Some Common Birds in Their Relation to Agriculture — John Shaqi
Some Common Birds in Their Relation to AgricultureBeal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Science
Some Common Birds in Their Relation to Agriculture
Beal, F. E. L. (Foster Ellenborough Lascelles)
Birds -- United States
The white-bellied swallow eats a considerable number of berries of the
bayberry, or wax myrtle. During migrations and in winter it has a habit of
roosting in these shrubs, and it probably obtains the fruit at that time.
It is a mistake to tear down the nests of a colony of cliff swallows from
the eaves of a barn, for so far from disfiguring a building the nests make
a picturesque addition, and their presence should be encouraged by every
device. It is said that cliff and barn swallows can be induced to build
their nests in a particular locality, otherwise suitable, by providing a
quantity of mud to be used as mortar. Barn swallows may also be encouraged
by cutting a small hole in the gable of the barn, while martins and
white-bellied swallows will be grateful for boxes like those for the
bluebird, but placed in some higher situation.
THE CEDAR BIRD.
(_Ampelis cedrorum._)
The cedar waxwing, or cherry bird (fig. 17), inhabits the whole of the
United States, but is much less common in the West. Although the great
bulk of the species retires southward in winter, the bird is occasionally
found in every State during the colder months, especially if wild berries
are abundant. Its proverbial fondness for cherries has given rise to its
popular name, and much complaint has been made on account of the fruit
eaten. Observation has shown, however, that its depredations are confined
to trees on which the fruit ripens earliest, while later varieties are
comparatively untouched. This is probably owing to the fact that when wild
fruits ripen they are preferred to cherries, and really constitute the
bulk of the cedar bird's diet.
In 152 stomachs examined animal matter formed only 13 and vegetable 87
per cent, showing that the bird is not wholly a fruit eater. With the
exception of a few snails, all the animal food consisted of insects,
mainly beetles--and all but one more or less noxious, the famous elm
leaf-beetle being among the number. Bark or scale lice were found in
several stomachs, while the remainder of the animal food was made up of
grasshoppers, bugs, and the like. Three nestlings were found to have been
fed almost entirely on insects.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--Cedar bird.]
Of the 87 per cent of vegetable food, 74 consisted entirely of wild fruit
or seeds and 13 of cultivated fruit, but a large part of the latter was
made up of blackberries and raspberries, and it is very doubtful whether
they represented cultivated varieties. Cherry stealing is the chief
complaint against this bird, but of the 152 stomachs only 9, all taken in
June and July, contained any remains of cultivated cherries, and these
aggregate but 5 per cent of the year's food. As 41 stomachs were collected
in those months, it is evident that the birds do not live to any great
extent on cultivated cherries.
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