MISCELLANEOUS 



235 



Think of what the birds are doing on every farm, in 

 every garden, and about every home in the land. Think 

 of the millions of beautiful wings, of the graceful and 

 attractive figures, of the cunning nests, and of the singing 

 throats ! Do you think that the whole service of the birds 

 is to be beautiful, to sing beautifully, and to rear their 

 little ones ? By no means 

 is this their chief service to 

 man. Aside from these 

 values, their greatest work 

 is to destroy insects. It is 

 one of the wise provisions of 

 nature that many of the most 

 brilliantly winged and the 

 most enchanting songsters 

 are our most practical friends. 



Not all birds feed upon 

 insects and animals; but 

 even those that eat but a 

 small amount of insect food 

 may still destroy insects 

 that would have damaged 

 fruit and crops much more than the birds themselves do. 



As to their food, birds are divided into three general 

 classes. First, those that live wholly or almost wholly 

 upon insects. These are called insectivorous birds. Chief 

 among these are the warblers, cuckoos, swallows, martins, 

 flycatchers, night hawks, whippoorwills, swifts, and hum- 

 ming birds. We cannot have too many of these birds. 

 They should be encouraged and protected. They should 

 be supplied with shelter and water. 



FIG. 206. A KINGBIRD 



