Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 252, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1912 — PRAISE FOR FLY CATCHERS [ARTICLE]

PRAISE FOR FLY CATCHERS

Birds Do Much More Good Than Harm, Says United States Government Aid. Washington, D. C. —“Fly catchers," the kingbirds, phoebes and other birds that prey on wasps, bees, ants, grasshoppers, caterpillars, flies, bugs and other insects, were given a clean bill of health as far as the farmer Is concerned in a report issued by the department of agriculture. After an investigation by Assistant F. E. L. Beal of the biological survey of the diet of seventeen of the thirty-one species of fly catchers, the department announced that the birds do considerably more good than harm and should be protected as allies of the farmer and horticulturist.