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Outdoor Problems of the Householder: Common

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF THE ORCHARD AND GARDEN Our Common Birds. -Common observation of the feeding habits of vest. some well known birds has led to widespread prejudice against birds in general as enemies of the orchard and garden. The robin, cat bird, cedar bird, and others are often accused as thieves of fruit. The king bird is thought to rob the apiary.

The woodpecker is said to injure orchard and forest trees by girdling them or excavating hollows in their trunks and branches. The crow, blackbird, and others, rob the grain fields both at planting time and har- The blue jay destroys the nests and eggs of other birds. And many similar charges are brought against different species of the feathered tribe. The existing prejudice against birds is the more unfortunate, since recent scientific studies indicate that, almost without exception, our common birds are among the best friends of the orchardist and gardener. Any harm they may do to fruit crops or otherwise is more than compensated, in the opinion of scientists, by the enormous numbers of injurious insects, grubs and larvæ that they annually destroy. Scientific analyses have been made of the stomach contents of most common kinds of birds throughout the United States. These prove beyond question that the great bulk of the diet of most species consists of noxious weed seeds and injurious insects or other grubs and larvæ. With the exception of a very few species, the proportion of fruit, grain or other farm or garden crops found in the stomachs of birds has been very small. Hence, it seems certain that bird life in the vicinity of our farms and gardens should be encouraged by every means within power. our It is true that some birds which are beneficial under ordinary circumstances or during the greater part of the year, may do considerable injury during periods of scarcity of food, or under special circumstances, as during the sowing of grain, the ripening of early fruits, or when grain is in the stook or ear. A special OUTDOOR PROBLEMS OF THE HOUSEHOLDER 271 remedy for each such injury should be sought according to the circumstances, rather than the destruction of the birds themselves.

To enumerate the kinds of birds whose feeding habits are beneficial to the gardener and orchardist would require a review of practically every existing species. On the contrary, a few words will suffice to draw attention to the few species which are actually injurious and to indicate how their ravages may be prevented. In general, among the most useful birds are the quail, or bobwhite; all the woodpeckers including the flicker, but excepting the true sapsucker, which is injurious; the night hawk; all of the fly catchers, including the king bird, Arkansas king bird and Phœbe; the blue jay, but not the Pacific Coast jays which are injurious; the crow, the bobolink (in Northern latitudes), which is, however, injurious to the Southern rice crops under the name of reed bird; all of the blackbirds; the orioles, larks, sparrows, finches; all of the grosbeaks, which are highly beneficial; all of the swallows; the robin, cedar bird, cat bird, and brown thresher; the house wren and titmice, including the chickadees which are highly beneficial; and the humming bird.

Among larger birds, the prairie chicken, California quail, ruffed grouse, upland plover, killdeer, horned grebe, Franklin gull, and various species of terns are all beneficial. Cooper's hawk-the wellknown chicken hawk-is injurious; but the rough legged hawk, the sparrow hawk, the long-eared owl and the screech owl are all beneficial.

Their food consists chiefly of meadow mice and other small rodents injurious to crops or mischievous in and about farm buildings.

Sapsuckers. - Only three of the twenty-three species of woodpeckers in the United States are properly classed as sapsuckers. Unlike the true woodpeckers who feed on wood borers and other enemies of trees, the sapsuckers live chiefly upon ants.

But they also feed upon the inner bark of trees and drink a great deal of their sap. Sometimes they completely girdle and thus destroy a tree with holes which go clear through the bark and even into the wood. These are usually made in rings around the trunk or limbs. They often fall in a vertical series and they may be either vertically or horizontally connected. These holes disfigure ornamental trees by causing pitch to exude and sometimes induce serious permanent injury. The evidence of their work depreciates the value of forest trees as lumber to the extent of many thousand dollars a year.

The two species which do most injury are the red-breasted sapsucker and the yellow-bellied sapsucker.

The first lives west of the Rocky Mountains and is the only woodpecker of that region having the whole head and throat red. The second has a transcontinental range and is the only woodpecker having the front of the head, i. e., from bill to crown, red in combination with a black patch on the breast. The majority of woodpeckers seen are not sapsuckers but are among the birds most beneficial to both orchard and forest. Hence great care should be taken to distinguish them. To destroy sapsuckers, mix thoroughly ounce powdered strychnine (alkaloid) with one pint of honey or thick sugar. Apply to the injured tree just above the rows of fresh punctures. Or put small pinches of the powdered strychnine directly into the freshest sap pits. source The King Bird. - This bird is often accused of feeding upon honey bees but the examination of their stomachs prove that extremely small numbers of worker bees are eaten and that any loss from this is far more than offset by the destruction of great numbers of in- More than 90 jurious insects. per cent of the diet of the king bird is shown to belong to the latter class.

Blue Jay. The common blue jay of the Eastern States is often accused of eating the eggs and young of small birds and of stealing corn.

While both accusations are doubtless true to a limited extent, investigation has proved that, roughly speaking, half of the blue jay's diet consists of nuts and acorns, about one-fifth of injurious insects and the remainder of a great miscellany of foods. Only a small fraction consists of corn, most of which is gleaned from the fields after harvest. The blue jay may occasionally rob the fields of corn at planting time but this may be prevented by coating the corn with tar. Such other sins as he may commit do not appear to justify his extirpation. The well known California jay of the Pacific Coast, however, is a notorious fruit stealer and robber of hens' nests. He is so prolific in that region that efforts to reduce his numbers are not without justification.

The Crow. The crow pulls up sprouting corn, destroys chickens, robs the nests of small birds and sometimes eats beneficial toads and small snakes. But in his diet the crow makes amends by eating large numbers of grasshoppers, bugs and caterpillars and many cut worms.

The crow rarely, if ever, eats hard, dry corn or otherwise robs the harvest field; but he sometimes does great injury at planting time and occasionally attacks corn before it is ripe and while still in milk. The best way to prevent crows from pulling up corn is by coating it with tar before planting.

Experience has also shown that crows and many other birds may be kept from the corn throughout the season by "stringing" the field.

Use for this purpose common twine supported by a row of light poles.

Saplings 10 or 12 feet long, 2 inches in diameter at the base, make suitable poles for this purpose. Thrust these into the ground in holes made by a crowbar around the edge of the garden or other field. Set them at considerable distance apart and suspend the twine high enough from the ground to be out of the way during horse cultivation. If these and other ordinary precautions are taken to protect corn and young poultry against the depredation of crows, it is believed that the season's balance will be found overwhelmingly in their favor.

The crow blackbird sometimes steals grain and fruits and robs the nests of other birds. But about onethird of his food consists of injurious insects. The amount of damage done is small except when large flocks settle upon the grain crops at harvest time. For this there seems to be no adequate remedy, except shooting which is ordinarily too expensive.

Swallows. The various kinds of swallows are especially useful birds.

Their diet consists almost wholly of injurious or annoying insects. Their presence may be encouraged in case of eave swallows, by providing a quantity of mud to be used by them as mortar. Cut small holes in the gables of barns for barn swallows and furnish suitable boxes for the white-bellied swallows and martins. Place these preferably upon a tall pole or other high location.