﻿BIRDS BENEFICIAL TO AGRICULTURE. 



I. BIRDS IN THEIR RELATION TO 

 INJURIOUS INSECTS. 



Insects of all orders form the principal food of the majority of 

 birds, many of which are entirely insectivorous, such as the 

 swallow, martins, swift, cuckoo, nightjar, wryneck, woodpeckers, 

 nuthatch, tree-creeper, wren, golden-crested wren, several of the 

 warblers, chats, redstart, wheatear and others. The wagtails, 

 pipits, and titmice mainly feed upon insects, and the thrushes, 

 nightingale, hedge-sparrow and the larks live mostly upon 

 insect food. Many of the larger birds such as the buzzards, 

 game birds, the crow family, the smaller species of gulls, 

 small falcons and the little owl and waders, readily devour 

 insects of all kinds, especially flies, grasshoppers, earwigs, 

 beetles, aphides, ticks and moths. There are certain species of 

 Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths) which are distasteful to birds, 

 and others are protected from their attacks by their form and 

 colouring. The caterpillars of the Geometrid moths are certainly 

 to a very great extent protected by their remarkable similarity to 

 the twigs of the plants and trees upon which they feed ; and, being 

 mostly of nocturnal habits, they pass the hours of daylight resting 

 motionless amongst the foliage, their protective resemblance 

 enabling them to elude the keen sight of their natural enemies. 



Several species of insects are protected by their colouring, such 

 as the gooseberry moth [Abraxas grossulariata), both the cater- 

 pillar and moth of which are spotted with black and yellow, possess 

 an acrid flavour, and are usually rejected by birds. The black and 

 yellow larvae of the brilliantly coloured burnet and cinnabar moths 

 are likewise distasteful to birds, on account of the acrid yellow fluid 

 contained in their bodies ; but although young pheasants (chicks) 

 will feed upon them, the results prove fatal. The caterpillars of 

 another very destructive species, the buff-tip moth (Pkalera 

 bucephala), are also usually rejected by birds, but the cuckoo feeds 



