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through the winter and use the Swallows' nests in that season as roosting places, 

 As spring comes they build in them and so have possession when the Swallows 

 return from the south. As they then, naturally enough, decline to turn out, the 

 Swallows have to seek elsewhere for a home ; the result bein^ that we lose a 

 valuable, purely insectivorous bird and get in the place of it one whose value is 

 questionable. Continually shooting off the Sparrows as they appear seems to be 

 the only remedy, and I think eternal vigilance would be required to make it suc- 

 cessful in any place where the Sparrows are well established. 



That Sparrows are rather quarrelsome amongst themselves in the season of 

 love-making is evident to everyone, but so far I have not seen them interfere 

 with any other species whose nesting interests do not conflict with theirs. In 

 my own neighborhood, House Wrens, Orioles, Vireos, Cat birds, Wilson's Thrushes, 

 Robins, Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows, the American Goldfinch, and the 

 Yellow Warblers have all bred in close proximity to many pairs of Sparrows and 

 have not been interfered with by them ; but if I had not kept a pretty close 

 watch over the nests, and taken out the eggs of the Cow birds which were 

 deposited therein, but few broods would have been successfully raised. 



The Sparrow has one particularly good trait which should not be over- 

 looked ; that is, its fondness for the seed of the knot grass or knot weed. This 

 pernicious plant frequently appears on our boulevards and lawns and destroys 

 the grass completely. The Sparrows soon find it out, and small parties constantly 

 visit it and feed upon it, so that it is kept down and in some cases is quite cleared 

 out. 



SWALLOWS. 



Of this family we have five species, viz : the Purple Martin, the Barn 

 Swallow, Cliff Swallow, White-breasted Swallow and Sand Martin, all regular 

 summer residents. Another one, the Rough-winged Swallow, occasionally occurs- 

 here, but as it closely resembles the Sand Martin its appearance is not readily 

 noticed. 



The economic importance of these birds is very great ; without them the 

 smaller winged insects would multiply to such an extent as to become an unbear- 

 able nuisance to men and animals ; for it is, I believe, to these birds chiefly that 

 we are indebted for our freedom in the cleared and cultivated parts of the country 

 from the swarms of midges, black flies and gnats of various kinds that so abound 

 in the woods. 



These birds seem to have a great predilection for the society of men, partly 

 because the clearing he makes in a forest country opens up to them the necessary 

 space for feeding grounds, and partly because the buildings he erects affords them 

 convenient nesting places, of which the House Sparrow unfortunately is dis- 

 possessing them. 



Except in .very stormy weather the Swallows usually capture their food 

 whilst they are on the wing, but in the cold windy days that frequently occur in 

 early spring the insects on which they depend are too .chilled to fly, and then the 

 Swallows seek them in open places on the ground. The sandy shores of our lakes 

 are particularly resorted to at such times. 



In the latter part of July and the beginning of August the large female ants 

 swarm from their nests, each one prepared to found a colony for herself were she 



