302 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



in which he sets out at great length facts to support the as- 

 sertion that the annual loss on farm products in the United 

 States occasioned by the destructive insects aggregates $700,- 

 000,000. "In no other country in the world," he says, "do 

 insects impose a heavier tax on the farm products. The losses, 

 it is averred, resulting from the depredations of insects on all 

 the plant products of the soil, both in their growing and in 

 their stored state, exceed the entire expenditures of the na- 

 tional government, including the pension roll and the main- 

 tenance of the army and navy." This is a startling and ap- 

 palling statement, and forces the inquiry, what can we do to 

 prevent this wholesale destruction of that which is essential 

 to our very existence : The first answer of those who have 

 given serious thought to the matter is the protection of our 

 insectiverous birds. And why? 



We have already seen that these insect pests are found 

 everywhere doing their destructive work. It is also true that 

 we have the birds everywhere to hold these insect pests in 

 check and destroy them. As Mr. Frank M. Chapman, who 

 perhaps is our most distinguished living ornithologist, has well 

 said: "In the air, swallows and swifts are coursing to and 

 fro, ever in pursuit of the insects which constitute their sole 

 food. When they retire, the night-hawks and whip-poor-wills 

 take up the chase, catching moths and other nocturnal insects 

 which would escape day-flying birds. The flycatchers lie in 

 wait, darting from ambush at passing prey, and with a sug- 

 gestive click of the bill returning to their post. The warblers, 

 light, active creatures, flutter about the terminal foliage, and 

 with almost the skill of a hummingbird, peck insects from leaf 

 or blossom. The vireos patiently explore the under sides of 

 leaves and odd nooks and corners to see that no skulker 

 escapes. The woodpeckers, nuthatches and creepers attend 

 to the tree trunks and limbs, examining carefully each inch 

 of bark for insects, eggs and larvae, or excavating for the ants 

 and borers they hear at work within. On the ground the hunt 

 is continued by the thrushes, sparrows, and other birds, who 

 feed upon the innumerable forms of terrestial insects. Few 

 places in which insects exist are neglected ; even some species 

 which pass their earlier stages or entire lives in the water are ' 



