FOEAGING HABITS OF BIRDS. 



The different habits of foraging that distinguish the 

 several tribes and species of birds deserve attention as 

 indicating a similar difference in the character of their 

 aliment. Birds, for example, that take their food chiefly 

 from the surface of the ground forage in a different man- 

 ner from others that collect it from under the surface. 

 Swallows catch all their food while on the wing, and give 

 proof by this habit that they take only winged insects ; 

 but their manners differ essentially from those of the 

 fly-catchers, that do not take their prey on the wing, but 

 seize it as it passes by their perch. Eobins and black- 

 birds gather their fare entirely from the ground, but their 

 ways while seeking it differ exceedingly. Their respec- 

 tive habits of foraging are adapted to the successful 

 pursuit of the worms and insects that constitute their 

 principal diet. Though both species are consumers of 

 all kinds of insects, they have their preferences, which 

 are the chief objects of their pursuit. It is necessary to 

 study their different habits of foraging to understand the 

 principle which I have endeavored to inculcate, that each 

 species performs certain services in the economy of nature, 

 which cannot he so well accomplished hy any other species ; 

 and that it is necessary for this end to preserve all in 

 such proportions as would spontaneously exist if the 

 whole feathered race were unmolested and left to their 

 own natural chances of living and multiplying. 



The sylvian s are the most interesting of foragers 

 among the smaller birds, and are remarkable for their 



