OUR DEBT TO THE SWALLOWS 155 



swallows aid' farmers by eating the seeds of 

 weeds which choke the grain fields. Ex- 

 amination of the contents of the stomachs 

 of swallows in our southern states has shown 

 that many species of them eat, on an average, 

 more than twenty thousand seeds of weeds 

 in a day. 



Still another asset of the swallow is to be 

 noted — her assthetic value. The beauty, 

 the sociability, and the graceful flight of 

 swallows are a keen source of pleasure to 

 every lover of nature, and go far to endear 

 the little birds to all hearts. 



As a return for these varied services to 

 man, and as a provision for their continu- 

 ance, should not our birds be protected and 

 their nesting encouraged ? In olden times 

 the snaring and killing of birds was such a 

 favorite sport that elaborate bird decoys 

 were a carefully planned feature of pleasure 

 gardens, the remains of which may still be 

 seen in the ruins of old European gardens. 

 But public sentiment in Europe as well as 



