21 



accuracy of the observations recorded, but the testimony is 

 taken from what seem to be reliable sources. 



Among the Orthoptera, which includes the grasshoppers and 

 crickets, farmers will recognize some of the most destructive 

 insects of the fields. Practically all birds feed on grasshoppers 

 and locusts, and many on crickets, and it is largely due to this 

 habit that these insects are not oftener seriously destructive. 

 There is an historical occurrence regarding the early settlement 

 of Utah by the Mormons which illustrates the value of birds as 

 destroyers of Orthoptera. When the Mormons established their 

 earliest settlement in Utah, their first crops were almost de- 

 stroyed by myriads of black crickets, so called, that came 

 down from the mountains. These orthopterous insects have 

 been identified as the so-called "western cricket" (Anabrm pur- 



THE "WESTERN CRICKET." 



Its hordes, while devastating the crops of the Mormon settlers, were in turn 

 destroyed by gulls. 



purascens). The crops of the first year having been destroyed, 

 the Mormons were in severe straits, but they had seed to sow 

 for the second year. The grain promised well, but again the 

 crickets appeared, coming down from the mountains in swarms. 

 The Honorable Geo. Q. Cannon stated that they came down 

 by millions and destroyed the grain crops. Promising fields of 

 wheat were cut down to the ground in a single day. The 

 people were in despair. Then sea gulls came by hundreds and 

 thousands, and, before the grain could be entirely destroyed, 

 devoured the insects, so that the fields were freed from them. 1 



i See Irrigation Age, 1894, p. 188; Insect Life, Vol. VTI, p. 275; Annual Report, Massachusetts 

 State Board of Agriculture, 1871, p. 76; Annual Report, United States Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture, 1871, p. 79; and Second Annual Report, United States Entomological Commission, 

 1878-79, p. 166. 



