The Jasper news., 1908-10-01

lVeS almost wholly Oh WlHBeu inseSu
Of. the Injurious kind. 1t also has ar
appetite. for bees, tapd 1t was this
marked taste that made trouble fol |
the -bird.s,,Its, numbers. began to di
minish under persecution, and then
some Of the members of Uncle Sans
biological survey who had q suspicion |
that the kingbiril was being treated
badly, began an Investigation. 1t was
necessary to be cruel to some hun
dreds Of individuals in order to be
kind to the entire family. KtngblrdI
were. killed and their stomachs were
examined. 1t was found that nearly
everything they ate was something
which, living, was inimlcal to the farm
er's interest Bees were found in SOME
numbers in the stomach, but strangely
enough the kingbirds had distin-
guished between bees and bees. 30
to speak, and had left the workers
falone to dine off the worthless drones.
When this statement Of the authori.
ties was published in bulletin form
by the government the bee-keepers
thought the matter was a huge joke
the scientists. The bee men were In.
! duced to do little investigating
themselves, and after few months
close observation they were willing
| TO let Tyrannus stay unmolested on
his perch above the hives.
There is bird of the sky which the
government of the United States re-
CARDS so favorably that there recently
| has been issued and sent broadcast
through the land special plea for its
| protection. This bird in the northern
states, for practically the whole
breadth OF the continent, is known as
the nighthawk (chordeiles virginian-
| us), while in. the south 1t Is called the
| bull bat The nighthawks are resi-
dents both of the city and country.
| They may be heard after sundown
emitting peculiar suueaking note far
up above the office buildings Of the
| great busy towns. 1t is only within
comparatively recent years that the
nighthawks have shown liking for
city life. They have found In gravel
covered roofs a. fair substitute for the
stony country field in which in former
years they made their nests. Their
eggs are now found frequently upon
the roofs Of Office buildings In all the
large cities of the country.
The nighthawk zigzags its way
across the sky in flight that It
| makes the head swim to watch. 1t has
long wings and Is thickly feathered, "A
circumAtapce which gives it,an appear.
ance of she>that is not real.
In reporting on this bird the tgov-
ernment expert said: This enormous
stomach must be kept filled to supply
motive power for the long wings.
which are kept in motion 30 many
hours. The food consists Of insects
taken on the wing and the bird fills
its great stomach almost to breaking
The wholesale killing of the night
hawks entails an almost incalculable
injury upon agricultural interests
The instances, which have been Civ
en- are sufficien to show the necessity
for the preservation of certain forms
of the bird life of the United States
The examples Of the birds usefulness
to man might be extended until they
comprise nearly every family OF birds
on the continent. There are of course
some injurious species. but these al!
taken together would number' as
someone has put 1t. but few more
birds than were found In Lord Dur
ldreary's famous flock.