74 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



just as birds particularly readily eat termites, which 

 are used as human food in Africa, so they are also 

 particularly fond of grasshoppers and locusts, which 

 are' and have been more widely used as human food 

 than any other insects, being even permitted to 

 the Jews by the Mosaic law. Jerdon, whose obser- 

 vations on Indian birds have never been superseded, 

 though often amplified, considered that grass- 

 hoppers were the staple food of insectivorous birds 

 in India, and the observations of American investi- 

 gators have shown that they are equally appreciated 

 by the birds of North America. 



When locust-swarms invade a country, they are 

 preyed on wholesale by a great variety of birds ; 

 in the case of the only swarm — a very scattered one 

 — I ever saw in India, it was amusing to see the 

 Calcutta Sparrows, who probably had in few cases 

 ever seen a locust before, valiantly tackle these huge 

 shrimp-pink grasshoppers on the wing and bring 

 them to the ground. 



Certain special kinds of birds also have long been 

 known as the particular enemies of locusts, following 

 them everywhere, and thus earning the gratitude 

 of humanity ; of these the most noteworthy being 

 the Rosy Pastor (Pastor roseus), the most beautiful 

 of the Starlings, in Eastern Europe and in Asia, 

 and the Pratincoles or Swallow- Plovers (Glareola) 

 in Africa, where also another Starling {Dilophus 

 carunculatus) is a well-known " Locust-bird." 



Dragon-flies are also greatly appreciated by birds ; 

 I have seen two very different species using them 



