THE PLUME PIRATES 321 



the birds are Nature's housekeepers, and every 

 class of birds has distinct and different duties. 



''Some one must sweep the air, to keep down 

 mosquitoes, gnats and midges. What do we find? 

 Swallows dart on their nimble wings above shallow 

 water, fields and marshes; Purple Martins whirl 

 about the gardens, and Swifts near the roofs of 

 houses; while, in the open country, ^^Tiip-poor- 

 wills and Night-hawks scour the air of dusk and 

 dawm. On dead branches, fence-rails or gables, 

 where there is nothing to impede their aerial 

 sallies, sit Kingbirds, Pewees, Phoebes and kin- 

 dred dusky fly-catchers. No insect is too large to 

 escape the Night-hawk or the Kingbird, none is too 

 small to be worthy the attention of the tiny Wood 

 Pewee. 



''Nature provides, also, that the foliage shall be 

 properly swept and tended. The larger birds, 

 such as Thrushes, Bluebirds, Eobins, Mocking- 

 birds, Catbirds, Thrashers and Tanagers hunt in- 

 sects the whole day long. Cuckoos will even eat 

 hairy caterpillars such as all other birds refuse, 

 so much so, that the lining of a Cuckoo's stomach 

 has been found felted with hair, like a felt hat. 

 The outermost twigs of trees and shrubbery, 

 twigs so tender that they will bend under the least 



