Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1907-08-22
Swallows as Insect Destroyers.

a recent bulletin Issued Dy tle
United States Department of Agri
culture gives some interesting facts
about swallows and their value as In
sect destroyers.
The circular has a twofold purpose
First, to maize known the great value
of swallows as insect destroyers and
to emphasize the Importance of pro-
tecting them wherever found second
to widely publish the peculiar value
of these birds in the war now being
waged in the South against the cotton
boil weevil, and to ask for the CO.
operation of citizens of Northern
States, where these birds chiefly nest,
in an effort to increase their numbers.
That insect-eating birds are Of i'm
mense value to the farmer and the
forester is so well known that their
protection is now believed to be alb.
solutely necessary to the welfare Of
any country. But the value of cer-
tain kinds in the United States has
been recently emphasized through the
invasion of the cotton States by new
and destructive insect-the boil wee.
vii. This new pest, despite every ef-
fort to stay its march, is spreading at
the rate of about so miles a year, and
sooner or later is certain to infest the
entire cotton-producing AREA fact
which not only seriously concerns the
southern planter, but in its ultimate
consequences affects the well.being Of
the whole country.
Birds are among the natural enc
mics of the weevil, but by themselves
are quite inadequate to the task of
controlling the ravages of the post.
The losses it inaicts are of such mag
nitude, however, that no aid can be
safely neglected, especially when SO
important as the services rendered by
birds. AS the result of Investigations
by the Biological Survey, thirty-eight
species of birds are now known to feed
upon the weevil. Prominent among
these are the several species of swal-
lows, including the purple martin.
The martin, the barn swallow, the
bank swallow, the cliff swallow, and
the rough.wing breed--some of them
only sparingly-in Texas and else
where in the South. They breed al
so in the North, but the tree swallow
and the cliff swallow-very important
members Of the group-appear in the
South, the former during spring and
fall migration only.
BARN SWALLOW.
The barn swallow formerly was
abundant throughout the Northern
States, especially in New England.
The tightly built modern barn, how.
ever, no longer invites the presence Of
the barn swallow by afording it friend.
ly shelter, and the birds are becoming
scarcer and scarcer. To provide open.
ings in modern barns and to encour-
age the presence of them in colonies
by providing convenient nesting sites
are easy and effective methods by
which this beautiful species may be
greatly increased in numbers. This
bird also requires protection from the
English sparrow, which in one foray
has been known to kill the young and
destroy the eggs of a large colony.
BANK SWALLOW.
The well-known bank swallow, as
its name implies, nests in sand banks
in holes of its own digging. Some
farmers in the Northern States take
special pains to protect their colonies
Of bank swallows from the marauding
boy and the prowling cat. Some even
take pains to excavate suitable banks
on their farms and devote them to the
exclusive use of the swallows. Gravel
and sand banks are 80 numerous
throughout the North. especially in
New England, that at triAing expense
The number of colonies Of bank swal-
lows may be vastly incr ased, to the
advantage of every farmer North and
South, and to that Of every nature
lover as well.
CLIFF SWALLOW.
The curious pouch-shaped mud
structures of the cliff swallow, at-
tached under caves or to the face of