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The Commoner.
IO
?3rrj&mK'J 1 T. A"W
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A Pica for the Protection of Birds.
The fact that Insect depredations are
increasing in extent each succeeding
year makes it plain to us that some
thing must bo done to prevent it, and
that quickly. Wo havo found to our
sorrow, that although wo aro contin
ually making increased efforts to de
stroy these pests, our efforts avail but
little and the destruction of our crops
goes on. What, then, is to bo done?
How can wo bo released from this
ever increasing struggle for oxistenco?
The answer is plain. Heed the ad
vice ot the naturalist who has made a
study of the life-histories of tho var
ious other living creatures in tho world
about us. Do not condemn what ho
says without at least examining into
it a little.
In his desire for bird protection tho
naturalist is not prompted by senti
ment alone far from it! Although
from the sentimental standpoint sole
ly tho friend of birds would havo suf
ficient grounds for making such a re
quest. "To. appreciate tho "beauty of form
and plumage of birds, tholr grace of
motion and musical powers, wo must
know thorn." "Tho easo with which
wo may become familiar with the
feathered neighbors robs ignorance of
all excuses." "Once awaro of their
existence, and wo shall seo a bird in
ovory bush and find the heavens their I
pathway. One moment we may admire
their beauty of plumage, tho next mar
vel at the ease and grace with which
they dash by us or circle high over
head." Tho comings and goings of
our migratory birds in springtime and
fall, their nest-building and rearing
of young, their many regular and beau
tiful ways as exhibited in their daily
lives, stir within us impulses for kind-
ness toward tho various creatures
which share tho world with us. "But
birds will appeal to us most strongly
through their song. When your ears
aro attuned to the music of birds, your
world will bo transformed. Birds'
songs are the most eloquent of nature's
voices: the gay carol of the grosbeak
in tho morning, tho dreamy, midday
call of tho pewee, tho vesper hymn of
the thrush, the clanging of geese in
springtime, tho farewell of the blue
bird in the fall how clearly each one
expresses the sentiment of the hour or
season!"
But if we cannot take up the sub
ject of bird protection from the hu
mane standpoint, if we have no chord
of sympathy or sense of honor re
maining, aro we willing to adopt busi
ness principles in our dealings with
tho birds?
Quoting from a paper by Professor
S. A. Forbes, who has done much in
the lino of bird study in their direct
relations to man, we have the follow
ing: "Excluding the inhabitants of
tho great seas, birds aro tho most
abundant of the vertebrata, occupying
In this great sub-kingdom the same
prominent position that insects do
among invertebrate animals." This
position of the two groups in their re
spective divisions of tho animal life of
tho globe cannot bo duo simply to
chance. There must be some conneq
tion between them. What is it?
It is needless here for mo to state
that tho insect life about us Js num
erous and varied. We all know this to
be too true. Nearly, if not quite, nine
tenths of all animal forms belong here,
while the individuals of many kinds
are incalculable. We know also that
their powers of reproduction are sim
ply wonderful, being limited only by
tho amount of food available, etc.
Now, tho disproportionate number of
birds on tho other hand, with their
"universal distribution, tho remarka
ble locomotive power which enables
them readily to escape unfavorable
conditions, and their higher rate of
life, requiring for their maintenance
an amount of food rolativoly enorm
ous," give to them a significance which
iew seem ever to havo realized.
jineny tow, tho economic rolatlon
t birds to man lies in the services
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which they render in checking the un
due increase of insects, the devouring
of small rodents, in destroying tho
seeds of noxious weeds, and by acting
as scavengers on land and water.
Those who havo studied the subject
carefully have estimated that a loss of
nearly $400,000,000 is sustained annual
ly by tho cultivators of the soil from
insect ravages in the United States
and Canada. This does not include
the damage done to ornamental shrub
bery, shade, and forest trees, nor to the
grasses growing on our prairies. "But
if insects are the natural enemies of
vegetation, birds are the natural ene
mies of insects."
"In the air swallows and swifts are
coursing rapidly to and fro, ever in
pursuit of tho insects which constitute
their sole food.'r,When they retire, the
nighthtfwks and wliip-poor-wills will
take up the chase, catching moths and
other nocturnal insects which would
escape day-flyfng birds. Fly-catchers
lie in wait, darting from ambush at
passing prey, and with a suggestive
click of tho bill returning to their post.
The warblers, light, active creatures,
flutter about the terminal foilago, and.
with almost tho skill of a humming
bird, pick insects from the leaf or
blossoms. The vireos patiently explore
tho undersides of leaves and odd nooks
and corners to see that no skulker es
capes. The woodpeckers, nuthatches,
and creepers attend to the trunks and
limbs, examining carefully each inch
of bark for insects' eggs and larvae,
or excavating for the ants and borers
they hear within. On the ground tho
hunt is continued by the thrushes,
sparrows, and other birds that feed
upon the innumerable forms of ter
restrial insects. Few places in which
insects exist aro neglected; oven somo
species which pass their earlier stages
or entire lives in the water are preyed
upon by aquatic birds."
In nearly every case where the food
habits of our birds have been careful
ly studied, do we And that tho good
done far exceeds the possible harm
that might be inflicted by our birds.
Allowing twenty-flve insects per day
as an avorage diet for each individual
bird, and estimating that wo have
about 6ne and one-half birds to tho
acre, or in round numbers 75,000,000
birds in Nebraska, there would be re-
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