No. 4.] DESTRUCTIOX OF BIRDS. 481 



Berkshire hills. It is especially notieeable, notwithstanding 

 the comparatively light rainfall on the Cape, that man}' in- 

 sectivorous birds perished there where exposed to the sweep 

 of the wind. Mr. David D. Nye of Bourne says it is the 

 general oi)inion that the birds did not suffer very much there, 

 as there was plenty of shelter. 



There was a great ditlercnce in the amount of rainfall, 

 also, at diU'erent stations. During the gale of June 12, 

 '2 J) inches of rain fell at Rutland and only .25 of an inch at 

 Hyannis. On the 21st the precipitation was 4.53 inches at 

 Mt. Tom, and only .58 of an inch at Middleborough and .78 

 of an inch at Fall River. 



The martins apparently sutfcred least in localities avcU 

 protected from the wind, and where the rainfall was at its 

 minimum during the storm. In such places more insects 

 survived. Another factor in the preservation of individual 

 birds or species was their ability to adapt their food habits 

 to adverse conditions. Individual swifts or martins that 

 had learned to take insects from the trees or shrul^bery, as 

 some of them certainly do, would be more likely to weather 

 the storm than the majority of these birds that take their 

 food only in the air. 



There were chances for life for the l)ird that knew how 

 to take advantage of them. Insects benumbed or dead lay 

 upon the ground or floated on the water. Honey bees, hav- 

 ing good shelter and food, survived, and whenever the}^ 

 came out of the hives were exposed to the attacks of king- 

 birds and martins. 



The excessive mortality among swifts and martins, as com- 

 pared to that among the swallows, was due largely to the 

 difference in hardiness between these families of l)irds, as 

 well as to a better adaptability of the swallows to the pre- 

 vailing conditions. The swifts and martins seem unable to 

 endure the wet and cold, and so huddle together in their 

 nesting places until they starve. Barn swallows, on the 

 other hand, when pressed for food Avill breast the storm in 

 search of it, and cither find it or die in the search. They 

 will take insects from the grass, the water or the ground, 

 and, if hard pressed, will take berries or seeds when the}' can 



