Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1908-02-13

cts, mealworms or other availa.
BILE insect food.
But should the old birds con
sent to remain in the, new neigh.
borhood and to rear the young
the probability of the return OF
both old and young the follow
ing spring is great. Even if de-
serted by their parents and af-
ter being hand-reared there is at
least fair degree of probabili-
ty that the young will find their
way back the following year to
the place where raised and build
in the houses provided for them.
The practicability of this method
of extending the range of the
martin has yet to be tested by
actual experiments on large
scale, but the value of the bird as
an insect hunter, especially in
the South, is so great as to JUS
tify the trouble and expense nee
essary to test the plan thor
oughly.
The English sparrow is for
midable enemy of the martin, as
it is of all swallows, and if a
martin colony is to thrive de-
termined efforts must be made
to prevent this pest from GUST
ing the formidable enemycmfw
ing the rightful owners and APP
propriating their boxes. The
smaller swallows are quite help
less to resist the attacks of the
foreign invaders, and soon aban-
don their homes for more peace
full regions. But the martin is
a good fighter and would be able
to hold its own against the spar
row hosts but for the fact that
in it's temporary absence the
sparrows kill it's young and
throw out the eggs, so that
sooner or later the martin has
to give up the contest and aban-
don the neighborhood.
Martins are not at al fasti-
Martins are not at all fastidi-
Gus about the outward appear
ance of their dwellings, and a
large gourd suspended from the
top of a dead tree or pole, or
any kind of a weather-tigh box
or barrel, however rude, when
divided into compartments an
swers their needs as well as the
most costly and ornamental
house. The roomA should be
about a 1-2 inches wide, z in
ches high and 8 aches deep,
with entrances bpt three
inches in diameteS They will
not build close to the ground,
having a wholesome fear of cats
and other invaders; hence the
houses should be elevated from
the ground not less than Is feet.
Drinking water is essential for
martins and all other swallows,
and the presence of a small
pond, lake or river greatly in
creases the chances for a colozi-
nation.
From the standpoint of a far
mer and the cotton grower, swal-
lows are among the most useful
birds. Especially designed by
natue to capture insects in mid
air, their powers of fight and
endurance are unexcelled, and in
their own field they have no
competitors. Their peculiar
value to the cotton grower con-
sists in the fact that, like the
night hawk, they capture boil
weevils when flying over the
fields, which no other birds do.
Flycatchers snap up the weevil
near trees and shrubbery. Wrens
hunt them out when concealed
under bark or rubbish. Black
birds catch them on the ground,
as do the kildeer, titlark, mead
ow lark and others while ORR
oles hunt for them on the bolls.
But it is the peculiar function
of swallows to catch the weevils
as they are making long fights,
leaving the cotton fields in
search of hiding places in which
to winter or entering them to
continue their work of devasta-
tation.
Means have been taken to in
form residents of Northern
States of the value of the swal-
| lo1nr tf.ihn 70 q ni.i Fri r.nlictc crar-