. The Relation of Birds to the Cotton Boll Weevil . he sparrows,by closing the entrances to the nestingboxes during the winter, or by taking theboxes down until the arrival of the mar-tins in spring. ( l R \I. METHODS. Investigation of the habits of birds dur-ing the winter month- has shown that cer-tain species, notably Brewer blackbirds,bronzed grackles, great-tailed grackles, kill-deer, and upland plover, arc quickly at-tracted to iiilds where plowing or hamm-ing is going n.*an<l usually when thesebirds have been shol while following theplow. boll weevils have been found in theirsto
. The Relation of Birds to the Cotton Boll Weevil . he sparrows,by closing the entrances to the nestingboxes during the winter, or by taking theboxes down until the arrival of the mar-tins in spring. ( l R \I. METHODS. Investigation of the habits of birds dur-ing the winter month- has shown that cer-tain species, notably Brewer blackbirds,bronzed grackles, great-tailed grackles, kill-deer, and upland plover, arc quickly at-tracted to iiilds where plowing or hamm-ing is going n.*an<l usually when thesebirds have been shol while following theplow. boll weevils have been found in theirstomachs. This is particularly true in fieldswhere the ground is being newly broken orthe old cotton -talk- first broken down. Inview of the pronounced habit on thepart of many bird- of feeding in culti-vated held-, the following suggestionsare believed to be worthy of adoption: 1. Break the ground as early in the win-ter as practicable, at a time when blackbird- are numerous. Ithe first plowing the ground i- -till rough, or if there i- any r. A house. f afterubbish 12 RELATION OF BIRDS TO COTTON BOLL WEEVIL. about the field, continue to stir or harrow the ground and thus give the birds a chance to pick up the weevils as they are driven fromtheir hiding places. 2. Destroy every stalk of volunteer or seppa cotton before plantingtime. Investigations during the very mild spring of 1007 showedclearly the folly of allowing seppa cotton to grow. The weevilsemerged early from hibernation and at once began to feed on thesprouted plants, which were very numerous all over south Texasand as far north as northern Louisiana. The birds were unable tofind the weevils readily after the latter had taken to the plants andhence large numbers survived until the new cotton was large enoughfor them to feed upon. Had there been no seppa cotton in the fieldsthe weevils would have been exposed to the attacks of all ground-feeding birds and their numbers would have been materially reduced. STATUS OF T
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