No. 20.] THE BIRDS OF CONNECTICUT. 265 



species ; mollusks, mammals, young birds, and eggs are freely- 

 taken when occasion offers, as is the most putrid carrion. 

 Thus acting as scavengers, the good they do greatly outweighs 

 any harm their killing the few birds can be, and, with their 

 beauty, should cause them to receive all possible protection. 



Devoted almost exclusively to a diet of small fish, the 

 few Terns {Sterna hirundo) that now breed on our shores, 

 are objects of beauty to those who are fortunate enough to 

 see them. Formerly, fishermen found their presence in 

 numbers an indication that large fish had driven the smaller 

 to the surface, and considered them useful accordingly. The 

 Least Tern (Sterna antiUarum) feeds largely on grasshoppers, 

 spiders, and aquatic insects, while one who has watched the 

 Black Terns (Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis) skimming 

 over the ponds of the W^st after the manner of swallows, 

 can have little doubt as to the chief source of their food. Both 

 these birds are unfortunately too rare with us to influence 

 our insects. 



The Skimmers (Rhynchopidcc), Fulmars and Petrels 

 (Procellariidce) , Gannets {SiiUdcc), Cormorants (Phalacro- 

 coracidcc) , and Pelicans (Pelecanidcc), may be omitted from our 

 study of feeding habits, as, although all feed on fish, they are 

 very rare in Connecticut. 



DUCKS, GEESE, and SWANS. 



Anatidcr. 



These birds are chiefly important from their food value and 

 as objects of sport, as few of them are with us when they can 

 find locusts, beetles, or grasshoppers, on which they frequently 

 feed in summer. Many of them eat fish, crustaceans, and shell- 

 fish, and others various grasses and water plants. Their food 

 has no market value in our state, but in parts of the West 

 they do great damage in the wheat fields. 



HERONS, EGRETS, and BITTERNS. 



Ardeidce. 



The chief value of these birds is their grace and beauty, and 

 the charm they add to the landscape ; their economic importance 



