-S94 Agricultural Entomology. [August, 



"Insects act a very important part in tlie economy of nature, serving 

 as they do for food for millions of birds and fish. The Bible says, ' all 

 fiesli is grass,' and true it is ; for take the plant-louse, or aphis, for in- 

 stance, whose bloated body appears to be merely an animated green 

 bladder of the juices of the plant upon wliich it exists; this is eaten 

 by the lady-bug, which, in its turn, becomes the food of some bird or 

 fish, whose flesh serves to nourish that great omnivorous animal, man. 

 Were there no insects what would become of all the insectivorous birds, 

 and still more of the fresh water fish ? An old hen confined in a coop 

 with her chickens loose around her will clear a large space of insects 

 in a short time, yet a tender spring chicken is considered a dainty, 

 although a week previous it may have been rioting on a fare of 

 crickets and caterpillars. In many tobacco plantations flocks of 

 turkeys are turned into i\iQ field to eat off the tobacco worms; yet 

 what is better than a good roast turkey? Nay, in several places, if 

 we are to believe travelers, men eat insects. A palm tree grub, well 

 roasted, is considered a great delicacy in some countries ; in others, 

 grass-hoppers, or rather locusts, are preferred, but as the subject is not 

 very pleasant to our tastes, I will pursue it no further. Insects also 

 act as scavengers in removing decayed animal substances; in short, this 

 theme might be pursued forever, were we to investigate all the uses 

 which are made of insects in the economy of nature. 



Here, however, let me change the subject, to put in a special plea 

 for insectivorous birds, which appear to have been sent to keep up 

 "the balance of power" in insect life, which insects would other- 

 wise multiply to such a degree as to be perfectly unbearable, and 

 render the agriculturist's toil entirely useless. A farmer keeps 

 a watch-dog to watch his premises, and cats to kill rats and mice 

 in his granary and barn; yet he sufi"ers any " unfeathered biped," 

 to tear down his fence rails in order to get a chance shot at any 

 robin, wren, or blue bird, which may be unfortunate enough to be 

 on his premises; and yet these very birds do him more good than 

 either dog or cat, working diligently from morn to dark, killing and 

 destroying insects injurious to his crops, which, if not thus thinned 

 out, would eventually multiply to such an extent, as to leave him 

 scarcely any crop whatsoever. Birds are accused of eating cherries 

 and other fruits. True ; but the poor birds merely take a tithe of 

 the fruit to pay for the tree, which, but for their unceasing efi"orts, 

 would otherwise probably have been killed in its infancy. To ex- 

 emplify the utility of birds, I will give one or two instances that 

 have occurred under my own observation. 



