FIRBY : BIRD8 V. INSECTH. li'M^ 



gluttony, by feeding them on an average, thirty-six times every lioiir witli 

 insects' eggs, larvae, &c. A hungry redstart {Sylvia 'phmnicurus) captured in 

 a room, during the space of an hour, 600 flies ; and if this little creature 

 hunts but for two or three hours every day, we may calculate the number of 

 its prey. Tho swallow and the martin [Hirundo) in the daytime, and the 

 European goat- sucker or night-jar {Gapvimidgus Etiroiyrus) during the night, 

 capture swarms of gnats ; the chaf&nch, the jay, the jackdaw {Corvus moiie- 

 dula,) devour the Lasiocampa and the Nuctaa. Even sparrows may be 

 included in the catalogue of useful birds, notwithstanding the damage they 

 cause at times to the orchard or corn-field, because they feed their young 

 (v/hich can boast of pretty good appetites) exclusively upon larvse, grass- 

 hoppers, beetles, worms, or ants ; and both old and young at the commence- 

 ment of autumn are to be generally found feeding on the seeds of weeds 

 and other obnoxious plants. A pair of sparrows will consume in food for 

 their young nestlings about 3,000 insects weekly, each, parent bringing a 

 beakful thirty times an hour. These services are well deserving of a few 

 cherries. The field sparrow does not, moreover, eat cherries, and a small 

 number of these birds will soon clear many shrubs and rose trees from the 

 pernicious aphides. When field sparrows feed in a corn-field they ought 

 merely to be warned off, not destroyed, unless indeed, there be many insecti- 

 vorous birds near at hand. Sensible gardeners every year more and more 

 discountenance the ruthless slaughter of sparrows. 



All the species of warblers, the reed wren, the yellow wren, the wagtail, 

 the stonechat, Saxicola r ub kola, as well as the different sort of shrikes or 

 butcher-birds, are excellent insect hunters, and particularly the spotted ily- 

 c£Ltc\iQY, Muscicapa grisola, which bird it is better to keep at a distance from the 

 apiary, as it owns a decided taste for the sweets of the bee-hive. Swallows 

 are most active insectivora — in Germany they are captured for food, a custom 

 which cannot be too strongly reprehended — and is therefore a very valuable 

 assistant to man, in the destruction of insects. We will just now notice a 

 few of the larger class of birds, which are of very important use to our 

 cereals. The cuckoo, Cuciilus canorus, is the first on the list. I^ature has 

 formed this very remarkable bird for the express destruction of hii'sute 

 caterpillars, which other birds cannot eat, and has organised its stomach for 

 the easy digestion of such food. In the year 1847 an immense forest in 

 Pomerania was on the verge of complete ruin, caused by the havoc and 

 ravages of caterpillars. It was suddenly and most unexpectedly saved by the 

 advent of a band of cuckoos, who, though on the point of migrating, estab- 



