Let us now consult the illustrious black-footed tribe, so warmly celebrated by Tousserel. [74] The head of the family is the Wheatear, the Cul-blanc, [75] as the Provençal calls him, who grows disgracefully fat in September and supplies delicious material for the skewer. At the time when I used to indulge in ornithological expeditions, I made a practice of jotting down the contents of the birds’ crops and gizzards, so as to become acquainted with their diet. Here is the Wheatear’s bill of fare: Locusts, first of all; next, many various kinds of Beetles, such as Weevils, Opatra, Chrysomelæ, or Golden-apple-beetles, Cassidæ, or Tortoise-beetles, and Harpali; in the third place, Spiders, Iuli, [76] Woodlice and small Snails; lastly and rarely, bramble-berries and the berries of the Cornelian cherry. As you see, there is a little of all kinds of small game, just as it comes. The insect-eater does not turn his attention to berries except in the last resort, at seasons of dearth. Out of forty-eight cases mentioned in my notes, vegetable food appears only three times, in trifling proportions. The predominant item, both as regards frequency and quantity, is the Locust, the smaller specimens being chosen, in order not to tax the bird’s swallowing-powers. Even so with the other little birds of passage which, when autumn comes, call a halt in Provence and prepare for the great pilgrimage by accumulating on their rumps a travelling-allowance of fat. All of them feast on the Locust, that rich fare; all, in the waste lands and fallows, gather as best they can the hopping tit-bit, that source of vigour for flying. Locusts are the manna of little birds on their autumnal journey. Nor does man himself scorn them. An Arab author quoted by General Daumas [77] in his book, Le Grand désert, tells us: “Grasshoppers [78] are of good nourishment for men and Camels. Their claws, wings and head are taken away and they are eaten fresh or dried, either roast or boiled and served with flesh, flour and herbs. “When dried in the sun, they are ground to powder and mixed with milk or kneaded with flour; and they are then cooked with fat or with butter and salt. “Camels eat them greedily and are given them dried or roast, heaped in a hollow between two layers of charcoal. Thus also do the Nubians eat them. “When Miriam [79] prayed God that she might eat flesh unpolluted by blood, God sent her Grasshoppers. “When the wives of the Prophet were sent Grasshoppers as a gift, they placed some of these in baskets and sent them to other women. “Once, when the Caliph Omar was asked if it were lawful to eat Grasshoppers, he made answer: “‘Would that I had a basket of them to eat!’ “Wherefore, from this testimony, it is very sure that, by the grace of God, Grasshoppers were given to man for his nourishment.”