132 



INJURIOUS INSECTS OF 1904. 



nesting- about buildings or in boxes or houses prepared for it by the 

 thoughtful farmer. As in the case of the bluebird, it is well to give 

 it every opportunity for nesting, since its food consists almost entirely 

 of insects, and it will repay you for your friendship by searching out 

 and devouring caterpillars in your shrubs and trees. It is said 

 to raise several broods in a season. An examination of fifty-two 

 stomachs by the United States Department of Agriculture showed 

 that ninety-eight per cent of their contents were made up of insects 

 and their near relatives, the remaining two per cent being vegetable 

 matter, small bits of grass, etc., evidently taken with the insects by 

 accident. One-half of the food consisted of grasshoppers and beetles ; 

 the remainder, caterpillars, bugs and spiders. 



BARN SWALLOW. 



Fig. 127. — Barn Swallow. From Biological Survey U. S. Dep. of Agriculture. 



