APPENDIX II. AUGHEY ON LOCUST-FEEDING BIRDS. [25] 



capture many locusts until they begin to fly. 

 prove this: 



The following examinations seem to 



c 



3 



s 



Locality. 



t 



Date. 



1 _ 



1 



•S 

 6 



1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 G 

 7 



Datota County K^ebraska ....... ... ......... .. 



June 1, 1865 

 June 17, 1865 

 .May 23, 1875 

 June 5, 1875 

 June 16, 1875 

 .... do 



4 

 34 



2 

 10 

 37 

 34 



37 

 G 



40 



33 

 4 

 3 



12 





Lancaster County Nebraska .. ...... .. 





do 



.do 



......do 



June 14, 1877 





This list seems to indicate that this swallow captures locusts principally on the 

 wing. 



Tachycineta bicolor, (Vieill.) Cab. 



JVhife-T)ellicd SicoUoiv. 



This bird is found but rarely in Nebraska. Why it is so seldom found here I am 

 unable to tell. I have heard of its breeding here, but have seen no nests or young. J 

 only believe it to feed on the locusts from the habits of its congeners. 



Tachycineta thajlassixa, (Sw.) Cab. 



Violet-green Swalloiv. 



Have only met this swallow in Western Nebraska, where I found it nesting in 1875 

 in crannies in exi^osed Miocene rocks near Pine Bluffs, and in similar rocka the year 

 previous in the upper portion of the Republican Valley. In the latter portion of August, 

 on the Republican, I shot one which contained 23 locusts and 17 other insects in its 

 stomach. 



Petrochelidon LUXiFRONS, (Say) Scl. 



Cliff Swallow ; Eave Swalloiv. 



Occurs in Eastern Nebraska in great numbers, where it breeds both on -; he sides of 

 cliffs and under the eaves of houses. Hayden has observed the great number of this 

 species along the Missouri and the vast number of nests on the vertical sides of the 

 river-bluffs, especially of the chalk bluffs near Niobrara. I had the opporl unity of 

 observing the same phenomenon at Niobrara during August of this year. Three miles 

 east of the town, on the sides of a perpendicular chalk rock (Cretaceous No. 3 of 

 Hayden), I counted 2,100 nests of this bird. I saw other points where there were 

 almost as many. They destroy countless numbers of locusts and other insects. The 

 following is the result of my examination of their feeding habits : 



1 



a 



Locality. 



Date. 



^a 



1" 



"S 

 •S 



2 



5 



1 

 2 



4 



Dakota County, Nebraska 



May 30, 1865 

 June 6,1665 

 June 9,1867 

 June 1,1875 

 June 14, 1875 

 ... do 



10 



47 

 49 

 44 



33 

 17 

 IJ 

 Z5 

 4 

 

 2 

 8 



do " .. . « 



Burt County, Nebraska 



Lancaster County, Nebraska 



5 



do 



6 



do '.'.'.v.... ."'.'...'..'. 



7 



do 



June 10, 1877 

 .. do 



8 



do 









From this list it is also evident Ibat this swallow vraits until it can capture the 

 locusts on the wing before it indulges extensively in such exquisite bird food. 



Cotyle eiparia, (Linn.) Boie. 

 Bavlc Swallow. 



Common in Eastern Nebraska, though not as abundant as the preceding. In tho 

 spring of 1865 (but the exact date I cannot decipher from my old notes), I watched 



