Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1908-09-16

signal for taking down the shotgun
whose coming now II hailed and
whose companionship is cultivated.
The kingbird (tyrannus tyrannus).
once killed on sight by every farmer
who had a hive OF bees on his place,
| ID now allowed to perch unmolested
above the dome-shaped homes Of tho
honey-makers.
This kingbird, called in some parts
or the country the tyrant fycatcher,
lives almost wholly on winged insects
OF the injurious kind. 1t also has an
appetite for bees, and 1t was this
marked taste that made trouble for
the bird. It's numbers began to d.
mlnish under persecution, and then
some OF the members of Uncle Sans
biological survey who had a suspicion
that the kingbird 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. KingbIrds
| were killed and their stomachs were
/ examined. 1t waa found that nearly
| everything they ate was something
which, living, was inimical to the farm.
er's interest. Bees were found I'm some
numbers in the stomach, but strangely
enough the kingblrds had distin.
guished between bees and bees. SC
to speak, and had left the workers
alone to dine off the worthless drones.
When this statement of the authc ri.
tics was published in bulletin form
by the government the bee-keepers
thought the matter was a huge joke
| and laughed at the Investigations OF
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 Oh
his perch above the hives. The king.
bird is the farms policeman. He is
| the deadly enemy of the thieving
| crow and the marauding hawk He
fearlessly attacks and drives away the
| cornfleld pest and tho poultry yard
assassin.
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 a 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 it is called the
| bull bat. The nighthawks are resi-
| dents both of the city and couJ.ry.
They may be heard after sundowh
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 a liking for
city life. They have found In gravel.
| covered roofs a fat: 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 Ats way
across the sky In flight that 1t
makes the head swim to watch. It has
long wings and is thickly feathered, a
circumstance which gives it an appear.
ance of size that is not real.
In reporting on this bird the gov.
eminent expert said: This enormous
stomach must be kept filled to supply
motive power for the long wings.
which are kept in motion so 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.
| np mfr n;n To CHI
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