26 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY 



a large circle on the prairie and setting fire 

 around it. The fire burning inward, drives the 

 insects towards the centre, where thev are 

 either killed or scorched so bad they cannot 

 fly. They are then scooped up and stored 

 away. Thev prepare them for the festive 

 board, by pounding them up with acorns 

 and mixing with water and baking, making 

 a kind of brown cake. 



The natives of South Africa collect and 

 use for food these insects, especially during 

 a drouth, and they live and seem to thrive 

 on them. These tribes usually wash and 

 eat them, though sometimes they make a 

 kind of soup of them. 



John Chinaman, who is noted for saving 

 everything, does not hold "the bug" in scorn, 

 but hails with delight the larva and pupa of 

 many insects and alwavs saving the larva of 

 the silkworm for the table. Even in Europe 

 the larva of many of the common beetles, 

 especially the wood borers, are considered 

 very fine. It is said that among the Greeks 

 the cicada were considered among the deli- 

 cacies. Both the larva and pupa were eaten, 

 but the imago were considered best, espec- 

 ially the females, on account of the eggs. 



Roasted spiders are eaten by natives of 

 New Caledonia, and in Southern Europe 

 you frequently find individuals who eat them 

 raw. A traveler tells of a young lady, who. 

 in her rambles, whenever she found a spider 

 cracked and ate them on the spot. Indeed, 

 if it were not for the popular predjudice 

 against "a bug, : ' insects would be an article 

 of desert on our tables. We think nothing 

 of eating an ovster, and many of our insects 

 have a very delicate flavor and are very nu- 

 tritious, as many of our most noted entom- 

 ologists will testify. 



Now, it some enterprising house-keeper 

 would simply start the fashion of having 

 roasted grasshoppers, rare, or fricasseed 

 cankerworms, in a short time the grass- 

 hopper scourge would be hailed with delight 

 by the fancy grocer, and the farmers could 

 turn that pest of the orchard into account. 



E. M. B. 

 Leonardville, Kansas. 



SOME OBEGO.X BIRDS. 



BY <;. L. HOWE. 



Turkey Vulture. 



(Cafhartes aura.) 



This bird is found in all parts of Oregon. 

 Almost any day in summer he may be seen 

 sailing through the air or on the grounds 

 This bird is not very clean, but for useful- 

 ness surpasses all others. They are hardly 

 ever killed, as they devour at all times the 

 putrid or decomposing flesh of carcasses. 

 Around the carcass the birds my be seen in 

 great numbers, devouring the flesh with 

 great relish. The Turkey Vulture is also 

 noted for its flights, soaring around in great 

 circles, apparently without effort. They 

 congregate in great numbers to roost, and in 

 some dead pine tree, sleep away the night- 

 The nest is situated on the ground in rotten 

 logs, stumps and caves. A slight depres- 

 sion with a few leaves scattered in it, com- 

 pose the nest. The eggs are yellowish 

 white, blotched with purple and brown 

 two in number, sometimes only one, aver- 

 aging in size about 2.73x1.88. 



llarsh Hawk. 



{Circus hudsonius.) 

 This bird is sometimes called the Blue 

 hawk or Harrier, and it inhabits North 

 America in general. In this locality (Ben- 

 ton Co.), it is not very common. It is found 

 especially in low, swampy lands or marshy 

 places. It's food consists of rats, mice, 

 squirrels, frogs, snakes, lizards and small 

 birds. The nest is generally placed on the 

 ground usually in a marsh or swamp, some- 

 times on a grassy prairie. The nest is a 

 foot or more in diameter, three to six inches 

 in height, and is composed of dry grass, hay, 

 twigs or moss. The same nest is generally 

 used several years in succession. They 

 usually lay from four to six eggs, of a green- 

 ish white color, faintly spotted with pale 

 brown and lilac. The eggs closely resemble 

 those of the Coopers Hawk, {Accipiter coop- 

 eri), and measure 1.80 to 1.90 in length by 

 1.40 to 1.45 in breadth. 



