The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 25, 1906, Page 14

————— HAT THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY evervthing om end within the earth was created for some purpose or ot as béen generov ded by menkind time tmmem- that the most sefu tes, or even t Coast. W e of wild ber for birds, they rds tates quality with the or garden is - only cties- are exterminated )t the w wher e tities are gath « well a& bitde. The same . of berriés and huckleberries, e-s t 4n the wild' state ted, they oe- markets of of these genera are they usually from - the fact the elde are the o he stoma pepper ap- hs tree e have e East- % that ‘rst produced ds welcomed frults to their diet fous experfence hed given them for it without Rratify- r sppetite” They now found a and of a Srpshth, L e p svhetitnte in the desire to s the often have 1o v from one to miles—p $0 it Ades not like t ha< lenried that within niobably a1es there is an abundance of e of “he grome or the cherry »nd hint \ studr of a vimber Caiifornia Birfs bos led ssov Peal 1n the conclusicn that »s s Hies ta the f-nit are Mue meiation of . great mrmher rds of a single species, or of several ] species, within a limited Iy when it is the custom of flacke. o associate In large e birds be see fleids nd leave ruin thoir path; if fruit lovers, their haven, and havoc re the ssipp: V chards “of a compluaint tos man | species " indivii- taught him 10 be grat- kind is an undye extent cal is, as I have® = 105t inex ible i 3 wledge of Califos s he chcerfully impa: y n clvii- r curiosity is suddenly aroused hat particular birds he considers to fru other s then th at you that the epared to give The rthern California ‘fruit grower when he was asked by the Government thoritles seviral years ago o specify 1e purticular birds that were menacing his indusay abruptly charged ali his trou up to the or linnet, and lassed successively with the | the biackbird, the oriole, the grosb: t thrush, and oftentimes the California ja the quail when thelr habitats were s ted in the vicinity of ranches lying the more narrowed valleys or canyons ar the wooded hilis. “Of all the birds 1 have mentioned >rofessor Beal, “‘the linnet is regard- ed as a lcader among destroyers in North- ern California orchards. It is a: vigorous and harér bird, a prolific breeder and a bLold marauder, -which has few equals throughout the world. A study of its gen- cra) character and its ever readiness to provide for its wants will quickly remind you of the English sparrow, which ‘can cut through the skin of the toughcst fr It inaugurates its yearly depreda- tions with the early cherry crop, @nd so long as fruit remains the linnet is inces- santly pursuing his destiuctive work." An examination by Professor Beel of the stomachs of linnets showed-that, as in the case of the majority bf the fringiiline famil:, the bird's natural food ¢ sts-of seecs. with a vory small admixtive of animal matter. “This last, says Professor Beal, aggregateg only a little more than 3 ceat of the yearly food and con principaily of Injurious plant: lice. The change from seed to fruit on the part of the linnet has undoubtedly been brought about by the introduction of the d!fferent varieties of cultivated fruits, which during & part of the year haie presented an sbundant and easily “ac- cessible supp eof food. But even now fruit forms only 9 per cent of-the annual food; cobsequently. argues Professor Beal, if the birds of this species were no so supergbundant the harm done by th woliid hardly attract attention. Their im mense numbers cause the comparatively small rerc.ntage of fruit to swell inio €normous aggregate Recent inquiry has brought out the fact that less complaint is now being made st the Hnnet than formeriy, a change which Professor Beal thinks is due to tne fact that the fruit growing aréa of the State has been increasing more rapidly then the birds, and that as a resuit’ thelr -pliferings. being extended to a greater territory, are now les; notice- able “Could any device be hit upon,” says he, “to reduce the specles to half fts present number there is little doubt that re depredations of the linnet would be lessenied that, cxcept in the case of small collection of- f-uit trees in yil- re is réason for not seeking an g a of the linnet Professor Beal points eut in the fact that while the bird is an acknowledged marauder In Some scctions of 1he State, the linnet has -at least one useful purpose in life and that is its almost constant consumption of the seeds of noxlous weeds. Therefore on the esthetic side of the question can be, found a reason for its preservation. “Bearing in mind,” says‘he, “that ‘the. seeds of noxiovs meeds -are raally- the principal item of food of the Uiuet: the aggregate of these consumed In-a year is sbmething beyond calculation and in-a measure offscts the ~~lue of the fruit de- stroved. In the humid coast belt, where weeds flourish throughout summer, there can be no doubt that the bird does far more good than harm. ‘While as a de- strover of fruit in California the linnet unquestionably stanus first, it is not so easy to say what species occupies second place. Nor is it probable that this place would Dbe assigned to the same bird in every locality; for the economic status of a specles varles with 1t3 “environment, with the result that a bird harmful in one Iogality may be less so'or not at all in another.” Sl The .stewer blackbird (Euphagus cyan- ocephalus) I8 a specles against which much complaint has been made by the California orchardist and which Professor Beal "has “found eats’ an appreciable amoint af fruit, especia..y cherries. But on the other hand it.eats Insects to a.consid-. crable extent. Durlng the cherry season Profcssor Beil made a close study of this bird in the orchards and ¢ollected a large number “of them. ' The: blackbirds were seen to eat freely of cherries and .the stomachs showed ‘that a goodly percent- age of the food consisted of cherry pulp. While these observations were being made a neighboring fruit grower began plowing his orchard,” Almost immediately' every blackbird in.the vicinity was. upon. the newly gpened ground, and many fol- lowed within a few feét of the plowman's hcels in their avparent ‘eagerness to get CALL. évery grub or other insect turned out by the plow. This action on the part of the bird finally convinced Professor Beal that a thorough investigation of its food habits will show that by its destruction of injuri- ous insects the species is really paying well for the amount of frult it consumes. He found that the black-headed gros- beak is another frequenter of the Cali- fornia orchards and often builds its nests in them.' Nature has furnished it with a beak with which it ean bite the toughest fruft: and undoubtedly it takes its share, though no moré¢ than may be reasonhbly allowed, In view -* ..e fact that it feeds largely on the black olive-scale. But scales are not the only pests the grosbeak destro; for caterpillars of various kinds and the pupae of " the notorious codling " moth are freely eaten; and any bird that helps to destroy this last insect. the curse of California apple culture, will be hailed as a blessing in spite of any shortcomings it may have. 2 Next in lne to the nremier fruit de- stroyer Professor Beal declares is what is known as the California jay. one of the most Interesting birds to study and one of the trickiest of the feathered species. Yet he insists that while the jay has many sins to answer for, it also pos- sesses a number of rood qualities. Of this bird hé has the following to say: “It is possible that.the jays first visit- ed the orchards for: the purpose of ray- aging the nests of the smaller birds that breed there, and that on these visits they got thelr first taste of cultivated fruit and ac ed an appetite which later, through the further development of or- chard industry, they were fully able to gratify. “While the linnets are the cause of most complaint, being more universally distributed than the jays, they probably are more destryctive than the larger birds, which undoubtedly carry off much fruit that they never eat. On one occasion I watched for some time an orchard of prune trees situated where a ravine or small canyon opened into a larger one. The fruit on these trees wak just beginning to ripen. Two continuous lines of jays were seen pass- ing, the®one up, the other down the ravine to the orchard. Each bird of the line going up carried a prune In its beak, while the other line returned empty-mouthed. Although this work was watched for ony a short time, there i3 no reason to doubt that it was carried on for some hours each day. In view of the fact that the stealing began several days before the prunes were ripe enough to pick, the result may be easily calcu- lated. A similar observation was made in a cherry orchard in a canyon near the woods. The jays were making havoc with the fruit, and every bird that left the orchard of its own aceord carried off a cherry.” Professor Beal tells of another occa- sion where a score of jays were succes- sively shot from one prune tree within a period of fifteen minutes, the birds continuing to come unwarned by the bodles of their dead predecessors, which lay ungathered on the ground. The habit-of carrylng off the fruit they steal renders the jays much more destructive than if they ate their booty upon the spot. They are believed to eat but little of the hoarded fruit, which in the case ot oft fruits must soon rot. It is likely hat the birds hoard fruits through a misdirected instinct, having been in the habit of storing acorns and other nuts that keep perfectly. In addition to what they cat and carry off, the jays, like the jinnets, peck a great deal of frult which they injure no further, but which Is spoiled ‘as effectually as if it were en- tirely eaten. After the prune crop has been harvested, the almonds begin to ripen, and the jays again gather in the orchards. The jays work at this storing with an energy and perseverance that Is in itgelf commendable. A man who owned a large ranch situated in a canyon had planted near his house a dozen or two almond trees. Although the trees were now well grown and generally bors profusely, he never got any of the crop; the jays always began on the nuts as soon as they were well grown, but before they were ripe, and did not de- sist until tae last one had been gath- ered. These instances of observed de- struction of fruit by the California jay are local and may be exceptional. Yet, it appears that in places the jays, llke the linnets, are superabundant, and that a reduction in their number is de- sirable. As to the destructive habits of the California Valley quail, the professor says he is not prepared to credit it with all the offenscs that have been charged against it by the fruit raiser. Although one of the latter has declared that an- annual loss of twenty tons of grapes on his vineyard may be directly traced to the quail's food habits, the Blological Survey exgmined 600 stomachs of the bird and found that of its year’s food 7.60 per cent consisted of fruilt, but only one hundred: of 1 per cent was analyzed as grap: says Professor Beal, “do not show that the bird does no harm by destroying grapes, for the damage is done during a short portion of the year, mainly in September and Octobers and, morecover, it is scarcely possible to identi{y grapes in a bird’'s stomach unless the sceds have been swallowed, which is not usually the case. If the amount of fruit eaten during this time, though very considerable In It- self, be distributed over the whole year, it becomes insignificant. Ths maximum quantity was taken in December and amounted to 32.40 per cent of the month’s food. This must have been mostly waste fruit. as at that season the harvest is over for everything ex- cept olives.” The Bullock oriole is another of the bird species that has been accused of much destructive work In the Western orchards. It !s known to be a natural bird of the orchards. but a study of its habits revenled the fact th3t it invari- bly builds its nest beyond the confines of the orchards 'n the taller trees. It was, however, often seen pecking at the cherries and close observation and a carcful examipation of the bird's stomach showed that it was guilty to some extent of fruit destruction. On the other hand Professor Beal often noticed it going to the ground to get fruit that had been dropped there by another bird. One fact brought eut by the Investigation of the oriole’s babits is that it usually attacks cher- ries which have been first brokea into by the linnet, thus leaving the way open for a possible conclusien that nature has not gifted the oriole with the necessary facilities for eating unis- jured fruit. Like the grosbeak, the oricle feeds a great deal on the black soale a point which he emphasizes as & good yeason why the bird should not be me- lested, unless it becomes more abua- dant and more destructive @ Califor- nis than at present. In the narrow fruit belt bordering ea San Francisco Bay, Professor Beal has found that the russet-back thrush vis- its the orchards every day while ear- ler fruits are ripe, provided the spot is not too far from its favorite nest- ing place in the bushes or trees on the banks of & stream. A careful study of this bird’s habits satisfied him that the thrush eats most fruit when It is car- ing for its young, yet an examination of the stomachs of both the old and the young birds, taken at this particu- lar time, revealed the fact that the fruit is eaten almost exclusively by the old birds, while, as is usually the ca: the young are fed on Insects. Just why the older birds should subsist so largely on fruit during the period of reproduction he was not able to de- termine. “During my observations of the thrush's habits,” declares the profes- sor, “I learned that when the nesting season is past it returns to its norma “ dlet of insects. as in the case of t oriole, the fruit eaten by the thrus consists mainly of that first pecked the linnet. The bird may be obse on the ground eating fallen r much oftener than it is se trees, implying that it in breaking the skin of have not already been broker other bird. The liking of th for a nesting site in water keeps it from preying t chards situated at a distance streams. It is probable, however this bird, like the grosbeak and or.wie. fully pays for all the fruit it takes The most striking example of excel tional and intermittent damage to fruit by birds that came to the attention . Professor Beal was the destruction of the olive crops by robins. In the winters of 1900 and 191 the robins, in vast num- bers, visited the oltve orchards in various parts of California, and before they were ready to leave they had, In many in- stances, destroyed whole crops. In other cases, where they were driven away, they destroyed from one-fourth to one-half of the crops. The attacks of the robins in those two winters were felt most keenly by the orchardists of Santa Clara Valley. In several cases it was estimated by growers that at least 50,000 robins had been in their orchards on a single day. While an investigation by Professor Beal fully confirmed the reports of the devastation caused by these birds, he found that the robin, although always present In thig State, seldom makes these attacks, which, accerding to the natural conclusion of the professor, were due to a fallure in some element of the robin’ regular food, and as a result it was forced to shift its quarters until & necessary sustenance was found. * Notwithstanding the feeling enter- tained Dby the California fruit grower against the robin, Professor Beal takes the side of the bird and insists that it is too valuable to be exterminated. and in support of this declaration he says: “An exainination of 500 stomachs shows that over 42 per cent of its food is animal matter, principally insects, while the re- mainder {s made up largely of small frulte or berries. Over 19 per cent consists of beetles, about one-third of which are use- ful ground beetles, taken mostly in the spring and fall, when other insects are scarce. Grasshoppers make up about one- tenth of the whole food, but in August comprise over 30 per cent. Caterpillars form about 6 per cent, while the rest of the animal food, about 7 per cent, is made up of various insects, with a few spiders, snails and angleworms.” The examination further showed that vegetable food forms nearly per cent of the contents of the robin’s stomach, more than 47 per cent of this being wild fruits, and only a little more than 4 per cent being possibly of the cultivated va rieties. Cuitivated fruit amounting to about 35 per cent was found in the stom- achs in June and July, but only a trifle in August. Wila fruit, on the comtrary is eaten in every month, and constitutes during. half .the year a staple food. No less than fortv-two s fes were identi- fled in the stomachs. This showing prompts Professor Real accept the conclusion that, in view of the fact that the robin takes ten times as much wild as cultivated fruit, It is rea- sonable to deem it unwise to destroy it to save so little. “Nor is it necessary says the learned gentleman. “for by a Mttle care both birds and fruit may be preserved. Where much fruit is, = it is no great loss to give up one tree to the birds, and in some cases the cro be protected by Many persons have written about the delicate discriminatiop of birds for choice frult, asserting that only fhe finest and costliest varieties are selécted. This Is contrary to all careful sclentific obser- vation. Birds, unlike human beings, seem to prefer fruit llke the mulberry, that is swectly insipid. or one that has some astringent or bitter quality lke the chokecherry or holl The so-called black alder (flex verticillata), which Is a specles of holly, has bright scarlet ber- ries, as bitter as quinine, that ripen late fn October, and remain on the by through November. Thoush frost grapes, the fruit of the V' creeper, and sev- 1 are abundant at s eat the berries erable extent. as eral species of & the same time. of the holly to 4 shown bv the see’s found in the stom- achs. It is, mereaver, a remarkable fact that the wild upan which they are those which m neither rathers for his own use nof adopts for cultivation. 4