AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



71 



BIRD FORAGERS, 



There is something curiously suggestive in the manner in which birds 

 forage for their insect food. It would almost seem as though each 

 species were intended to perform certain services in the economy of 

 nature which could not be so well done by any other species; that in- 

 stead of being pensioners upon man, the birds are really benefactors, 

 giving more than they receive. Thus the Swallow tribes are the 

 guardians of the atmosphere, which Iwould otherwise swarm with im- 

 mense quantities of minute insects; 

 Woodpeckers, Creepers and Chicka- 

 dees, are the guardians of the timber — 

 of the forests; Sylvians and Flycatchers, 

 of the foliage; Blackbirds, Thrushes, 

 Crows and Larks, are the protectors of 

 the soil; and Snipes and Woodcocks, of 

 the soil under the surface. Each fam- 

 ily has its respective duties to perform,^ 

 and it is man's loss if he disturb the 

 equilibrium by reducing the numbers of 



any species below the supply of insects afforded. The manner of for- 

 aging is widely different in the various families, and it is curious to 

 note the assiduity with which insects are hunted in all stages of their 

 existence. 



In their larval state, those that lurk inside of the wood and bark are 

 taken by Woodpeckers, and those under the soil by Snipe and Wood- 

 cock. 



Insects when the larvae have assumed the form of moths, beetles 

 and flies, are attacked by Flycatchers and Sylvians, and other small 



birds that take their food by day, and by 

 small Owls and Whip-poor-wills by night. 

 Birds that take their food chiefly from 

 the surface of the ground, forage in a dif- 

 ferent manner from those that collect it 

 from under the surface. Robins and Blackbirds 

 gather their fare entirely from the ground, but their 

 ways of seeking it are very different. 



Swallows catch their food while on the wing, and 

 by this give proof that they take only winged insects; 

 but their manner differs essentially from those of the 

 Flycatchers, which do not take their prey on the 

 wing, but seize it as it passes by their perch. 



