.iSfiCQND: ANNUAL MEETING 21: 



, The, Grebes and L(Oons feed chiefly upon snails and other aquatic 

 animals such as are; found about their haunts,: They also capture 

 many grasshojipers and similar insects that happen in their way. They 

 cannot, therefore, be classed among the especially beneficial birds, 

 neither can they be tejrmed injurious on account of what they eat. ' 



The Gulls, provided as they are with long wings and great powers for 

 flight, are not confined to the sea-coast, hence they reach far inland 

 in their migrations, feeding extensively upon insects like locusts, Juner 

 beetles, crickets, etc., large numbers of which they destroy annuallyw 

 Several kinds of these birds are known to follow the plow and pick up 

 the white grubs and other insects that are turned up and laid bare. 

 In early days, Avhen grasshoppers did much harm in this state, numer- 

 ous flocks of these birds were seen to feed upon these insects. 



The Cormorants and Pelicans are chiefly destroyers of flshes an(J 

 frogs, hence can hardly be classed among the most .beneficial forms; 

 but whether or not they do any more than to maintain the necessary 

 equilibrium in that particular part of the vast field of nature it is diffir 

 cult to judge without time for investigaition. 



The various Ducks and Geese which are also nearly as aquatic ia 

 their habits as some of the foregoing, frequently leave their haunts 

 and make excursions into the surrounding country where in summer 

 they feed iipon locusts, beetles and other injurious insects. They also 

 partake of considerable quantities of vegetable food, as grains, wee^ 

 seeds, grasses and other herbage. While not included among the in- 

 sectivorous forms these birds do much towards diminishing the ever in- 

 creasing horde of creeping and jumping things. Ducks and geese on 

 the other hand are largely utilized by us as food; while their feathers 

 make comfortable pillows and coverlets. 



The Herons, Cranes, and Kails are frequenters of marshes and the 

 margins of streams and bodies of water, where they assist in keeping- 

 the various forms among the animal life balanced. Fishes, frogs, snails, 

 insects, and crustaceans are alike devoured by them. 



The Snipe, Sandpipers, Plovers, Phalaropes, Curlews, etc., are great 

 destroyers of insects. Moving as many of them do in great flocks and 

 spreading out over the meadows, pastures, and hillsides, as well as 

 among the cultivated flelds, they do a large amount of careful police 

 service in arresting the culprits among insects. They even pry them 

 out of burrows and crevices in the earth where these creatures lurk 

 during daytime only to come forth after nightfall to destroy vegeta- 

 tion. The large flocks of Eskimo Curlews that formerly passed through 

 eastern Nebraska did magnificent work during years when the Rocky 

 ■Mountain Locust was with us, as did also the equally large flocks of 

 Golden Plovers. The Bartramian Sandpiper even now is a great factor 

 each simimer in checking the increasing locusts on our prairies. 



The various members of the Grouse family, while belonging to a 

 grain-eating group, are certainly quite f)rominent as insect destroyers. 



