cS 
BY TUB WAYS/DU 
showed no inclination to go to the shore 
until about August 15. They and a 
flock of quails just over the wall helped 
me wonderfully.” 
In the uncultivated parts of their 
range also, shorebirds search out and 
destroy many creatures that are detri¬ 
mental to man’s interest. Several spe¬ 
cies prey upon the predaceous diving 
beetles (Dytiscidas), which are a nui¬ 
sance in fish hatcheries and which de¬ 
stroy many insects, the natural food of 
fishes. The birds now known to take 
these beetles are: 
Northern phalarope (Lobipes lobatus . 
Avocet (Recnrvirostra americana ). 
Black-necked stilt (Ilimantopus me si- 
can us). 
Jacksnipe (Gallinago delicata). 
1 )owitcher (MansrhampJi us griscus). 
Robin snipe (Tringn can uf us). 
Pectoral sandpiper (Tisobici macula (a). 
Red-backed sandpiper (Pclidna (d pin a 
sakhatina ). 
Killdeer (Oxycchus vociferus). 
Large numbers of marine worms of 
the genus Nereis, which prey upon oys¬ 
ters, are eaten bv shorebirds. These 
worms are common on both the Atlantic 
and Gulf coasts and are eaten by shore- 
birds whereever they occur. It is not 
uncommon to find that from 100 to 250 
of them have been eaten at one meal. 
The economic record of the shorebirds 
deserves nothing but praise. These birds 
injure no crop, but on the contrary feed 
upon many of the worst enemies of agri¬ 
culture. It is worth recalling that their 
diet includes such pests as the Rocky 
Mountain locust and other injurious 
grasshoppers, the army worm, cutworms, 
cabbage worms, cotton worm, cotton cut¬ 
worm, boll weevil, clover leaf weevil, 
clover root curculio, rice weevil, corn 
bill-bugs, wireworms, corn leaf-beetles, 
cucumber beetles, white grubs, and such 
foes of stock as the Texas fever tick, 
horseflies, and mosquitoes. Their war¬ 
fare on crayfishes must not be over¬ 
looked, nor must we forget the more per¬ 
sonal debt of gratitude we owe them for 
preying upon mosquitoes. They are the 
most important bird enemies of these 
pests known to us. 
SUMMARY. 
Shorebirds have been hunted until 
only a remnant of their once vast num¬ 
bers is left. Their limited powers of 
reproduction, coupled with the natural 
vicissitudes of the breeding period, make 
their increase slow, and peculiarly ex¬ 
pose them to danger of extermination. 
In the way of protection a beginning 
has been made, and a continuous close 
season until 1915 has been established 
for the following birds: The killdeer, 
in Massachusetts and Louisiana; the up¬ 
land plover, in Massachusetts and Ver¬ 
mont ; and the piping plover, in Mass¬ 
achusetts But, considering the needs 
and value of these birds, this modicum 
of protection is small indeed. 
The above-named species are not the 
only ones that should be exempt from 
persecution, for all the shorebirds of the 
United States are in great need of better 
protection. They should be protected, 
first, to save them from the danger of 
extermination, and, second, because of 
their economic importance. So great, 
indeed, is their economic value, that 
their retention on the game list and their 
destruction by sportsmen is a serious loss 
to agriculture. 
