FEEDING OP THE YOUNG. 165 



which is particularly destructive to the roots of 

 grain and young clovers."* 



It has on similar grounds been contended, that 

 the great number of birds caught by bird-catchers, 

 particularly in the vicinity of London, has been 

 productive of much injury to gardens and orchards. 



In the case of swallows, it has been well re- 

 marked by an excellent naturalist, that they are to 

 us quite inoffensive, while " the beneficial services 

 they perform for us, by clearing the air of innumer- 

 able insects, ought to render them sacred and se- 

 cure them from our molestation. Without their 

 friendly aid, the atmosphere we live in would scarce- 

 ly be habitable by man : they feed entirely on in- 

 sects, which, if not kept under by their means, 

 would swarm and torment us like another Egyptian 

 plague. The immense quantity of flies destroyed 

 in a short space of time by one individual bird is 

 scarcely to be credited by those who have not had 

 actual experience of the fact." He goes on to il- 

 lustrate this from a swift (Cypselus mwran'ws, TEM- 

 MINCK) which was shot- " It was in the breeding 

 season when the young were hatched; at which 

 time the parent birds, it is well known, are in the 

 habit of making little excursions into the country 

 to a considerable distance from their breeding-pla- 

 ces, for the purpose of collecting flies, which they 

 bring home to their infant progeny. On picking 

 up my hapless and ill-gotten prey, I observed a 

 number of flies, some mutilated, others scarcely 

 injured, crawling out of the bird's mouth; the 

 throat arid pouch seemed absolutely stuffed with 

 them, and an incredible number was at length dis- 

 gorged. I am sure I speak within compass when 

 I state that there was a mass of flies, just caught 

 by this single swift, larger than, when pressed close, 



* Illustrations, p. 73. 



