634 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



fields on its errand of destruction. The more that swallows can be in- 

 duced to nest in the cotton States, and the more they can be increased 

 in the North, so as to add to the number that migrate through the 

 South, the better will it be for the cotton planter, and incidentally for 

 the whole country. Especially important is it that swallows be pro- 

 tected from the assaults of the English sparrow, which covete their 

 nesting sites. Not only do these pests drive away swallows from their 

 nests, but they even throw out their eggs and kill the helpless young. 



VEGETARIAN BIRDS AND THEIR FOOD HABITS. 



It is not possible strictly to divide small birds by their diet into 

 vegetarian and insectivorous kinds, for while many birds live largely 

 upon vegetable substances some almost exclusively there are very 

 few that do not, at least occasionally, eat insects (all of them feed 

 their young upon insects) ; and, it may be added, there are not many 

 insect-eating birds that ao not, at least occasionally, vary their diet 

 by berries or other vegetable substances. Pigeons perhaps are more 

 exclusively vegetarian than other birds, the common turtle dove, for 

 instance, apparently never eating insects except when they happen to 

 be contained in seeds or other vegetable food in the form of eggs or 

 larvae. For present purposes, however, those birds may be considered 

 vegetarian which live chiefly and most of the year upon vegetable 

 food. 



It is among this group naturally that we look for enemies of the 

 farmer, for cultivated grains and fruits are often so much more ac- 

 cessible than the wild varieties that it would be strange indeed if 

 birds had not discovered their good qualities and promptly availed 

 themselves of their opportunities. 



The Mourning Dove. The mourning dove is found throughout 

 the United States, though not abundantly in New England. The 

 food of the dove consists largely of the seeds of weeds together with 

 that of some grain. The principal and almost constant diet is that 

 of the seeds of weeds, which are eaten at all seasons of the year. The 

 dove does not eat insect or animal food so far as is known. 



The Cuckoo. There are two quite distinct species in the United 

 States, yet they differ greatly in food habits. Their food consists al- 

 most wholly of insects, quite largely in the larval form. From the 

 examination of a large number of stomachs of these birds practically 

 no beneficial insects have been found. It is therefore safe to say that 

 these birds are beneficial to agriculture in its various branches. 



The Woodpecker. Practically without exception the food of 

 woodpeckers consists of injurious insects. They feed largely on, 

 wood-boring larvae, and on this account become great friends of the 

 .orchardists and nurserymen. An examination of many stomachs of 

 woodpeckers showed that the contents consisted almost wholly of 

 noxious insects. Some of the large woodpeckers, like the flicker and 

 redheaded woodpecker, sometimes feed on grasshoppers and crickets. 



The Nighthawk. The nighthawk, or bull-bat, is wholly an in- 

 sect-eating bird; their food, which consists of insects taken on the 

 wing, consists largely of flying ante, grasshoppers, chinch bugs, va- 



