APPEIVDIX !!• 



NOTES OK THE NATUEE OF THE FOOD OF THE BIEDS OF 



^ NEBRASKA. 



By Prof. Samuel Aughet, 0/ Lincoln, Nebr. 



LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Prof. C. V. Riley, 



Chief of the United States Entomological Commission. 



Dear Sir: The chapter on '* Vertebrate Enemies" having been assigned to me by 

 the Commission, I have been fortunate in obtaining, by the consent of the Commis- 

 sion, the assistance of Prof. Samuel Aughey, of Lincoln, Neb., in this work. Having 

 been engaged for a number of years in studying the birds of his State with special 

 reference to their locust-eating habits, his report is quite full and complete, but is too 

 long to be incorporated into the chapter assigned me. I have therefore, at the sug- 

 gestion of the Commission, separated this portion, to be placed in the Appendix, the 

 other portion being incorporated into and composing the greater portion of the chap- 

 ter on " Vertebrate Enemies." 



This record of the examination of the stomachs of birds is probably the most exten- 

 sive ever made in this country. The list includes something over 630 specimens and 

 90 different species, and extends through a period of twelve years. 



It develops very clearly the fact that in locust years these insects become the chief 

 food of insect-eating birds, even tho water-birds devouring them largely. 

 Very respectfully, 



CYRUS THOMAS. 



University of Nebraska, 



Lincoln, Nelr., November 15, 1877. 



Dear Sir : At your request I have reduced to order the somewhat random notes 

 that I have been taking on the birds of Nebraska and their relations to insect life, 

 during the last thirteen years. Up to the present year my studies in this field have 

 been pursued with no thought of a publication of results, but simply from a love for 

 such pursuits, and hence my notes are not as complete as they otherwise would have 

 been. It is owing to this that the exact day of the month of many of my dissections 

 is not given. I could not attempt the supply of omissions of this kind in my notes 

 from memory. I am under great obligations to Coues's* "Key" and his " Birds of the 

 Northwest," as they enabled me, in the absence of other reference books, to identify 

 some Western birds that were new to me. I have adopted his classification through- 

 out. I could have doubled the number of insects found in the stomachs of birds by 

 attempting an estimate of those embraced in the partially digested mass of matter, 

 but the possibility of a mistake forbade the attempt. I regret that I have not been 

 able to extend my investigations beyond Nebraska. Being convinced from my studies 

 that the preservation of birds is worthy of national attention, I have added to these 

 notes other facts and considerations showing the need of the enactment and the en- 

 forcement of laws to protect them. 



SAMUEL AUGHEY. 



Prof. Cyrus Thomas, 



United States Entomological Commission. 



* At the request of Professor Eilev, I have revised the nomenclature of the birds treated in tliis 

 paper.— Ellioit Coues, Washington, D. C, May 15, 1878. 



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