“CUTTING OFF THE NOSE TO SPITE THE FACE.”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19628, 24 October 1933, Page 12

“CUTTING OFF THE NOSE TO SPITE THE FACE.”

BIRDS WHICH KEEP DOWN INSECTS. LESSON FROM ASHBURTON CATERPILLAR PLAGUE. I “The caterpillar plague emphasises the importance of a sympathetic realisation of the value of our bird life in destroying insect pests,” a man with a wide knowledge of the subject declared yesterday to a Christchurch reporter. The Ashburton farmers whose crops were being ravaged by the remarkable invasion of countlessHhousands of hungry caterpillars, along with all the other farmers of the country, might now well consider the point of view that while birds did harm to grain crops they also did good by helping to keep down pests, he said. The Part the Sparrow Plays. “Canterbury settlers of the early days.” this man said, “found insect pests, especially caterpillars, a serious trouble to their crops and orchards and introduced the sparrow-. The wonderful work that great little bird has done over the years has never been appreciated in this country, where many people despise it somewhat because it does damage to grain crops. “France sets an example in this respect. The sparrow, like many small birds, is esteemed as a delicacy there, but it was found that the kill-ing-ofT of the sparrow resulted in the increase of the caterpillar, and the ; caterpillar was a far worse pest than ! the sparrow. “The sparrow’ is one of the most omnivorous of birds, .devouring vegetable and animal food - “almost indiscriminately and eating a vast number of insects and their larvae in spring and summer. The young are fed on insects and larvae. “In France it is now the custom to kill the fledged young for the table, so that the spring and summer usefulness of the bird in killing off insect pests is preserved and the autumn ravages in the grain crops stopped. “Nearly all our common birds do some harm and some good. Crow’s r r rooks eat corn, but destroy many insects. The lark, generally a long-lived bird, eats seeds, bq| also devours insects and worms. Birds Attack Larvae. “The thrush and the blackbird, near j relatives, can do great harm, as netting round the cherry and other stone fruit orchards of the country testifies. But I the trush and the blackbird are great I destroyers of insect larvae, especially | in the winter, when they devour great t numbers of snails, dexterously breaking i the shells by use of the beak. | “The magpie comes in for a lot of kicks. He eats But he also eats i rats and mice and slugs and snails, so ;he probably evens up on himself, taking him all the year round.” The quail was generally supposed to do great damage in the evenings, for while it ate insects and slugs it also de- ! voured grain and seeds. It was said of l the quail that it distributed seeds, but against this it was held by some authorities that the quail had a "grinding digestion which would prevent seeds distributed from germinating. Sparrows and gulls had apparently been seen eating the caterpillars in the ; Ashburton district. The great value of birds as combatants of insects was that when the insects were out the birds were on the job too. The birds, too. ate a phenomenal number of caterpillars each day after day. The pest was so serious now that artificial means of dealing with it would have to be adopted, because the birds were not numerous enough to cope with such a widespead plague, but the position certainly showed the need for rii crimination in outlook on bird life on farms.