1$% THE COCK-CHAFER a 



about two hundred eggs, it will appear that no less 

 than eight millions of grubs have been destroyed, or 

 at least prevented from being hatched by this single 

 family of jays. 



It is true that in these labours of the rooks, jays> 

 and some other birds, they sometimes do mischief 

 to man ; yet there can be little doubt that the da- 

 mage they thus commit is amply repaid by the be- 

 nefit that results from these their unceasing exer- 

 tions. 



Some farmers plough the ground in order to ex- 

 pose the grubs to the birds ; and others take the 

 pains to dig deeper wherever the rooks point them 

 out by their attempts to reach them. — When the 

 insects are in their winged state, to shake the trees 

 at noon, when they are all either asleep or in a state 

 of inactive stupor, and gather or sweep them up 

 from the ground, seems the most eligible method. 

 One person has been known to kill in a day, by this 

 method, above a thousand ; by which, though in so 

 short a space of time, at a fair calculation, he pre- 

 vented no fewer than a hundred thousand eggs from 

 being laid. 



The dead bodies of these insects afford a very ac* 

 ceptable food to ducks, turkies, and other poultry. 

 Swine, as I have before observed, will likewise gree- 

 dily devour them, particularly when bruised and 

 mixed with their other food * ; and cats catch and 

 eat them with great avidity. 



* It Is, however, said that, when swine have once been fully satiated 

 with them, they never care for them afterward?. 



