ipalmata_).
Baird sandpiper (_Pisobia bairdi_).
Least sandpiper (_Pisobia minutilla_).

Cattle and other live stock also are seriously molested by mosquitoes as
well as by another set of pests, the horse-flies. Adults and larvae of
these flies have been found in the stomachs of the dowitcher, the
pectoral sandpiper, the hudsonian godwit, and the killdeer. Two species
of shorebirds, the killdeer and upland plover, still further befriend
cattle by devouring the North American fever tick.

Among other fly larvae consumed are those of the crane flies
(leather-jackets) devoured by the following species:

Northern phalarope (_Lobipes lobatus_).
Pectoral sandpiper (_Pisobia maculata_).
Wilson phalarope (_Steganopus tricolor_).
Baird sandpiper (_Pisobia bairdi_).
Woodcock (_Philohela minor_).
Upland plover (_Bartramia longicauda_).
Jacksnipe (_Gallinago delicata_).
Killdeer (_Oxyechus vociferus_).

Crane-fly larvae are frequently seriously destructive locally in grass
and wheat fields. Among their numerous bird enemies, shorebirds rank
high.

Another group of insects of which the shorebirds are very fond is
grasshoppers. Severe local infestations of grasshoppers, frequently
involving the destruction of many acres of corn, cotton, and other
crops, are by no means exceptional. Aughey found twenty-three species
of shorebirds feeding on Rocky Mountain locusts in Nebraska, some of
them consuming large numbers, as shown below.

9 killdeer stomachs contained an average of 28 locusts each.
11 semipalmated plover stomachs contained an average of 38 locusts each.
16 mountain plover stomachs contained an average of 45 locusts each.
11 jacksnipe stomachs contained an average of 37 locusts each.
22 upland plover stomachs contained an average of 36 locusts each.
10 long-billed curlew stomachs contained an average of 48 locusts each.

[Illustration: TWO MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF SHORE-BIRDS
The Killdeer Plover The Jacksnipe
These, with 28 other species, destroy enormous numbers of locusts,
grasshoppers, crane-fly larvae, mosquito larvae, army-worms, cut-worms,
cotton-worms, boll-weevils, curculios, wire-worms and clover-leaf
weevils. It is insane folly to shoot any birds that do such work! Many
species of the shore-birds are rapidly being exterminated.]

Even under ordinary conditions grasshoppers are a staple food of many
members of the shorebird family, and the following species are known to
feed on them:

Northern phalar