given as learned by stomach examinations made by assistants of the Biological 

 Survey : 



A tree swallow's stomach was found to contain 40 entire chinch bugs and 

 fragments of many others, besides 10 other species of insects. A bank swallow 

 in Texas devoured 68 cotton-boll weevils, one of the worst insect pests that 

 ever invaded the United States ; and 35 clitf swallows had taken an average of 

 18 boll weevils each. Two stomachs of pine siskins from Haywards, Cal., con- 

 tained 1,900 black olive scales and 300 plant lice. A killdeer's stomach taken 

 in November in Texas contained over .300 mosquito larva;. A flicker's stomach 

 held 28 white grubs. A nighthawk's stomach collected in Kentucky contained 34 

 May beetles, the adult form of white grubs. Another nighthawk from New York 

 had eaten 24 clover-leaf weevils and 375 ants. Still another nighthawk had 

 eaten 340 grasshoppers, 52 bugs, 3 beetles, 2 wasps and a spider. A boat-tailed 

 grackle from Texas had eaten at one meal about 100 cotton boilworms, besides 

 a few other insects. A ring-necked pheasant's crop from Washington contained 

 8,000 seeds of chickweed and a dandelion head. More than 72.000 -^ecfls have 

 been found in a single duck stomach taken in Louisiana in February. 



A knowledge of his bird friends and enemies, therefore, is doubly impor- 

 tant to the farmer and orchardist in order that he may protect the kind? that earn 

 protection by their services and may drive away or destroy the otiiers. At the 

 present time many kinds of useful birds need direct intervention in their behalf 

 as never before. The encroachments of civilization on timbered tracts and the 

 methods of modern intensive cultivation by destroying or restricting breeding 

 grounds of birds tend to diminish their ranks. The number of insect pests, on 

 the other hand, is all the time increasing by leaps and bounds througli importa- 

 tions from abroad and by migration from adjoining territories. Every efTort. 

 therefore, should be made to augment the numbers of our useful birds by pro- 

 tecting them from their enemies, by providing nesting facilities, and by furnishing 

 them food in times of stress, especially in winter. 



Important in this connection is the planting near the house and even in out- 

 of-the-way places on the farm of various berry-bearing shrubs, many of which 

 are ornamental, which will supply food when snow is on the ground. Other 

 species which are not berry eaters, like the woodpeckers, nuthatches, creepers, 

 and chickadees, can be made winter residents of many farms, even in the North, by 

 putting out at convenient places a supply of suet, of which they and many otiier 

 birds are very fond, even in summer. Hedges and thickets about the farm are 

 important to furnish nesting sites and shelter both from the elements and from 

 the numerous enemies of birds. 



Few are aware of the difficulty often experienced by birds in obtaining water 

 for drinking and bathing, and a constant supply of water near the farmhouse 

 will materially aid in attracting birds to the neighborhood and in keeping them 

 tTiere, at least till the time of migration. Shallow trays of wood or metal admi- 

 rably serve the purpose, especially as birds delight to bathe in them. 



Considerable sticcess has been met with in Germany and elsewhere in 



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