No. 4.] BIRDS USEFUL TO AGRICULTURE. 41 



The United States Entomological Commission, when in- 

 vestigating the locust outbreaks in the west with a view to 

 finding some means of controlling them, reported that locusts 

 had been found in numbers in the stomachs of most of the 

 water birds. 



These birds are not only of practical use to farmers, but 

 they are also valuable to mariner and fisherman. In foggy 

 summer weather the longshore fisherman is often able to 

 guide his course for the harbor by observing the direction 

 in which the sea birds fly with food for their young. The 

 fishermen are often made aware of the presence of schools 

 of fish by the gulls or terns hovering over the sea, and 

 watching for an opportunity to pick up the small fish on 

 which the larger ones feed. The navigator is also fre- 

 quently warned of the rocks in such weather by the cries 

 of the birds breeding upon them. 



The sea birds have been so persecuted along the Atlantic 

 coast that they have deserted many of the islands where 

 they formerly bred, and it is only within a few years 

 that any attempt whatever has been made to protect them. 

 Protective measures have now been inaugurated, largely 

 through the action of members of the bird protection com- 

 mittee of the American Ornitholo2:i8ts' Union. The union 

 has begun steps to protect the sea birds in their breeding 

 places. The work on the Atlantic coast was first com- 

 menced in Massachusetts by Mr. Geo. H. Mackay of Boston, 

 a member of the committee from Massachusetts. Through 

 his labors the terns and gulls on Muskegat and some other 

 islands have received a measure of protection, which has re- 

 sulted in a large increase of their numbers within two years. 

 Mr. Wm. Dutcher of New York, another member of our 

 committee, has in charge a fund which this year has been ap- 

 plied to the protection of birds breeding on various islands 

 and shores from Maine to Virginia.* At the recent meeting 

 of the union in Cambridge he made a very full- and inter- 

 esting report, which indicated that in most cases the num- 

 bers of the birds were largely increasing on the })rotected 

 breeding grounds. If this work can be continued, a greater 



* Great credit 13 due and should be given Mr. Abbott 11. Thayer, a member of the 

 anion, who secured the contributions to this fund. 



