IN TR on UCTION x vil 



The good they do in cases of msect plagues, 

 like that of the grasshopper scourge in Nebraska 

 and Kansas, is still more marked. Then, as self- 

 constituted militia, they fly to the scene of action 

 and make wa}^ with the rioters. An interesting 

 ease of this kind was seen in an old orchard in 

 Illinois. The cankerworm had so taken posses- 

 sion that the orchard looked almost as if burned 

 over. Forty different kinds of birds assem- 

 bled in the place to feed upon the worms. One 

 hundred and forty-one of the birds were shot and 

 the contents of their stomachs examined, and 

 more than one third of their food was found to 

 be cankerworms ; the feathered army was simply 

 wiping out the horde of worms. A similar case 

 occurred in Massachusetts, and after the visit of 

 the birds a good crop of apples was raised in the 

 orchard which had been devastated. 



It is well known that, of the various groups of 

 birds, the majority live upon insects : and while 

 most insectivorous birds probably take some use- 

 ful insects, as far as they have been studied but 

 few eat enough to weigh against the large num- 

 ber of harmful insects they live on throughout 

 the year. Among the insect-eaters are the Fly- 

 catchers, Warblers, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Ori- 

 oles, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, Tanagers, Wax- 

 wings, Gnatcatchers, Kinglets, Vireos, Thrushes, 

 Wrens, Titmice, Cuckoos, Swallows, Shrikes, 

 Thrashers, Creepers, and Bluebirds. 



