122 



THE OOLOQIST 



1918, 2,350,501 ibirds or 1,175,250 

 pairs would have lacked chim- 

 neys in the whole state of Vir- 

 ginia for constructing nests for 

 the 3,525,750 nestlings. 



1919, 4,407,189 hirds, 2,205,594 pairs 

 would have heen hunting nest- 

 ing quarters for rearing 6,610,- 

 782 young, and being successful 

 and allowing the regulation 25 

 per cent for loss would have 

 found in 



1920, 8,263,494 birds pairing at 4,- 

 131,747, and rearing 12,395,241 

 offspring, which with the same 

 ratio of loss as carried through 

 each year's calculations, in 



1921, 15,494,052 birds, representing 

 7,847,026 pairs would return 

 for rearing 23,241,045 young; 

 all with the old ones to lose 

 25 per cent of numbers would 

 see in 



1922, 29,051,319 birds, or 14,525,659 

 pairs, raising 43,576,977 young 

 birds, which added to the old 

 ones, would total the enormous 

 number of 72,628,295 birds to 

 cleanse the air of thousands of 

 times their numbers in insect 

 pests, by the close of 1922! 



There are no imaginary or fancy 

 figures in this calculation, the whole 

 being based upon proper mathe- 

 matics, allowing less than 60 per cent 

 of the eggs to hatch and a further 

 cut of 25 per cent of natural loss 

 each year, without interference from 

 violent or unnatural causes. 



But Chimney Swifts are no more 

 than holding their own, in the bal- 

 ance of Nature, which means that 

 one individual dies for every one that 

 the old birds hatch. What is the 

 cause of this loss? 



Oologists take no appreviative 

 numiber of eggs, and this, too, with- 

 out killing the hirds! The number 

 taken by the ornithologist and skin 

 collector is insignificant compared 

 with the millions hatched every 

 year! 



In some manner one Swift loses its 

 Life as another is being born. If that 

 Life were prolonged, the numbers of 



Chimney Swifts would increase! 



Where does the fault lie? 



For a bird that lives entirely upon 

 winged insects which come to destroy 

 our trees, grass and crops, 72,628,296 

 birds is a mighty army of defence to 

 be denied existence merely for the 

 fun of deciding who is the champion 

 shot of a Gun Club! 



Let us go to Waynesboro, Virginia, 

 ar.d climbing to the top of that en- 

 i^naring chimney, write upon its four 

 sides, in ghastly letters, that the 

 town's "best society" may understand, 

 this legend: 



"In the absolute death of 100 Chim- 

 ney Swifts, in 1902, the Pair State of 

 Virginia denied existence to a prod- 

 geny army of 72,628,296 insect de- 

 stroyers of far more value to the 

 Commonwealth than the heads of the 

 men who planned to stay the progress 

 of Natural Reproduction for a feTV 

 hours of heartless sport!" 



J. Warren Jacobs. 

 Waynesburg, Pa., Dec. 20, 1922. 



CAN SNAKES CHARM BIRDS? 



There is a popular opinion that 

 serpents possess the ability of charm- 

 ing and thus capturing their prey, to 

 what extent they have this, has never 

 been determined, and it is still an 

 open question. 



For more than a full half century 

 has the writer tried to determine the 

 question for his own personal satis- 

 faction. In all that time he has dili- 

 gently kept his eyes open for a prac- 

 tical example of this power, but has 

 never but once, seen it manifested. 

 This case was so convincing that a 

 record of it is worthy of a place in 

 bird lore. 



The summer months were in full 

 swing — and the bird world was busy 

 nesting. In a wide Mississippi bot- 

 tom, lay a long stretch of wild pas- 

 ture land, on this, the observer herd- 

 ed a drove of dairy cows, he had lit- 



