Birds in Relation to Agriculture in New York State 



1799 



In some places nighthawks are still shot by thoughtless persons, merely 

 because they make good targets as they fly over the pasture. This prac- 

 tice is of course highly to be condemned and is punishable by law. From 

 the stomach of one nighthawk 60 grasshoppers were taken, and from 

 another 500 mosquitoes. 



The various species of swallows, also, are among our most beneficial 

 birds, but unfortunately they have shown decrease in recent years. The 

 purple martin, for example, 

 is very rare in most parts 

 of the State; but by the 

 erection of bird houses for 

 it to nest in, it could easily 

 be encouraged to become 

 one of our common birds. 

 The martins nest in 

 colonies. Houses for their 

 nesting should contain 

 many compartments, each 

 opening to the outside. 

 The house should be 

 moimted on a pole at least 

 fifteen feet from the ground, 

 or on a shorter pole on top 

 of a building. Houses for 

 tree swallows should be 

 single, like bluebirds' boxes, 

 with an opening about two 

 inches in diameter toward 

 the top of one side. They 

 should be placed on a pole 

 in an open space in the 

 yard, or on an open side 

 of the house below an 



upper window. The decrease in numbers of bam swallows is largely 

 accounted for by the construction of the modem bams, with no 

 openings for the entrance of the birds. Owners of such bams should 

 make the proper openings beneath the gable, for the swallows are one of 

 the most' valuable natural assets of the farm. The bank swallows nest 

 in colonies in sandy banks, especially where large excavations have been 

 made. There is no very satisfactory means of increasing their numbers, 

 nor the numbers of the rough-winged swallows which associate with them, 

 except by giving them the protection that they so much deserve. 



Fig. 28. — Tree swallow, a fly-catching bird, teaching 

 its young to capture insects on the wing 



