220 ELEMENTS Of AGRICTTLTTJ&& 



man is busy destroying the birds. Which is to succeed f 

 If man succeeds, the insects will be left in peace to 

 grow and multiply, and the destruction of, all plant life 

 will certainly follow. Chapman gives us an admirable 

 description of how birds are constantly busy destroying 

 insects: "Consider for a moment/' he writes, "what 

 the birds are doing for us in summer when the hum of 

 insect life fills and becomes almost an inherent part 

 of the atmosphere. 



" In the air, swallows and swifts are coursing rapidly 

 to and fro, ever in pursuit of the insects which consti- 

 tute their sole food. When they retire the nighthawks 

 and whippoorwills will take up the chase, catching 

 moths and other nocturnal insects which would escape 

 day-flying birds. The flycatchers lie in wait, darting 

 from ambush at passing prey, and with a suggestive 

 click of the bill returning to their post. The warblers, 

 light, active creatures, flutter about the terminal 

 foliage, and, with almost the skill of a humming-bird, 

 pick insects from leaf or blossom. The vireos patiently 

 explore the undersides of leaves and odd nooks and 

 corners to see that no skulker escapes. The wood- 

 peckers, nuthatches, and creepers attend to the tree 

 trunks and limbs, examining carefully each inch of 

 bark for insects' eggs and larvae, or excavating for the 

 ants and borers they hear at work within. On the ground 

 the hunt is continued by thrushes, sparrows, and other 

 birds who feed upon the innumerable forms of terres- 

 trial insects. Few places in which insects exist are neg- 

 lected; even some species which pass their earlier stages 



