Part 5

In the Western States the Arkansas kingbird[52] is not so domestic in its habits as its eastern relative, preferring to live among scattering oaks on lonely hillsides, rather than in orchards about ranch buildings. The work it does, however, in the destruction of noxious insects fully equals that of any member of its family. Like other flycatchers, it subsists mostly upon insects taken in midair, though it eats a number of grasshoppers, probably taken from the ground. The bulk of its food consists of beetles, bugs, wasps, and wild bees. Like its eastern representative, it has been accused of feeding to an injurious extent upon honeybees. In an examination of 62 stomachs of this species, great care was take to identify every insect or fragment that had any resemblance to a honeybee; as a result, 30 honeybees were identified, of which 29 were males or drones and 1 a worker. These were contained in four stomachs, and were the sole contents of three; in the fourth they constituted 99 per cent of the food. It is evident that the bee-eating habit is only occasional and accidental, rather than habitual; and it is also evident that if this ratio of drones to workers were maintained, the bird would be of more benefit than harm to the apiary.

[52] _Tyrannus verticalis._

The Cassin kingbird[53] has a more southerly range than the Arkansas fly-catcher. Examination of a number of stomachs shows that its food habits are similar to those of others of the group.

[53] _Tyrannus vociferans._

Three points seem to be clearly established in regard to the food of the kingbirds—(1) that about 90 per cent consists of insects, mostly injurious species; (2) that the alleged habit of preying upon honeybees is much less prevalent than has been supposed, and probably does not result in any great damage; and (3) that the vegetable food consists almost entirely of wild fruits which have no economic value.

All of the kingbirds are of the greatest importance to the farmer and fruit grower, as they destroy vast numbers of harmful insects, and do no appreciable damage to any product of cultivation.

NIGHTHAWK.

The nighthawk, or bull-bat[54] breeds throughout most of the United States and Canada, and winters in South America. It is strictly insectivorous, and hence does no damage to crops. The only charge that can be made against the bird is that it destroys some useful insects, but these are greatly in the minority in its food.

[54] _Chordeiles virginianus._

Nighthawks are so expert in flight that no insects can escape them. In their capacious mouths they sweep up everything from the largest moths and dragon flies to the tiniest ants and gnats, and in this way sometimes gather most remarkable collections of insects. Several stomachs have contained 50 or more different kinds, and the number of individuals ran into the thousands.

Nearly a fourth of the birds’ total food is composed of ants. These insects are generally annoying and often very injurious, especially on account of their damage to stored products and because of their habit of fostering destructive plant lice. More than a fifth of the nighthawk’s food consists of June bugs, dung beetles, and other beetles of the leaf-chafer family. These are the adults of white grubs, noted pests, and even as adults many members of the family are decidedly harmful.

Numerous other injurious beetles, as click beetles, wood borers, and weevils, are relished. True bugs, moths, flies, grasshoppers, and crickets also are Important elements of the food. Several species of mosquitoes, including the transmitter of malaria, are eaten. Other well-known pests consumed by the nighthawk are Colorado potato beetles, cucumber beetles, rice, clover-leaf, and cotton-boll weevils, bill bugs, bark beetles, squash bugs, and moths of the cotton worm.

Nighthawks are much less numerous than formerly, chiefly because of wanton shooting. They are given full legal protection almost everywhere, and citizens should see that the law is obeyed. The bird is far too useful and attractive to be persecuted.

THE WOODPECKERS.

Five or six species of woodpeckers are familiarly known throughout eastern United States, and in the West are replaced by others of similar habits. Several species remain in the Northern States through the entire year, while others are more or less migratory.

Farmers are prone to look upon woodpeckers with suspicion. When the birds are seen scrambling over fruit trees and pecking holes in the bark, it is concluded that they must be doing harm. Careful observers, however, have noticed that, excepting a single species, these birds rarely leave any conspicuous mark on a healthy tree, except when it is affected by wood-boring larvæ, which are accurately located, dislodged, and devoured by the woodpecker.

Two of the best-known woodpeckers, the hairy woodpecker[55] (fig. 20) and the downy woodpecker,[56] including their races, range over the greater part of the United States. They differ chiefly in size, their colors being practically the same. The males, like those of many other woodpeckers, are distinguished by a scarlet patch on the head. An examination of many stomachs of these two species shows that from two-thirds to three-fourths of the food consists of insects, chiefly noxious kinds. Wood-boring beetles, both adults and larvæ are conspicuous, and with them are associated many caterpillars, mostly species that burrow into trees. Next in importance are the ants that live in decaying wood, all of which are sought by woodpeckers and eaten in great quantities. Many ants are particularly harmful to timber, for if they find a small spot of decay in the vacant burrow of a wood borer, they enlarge the hole, and, as their colony is always on the increase, continue to eat away the wood until the whole trunk is honeycombed. Moreover, they are not accessible to birds generally, and could pursue their career of destruction unmolested were it not that the woodpeckers, with beaks and tongues especially fitted for such work, dig out and devour them. It is thus evident that woodpeckers are great conservators of forests. To them more than to any other agency we owe the preservation of timber from hordes of destructive insects.

[55] _Dryobates villosus._

[56] _Dryobates pubescens._

One of the larger woodpeckers familiar to everyone is the flicker, or golden-winged woodpecker[57] (fig. 21), which is generally distributed throughout the United States from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. There it is replaced by the red-shafted flicker,[58] which extends westward to the Pacific. The two species are as nearly identical in food habits as their respective environments will allow. The flickers, while genuine woodpeckers, differ somewhat in habits from the rest of the family, and are frequently seen searching for food upon the ground. Like the downy and hairy woodpeckers, they feed upon wood-boring grubs and ants, but the number of ants eaten is much greater than that eaten by the other two species. Of the flickers’ stomachs examined, three were completely filled with ants. Two of these contained more than 3,000 individuals each, while the third contained fully 5,000. These ants belong to species which live in the ground. It is these insects for which the flicker searches when it runs about in the grass, although some grasshoppers also are then taken. The flicker’s habit of pecking holes in buildings sometimes greatly annoys his human friends, and it is particularly noticeable in the California species. Observation has shown that the object of the work is to obtain shelter for the winter. In the East most of the flickers are migratory, and only a few remain North where shelter is necessary. These generally find a safe retreat in the hollow tree in which they nested. In California, however, where the birds do not migrate, trees are not so abundant as in the East, and consequently buildings are brought into requisition, and in them holes are drilled, usually under the eaves, where snug nights’ lodgings are found. Often a dozen holes may be seen in one building. Barns or other outbuildings are usually selected, though churches sometimes have been used.

[57] _Colaptes auratus._

[58] _Colaptes cafer collaris._

The red-headed woodpecker[59] (fig. 22), is well known east of the Rocky Mountains, but is rather rare in New England. Unlike some of the other species, it prefers fence posts and telegraph poles to trees as a foraging ground. Its food therefore naturally differs from that of the preceding species, and consists largely of adult beetles and wasps which it frequently captures on the wing after the fashion of flycatchers. Grasshoppers also form an important part of the food. Among the beetles are a number of predacious ground species and some tiger beetles, which are useful insects. The red-head has been accused of robbing nests of other birds, and of pecking out the brains of young birds and poultry; but as the stomachs showed little evidence to substantiate this charge, the habit probably is exceptional.

[59] _Melanerpes erythrocephalus._

The vegetable food of woodpeckers is varied, but consists largely of small fruits and berries. The downy and hairy woodpeckers eat such fruits as dogwood and Virginia creeper and seeds of poison ivy, sumac, and a few other shrubs. The flicker also eats a great many small fruits and the seeds of a considerable number of shrubs and weeds. None of the three species is much given to eating cultivated fruits or crops. The red-head has been accused of eating the larger kinds of fruit, as apples, and also of taking considerable corn. Stomach examinations show that to some extent these charges are substantiated, but that the habit is not prevalent enough to cause much damage. The bird is fond of mast, especially beechnuts, and when these nuts are plentiful it remains north all winter.

Woodpeckers apparently are the only agents which can successfully cope with certain insect enemies of the forest, and, to some extent, with those of fruit trees also. For this reason, if for no other, they should be protected in every possible way.

THE CUCKOOS.

Two species of cuckoos are common in the United States east of the Great Plains, the yellow-billed cuckoo[60] (fig. 23) and the black-billed cuckoo,[61] and in the West a relative of the yellow-bill, the California cuckoo,[62] ranges from Colorado and Texas to the Pacific coast. While the two species are quite distinct, the food habits of the yellow-bill and the black-bill do not greatly differ and their economic status is practically the same.

[60] _Coccyzus americanus._

[61] _Coccyzus erythropthalmus._

[62] _Coccyzus americanus occidentalis._

Examination of 155 stomachs has shown that these species are much given to eating caterpillars, and, unlike most birds, do not reject those covered with hair. In fact, cuckoos eat so many hairy caterpillars that the hairs pierce the inner lining of the stomach and remain there, so that when the stomach is opened it appears to be lined with a thin coating of fur.

An examination of the stomachs of 46 black-billed cuckoos, taken during the summer months, showed the remains of 906 caterpillars, 44 beetles, 96 grasshoppers, 100 sawflies, 30 stinkbugs, and 15 spiders. In all probability more individuals than these were represented, but their remains were too badly broken for recognition. Most of the caterpillars were hairy, and many of them belong to a genus that lives in colonies and feeds on the leaves of trees, including the apple tree. One stomach was filled with larvæ of a caterpillar belonging to the same genus as the tent caterpillar, and possibly to that species. Other larvæ were those of large moths, for which the bird seems to have a special fondness. The beetles were for the most part click beetles and weevils, including a few May beetles. The sawflies were contained in two stomachs, one of which held no less than 60 in the larval stage.

Of the yellow-billed cuckoo, 109 stomachs (collected from May to October) were examined. They contained 1,865 caterpillars, 93 beetles, 242 grasshoppers, 37 sawflies, 69 bugs, 6 flies, and 86 spiders. As in the case of the black-billed cuckoo, most of the caterpillars belonged to hairy species and many of them were of large size. One stomach contained 250 American tent caterpillars; another 217 fall webworms. The beetles were distributed among several families, all more or less harmful to agriculture. In the same stomach which contained the tent caterpillars were 2 Colorado potato beetles; in another were 3 goldsmith beetles, and remains of several other large beetles. Besides the ordinary grasshoppers were several katydids and tree crickets. The sawflies were in the larval stage, in which they resemble caterpillars so closely that they are commonly called false caterpillars by entomologists. The bugs consisted of stinkbugs and cicadas, or dog-day harvest flies, with the single exception of one wheel bug, which was the only useful insect eaten.

WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1915

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Transcriber Note

Illustrations moved to prevent splitting paragraphs.