F
FROM a purely practical point of view the most important of the relations of native birds to man are the economic. The esthetic value of birds is great—greater, indeed, than that of any other group of animals; and that this is a real and especially treasured value is not to be denied. But it is in their relation to insect and other enemies of crops that birds are most directly associated with the welfare of mankind, and their value in this particular should be made as widely known as possible.
This bulletin is one of a series designed to assist in doing this. Not all birds are beneficial, and all facts tending to show in which class each species belongs will be set forth. The useful kinds far outnumber the injurious, however, and so great is their value as insect destroyers in the United States that to them may be given the credit of being one of the greatest controlling factors in limiting the development of insect pests and in preventing many disastrous outbreaks.
In the following pages are discussed the habitat, food habits, and relation to agriculture of more than 50 species of birds common to farming sections.
Washington, D. C.
Issued February 13, 1915; revised April, 1926
SOME COMMON BIRDS
USEFUL TO THE FARMER.[1]
By F. E. L. Beal, Late Assistant Biologist, Division of Food Habits Research, Bureau of Biological Survey.
[1] This bulletin is largely a revision of Farmers’ Bulletin 54, by Prof. F. E. L. Beal. The parts relating to the crow and blue Jay were contributed by E. R. Kalmbach, assistant biologist, and the discussion of the nighthawk and bobwhite by W. L. McAtee, in charge. Food Habits Research. Professor Beal, author of the remainder of the bulletin, died October 1, 1916.