. American bird magazine, ornithology. Birds. There is something curiously suggestive in the manner in which birds forage for their insect food. It would almost seem as though each species were intended to perform certain services in the economy of nature which could not be so well done by any other species; that in- stead of being pensioners upon man, the birds are really benefactors, giving more than they receive. Thus the Swallow tribes are the guardians of the atmosphere, which Iwould otherwise swarm with im- mense quantities of minute insects; Woodpeckers, Creepers and Chicka- dees, are t
. American bird magazine, ornithology. Birds. There is something curiously suggestive in the manner in which birds forage for their insect food. It would almost seem as though each species were intended to perform certain services in the economy of nature which could not be so well done by any other species; that in- stead of being pensioners upon man, the birds are really benefactors, giving more than they receive. Thus the Swallow tribes are the guardians of the atmosphere, which Iwould otherwise swarm with im- mense quantities of minute insects; Woodpeckers, Creepers and Chicka- dees, are the guardians of the timber— of the forests; Sylvians and Flycatchers, of the foliage; Blackbirds, Thrushes, Crows and Larks, are the protectors of the soil; and Snipes and Woodcocks, of the soil under the surface. Each fam- ily has its respective duties to perform,^ and it is man's loss if he disturb the equilibrium by reducing the numbers of any species below the supply of insects afforded. The manner of for- aging is widely different in the various families, and it is curious to note the assiduity with which insects are hunted in all stages of their existence. In their larval state, those that lurk inside of the wood and bark are taken by Woodpeckers, and those under the soil by Snipe and Wood- cock. Insects when the larvae have assumed the form of moths, beetles and flies, are attacked by Flycatchers and Sylvians, and other small birds that take their food by day, and by small Owls and Whip-poor-wills by night. Birds that take their food chiefly from the surface of the ground, forage in a dif- ferent manner from those that collect it from under the surface. Robins and Blackbirds gather their fare entirely from the ground, but their ways of seeking it are very different. Swallows catch their food while on the wing, and by this give proof that they take only winged insects; but their manner differs essentially from those of the Flycatchers, which do not take their prey on th
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