OTHER ANIMALS 633 



biers that they are truly insectivorous, as they eat very little vege- 

 table food, and the little they do eat has no special economic value. 



Thrushes. The thrushes and their near allies, the bluebirds, 

 are two groups of insectivorous birds, all the members of which are 

 fond of fruit. All sorts of wild berries are highly esteemed by them, 

 and no one will deny that they are quite within their rights in appro- 

 priating them. Unfortunately, however, the most prominent mem- 

 ber of the group and in some respects the most highly esteemed 

 has developed an uncontrollable appetite for cherries, strawberries, 

 and other cultivated fruits which often renders him a nuisance to the 

 grower of small fruits. The fruit grower can hardly be expected to 

 accept the confiding habits and the sweet song of the robin as full 

 payment for a crop of cherries upon which depends a considerable 

 part of his own livelihood and that of his family. In connection 

 with the depredations of the robin, it is confidently believed that 

 mulberry, wild cherry, and other fruit-bearing trees of little or no 

 commercial value can be planted near orchards so as to protect the 

 valuable cherry crop and so save the robin from the orchardist's just 

 resentment. 



The smaller members of the thrush family, the wood thrush, 

 hermit thrush, and others, are highly insectivorous, and are to be 

 credited with nothing but good. Moreover their melody raises them 

 to the highest rank among American songsters. 



Titmice. The titmice, like the warblers, are tree frequenters, 

 and the insects they pursue are of the same general character as 

 those eaten by their more nervous and sprightly cousins. Instead of 

 hurrying from tree to tree, and from one branch to another like the 

 warblers, the titmice conduct a comparatively slow and painstaking 

 search and go over their sylvan hunting grounds much more care- 

 fully. Another and a far more important fact to their credit is that, 

 like the nuthatches, they are practically non-migratory, and instead 

 of scurrying off to the sunny Tropics on the first hint of cold 

 weather, as do most of the warblers, they usually winter where they 

 summer. Thus the farmer enjoys the benefit of their services the 

 year round, and hence has twice the incentive to protect them that he 

 has in the case of the migratory species. 



Swallows. The swallows are among the most insectivorous of 

 birds, and it is difficult to overestimate the extent of their services to 

 agriculture. They are flycatchers pre-eminently, and Nature has been 

 at the utmost pains to qualify them for the delicate task she has set 

 for them the capture of small insects moving with rapid and uncer- 

 tain flight through the air. Endowed with the power of swift and 

 enduring flight, swallows cleave the air without apparent effort, 

 turning this way and that, now falling, now rising, following the 

 movements of their prey. The list of species is not lengthy, six only 

 in the States east of the Mississippi and but one more west of that 

 river, but not one of the number could be spared without loss to the 

 farmer. Valuable at all times and at all places favored by their 

 presence, swallows have a peculiar value to the southern cotton 

 planter, for they prey upon the cotton boll weevil as it flies over the 



