. Birds in their relations to man; a manual of economic ornithology for the United States and Canada . inch damage to grains,eggs, and poultry; in thegrass-fields moles andmeadow-mice are some-times injurious; in the or-chards rabbits often girdleyoung trees by gnawingthe bark. Against thesealso the birds help us : thehawks and owls feed largely upon all these rodents, and per-form a great though little appreciated service in keeping themin check. After many years of study, in New Hampshire as well asmany other Slates, of these relations of birds to agriculture,we are convinced that the birds
. Birds in their relations to man; a manual of economic ornithology for the United States and Canada . inch damage to grains,eggs, and poultry; in thegrass-fields moles andmeadow-mice are some-times injurious; in the or-chards rabbits often girdleyoung trees by gnawingthe bark. Against thesealso the birds help us : thehawks and owls feed largely upon all these rodents, and per-form a great though little appreciated service in keeping themin check. After many years of study, in New Hampshire as well asmany other Slates, of these relations of birds to agriculture,we are convinced that the birds are a most potent factor inmaking crop production possible, that without them we shouldbe overrun with pests—vertebrate and invertebrate—to anextent of which we now have no conception. And so we aredisposed to be lenient towards the few shortcomings of thebirds which loom so large to many who see only one side ofthe picture. Fruit is pilfered by some of the birds, thoughin our region so few cherries and small fruits are raised andthere is relatively so much wild fruit that the loss is of small. THE YELLcAV WAKBLEll. THE RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO MAN. 5 account. In orchards near the woods a few trees are oftendisbudded in winter by ruffed grouse, and some other treesare treated in a similar way occasionally when the pinegrosbeaks visit us. In corn-fields some corn is pulled upby crows, though our farmers prevent this largely by variousmeans, and from us at least find no objection when they areable to shoot these wily thieves. And the same is true inHit case of the yellow-bellied sap-sucker when it is girdlinga tree, if only the owner will not extend his hatred to thewoodpeckers that resemble it,—the downy and the hairy,—which are so eminently useful. In England some birds are
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1903
