14 RELATION OF BIRDS TO COTTON BOLL WEEVIL. 



sistent hunting. Fourteen specimens were examined in September, 

 of which 5 contained boll weevils. The total number of weevils con- 

 sumed by the 5 birds was 52 and the largest number found in one 

 stomach 23. 



Bank swallow. — These swallows, the smallest of the family, are rare 

 in summer in Texas, but occur in large numbers during the fall migra- 

 tion. Twenty-five specimens were collected in September and 11 of 

 them were found to have eaten a total of 68 boll weevils. The largest 

 number in one stomach was 14 and the average number 6. 



Purple martin. — Martins occur more or less commonly over the 

 greater part of Texas and the other Southern States. Their abun- 

 dance in a particular locality depends almost wholly on the number of 

 nest boxes provided for their use, and no birds respond more quickly 

 to an effort to increase their numbers. It has been found impracti- 

 cable to examine many specimens of this bird, but enough have been 

 secured to show that their food both in the spring and in the fall 

 includes the boll weevil. The only martin collected in September con- 

 tained one boll weevil, and another bird taken in May also had 

 remains of a boll weevil in its stomach. 



Like the other members of this family, martins obtain their food 

 almost wholly in the air. They are not likely, therefore, to capture 

 a large number of weevils except in the fall, when the insects fly 

 freely. The destruction of even a few weevils in the spring, however, 

 is a definite benefit to the cotton crop of that season, and the fact that 

 the martins reach their homes about the cotton fields in February and 

 remain until October, ever ready to snap up the weevils as they fly 

 from plant to plant, renders their services of the highest importance. 



FLYCATCHERS. 



Seven species of flycatchers have been found to destroy boll weevils, 

 and doubtless all the members of this family feed upon them during 

 the seasons when they are in the air. Most of the flycatchers are 

 summer residents only, but one — the plioebe — stays through the win- 

 ter. At least two species — the kingbird and the crested flycatcher — 

 begin the Avar on the weevil in April. It is carried on by the other 

 species throughout the summer and hy the phcebe until late autumn 

 or even in winter. 



Least flycatcher. — These little birds, the smallest of the family, 

 seem to have a decided fondness for boll weevils, for, of the 14 speci- 

 mens examined, just one-half had eaten the insect, the total number 

 of weevils destroyed by the 7 birds being 21. The least flycatchers 

 are northern-breeding birds, but migrate southward quite early and 

 do their best work in August and September. These flycatchers on 

 several occasions have been observed to fly down among the cotton 



