P. M. Partly cloudy; ground with
some snow; wind west, strong; temperature 45 degrees to 55 degrees.
Ring-necked Pheasant, 11; Marsh Hawk, 1; Orange-shafted Flicker, 9;
Magpie, 75; Red-winged Blackbird, 750; Meadowlark, 4; House Finch, 35;
Tree Sparrow, 60; Shufeldt's Junco, 3; Pink-sided Junco, 1; Gray-headed
Junco, 18. Total, 11 species, 967 individuals.--W. H. BERGTOLD.

_Escondido, Calif._--Dec. 25; 9 A. M. to 2 P. M. Partly cloudy; {100}
temperature 65 degrees. Killdeer, 30; Valley Quail, 100; Mourning Dove,
20; Western Red-tailed Hawk, 1; Desert Sparrow Hawk, 2; Barn Owl, 2;
Burrowing Owl, 3; California Screech Owl, 1; Red-shafted Flicker, 3;
Black-chinned Hummingbird, 3; Arkansas Kingbird, 9; Say's Phoebe, 4;
Black Phoebe, 2; California Jay, 4; Western Meadowlark, 75; Brewer's
Blackbird, 150; House Finch, 200; Willow Goldfinch, 50; Anthony's Towhee,
35; Phainopepla, 1; California Shrike, 8; Audubon's Warbler, 30; Western
Mockingbird, 10; Pasadena Thrasher, 3; California Bush Tit, 20; Pallid
Wren Tit, 6; Western Robin, 25; Western Bluebird, 10. Total, 38 species,
805 individuals.--FRED GALLUP.

{101}

CHAPTER VI

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS

Wild birds are now generally protected by law. Wander where you will
through every province of Canada, and almost every nook and corner of
the United States, you will find that the lawmaker has been there
before you, and has thrown over the birds the sheltering arm of
prohibitory statutes. Legislators are not usually supposed to spend
much energy on drafting and enacting measures unless it is thought that
these will result in practical benefit to at least some portion of
their constituents. Legislative bodies are not much given to
appropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for the
enforcement of a law which is purely sentimental in its nature. It is
clear, therefore, that our law makers regard the wild bird life as
{102} a great value to the country from the standpoint of dollars and
cents.

_Destructiveness of Insects._--If we go back a few years and examine
certain widely read publications issued by the United States Department
of Agriculture, we can understand more fully why our legislative bodies
have regarded so seriously the subject of bird protection. In one of
the Year Books of the Department we read that the annual loss to the
cotton crop of the United States by insects amounts to sixty million
dollars. We learn, too, that grassho