birds flew, one to the box and the other to the edge
of the roof overhead, while the young all sprang out in quick
succession, all but two of them alighting on my arms, head
or shoulders, much to the delight of the children, who were
watching from below. The old birds came to me and piloted
the young to the branches of a pear tree near by. This happy
family remained about the vicinity for some time, and probably
still forms a part of one of the flocks of chickadees now in the
neighborhood.

This account is given with all its details to show how readily
the chickadee will accept our hospitality, and how valuable
an acquisition it would be to the birds which nest about the
farm buildings. It is hoped that others may be led to ex-
periment with it in the same way. This family of chickadees
and a family of bluebirds, that was raised in a box on the apple
tree near by, kept the fruit and shade trees near the house quite
free from injurious insects. A nest of the tent caterpillar which
appeared on the apple tree where the bluebirds built their
nest was rifled of its contents. Two young apple trees that
swarmed with plant lice were almost entirely cleared, and
suffered no injury from the lice; while two on the hill beyond
the garden, where the chickadees did not go, suffered much
from these pests, and finally died. With eleven hungry nest-
lings to be fed, the few cankerworms hatched from the eggs
overlooked by the birds were soon disposed of.

Now, let us return to the garden. The care of a garden
seldom fails to banish sleep in the morning. The least sound
is sufficient to arouse you. At a light, intermittent pattering
sound on the roof you are awake at once. It is only a gray

22

squirrel running over the roof. As you rise to prepare for the
duties of the day, it is hardly light enough clearly to distinguish
objects in the grove. From the wooded brookside the sweet
and solemn tones of the wood thrush float tremulously to your
ear. Now a robin sings boldly from the top of a tall tree, where
he can see the promise of day in the east; another takes up the
refrain, and, by the time you have reached the garden, the full
bird chorus pours forth from the surrounding woods. Mingled
with the refrain you hear the distant trill of the chipping spar-
row rising and falling like the breath of a sleeper in the fields.
The oven-bird awakens the echoes of the woods with a staccato
note. The light, cool breath of the morning fans your cheek
as it comes up from dewy meadows laden with the fragrance
of lilies and azaleas. The eastern sky is rosy with the dawn,
and as you gaze upon the beauteous scene dark shadows fade
and fly. Aurora climbs the glowing firmament and morning
walks abroad upon the fields. With a heart filled with thank-
fulness you slowly sink on bended knee and go to killing squash
bugs, — otherwise, you would get few squashes. Much as
the farmer may admire the beautiful in nature, he cannot spend
the early morning hours in idle contemplation.

As you look abroad over the garden, you see robins hopping
here and there, searching for earthworms, cutworms and grubs.
Robins find many earthworms early in the season, but later,
as the soil loses much of its moisture, these worms cannot be
found so readily, as they descend to greater depths, and the
robin must depend largely on insect food for its own subsis-
tence and nourishment for its brood. Owing to the abundance
of the robin in our neighborhood, it easily led all other birds
as a destroyer of garden pests. It is one of the few birds that
habitually seek their food on the ground in the garden early
and late when the cutworms are abroad. The abundance of
robins in the vicinity may be accounted for in part by their
fondness for their roost in the pine grove. In 1901 there were
more than thirty robins' nests in trees in the woods or fields
near the house. There were three in a large pine in front of
the house, and three more over the door of a summer cottage
near by. Although most of the eggs or young in the nests were
destroyed by the various enemies of birds, there were usually

FIG. 5.— The Koliin on IHT \<-sl. (ropyritflit l.y ( . A. I.Vcd.)

23

from three to six young robins about the garden most of the
summer, and in May, June and July there were many adult
birds. No sooner would any one go into the garden with plow,
harrow, cultivator, hoe, fork or spade, to stir the earth for any
purpose, than the robins would follow, picking up grubs, wire-
worms, earth worms, cutworms and ground beetles. There
were few insects they would not eat. They soon became so
tame that they would approach within a few feet of the worker,
and if grubs or worms were tossed to them they would come
and pick them up from the ground.

White grubs, as most of you know, are the larvae of May
beetles of different species, and destroy the roots of growing
plants. They are serious pests in grass land or among hoed
crops. If numerous, they will soon ruin a strawberry bed or
a grass field, and because of their habits of burrowing in the
ground they are hard to control. Wireworms, which are the
larvse of click beetles, also live under ground, and destroy
the roots of plants, in some cases burrowing up the stems.
They are destructive to turnips and other root crops, as well
as to cabbage, celery and many vegetables, and must greatly
reduce the productiveness of grass lands.

Cutworms are larvse of Noctuid moths, and probably do as
much injury both annually and periodically as any pest known.
They not only eat the foliage of many plants, but they cut off
the stems of young vegetables close to the ground, destroying
the crop. As they feed mainly at night and hide underground
or under some shelter during the day, they are seldom noticed
until the damage is done. Ground beetles are usually classed
as useful insects; but, as many of the species feed quite largely
on vegetable matter, their usefulness no doubt depends to
some extent on their being kept within proper bounds. Several
genera have been known, where numerous, to destroy grass,
weeds, grain or fruit. Some of them, notably of the genus
Harpalus, are becoming widely known as destroyers of the
fruit of the strawberry. Members of this genus were found
eating the seeds of the Japanese barnyard millet along the
borders of our garden. The robin constitutes a natural check
on the increase of these creatures, which, if held in their place,
are no doubt beneficial, but, if allowed to become too numerous

24

to subsist on their natural food supply, will destroy cultivated
crops.

The skunk has the reputation of being the most efficient
enemy of the white grub; but here, where both skunks and robins
were searching for food, the robin's work was the more effective.
The onion and carrot beds were regular breeding grounds of
these grubs. The hand cultivator was run frequently between
the rows, and robins ran after it. In fact, the robins cultivated
those rows more assiduously than did the cultivator. They
picked up the insects that were turned up by the cultivator;
they dug conical holes around the plants, almost always unearth-
ing a grub at the bottom of each hole. This work they persistently
followed up, day after day and week after week. So persistent
were they that very few of the roots were found injured at
harvest time by either grubs or wireworms. Probably some
credit for this result must be given to the moles, that occa-
sionally burrowed beneath the plants along whole rows, and
undoubtedly secured some of these grubs which the robins
failed to reach. Throughout the season the robins were watched
as they fed their young, and it was seen that they habitually
fed grubs, cutworms and many of the most injurious cater-
pillars. The larvae of large insects seemed rather to be preferred,
and a robin, when going to the nest, often took several insects
at each trip.

While spading a small plot in the garden one day, I watched
a robin that came to feed. She picked up a large white
grub that had just been turned up by the spade, laid it out
upon the unspaded ground, dug out another, laid it beside the
first, and after hopping some distance secured still another
large one, which she took to the spot where the first two still
lay. After several ineffectual efforts, she succeeded in getting
a firm hold on all three, when she flew at once to her nest near
by, fed them to her young and came back for more. The
whole proceeding did not occupy five minutes. These grubs
were dug out by the robins wherever they could be found. They
took them from compost heaps, from beneath the mulch about
the fruit trees, and seemed to know, as if by instinct, just where
to find them. It should not be inferred, however, that they
found these grubs by instinct. Their skill in finding them was

25

acquired, and no doubt was entirely a matter of early education
and experience, except in so far as their keen faculties of observa-
tion were transmitted to them by their parents. The young
robins, when they first left the nest, were nearly helpless so far
as finding food was concerned, and it was some weeks before
they had learned to find grubs with certainty. At first they
were fed almost entirely by the parents; later, they learned to
pick up objects from the ground and to pursue crawling insects;
but they did not acquire, during their first summer, the skill
evinced by their parents in digging out grubs. An adult bird,
when once it began to dig, seldom missed the worm or grub.
The young birds frequently failed to secure their prey, and were
fed more or less by the old birds for some weeks after leaving
the nest.

The first season (1901) we set out a few rows of strawberry
plants of different varieties. Perhaps it is needless to add that
the robins got nearly all the fruit. This created, as it usually
does, a rather unreasonable prejudice against the birds. In this
the whole family shared; but, had the robins been killed then,
there is little doubt that our strawberry beds would have been
ruined in 1902. A close watch was kept on the robins in the
strawberry bed in 1901, and they were seen to devour, on the
average, five insects to each strawberry. These insects were
nearly all such as were injurious to strawberry plants, and were
taken either from the plants they were feeding on or from the
ground beneath. When in 1902 the number of strawberry rows
was much increased, the injury done by robins to the fruit was
proportionately very small; and a new bed, planted on the
ground originally swarming with white grubs, did very well.
The robins so nearly exterminated the grubs that but few plants
were lost.

The robins occasionally took a raspberry or currant. They
also took insects from the currant bushes (presumably currant
worms). Their heaviest toll of fruit was taken from the cherry
trees. In some localities their attacks on the cherries have been
prevented by growing the Russian mulberry, — a fruit they
often prefer to the cherry; but this is not always a certain
remedy, and it is safer to plant cherry trees enough to supply
both the birds and the family. Much space is given here to

26

the robin, because with us it has proved to be the most useful
bird in the garden. The food of the robin has been studied,
within the past fifty years, by many investigators. Their con-
clusions, however, have not always agreed.

Prof. J. W. P. Jenks, Mr. E. A. Samuels, Prof. S. A. Forbes,
Mr. F. H. King, Prof. F. E. L. Beal and some others, while
varying in their estimates of the robin's value, all regard it as
a useful bird; but the investigations of Mr. E. V. Wilcox and
Prof. F. S. Webster, published in Bulletin No. 43 of the Ohio
Agricultural Experiment Station, present results rather unfa-
vorable to the robin. It is not my intention here to take issue
with these gentlemen as to the facts stated in their writings on
this subject. I wish merely to call attention to some errors into
which investigators who are not familiar with birds' habits are
likely to fall, and also to show wherein the observations of Mr.
Wilcox do not agree with my own.

He has stated to me in conversation that most of the robins
whose stomachs were examined were shot while feeding on the
grounds of the experiment station, and mainly during the busy
hours of the day. Few birds were shot very early in the morn-
ing or towards dusk. Now, the robin is very active at such
times, and it is then that it has the best opportunity to secure
the cutworms, the percentage of which in the stomachs of those
examined by Mr. Wilcox is probably too small. All vestiges
of cutworms eaten by the robin at 3 to 4 A.M. will probably
have disappeared from the stomach at 6, by reason of the bird's
rapid digestion. Most of the robins were shot on the station
grounds at a time when they were feeding largely on the small
fruits grown there in profusion. Naturally, a larger proportion
of cultivated fruit was found in the stomachs than would have
been the case had a larger number of the birds examined been
shot in other localities and at other times. This seems hardly
fair to the species. No stomachs of nestling robins were exam-
ined. This seems a capital omission. In our investigations
nestlings have appeared to require a very large proportion of
insect food, and as they increase in size they require more food
than the old birds. A young robin has been known to eat
forty-one per cent more than its own weight each day.

Mr. WTilcox failed to find any grubs in the stomachs of robins

27

shot on ground recently plowed, and he accounts for this by
the statement that the robin does not follow the plow as closely as
does the crow blackbird, and that the grubs soon bury themselves
in the soil, "hence the failure of the robin to find any." This
is entirely contrary to our experience here. We have found the
robin to be a much more effective destroyer of the white grub
than the cro\v blackbird, which will wait for the robin to find
and dig up grubs, and then quickly snatch them away from its
beak. If we were to rely on stomach examinations only, the
blackbird might get more credit for finding grubs in the ground
than he deserves. Our experience in Massachusetts is corrobo-
rated by that of Dr. Roberts of Minneapolis, who finds the
robins there much more expert in digging out grubs from lawns
than is the crow blackbird.

Mr. Wilcox says that he has never seen the robin searching for
insect food except upon the ground. In Massachusetts, how-

FIG. 6. — Robin with White Grub for her Young.

ever, the robin occasionally takes caterpillars from the trees.
It is quite probable that twenty observers scattered over the
county in which Mr. Wilcox made this investigation would have
made more or less contradictory reports. It is unsafe to gen-
eralize too much from observations made by one man in a single

28

locality. My observations on the robin are offered with the
belief that the statements made are correct so far .as my own
garden is concerned. A small fruit grower differently situated
might consider the robin an enemy. The picture of the robin
at the nest with a grub in her bill shows the eagerness with
which the young robins anticipate the coming of their food
(Fig. 6).

Next to the robin in usefulness in our garden comes the chip-
ping sparrow. This little bird, which often hops about the
dooryard of the farmhouse, picking up crumbs that fall from
the doorway, spends much of its time in the garden. With us
it did no noticeable harm, feeding much on insects in the
spring and summer, and largely on weed seeds in the fall. It
was almost constantly busy along the vegetable rows in early
summer. It was especially devoted to the green peas and the
beets. Beets are usually more or less infested with a larva
which mines the leaf, in some cases destroying many leaves.
This insect is not usually a serious pest, as some enemy appears
to check its undue increase. Early in the season the beets
were attacked by it and were quite seriously infested, but as
time went on the number of worms grew less and less. It was
noticed that this scarcity of the beet worms was coincident with
the appearance of the chipping sparrows among the plants, and
that the longer the birds worked there the fewer beet worms
could be found. These sparrows were commonly to be seen
going up and down the rows, feeding among the plants in the
garden where table beets were grown. Other birds of this
species were also observed in the field among the stock beets
or mangel wurtzels. I was enabled one day, by creeping along
the ground between the rows, to get very close to a chipping
sparrow which was feeding there. It was passing among the
plants searching somewhat among the stems, from which it
took small insects, but mainly getting its food from the infested
leaves. By moving very cautiously, I was able to follow it for a
hundred yards along the rows. It could be plainly seen taking
something from the leaves. It touched none but the infested
leaves. In each case when the bird had passed, the leaf was
freshly punctured, and the worm was missing. The little bird
found it necessary in many cases to use its wings to reach the

29

worm, but never failed to get it. Apparently eleven of these
worms were secured in a few minutes, and several other small
insects were taken. Having watched these birds through one
long summer, I have little doubt that their presence saved the
beet crop from a serious reduction.
The imported destructive pea louse was very prevalent in

1900, and we were prepared for its appearance in the spring of

1901. The lice appeared as expected, but failed to increase as
heretofore. One morning one of the boys at work in the garden
reported that chipping sparrows were eating the pea lice. This
proved true, for all through the season and also the next season
wherever peas were planted these birds appeared and fed on
these plant lice persistently, day after day, so long as they could
be found. A row of late peas about one hundred yards in
length became infested in August. These peas were one-eighth
of a mile from where the early peas were planted, and in a
locality not ordinarily frequented -by the chipping sparrow; but
the birds soon found them, and haunted the vines day after day,
until, the lice were so reduced in numbers that they did no fur-
ther injury. It seems probable that this habit of the "chippy"
is widespread, for Mr. H. W. Olds and Dr. Judd have both
observed it.1

These birds apparently rendered it unnecessary for us to
protect our peas from these destructive aphides. How gener-
ally they may have effected such a result elsewhere I have no
means of knowing. It is quite probable that they have borne
a prominent part in reducing the pea louse from a pest of the
first class to its present status. These birds fed on the eggs of
the parsley butterfly, taking most of them from the leaves of the
celery or parsnip plants, where they are deposited by the insect,
usually one in a place. The chipping sparrow also feeds on the
young larvae. The attentions of the "chip birds" are not by
any means confined to the garden. They are very useful in
the orchard, particularly in the destruction of caterpillars, upon
which their young are largely fed. They also feed in the
borders of woodlands, along the roadsides and in the open
fields. As these birds often raise two broods each season, and

1 Bulletin No. 15, Division of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agri-
culture, p. 77.

30

their young are nourished almost entirely on insects, their great
value to the farmer is unquestioned. In the illustration from
Mr. Reed's photographs the parents are seen with their callow
brood (Fig. 7). In the lower picture, the female, having brought
a caterpillar too large to be fed whole, joins with the male in
dividing it.

The song sparrow is another bird which has done excellent
service in the garden. A pair of these birds nested near a ditch
at the north side of the garden in 1901, where they confined
their attentions principally to the early cabbage patch. Both
cabbages and cauliflowers made a rank growth, and by June
had so covered the ground that these creeping ground sparrows
could readily pass beneath them unobserved. Their habits in
this respect are such as to completely baffle the ordinary ob-
server. Finally, after much watching, they were seen to eat
the cabbage plant louse and some of the cabbage worms. This
pair of birds could be found among the cabbages at almost any
hour of the day. They sought their food there almost continu-
ally, and they made great havoc with the cabbage insects; but,
as there were five different caterpillars on the cabbages, and the
birds took much of their food when concealed from view or at a
distance from the observer, it is hardly possible to say more
than that probably all species were eaten.

All the cabbage insects were so reduced in number that
little injury was done to the heads. No insecticides were
used upon the cabbages or cauliflowers, though a few worms
were killed by hand at first. They were afterward left to the
sparrows. The chipping sparrows also took worms from the
cabbages. The song sparrows eat most caterpillars if they
are found in the immediate vicinity of their nests. With us
they do not go far afield when they can find sufficient food
near at hand. They seldom went beyond the cabbage patch,
flying from that to the thicket about their home. They feed
mainly on or near the ground, and for this reason, perhaps,
they search out and destroy many cutworms. They were not
seen to take any fruit from the garden, although they have been
known to eat strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. This
was the only pair of these birds nesting about the garden in
in 1901. Their young were destroyed, probably by a cat, and

FIG. 7. — Chipping Sparrows feeding their Young. (Copyright by C. A. Reed.)

31

possibly the old birds suffered the same fate, as no song sparrows
nested there in 1902.

Among the birds which frequented the garden were the
catbird and the goldfinch; but, so far as could be seen, these
birds contributed little to its welfare. The goldfinches attacked
the millet in the field, the sunflowers along the garden border,
and ate pieces from the leaves of lettuce and other tender
vegetables. They were not seen to eat insects, but they are
useful as destroyers of plant lice, caterpillars and other tree-
feeding insects. They destroy weevils also; but, so far as could
be observed, they were slightly detrimental to the garden. The
catbird was never seen to enter the garden except as it went to
the strawberry bed after the berries were ripe. Apparently
the catbirds went to the garden for strawberries alone. They
were never seen to eat anything else while there, and, as they
were about the strawberry bed much of the time while the
berries were ripe, they must have eaten as many berries as
all the robins, for the robins only took strawberries occasionally.
A pan of water was set out near the strawberry bed, that the
catbirds might have an opportunity to allay their thirst before
reaching the berries. They took no notice of this, as they
evidently preferred strawberry juice. If driven away, they
would return immediately. They remained about the bed
until the berries had been picked, when they left at once, and
hardly visited the garden at all for the rest of the summer.
Were we to judge the catbird by this experience alone, we must
agree with those who consider it a pest. Many people have
had somewhat similar experience with it. My experience
with it in Worcester, however, was somewhat of a contrast
to this more recent acquaintance. There we raised straw-
berries with little trouble from the catbirds that nested near
the garden, and were of considerable service in the destruc-
tion of insect pests, notably the white grub. This bird, how-
ever, is probably of much less service to the farmer than many
others, and is not to be compared with the robin as a destroyer
of garden insects.

The vireos, redstarts and warblers, which bred in the woods
around the garden, occasionally came inside its limits, but
confined their attention mainly to the insects on the fruit trees,

32

so that, so far as could be seen, their presence in the garden
had little or no effect on the vegetables. These birds were
much of the time engaged in killing caterpillars of many species.
They were so assiduous in this that no serious injury was done
by caterpillars to any of the trees near by. Even the wild
cherry trees, which are ordinarily stripped by the tent cater-
pillar, were left intact. The vireos are probably among the
most efficient caterpillar hunters. The illustration showing
the red-eyed vireo feeding her young (Fig. 8) is introduced
here to show how the parent bird inserts her bill into the throat
of the newly hatched young, and thrusts the food down into
the gullet. This may be a necessary precaution some days
later, for the living caterpillars then fed sometimes crawl out
of the mouths of the young birds, and escape.

Blackbirds, brown thrushes and towhees kept well away
from the house the first season. Dogs, cats and boys evidently
had made them distrustful of the neighborhood. A little grain
scattered about, in the spring of 1902, brought several black-
birds and a pair of brown thrashers. The blackbirds soon
became quite tame, and remained about the place until, late in
May, they retired to the meadow to breed. The brown thrashers
came to the dooryard all summer, in search of crumbs and
fragments of grain, and finally became quite tame. Neither
these birds nor the towhees seemed to be attracted to the garden,
although the towhees came into it much during the late summer.
These birds are all useful in the garden, provided they can be
induced to frequent it. None of them injured anything in it,
except that the towhees picked up a few ripe gooseberries.
Some of the birds which are known to be conspicuously useful
in the garden did not stay with us, although they were occa-
sionally heard singing in the early spring.

Those who have followed me thus far may begin to sur-
mise that for some reason birds were not exceptionally numer-
ous in this locality, so well fitted for their homes; such indeed
is the case, and the reason is not far to seek. Birds have been
protected here to some extent for years, so far as the encroach-
ments of the gunner are concerned, but their natural enemies
have greatly increased in the mean time. All the swallows
and most of the bluebirds have been driven away from the

FIG. 8. — Red-eyed Tireo feeding Young. (Copyright by C. A. Reed.)

33

neighborhood by the English sparrow. Most of the smaller
birds which had survived the attacks of their various enemies
failed to breed, for either the eggs or young were destroyed.
No doubt this state of things ought sooner to have been rem-
edied; but I desired first to study the influences which di-
minished the numbers of these useful creatures, so as to be quite
certain what means to take for their protection.

My experience here during these two years, taken in
conjunction with the experience of the previous twenty-five
years, leads me to believe that the enemies of birds stand about
in the following order, as regards their importance: cats,
English sparrows, gunners and boys, crows, jays, hawks,
squirrels, snakes, skunks, foxes, weasels and other small mam-
mals. Owls, shrikes, and some other birds may be named also
as of varying importance according to circumstances. Dogs
eat eggs and kill some nestlings. In this classification of birds'
enemies I refer mainly to conditions prevailing in eastern
Massachusetts, which is a thickly settled region; in a less
thickly settled or more open country, a change in the relative
positions of birds' enemies might more nearly approximate
the facts.

Properly speaking, man is the greatest enemy of the birds.
Cats, dogs and English sparrows have been both introduced
and fostered by him. Birds are killed by him for ornamental
purposes and for sport, instead of being given that consideration
and protection which is their due, and which man can readily
afford them. Cats are named first as bird enemies, because
they are exceedingly numerous in the vicinity of cities, towns
and villages, and because an adult cat, in good hunting grounds,
will probably destroy about fifty birds each season. I have
known a single cat to kill all the nestlings in six nests in one
day, with two of the old birds struck down while trying to
defend their young.

No doubt this is exceptional; but few nests are secure from
these cruel marauders, except those which are inaccessible,
like many of the nests of the Baltimore oriole. Most farmers
keep too many cats. The country is infested with vagrant
cats. Hounds often "tree" them in the woods far from any
house, and their tracks may be seen in every newly fallen

34

snow. Cats are turned out by people who wish to get rid of
them. Many are abandoned by city people when going back
to town from their summer homes. Some may take to the
woods from choice. All this is bad for the birds. Many such
cats inhabit the woods and thickets about Wareham, living on
birds, mice, squirrels and insects; haunting back yards, poultry
coops and barns; stealing any food that may be left in exposed
situations; making the raising of chickens a precarious busi-
ness; and even killing rabbits, pheasants, partridges and half-
grown fowls. Such cats are largely responsible for the fact
that many of the ground-breeding and bush-inhabiting birds
in our neighborhood have been killed or driven away. Care-
ful investigation will show a somewhat similar condition in
many neighborhoods. For this there is only one remedy,—
these cats must be exterminated.

Twenty years ago the English sparrow would have been
placed first on the list, but it is not now so serious a menace
to our native birds as then. The conditions for its increase
are not generally so favorable as they then were, and its ene-
mies are more in the ascendant. It should not be tolerated,
however, by any one living in the country who prefers the
presence of our many beautiful and far more useful native
species. If its presence is allowed, it is likely to drive out all
those native birds that nest in or about buildings or in bird
houses. It also annoys many other birds, and drives them
from the neighborhood of our homes. I have now driven it
out of this neighborhood, but its former presence accounts
for the absence of wrens, bluebirds, phoebes and swallows,
which no doubt once bred here, and may now be induced to
return. The sparrows — according to the testimony of many
observers — do not kill the native birds and their young to the
extent that they did some years ago; but they often destroy
the nests of other birds, and they still persist in following or
mobbing birds of other species, and compelling them to move
on. If their nests are destroyed and the birds shot whenever
occasion offers, the survivors usually learn to keep away.

In speaking of the gunner as an enemy of birds, it may be
well to except the honest sportsman, who complies with the
law, respects the rights of property, and is intelligent enough

35

to know that it is for his own interest to protect all birds from
undue or illegal slaughter. We may except also the scientific
ornithologist, who kills birds only when necessary to further
the interests of science. In the present state of ornithological
science, there are very few men who should find it necessary
to kill many birds for this purpose. It is the irresponsible
gunner — boy or man, who shoots, in season or out, anything
which comes within the range of his gun, from a hen to a chick-
adee, for sport or practice, as the case may be — who should
be suppressed. The trolley cars, which flood the country,
especially on Sundays and other holidays, with gunners and
fishermen from the cities, have increased the danger to the
birds from this class of people. A large proportion of these
people are foreigners, or of foreign extraction. Since the
trolley roads came into Wareham, we have had occasion to
warn many of these people away from the premises. Usually
when spoken to they have replied in broken English. Many
of these foreigners shoot and trap song birds to eat. The
natural destructive propensities of our own children may
readily be controlled by education, by teaching them to take
an interest in birds, their songs and habits, and by showing
them their usefulness.

Having done what we could to protect the birds about the
farm from cats, dogs, gunners, English sparrows and boys,
we are still confronted with the undeniable fact that most
species of birds about the place are not increasing in numbers,
while some of them are decreasing. Some fail to breed at all,
while some are entirely absent in the breeding season. The
explanation of this lies largely in the fact that under protection
the jays increased mainly the first year, while the crows are
increasing regularly, and frequenting the place more and
more. It is to be regretted that, where all birds are protected
by man, birds are the greatest enemies of birds. I have previously
reported1 that in the Middlesex Fells reservation near Boston
the crows appeared to have increased at the expense of the
smaller birds. This region came under my observation in
1891, when the committee in charge of the gypsy moth work
was first appointed. From that time until 1900 several observers

1 Agriculture of Massachusetts, 1900, p. 50.

36

who were well acquainted with the birds of the region passed
much of their time in these Fells. In 1891 the land was owned
mainly by individuals, and was a great resort for gunners.
Hares and grouse were rare. Crows and jays were not exceed-
ingly common, and the smaller land birds were found in such
numbers as are usual about our cities. Within two years after
the Metropolitan Park Commission took the land, and stopped
gunning, trapping and snaring by a remarkably efficient sys-
tem of police protection, hares, grouse, jays and crows became
much more numerous, but many of the smaller birds which
breed in the Fells decreased somewhat in numbers. Our ob-
servers found that the eggs and young of these birds were being
destroyed mainly by crows and jays, which were often seen
during the breeding season searching the woods for them
and destroying them.

Most farmers know the bird-nesting habits of the crow, —
how it sneaks about the house and orchard in the early morning
hours, stealing eggs and nestlings from the nests of robins and
other small birds. Similar habits of the jays are also notorious.
Still, it is not so very often that these birds are actually seen
in the act of eating the eggs of small birds. Crows may com-
monly be seen to destroy the eggs of herons or sea birds, when
these birds are frightened from their breeding places by the
approach of men. In their eagerness to secure the eggs or
young before the return of the parents, crows sometimes become
quite daring. This trait of their character I have observed often
when in heronries or on the rocky islands of the coast, where
sea birds breed; but it is far more difficult to catch them in
the act of robbing the nests of small birds, which are scattered
singly in woods, groves, orchards and undergrowth, where the
crow or jay can readily keep in hiding behind the foliage.

When we first occupied the farm in Wareham, two pairs< of
jays were breeding in the "robin roost," but no crows bred in
the woods about the place. Both crows and jays were very
shy. Crows seldom came into the "robin roost," nor were they
troublesome about the farm. Under such protection as we
were able to give, the jays increased so that by January, 1902,
there were at least fifteen pairs in the "robin roost" and about
the farmyard. They had become so tame by this time that they

37

would come to our windows to feed. Many other jays, also,
finding here a comparatively safe retreat and some food always
at hand, made the place their winter quarters. In the mean
time, the crows also had increased largely. They bred mainly
in the woods of a neighboring farm, but fed much about our
place. As time passed and they were not molested, they be-
came more and more bold, taking eggs and chickens from the
poultry yards, and cautiously searching among the trees, appar-
ently for eggs and young birds. They did this persistently, but
kept their movements so well covered that they would hardly
have been noticed except for the cries of the parent birds, and
their habit of pursuing the crows which came near their nests.
A few birds beside the robin and the chickadee were able to
raise their broods in 1901, but in 1902 the chickadees, pine
warblers and Maryland yellowthroats were the only birds smaller
than a towhee that were known to raise any young.

Kingbirds, robins, brown thrashers, towhees and birds of this
size were able, though much persecuted, to raise some young;
but, so far as we could discover, nearly all the smaller birds,
such as warblers, sparrows and vireos, failed to raise any, while
several species made no attempt to breed here, but left, pre-
sumably for safer quarters. The nests of all these small species
were persistently robbed. Most of them never hatched an egg.
In some places their eggs were stolen before the full complement
was laid. The chipping sparrows in a small apple tree by the
house, having lost their first and second set of eggs, built a nest
on a branch of a tall pine, only to lose the eggs as before. A
pair of vireos changed the location of their nest, with similar
results. The ground-breeding birds suffered less. A pair of
song sparrows, as before stated, were able to hatch their young.
Towhees hatched and reared at least two broods. The nests
of the oven-birds seemed to escape the marauders, but no
young birds were seen later in the woods. No doubt the par-
tial immunity of these ground-breeding birds from the attacks of
their bird enemies lies in the fact of the careful concealment of
their nests. They are more likely to be found, however, by their
four-footed enemies.

Robins, brown thrashers, blackbirds, kingbirds, orioles and
jays seemed better able than the smaller birds to protect them-

38

selves from the attacks of the common enemy. The jays seldom
were able to get a robin's egg if there was a robin within sight.
In such a case the alarm was given, and the jay was immediately
attacked by robins. Both robins and jays bred all about, and
fights between the two species were of daily occurrence. Usu-
ally the robins were engaged in driving the jays away from
robins' nests, but occasionally the jays seemed to be defending
their own nests from the robins. The robins vigorously pro-
tested whenever a stealthy crow appeared. Nevertheless, many
of the robins' eggs were destroyed. The present year (1902)
the crows have become so emboldened by their immunity from
harm that they have frequented the farm more than ever, so that
now even the blue jays find it difficult to raise young. Young
robins and jays have been comparatively scarce. The crows
are becoming more bold, and the situation grows worse as time
passes. There is no time here to discuss the economic position
of the crow, or to enlarge upon the services of the jay as an insect
destroyer; the Board has already received my reports on these
matters. It is enough to say here that, if we wish to protect
our smaller birds and increase their numbers, both crow and
jay must be kept within bounds.

Our Massachusetts laws do not protect these birds; in this
they are wise. The beauty and grace of the jay cannot com-
pensate us for the loss of many other beautiful and useful birds;
and, while the crow has its place, and is at times very valuable
to the farmer, it can never fill the place about the farmyard and
orchard which is now so well filled by the robins, bluebirds,
sparrows, warblers, vireos, wrens and thrushes. Crows and
jays, like all creatures of omnivorous habits, are likely to become
pests wherever they become unduly numerous. Although the
crow has many enemies, there are few crafty or powerful enough
to destroy him. The caution and intelligence of the crow are
proverbial. Crows, by the strength of their combined numbers,
are able to defy even the eagle. They have really only one
effective enemy besides man, and that is the great horned owl.
Years ago, while studying crow roosts in Worcester County, I
found that something was killing crows about these roosts. The
remains consisted mainly of feathers, nearly the entire crow
having been devoured in each case. After the first fresh snow-

39

fall I visited an extensive roost, finding the feathers and a few
other remains of a freshly killed crow. At the spot where the
crow was borne to the ground were found the strong imprints
of the characteristic wing tips of the great horned owl. These
owls habitually take crows from their roosts or nests at night.
In return, the crows always mob an owl if they can find one in
the day time. While we have been proscribing the crow and
shooting it at sight, we have been protecting it by shooting every
owl that comes within range of our guns. No doubt it is mainly
for this reason that crows have multiplied, in spite of this perse-
cution. In our "robin roost" the crows are now in the ascend-
ant; even the jays raised but three broods there last season. One
brood was taken by a hawk and one at least by crows before
they were fully fledged.1

Hawks are better fitted perhaps than any other creature to
pursue and kill other birds, and certain of them may be regarded
as among the worst enemies of birds; but they have not been
placed first in our list of bird enemies, because they are not
especially numerous in the vicinity of the farm. Although all
hawks when hungry will seize other birds whenever they can
get them, there are only a few that are quick enough to follow
and catch small birds in flight. Most of our hawks, therefore,
content themselves mainly with picking up such insects, small
mammals, reptiles and frogs as they can easily get, and such
birds as they are able to catch unawares. The Cooper hawk,
sharp-shinned hawk and duck hawk, which are among the
greatest enemies of small birds, are not common about the farm
at present, although the sharp-shinned hawk is occasionally
seen. There is really but one hawk, in the neighborhood, that
kills many birds or chickens, and that is the marsh hawk, which
is now usually regarded as one of the most useful of all hawks.

This hawk is frequently held up as a model by popular writers
on bird protection. Such expressions as, "it never touches a
chicken," and "seldom kills birds," have been frequently used.
Here, however, a hungry marsh hawk will take a chicken or a
bird when a good chance presents itself. I have known the
marsh hawk to kill snipe, song sparrows, young blue jays and

1 Crows are sometimes attacked by a contagious disease, either identical with or
similar to the roup of poultry. See " The Auk," Vol. XX., p. 57.

40

many chickens. The bird is often followed by the blackbirds,
which may indicate that their nests have been robbed by it.
All along the southeastern shore of Massachusetts from Dart-
mouth to Plymouth this bird is recognized as a chicken thief.
It will glide into the barnyard, seize a young chicken and bear
it away to a tree in the woods or low spot of ground, where
nothing will remain to tell the tale but the scattered feathers.
Well knowing the value of the marsh hawk as a mouser, I was
for some years loath to believe the stories told by farmers and
poultrymen of its ravages in the poultry yard; but during the
past two years I have seen these birds strike and carry off
chickens both in the yard and in the open. Having lost about
forty chickens, the shot gun was brought into requisition, and
but two more were lost that season. The marsh hawk could
not kill chickens when half grown, as the birds were then strong
enough to escape; but small chickens are not safe from this bird
in our vicinity unless they can be kept shut up. These birds
beat over the meadows and sweep over patches of woodland,
snatching young birds from their nests and flying away pursued
by the screaming parents. There is little doubt, however, that
this hawk, so long as it confines itself to its usual habitat in the
fields and meadows, is among the most useful of our native
birds, for there its prey consists largely of field mice and other
small mammals which are believed to be mainly injurious.

The only snake that has been seen to kill birds in this locality
is the black snake, and as these reptiles are not very common,
their depredations are not very serious. This snake devours
the young ground-breeding birds, and probably the eggs also.
It often climbs bushes and trees, and, coiling itself around the
nests of robins, thrashers or catbirds, devours the young in the
most deliberate fashion, the old birds in the mean time fluttering
about in distress, or doing battle with the enemy as best they
may. Occasionally in the summer the birds may be seen
crowding to a certain tree or thicket and uttering cries of dis-
tress. This is always the signal for some one to go to their
relief, and nearly always a cat or a snake is found to be the
cause of the trouble. These snakes often catch fully fledged
young, when, or soon after, they leave the nest.

Skunks are so useful in killing insects that the comparatively

41

few birds' eggs they eat cannot count heavily against them.
Weasels are not plentiful enough in the neighborhood seriously
to affect bird life. To what extent dogs and foxes destroy
the eggs and young of ground birds can only be conjectured.
The smaller owls and the shrikes or butcher birds kill some
small birds; but, as they kill mice and English sparrows, the
good they accomplish overbalances the harm done.

I approach the name of the squirrel with some reluctance,
for squirrels are general favorites among those who appreciate
the beauties of nature. Their grace and beauty, their sprightly
and companionable ways, and their tendency to confide in us
when allowed to do so, have endeared them to many a lonely
soul. But the farmer considers all squirrels pests, and rightly
so. There is no animal which can do the farmer so much
injury in proportion to its size as the squirrel. Squirrels not
only carry off enormous quantities of corn, but they destroy
far more strawberries than birds do, and they ruin ten times as
many pears, peaches and grapes as they can possibly make use
of. The fruit is bitten, and then thrown to the ground to rot.
They will go over planted ground and dig up the seed of
squashes. They will pull or dig up the young corn about as
fast as a crow. They are the very incarnation of mischief.
The red squirrel is perhaps the more mischievous, but the gray
squirrel is not far behind it. It may be this spirit of mis-
chief that impels them to break up the nests of birds. That
they do this is not open to doubt. A pair of gray squirrels
was seen in the "robin roost" in July, 1900. They were not
molested, and soon became so confiding that they built a nest
in a dove cote in the barn the ensuing winter, incidentally driv-
ing out all the pigeons, who left never to return.

Two broods of young ones were raised in the barn; then
nest building was begun in the pines. The squirrels increased
rapidly, and in 1902 six or eight pairs were breeding in the
vicinity. Red squirrels were also quite plentiful. The gray
squirrels made frequent attempts on the nests of both jays
and robins; but, as both birds always joined forces to repel
the common enemy, the squirrels were frequently driven off.
They were not seen to accomplish their object, but no doubt
they did so in some cases. The actions of the birds told that

42

they well realized the danger, and were determined to conquer
or die. The gray squirrels are not so active as the reds; but
either of them are likely, when opportunity offers, to eat birds'
eggs or kill the young. Mr. F. H. Mosher writes me from
Hyde Park, N. Y., that the squirrels there upset birds' nests
quite wantonly; also that they bite off the heads of young
birds and throw the bodies to the ground. It is difficult to
judge how universal such habits are among squirrels, but
where they are observed, it is safest to kill the squirrels at
once.

I have dwelt at some length on the habits of the creatures
that contribute to restrain the increase of birds, that we may
fully realize the importance of protecting birds against these
enemies. If the smaller birds are to resume even their normal
numbers, a different policy must be pursued from that hereto-
fore adopted. Bird protection means something more than
the ordinary interpretation of the term. If we wish to protect
the smaller birds, we must banish or destroy any excess of
their natural enemies. How this is to be done, and just what
its effect will be if it succeeds, is the next subject for inquiry.
These questions can be answered only by the experience of
the future.

The most important conclusion that has been confirmed
by these two years of bird study is that the Corvidce (crows
and jays) are very largely responsible for the decrease of the
smaller birds. I am well aware that some investigators will
not agree with this conclusion; but it has been forced upon
me by the experience of thirty years and the corroborative
observations of the last two. No one can doubt that in the great
plan of nature these birds fill well their place. Their useful-
ness as insect destroyers is well known; but where they become
too numerous, their supply of insect food is soon so limited
that they must turn to other sources for a good part of their
animal food; then small birds and young chickens suffer.
Could the crows and jays hold in check those insects that, in
consequence of the destruction of small birds, are allowed to
increase, then the destructive propensities of the crow family
need not be viewed with alarm. That they can do this is im-

43

probable. By protection, we have made it possible for these
birds to increase. We must remove this protection, or remove
the surplus Corvidce.

DOMESTIC FOWLS AS INSECT DESTROYERS.

Common fowls, if rightly handled, may be made most useful
as insect destroyers in garden and field. We utilize the services
of young chicks in the garden by keeping the mother hens
confined there in small coops along the borders. Then each
brood of little chicks can have the run of that part of the garden
nearest the coop, as well as the grass near by. Young chicks,
kept in this way, soon learn to eat such garden pests as are
turned up by the plow or other garden implements. They are
fond of small caterpillars, maggots and cabbage plant lice, and
some of them will learn to eat the small larvae of the potato
beetles. With us they have not learned to eat the melon plant
lice or the squash insects. But few birds of any kind have been
seen to eat these pests.

Young chicks may be safely kept in gardens until five or six
weeks old, when they will begin to eat the vegetables. Duck-
lings are useful, but more destructive than chicks. They are
very fond of radishes, and will devour them when very small.
All this is not new to many farmers, but not all are aware that
large chickens or even full-grown fowls sometimes may be
used to check insect invasions in the garden. If hens are kept
well supplied with green food, grain and water, they may be
turned into the garden occasionally, to follow plow, cultivator
or wheel hoe. They soon learn that in following such imple-
ments they will find angle worms, cutworms, wireworms and
other insect food, and they will seldom do much injury to the
garden while so engaged. If they have not been liberally sup-
plied with such grain, green food and water as they need, they
will attack both vegetables and fruits. Most farmers know
that fowls will clear fields infested with grasshoppers, crickets
and army worms. Ducks are particularly fond of army worms,
and a flock of five hundred ducks ought to be able to stop the
progress of these destructive pests on any farm. It is said
that young turkeys may be taught to eat the larva of the Colorado

44

potato beetle, and will clear the vines of this pest. Some ducks
eat this insect. Mr. E. H. Kern of Mankato, Kan., writes
that his ducks cleared the bugs from the potato field. So far
as his experience goes, all ducks like these insects, and seem
to grow fat by feeding on them. 1

Chickens will destroy the maggots of the common house
fly, and thus prevent the increase of this pest. Dr. Howard,
chief entomologist of the United States Department of Agri-
culture, tells us that these flies breed chiefly in horse manure,
and also in human excreta.2 He tells how to prevent their
increase in vaults and manure piles by the use of chloride of
lime. We find that a few chickens confined where they can
scratch over the stable manure are effective, and less expensive
than the chloride of lime. They will spend much time scratching
and digging over this manure, looking for partially digested
grain, seeds and maggots. This scratching fines up and dries
out the manure, rendering it an unfit breeding place for flies;
but if any maggots appear, they are soon eaten.

While there are some insect pests that are not eaten to any
extent by either wild birds or poultry, most of them may be
controlled by one or the other. Young chickens, and even
mature fowls, eat a great many weed seeds. Fowls may be
used to take the place, in a measure, of the wild turkey, par-
tridge, heath hen, wild pigeon and quail, once plentiful in Massa-
chusetts, but now in one case exterminated and in the others
altogether too rare. The man who raises one thousand chickens,
five hundred ducks and a few turkeys each year, has under
control a police force sufficient to check any invasion of such
grass, grain or garden insects as poultry will eat; but we must
still depend largely on the wild birds to hold the tree-inhabiting
insects in check.

1 Insect Life, Vol. III., p. 398.

J Circular No. 35, second series. Division of Entomology, United States Department
of Agriculture.

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