CORNELL
LAB of ORNITHOLOGY

 

 

LIBRARY
at Sapsucker Woods

Illustration of Bank Swallow by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

 

 

 
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USEFUL BIRDS
AND THEIR PROTECTION.

CONTAINING

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MORE COMMON AND USEFUL SPECIES OF
MASSACHUSETTS, WITH ACCOUNTS OF THEIR FOOD HABITS,
AND A CHAPTER ON THE MEANS OF ATTRACT-
ING AND PROTECTING BIRDS.

BY

EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH,

ORNITHOLOGIST TO THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF
AGRICULTURE.

*

ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR,
C. ALLAN LYFORD, CHESTER A. REED, AND OTHERS.

Second Edition.

PUBLISHED UNDER DIRECTION OF
THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE,
BY AUTHORITY OF THE LEGISLATURE.
1907.
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BLI7OT

APPROVED BY
THE STATE BOARD OF PUBLICATION,

PRINTED BY
WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING COMPANY, STATE PRINTERS,

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Resolves of 1905, Chapter 51.

A RESOLVE TO PROVIDE FOR PREPARING AND PRINTING A SPECIAL
REPORT ON THE BIRDS OF TILE COMMONWEALTH.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the
Commonwealth a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars for prepar-
ing and printing, under the direction of. the state board of agriculture, in
an edition of five thousand copies, a special report on the birds of the
Commonwealth, economically considered, to include the facts relating
to the usefulness of birds and the necessity for their protection already
ascertained by the ornithologist of the state board of agriculture, to be
distributed as follows : — Two copies to each free public library in the
Commonwealth ; two copies to each high school, and two copies to such
schools in towns which have no high school as the school comniittee
may designate; one copy to the library of congress, and one copy to
each state or territorial library in the United States ; twenty-five copies
to the state library ; five copies to the governor; two copies to the lieu-
tenant governor and each member of the council; two copies to the
secretary of the Commonwealth; two copies to the treasurer and re-
ceiver general; two copies to the auditor of accounts ; two copies to the
attorney-general, and one copy to each member of the present general
court applying for the same; the remainder to be distributed under the
direction of the state board of agriculture. [Approved April 14, 1905.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Resolves of 1907, Chapter 77.

RESOLVE TO PROVIDE FOR PRINTIN(G( ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THE
REPORT ON THE BIRDS OF THE COMMONWEALTH.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the
Commonwealth, a sum not exceeding twenty-five hundred dellars for
printing five thousand additional copies of the report on the birds of
the Commonwealth. From the copies so printed each member and
each elective officer of the general court for the year nineteen hundred
and seven shall receive ten copies, and each assistant clerk of the
general court, the doorkcepers, messengers and pages shall receive
one copy. Copies may be sold by the secretary of the state board of
agriculture at a price not less than the cost thereof, and additional
copies may be printed for sale at the discretion of the secretary, the
expense thereof to be paid from the receipts from such sales. Any
amount received from sales shall be paid into the treasury of the
Commonwealth. [Approved May 8, 1907.
PREFACE.

In preparing and submitting this report the fact has been
kept in mind that the material prosperity of the state and
nation depends very largely on agricultural pursuits. An
attempt has been made, therefore, to make the volume ser-
viceable to both agriculturist and horticulturist. The author
of this report believes, with Townend Glover, that an ac-
quaintance with the useful birds of the farm is as important
to the farmer as is a knowledge of the insect pests which
attack his crops. Those who open this volume expecting
to find within its covers a guide to the birds, a manual
for the collector, or a systematic account of the birds of
Massachusetts, will be disappointed, for its scope is chiefly
economic.

The plan of the report as outlined before the legislative
committees has been followed to the letter.

In undertaking the work, the author has attempted to
counteract in some measure the effects of some phases of
modern civilization and intensive farming which operate to
destroy or drive out the birds; and it is hoped that the book
will be of some service as a source of useful information for
the bird protectionist. As no report prepared with such a
purpose can exert much influence unless widely read, it has
been written in a popular style, with little scientific verbiage.

A part of the material was prepared between the years
1891 and 1900, during the author’s experience as field di-
rector for the State Board of Agriculture in the work of
destroying the gipsy moth. Chapters I. and II. are partly
composed of revised and rewritten portions of papers pub-
lished during that time. Chapter III. is based largely on
observations made during that period by two faithful, capable
workers, — Messrs. C. EK. Bailey and F. H. Mosher. Owing
vi PREFACE.

 

to Mr. Bailey’s untimely death and Mr. Mosher’s occupation
in a new field, it was deemed best to publish some of the
field notes of these observers with little editing, in order to
avoid any possible distortion of their evidence.

In presenting in Chapter I. some of the evidence, given by
the earlier writers, regarding the utility of birds as protectors
of crops and trees, it has been necessary to use such material
as was obtainable. No carefully guarded experiments or
observations in this direction were made until the latter part
of the nineteenth century, and it is only recently that scien-
tific investigators have been employed in this little-known
field. It is not an alluring task for the scientist, in which
his work brings him neither material reward, credit, nor
honor.

That portion of the final chapter which treats of the means
of attracting birds is drawn mainly from six years’ experience
at the author’s home at Wareham, Mass. The first three
chapters were mainly written there. Most authors quoted
or cited in these chapters are given full credit.

The remaining chapters, which are largely based on the
author’s own investigations and observations, were written
and the proof was read while he was away from home, in the
woods, or travelling from place to place, often at a distance
from any ornithological library. Under such circumstances
it was impossible to quote verbatim, but in most cases authors
are named when facts have been gathered from their writings.

The averages of the components of the food of each species
are taken mainly from the publications of the Bureau of Bio-
logical Survey of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, except where credit is otherwise given.

Thanks are due to Dr. L. O. Howard, who has read
critically that part of the introduction devoted to insects,
and the author is greatly indebted to him for information ;
also, more than he can tell, to Mr. William Brewster for
counsel and suggestions ; and especially to Mr. J. A. Farley,

" who read a large part of the manuscript.

The limited time at the author’s disposal has prevented

such painstaking revision and abridgment of the manuscript
PREFACE. vii

 

as would be required to attain the highest literary excellence ;
but both manuscript and proof were critically read by Mrs.
A. Drew, whose work has added much to the appearance of
the volume, and whose suggestions have been very valuable.

Mr. F. H. Fowler has placed the author under great obli-
gations by doing a large amount of clerical work, and giv-
ing much assistance in his official position as first clerk and
librarian of the State Board of Agriculture.

The scientific ornithological nomenclature is that of the
American Ornithologists Union. The grouping of birds
according to their habitats (as birds of woodland, etc.) is
based more on their food habits than on their choice of
nesting sites. This classification is of necessity arbitrary,
and not always consistent, for it is sometimes influenced by
other considerations, such as are evident in the inclusion of
the Whip-poor-will among birds of the air.

The nomenclature of plants is mainly that used by Britton
and Brown in their Flora of the Northern United States,
Canada, and the British Possessions, except in some cases
where Dr. Judd or other authors are quoted. That of insects
has been derived from various sources at different times,
and for this reason some of the scientific names are not the
latest.

In the original plan of the report no descriptions of species
were included; but the suggestion was made by Mr. J. A.
Farley that it would be useless to descant to a man on the
usefulness of the Chickadee if he did not know the bird.
The brief, untechnical descriptions of bird, nest, eggs, and
bird notes, and the illustrations of the species, are all in-
tended as helps to identification. The descriptions of birds
are calculated merely to call attention to the principal colors
and marks that serve to identify birds afield. Brief descrip-
tions of haunts, habits, and manners are also given, as guides
to identity.

A species that is found throughout the year within the
limits of the State is denominated a resident. No attempts
have been made to give fixed dates of arrival and departure,
for these vary somewhat in different parts of the State, as
viii PREFACE.

 

well as in different seasons; but the months in which each
species is most commonly seen are given. For example,
the season for the Tree Swallow is given as April to Septem-
ber; but no mention is made of the fact that it sometimes
appears in small numbers in March; neither is it stated that
this bird has been seen in flocks in southeastern Massachu-
setts in late October and even in November, for such occur-
rences are unusual. It may be taken for granted that most
of the insect-eating birds that arrive in March or April come
in the latter part of those months, while most of those that
depart for the south in September or October leave in the
earlier weeks of their respective months.

Our attempts to represent the songs of birds in printed
syllables are not often of much assistance to the beginner,
for they lack the variation, quality, and expression of bird
songs, and birds do not sing in syllables. Also, the imagi-
nation of the writer often greatly affects these syllabic rendi-
tions, as may be seen by comparing the various sentences
attributed by different people to the White-throated Sparrow.
Nevertheless, some such imitations of bird songs which are
now accepted and are quite generally considered helpful are
given in this report; in other cases the author’s own inter-
pretations of well-marked bird notes are given.

The line cuts of birds, nesting boxes, appliances, etc., are
mainly reproductions of the author’s pen and ink sketches
and drawings. The attitudes have been caught by sketch-
ing the living birds afield ; but as most of the drawings were
necessarily made in winter, the measurements and the details
of markings were taken mainly from bird skins. While this
method does not give so good results as does the use of the
dead bird, it obviates the necessity of killing birds for the pur-
pose. The sketches for Figs. 19, 22, 23, and 25 were sug-
gested by half-tone plates in American Ornithology. Figs.
1, 27, 53, 71, 73, 79, 109, 113-117, 142, and 143 were made
from pen drawings by Lewis E. Forbush. The wood-cuts
of insects were taken chiefly from Harris’s Insects Injurious
to Vegetation, Flint’s Manual of Agriculture, and various
papers published by Dr. A. S. Packard while serving as ento-
nologist to the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture.
PREFACE. ix

 

Mr. C. Allan Lyford has given valuable assistance in taking
photographs illustrating bird feeding, nesting boxes, etc.
The author is also greatly indebted to Messrs. C. A. and
C. K. Reed for the use of half-tone plates from American
Ornithology ; to Mr. Frank M. Chapman, the Massachusetts
Commission on Fisheries and Game, Mr. A. C. Dike, and
others, to whom credit is given in the text or captions, for
the use of photographs, half-tone plates, or cuts; and to
Messrs. William Brewster and Ralph Holman for the use of
bird skins. Plates VI. and VII. are from E. A. Samuels.

The credit for the publication of this volume rightly be-
longs to the State Board of Agriculture, which, through its
secretary, introduced and advocated the resolve providing
for preparing and printing; to the Massachusetts Audubon
Society, which supported the resolve before the Legislature ;
to the various associations, officials, and friends who upheld
the resolve ; and to those members of the House and Senate
who were instrumental in securing the appropriation which
made possible the production of the report. For its many
shortcomings the author alone is responsible.
CONTENTS.

PAGE
IntRopuctory.— THE UTILITY oF Birps IN NATURE, . i ‘ F 1
Carter I.—TuHE VaLur or Birds TO Man, . 5 $ : - 23
Primitive Man's Relations to Nature, ‘ 23
Changed Relations produced by Agriculture, . 5 : 3 . 2
Man at War with Nature in the New World, . ‘ 4 a 25
The Increase of Insect Pests, . ‘ ‘ ‘ Pi ‘ ‘ ¥ «
The Number of Insects, . ‘ , ‘ * 4 ‘ 4 ~ 28
The Reproductive Capacity of seuss: ‘ * . ‘ 7 a . 28
The Voracity of Insects, . x % F . - ‘ ~ . . 380
The Great Loss to American Agriculture by Insect Ravages, . 3 . 31
Losses by Insect Ravages in Massachusetts, 36
The Capacity of Birds for destroying Pests, 40
The Digestion of Birds, é ; i = : : . 40
The Growth of Young Birds, . . : : ‘i - 42
The Amount of Food required by Young Birds, z x ‘ - 44
The Time required for Assimilation of Food, . . . . 49
The Number of Insects eaten by Young Birds in the Nest, é . OL
The Amount of Food eaten by Adult Birds, . ‘ 4 * e ff
Birds save Trees and Crops from Destruction, - . ‘ ‘ » 68
The Increase of Injurious Insects following the Destruction of Birds, . 72
The Destruction of Injurious Mammals by Birds, . ‘ * a . 76
The Value of Water-birds and Shore Birds, . ‘ q A “i . 80
The Commercial Value of Birds, . : ; 7 . 81
The Atsthetic, Sentimental, and Educational 1 Value of Birds, a . 85
CuHapter II.— Tue UTtiLity or Birps In WOODLANDS, . , ; - 90
The Relations of the Bird to the Tree, . . 7 . 7 F . 91
The Forest Planters, : a qi : i ‘ a s ‘82
The Influence exerted by] Birds and Squirrels on the Succession of
Forest Trees, . . ‘ 7 . 7 7 i Hi . 96
The Tree Pruners, . i ‘ ¥ ‘ ‘ ‘ : j . 99
The Guardians of the Trees, . : ‘ - ‘ a 4 ‘ . 100
CuapTeR III.—Birps as DESTROYERS oF Hairy CATERPILLARS AND
Puiant Lice, é é é 3 i z 5 » ih
CHAPTER I1V.— THE Economic iia oF BirpDs IN THE ORCHARD, . 149
CHAPTER V.— Sone Birps oF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND, a ‘ 155
Woodland Thrushes, , ; 3 5 ? ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ « 155
Kinglets, . é - : : . , A : t i . 160

Nuthatches and Tits, 7 ; 7 i . e ° é ‘ . 163
xii CONTENTS.

 

CHAPTER V.—SonG Birps or ORCHARD AND WOODLAND — Con.
Creepers, 7
Thrashers and Mockingbirds, 7 ‘ .
Warblers, . 4 ‘ : 2 * * :
Vireos, . é * i ‘
Waxwings,
Tanagers, . " " s "
Finches, Grogbeaks, and Towhees, .
Blackbirds, Grackles, Orioles, etc., .

CHAPTER VI.—SonGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND,
Flycatchers, ;
Hummingbirds, 3 ‘ : ‘ ‘ . ‘ é
Woodpeckers, . . . . " ‘ . .
Cuckoos, Kingfishers, etc.,
Grouse, Partridges, etc., .

CuarTeR VII.— THE UTitity oF BirDS IN FIELD AND GARDEN, .

CHAPTER VIII.— Birps or FIELD AND GARDEN,
Thrushes and their Allies,
Wrens, . 4 Z . 2 A
Sparrows, . . “
Blackbirds, erties etc., ‘ i
Pigeons and Doves, . 2 “ ‘ ‘ : .
Grouse, Partridges, etc., . z és . j * <
Pheasants, : c 3 : 7 . .
Snipe, Sandpipers, Woodcock, etc., F x
CHapTeR IX.—Brirps or THE AIR,
Swifts, . x * . 7 ‘ ‘ P
Nighthawks, iSite sane nk etc.,
Swallows, . 7 ‘ F ‘ ‘ i ‘ : ‘
CHAPTER X.— BirDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE,
Perching Birds,
Rails,
Herons,
1  Water-fowl, ei ; ‘1 <
CHAPTER XI.— CHECKS UPON THE INCREASE OF ae Birps,
The Destruction of Birds by Man, . : ‘ i ‘ #
The Natural Enemies of Birds,
Introduced Four-footed Enemies,
Cats, . Ci r 7 fi 2 . . . <
Native Four-footed Enemies, .
Squirrels, . x 2 * ‘ ‘ A
Rats and Mice, . q é
Feathered Enemies,
Hawks,
Owls, . , . 5 ‘ 4 é :
Crows and Jays, * i a * ‘ é ‘

- 185
« 203
+ 209
. 211
« 215
. 224
. 229
+ 229
. 240
» 245

« 266
+ 275
+ 282
+ 282
. 292
. 294
+ 812
» 823
» 825
. 3382
. 334
. 339

PAGE
177
178

262

. 341
- 343
. 3849
. 349
. 350
. 351
» 853
» 354
. 856
. 361
- 862
. 362
. 364
. 864
« 366
« 366
. 366
. 867
. 368
CONTENTS.

xiii

 

CuarTeR XI.— CHECKS UPON THE INCREASE OF UsEFuL Birps — Con. PAGE
Feathered Enemies— Con.

The House Sparrow, . . 370

Shrikes, : ‘ . 370

Other Bird Enemies, . ‘i . ‘ . . 371

Reptilian Enemies, . Z 4 2 : ¥ * ‘ < ~ ott

Fish, ‘ ‘ ‘ 3 : ‘ : ‘ d . 371

CHAPTER XII.— THE PROTECTION oF BIRDs, . 372

Methods of attracting Birds, . 373

Feeding and Assembling the Winter ‘Birds, . 377

Attracting the Summer Birds, . . . 384

Providing Nesting Places about Buildings, . . 886

Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes, . ' . ° . . 388

Furnishing Nesting Material, . « 893

Feeding the Summer Birds, . 3899

Attracting Water-fowl, . 7 : ‘ 7 . 402

The Protection of Birds against their Natural iienis ‘ « 403

The Protection of Farm Products from Birds, . . 410

To protect Grain from Crows and Other Birds, . « 411

To protect Small Fruits, . . 412

To protect Chickens from Hawks and tiieh » 412

General Protective Measures, . . 413

Game Protection, ‘ . : . 414
Measures and Legislation necessary for the Protection of Game and

Birds, é . 4 . » 415

Artificial eaecceea of Game Birds, . 417

The Movement for Bird Protection, : ‘ 418
Papers on Ornithology, published by the wehaaadba eceta: aiaes Board of

Agriculture, ‘ ‘ . . . . 421

INDEX, . ¥ . . 423
FigurE
FicurE
FIGURE
FIGuRE
FIGURE
FIGuRE
FIcurE
FigurE
FIGURE
Figure
FIGURE
Figure
FIGURE
FIcurE
FIGURE
Figure
FIGURE
FiIcure
FIGURE
FIGuRE
FIGurE
FIGURE
FicgurRE
FIGURE
FIcurE
FicurEe
FIGURE
FIcuRE
FIGURE
Figure
FIGURE
FIGURE
FiguRE
FIGURE
FIGuRE
FIGURE
FIGURE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1.—The Archzopteryx, . . a . i ‘
2.— Ground Beetle, .

3.—Cutworm, .

4.— Noctuid Moth,

5.—F ly and its Larva, 4 . . 7 . . ‘
6.— Chestnut Beetle or Weevil, . : . i : ‘
7.— Caterpillars, the Larve of Butterflies, . .

8. — Pup or Chrysalids, . z ‘i

9.— Predaceous Beetle, the Lion Beetle or One titans

10. — Predaceous Beetle, a Tiger among Insects, . A 3 *
11. —Hymenopterous Parasite, a ‘ ‘ 2

12. — Host Caterpillar with Cocoons of a Parasite upon its Back,

13.— Tiger Beetle, .

14.— Chinch Bug,

15. — Colorado Potato Beetle,

16. — Hessian Fly,

17. — Alimentary Canal of Bluebird,

18. — Young Cedar Bird on its First Day, .

19. — Young Cedar Birds less than Three Weeks old,

20.— Young Grouse, ‘

21. — Young Woodcock,

22. — Young Robins, F . ‘ F . . ; : .
23.— Young Crows, . :

24. — Passenger Pigeon feeding aig meadaetieilane

25.— Chipping Sparrow feeding Young, .

26. — Yellow-throat catching Birch Aphids,

27.— Western Cricket, ‘

28. — Gulls saving Crops by killing cuit, i :
29.— Warblers destroying Plant Lice, . . F . :
30. — The Winged Seed of White Pine, . : i i ‘ .
31.—A Forest Planter, . ‘ x é

32. —Ruffed Grouse, ‘‘ budding,” F ‘ :
33.— The Diligent Titmouse, . : i : : i
34. — Winter Tree Guards, ‘ * 4 . . ‘ ‘ 4
35. — Destructive Bark Beetle, ¥ : Z x

36. — Woodpecker hunting Borers, - a ‘ é
37. — Larva of the Cecropia Moth, . ‘ : ;

+ 101

PAGE

11
11
14
14
14
15
18
18
18
19

S&SSERERESERSERERENRE

63,

66
71
92
94
99

104

- 107
» 107
- 110
Xvi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

Figure 38.— Woolly Bear Caterpillar,
Figure 39.— Yellow Bear Caterpillar, .

Ficure 40.— Caterpillar of the White-marked Faded Moth,

FIGURE
FicurE
FIGURE
FIGURE
FIGuRE
FIGgurE
Figure
FIGURE
FIGURE
FIGURE
FicurEe
FIGuRE
FiIGgurE
FIGuRE
FIGuRE
Figure
Figure
FicurE
FIGURE
FIGURE
FIGURE

41.
42.
43.
44,

45.
46.
47.

48.
49,
50.

51.

52.
53.

54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
. — Catbird,
61.

60

— Web of the Brown-tail Moth Caterpillar,

— Nashville Warbler, .
— Caterpillar of the Brown-tail Moth,

— Warblers feeding on Young Caterpillars of the Giney Moth, .

— Egg Cluster of the Gipsy Moth,
— Wilson's Thrush,

— Wood Thrush,

— Golden-crowned Kinglet,

— Chickadee,

— Eggs of the Tent Casati Moth,

—Codling Moth, Parent of the Apple Worm,

— Fall Cankerworm Moth,

— Apple Twig with Eggs of the neon Moth, .

— White-breasted Nuthatch,

— Nuthatches,

— Wood-boring Beetle,

— Red-breasted Nuthatch,

— Brown Creeper,

—Brown Thrasher, '. 7 7

— Northern Yellow-throat, .

Ficurer 62.— Oven-bird and Nest,

FIGURE
FIGURE
Figure
FiGurE
FIGURE
FIGURE
FiGuRE
FIGURE
FIGURE
FIGuRE
FIGURE
FIGURE
FIcurr
FIGuRE
Figure
FIGure

63.
64.

65.
66.
67.

68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.

15.
76.
77.

78.

— Black and White Warbler,

— Chestnut-sided Warbler, . 4
— Yellow Warbler,

— American Redstart,

— Black-throated Green Warbler,
— Pine Warbler, . ‘ ‘
—Mpyrtle Warbler, . .

— Woolly Apple Tree Aphis,
—Red-eyed Vireo, . . .
— Warbling Vireo, .
—Yellow-throated Vireo, .
—Cedar Bird, . ‘

— Passing the Cherry, .

— Good Work in the Orchard,

— Scarlet Tanagers and Gipsy Moth Gaisinitiaen

— Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Male,

Ficure 79.— Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Female,
FicureE 80.—Towhee, .

Ficure 81.— Purple Finch, 3 :
Ficure 82.— American Goldfinch, ‘i ‘

.

. 169
» 169
. 172
. 173
» 175
. 176

- 180

. 189
- 191
+ 193
« 195
. 197
. 199
+ 201
- 202
« 202
- 204
+ 206
» 208
+ 209
+ 210
+ 211
- 212
+ 216
« 217
. 219
+ 221
« 222

PAGE

« 120
. 120
. 121
» 1380
» 133
- 133

135
148
157

. 158
» 161
. 164
. 167

168

177

182
187
 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xvii

PAGE

FicureE 83.— Baltimore Oriole, . * r 5 5 ‘ ‘ » 225
Figure 84.— Pea Weevil, ‘ . 226
Ficure 85.— Tent Caterpillars, Fags, 3 and peony - 226
Figure 86.— Click Beetle, i a . 227
Ficure 87.— Cucumber Beetle and Curculios, . 227
Ficure 88.— Gipsy Moth, Male, . . 280
Ficurer 89.— Cankerworm, . ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 » B81
Figure 90.— Wood Pewee, . - 2 3% x . 232
Figure 91.—Tortricid Moth, . 232
Ficure 92.— Tussock Moth, » 232
Figure 93.— Phoebe, . c ‘ a 3 a . . 233
Figure 94.— Moth of Spring Cankerworm, . . 234
Figure 95.— Wood-boring Click Beetle, . 6 - 2384
Fiaure 96.— Brown-tail Moth, . ‘ . 234
Ficure 97.— Kingbird, . 236
Ficure 98.— Cetonia Beetle, : a ‘ a ; ' ; » 238
Ficurse 99.— May Beetle, . « 238
Ficure 100.— Hummingbirds about Two Weeks old, . 242
Figure 101.— Hummingbird feeding Young, » 243
Ficure 102.— Young Hummingbirds nearly tledged, . 244
FieureE 103.— Skull and Tongue of Woodpecker, . 246
Ficure 104.—Spearlike Tongue-tip of Downy Woodpecker, . 246
Ficure& 105.— Pine Borer, . ‘ a . « 2AT
Figure 106.— Pales Weevil, % . 248
Figure 107.— Cocoon of Codling Moth sioeall by Woodpecker, , . 251
Figure 108.— Apple Tree Borer, . ‘ « : . 251
Figure 109.— Section of Young Tree saved ‘ Depiiy edad: rl . 253
Figure 110.—Downy Woodpecker and his Work, » 253
Figure 111.— Bark pierced by Downy Woodpecker, . 254
Ficure 112.— The Same, showing the Channels made by Bark i . 254
Ficure 113.— Pine Top killed by Pine Weevil, « 255
Fiacure 114.— Tree ruined for Timber by Pine Weevil, . 255
Ficure 115.—Section of Red Maple tapped for Sap, . 257
Ficure 116.— A Similar Section, . 257
Figure 117.— Hairy Woodpecker, . 258
Ficure 118.— Flicker, . . 61
Freurgr 119. — Black-billed Baska : . 264
Figure 120.—Caterpillar of the Io Moth, . - é ‘ . 264
Figure 121.—Spiny Elm Caterpillar, . : ‘ . . ‘ * . 264
Figure 122.— Fall Web Worm, 265
FicurE 123.— Red-humped Caterpillar, ri . 272
Ficure 124.— Tree Hoppers, - j zi ‘ « 273
Ficure 125.— American Robin, . 4 ‘ x ‘ . 282
FicureE 126.— White Grub, . ‘ Fi ‘ é ‘ A F . 288
Ficure 127.— Bluebird, 5 : % ‘ * 4 ‘ 4 . . 291
Xvill

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

PAGE
FicurE 128.— The Bluebird’s Bread, . 292
Ficurr 129.— Indigo Bunting, Male, . 298
Ficure 130.—Indigo Bunting, Female, - 298
Figure 131.—Song Sparrow, - 299
FicureE 132.—Slate-colored Junco, . 301
FicureE 133.— Field Sparrow, - . 802
Ficure 134.— Chipping Sparrow, 7 7 « 3803
Ficure 135.— Moth of the Tent Caterpillar, » 804
Ficure 136.— Chipping Sparrows hunting Beet Worms, - 304
Figure 137.— Tree Sparrow, a : ‘ é - 306
Ficure 138.— White-throated ee . 807
Ficure 139.— Vesper Sparrow, . 3il
Ficure 140.— Crow Blackbird, . 314
Ficure 141.— Meadowlark, a BIT
Ficure 142.— Red-winged Blackbird, Male, « B19
Ficure 143.— Red-winged Blackbird, Female, » 320
Ficure 144.— Bobolink, Male, and Army Worm, 322
Figure 145.— Bobolink, Female, . . ‘ » 823
FicurE 146.— Bob-white, » 825
Ficure 147.— The Morning Call, . » 827
Ficure 148.— Ring-necked Pheasant, » 832
Figure 149.— Purple Martin, Male, . 847
Ficure 150.—Purple Martin, Female, . 348
Fiaure 151.—Salt-marsh Caterpillar, . 349
Figure 152.— Army Worm, . 349
Ficurr 153.— Swamp Sparrow, A . 350
Ficure 154. —TItalian Sportsman and his eee Owl, . 359
Ficure 155.— Blue Jay, ‘ ‘“ ‘ i ‘ . 369
Ficurer 156.— Northern Shrike, : . 370
Ficure 157.—Seed Catkins of Gray Birch, . 2 374
Ficure 158.— Fruit of Virginia Juniper or Red Cedar, . 377
Ficure 159.— Downy Woodpecker feeding on Suet, - 380
Ficure 160.— The Birds’ Christmas Tree, » 881
Figure 161.— The Birds’ Tepee, . 382
Frieure 162.— Design for a Sparrow-proof Shelf, « 883
Ficurer 163.— Mr. Chapman’s Bird Bath, . 3886
Ficurs 164.— Phosbe’s Nest in Box, . 888
Ficure 165.—Sparrow-proof Box, . 3889
Ficure 166.— Birch-bark Nesting Box for Ohigkaaves, . 891
Ficure 167.— Shingle Box for Bluebirds, i . 892
Figure 168.— Chickadees feeding Young in Observation ae « 895
Figure 169.—A Martin Box, . 396
Figure 170.— A Martin Barrel, - . . ; . 397
Ficure 171.— Zinc Bands to prevent Cats or Squirrels from pea Trees

or Poles, . ‘ : : . é

. 410
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Xix

 

Woop Duck (Colored Plate),

Puate I.— The American Silkworm Moth,

Puate II.—The Destructiveness of the Gipsy Moth,

Puare III.— Expensive Work of destroying the Eggs of the
Gipsy Moth in Woodland Parks,

Puate IV.— Red-eyed Vireo feeding Young,

PLatTE V.— Chickadee, with Insects in its Beak,

PuiatEe VI.— Field or Meadow Mouse,

PLatEe VII.— White-footed or Deer Mouse,

PiatE VIII. — A Useful Mouse-eating Owl,

PLaTE IX.—Regurgitated Ow] Pellets,

PLATE X.— The Same Pellets, dissected, . , ‘

PuiatTeE XI.— Albatrosses on Laysan Island, H. I.,

PuLatE XII.—The Cecropia Moth, .

PuateE XIII.— Web of Tent Caterpillar,
attacked by Birds, .

PLATE XIV.— Various Stages of the Brown-tail Moth,

PuLatE XV.— Various Stages of the Gipsy Moth,

PLATE XVI.— General View of Georgetown Woodland,

PuLatE XVII.— Pines, Oaks, and Other Trees, stripped by the
Omnivorous Caterpillars of the Gipsy Moth,

PuatTE XVIII.— Luna Moth,

PLATE XIX.— Least Flycatcher on Nest,

PLATE XX.— Downy Woodpecker at Nest Hole,

PLATE XXI.—Ruffed Grouse on Nest,

PLATE XXII.— Ruffed Grouse, One Day old,

PuaTE XXIII.—Ruffed Grouse, Four Months old,

PLATE XXIV.—Ruffed Grouse, strutting,

XXV.— Robin’s Nest in Hollow Tree,

XXVI.— Robin on Nest, .

XXVII.— Wren at Nest Hole, ‘

XXVIII.— Chipping Sparrows feeding their vous,

XXIX.— American Woodcock,

XXX.— Nighthawk, . é

XXXI. — Whip-poor-will, < - 7 .

PLatTeE XXXII.— A Swallow Roost,

PLatE XXXIII.— Nest Robbers, a

PuatE XXXIV.— Work which drives out the Birds,

PLatE XXXV.—Cat with Young Robin, . .

PLatE XXXVI.— Barred Owl, . i

Puate XXXVII.— Blue Jay’s Nest in data 8 ioe: :

Prate XX XVIII. — Fruits that are valuable as Bird Food,

Puate XXXIX.—A Bountiful Repast, Z ‘ ‘

Piate XL.— A Scratching Shed, ‘ é . . ‘

Puatre XLI.—Chickadee seen through Window, at eins s
Home,

which had been

PLatEe
PLATE
PLATE
PLATE
PLATE
PLATE
PLATE

Frontispiece
faces page 31

between pages 38 and 39

between pages 38 and 39

faces page 51
faces page 54
faces page 76
faces page 76
faces page 78
faces page 80
faces page 80
faces page 82
faces page 109

faces page 118
faces page 137
faces page 142
faces page 144

faces page 144
faces page 214
faces page 229
faces page 249
faces page 267
faces page 268
faces page 268
faces page 270
faces page 283
faces page 289
faces page 293
faces page 304
faces page 336
faces page 341
faces page 341
faces page 343
faces page 359
faces page 360
faces page 362
faces page 367
faces page 369
faces page 375
faces page 378
faces page 378

faces page 380
¢

XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

Puate XLII. — Chickadees on Pork Rind, é é . faces page 380
PLATE XLIII.— Ermest Harold Baynes taming a Ohiictenfiads . faces page 381
Puate XLIV. — Chickadee feeding from the Hand, . ‘ . faces page 381
PuatrE XLV.—Chickadees seen on a Frosty Morning, through

Author’s Window, a . faces page 382
Puate XLVI.—A Red-breasted Nuthatch at the ‘e Window, . faces page 382
PuaTtE XLVII.— Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes, . 5 . faces page 391
PLATE XLVIII.— Inexpensive Nesting Boxes, : faces page 392
PuLaTE XLIX.—Chickadee about to enter its Nest, in an Old

Varnish Can, . . ‘ i 5 rl e . faces page 392
Puate L.— Owl Box, at Sia s Home, . P between pages 394 and 395
Pirate LI.— Owl on Nest, . : ‘ : ‘ between pages 394 and 395
Piate LII.—Chickadee’s Nest, made of Cotton, in Box on

Author’s Window, é ‘ ‘ ‘ between pages 400 and 401
PuatTE LIII.— Chickadee on Nest, . é . between pages 400 and 401

Puate LIV. — Mother Chickadee bringing Food to Young,

between pages 400 and 401
PiatE LV.— Mother Chickadee cleaning Nest, between pages 400 and 401
Piatre LVI.— Domesticated Canada Goose on Nest, F . faces page 417
USEFUL BIRDS AND THEIR PROTECTION.

INTRODUCTORY.

THE UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE,

There is no subject in the field of natural science that is
of greater interest than the important position that the living
bird occupies in the great plan of organic nature.

The food relations of birds are so complicated and have
such a far-reaching effect upon other forms of life that the
mind of man may never be able fully to trace and grasp them.
The migrations of birds are so vast and widespread that the
movements of many species are still more or less shrouded
in mystery. We do not yet know, for instance, just where
certain common birds pass some of the winter months. Some
species sweep in their annual flights from Arctic America
to the plains of Patagonia, coursing the entire length of the
habitable portion of a hemisphere. Many of the birds that
summer in northern or temperate America winter in or near
the tropics. Some species remain in the colder or temperate
regions only long enough to mate, nest, and rear their young,
and then start on their long journey toward the equator.

The annual earth-wide sweep of the tide of bird life from
zone to zone renders the study of the relations of birds to
other living forms throughout their range a task of the
utmost magnitude. This vast migration at once suggests
the question, Of what use in nature is this host of winged
creatures that with the changing seasons sweeps over land
and sea?

Our first concern in answering this question is to deter-
mine what particular office or function in the economy of
nature birds alone are fitted to perform. The relations
2 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

they may bear to the unnatural and semi-artificial conditions
produced by the agriculturist may then be better under-
stood. The position occupied by birds among the forces of
nature is unique in one respect at least; their structure fits
them to perform the office of a swiftly moving force of
police, large bodies of which can be assembled at once to
correct disturbances caused by abnormal outbreaks of plant
or animal life. This function is well performed. A swarm
of locusts appears, and birds of many species congregate to
feed upon locusts. An irruption of field mice, lemmings, or
gophers occurs, and birds of prey gather to the feast from
far and near.

This habit of birds is also serviceable in clearing the earth
of decaying materials, which otherwise might pollute both
air and water. A great slaughter of animals takes place,
and Eagles, Vultures, Crows, and other scavengers hasten to
tear the flesh from the carcasses. A dead sea monster is
cast upon the shore, and sea birds promptly assemble to
devour its wasting tissues. The gathering of birds to feed
is commonly observed in the flocking of Crows in meadows
where grasshoppers or grubs abound, the assembling of
Crows and Blackbirds in cornfields, and in the massing of
shore birds on flats or marshes where the receding tide
exposes their food. :

A study of the structure and habits of birds shows how
well fitted they are to check excessive multiplication of
injurious creatures or to remove offensive material. Birds
are distinguished from all other animals by their complex,
feathered wings, —the organs of perfect flight.

The tremendous muscular power exhibited by birds is only
such as might be expected in creatures provided with such
perfect respiratory, circulatory, and assimilative organs. The
strength of birds as compared with that of man is enormously
out of proportion to their size ; but it is largely concentrated
in the muscles that move the wings, for it is by flight that
the bird is enabled to live. No other animals have such
sustained power of flight or such perfect command over
themselves while in the air. Even the bat, which is a most
skillful flyer, being remarkably quick in aerial evolutions,
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 3

 

cannot ‘at its best equal the bird. I once saw a bat make
seven attempts to catch a moth fluttering along the still sur-
face of a moonlit river. A Swallow could have seized it at
once with no perceptible effort. No creature can equal the
soaring of the Eagle or Vulture, or that of the Man-o’-War
Bird as it sails on high above the storm; while the speed
that the Hummingbird attains is such that the eye can
scarcely follow its most rapid flight.

Birds are provided with wings to enable them (1) to pro-
cure food, (2) to escape their enemies, (3) to migrate.

All birds have wings, though a few, like the Apteryx, have
them only in arudimentary form. Others, like the Penguin
and the Ostrich, have small wings, but cannot raise them- |
selves in the air.

All birds that cannot tly, however, are reminders of a past
age, and are not fitted to live on the same earth with man.
Such birds are either already extinct or in a fair way to
become so, either at the hands of man-or at the teeth or
claws of the dogs, cats, or other animals that man introduces.
Flight alone might save the few that remain. The Great
Auk, using its wings only in pursuing its prey under water,
disappeared before the onslaught of the white man; while
the Loon, flying both under water and above it, still sur-
vives.

Birds are pursued by many enemies. Water-fowl fly to
the water and dive to escape the Hawk or Eagle, and fly to
the Jand to escape the shark, alligator, or pike. Sparrows
fly to the thicket to elude the Hawk, and to the trees to
avoid the cat. Evidently this great power of flight was given
to birds to enable them not only to concentrate their forces
rapidly at a given point, but also to pursue other flying
creatures. Birds can pursue bats, flying squirrels, flying
fish, and insects through the air. Bats and insects are their
only competitors in flight. Comparatively few insects can
escape birds by flight, and this they do mainly by quick
dodging and turning. The speed at which birds can fly on
occasion has seldom been accurately measured. The maxi-
mum flight velocity of certain wild-fowl is said to be ninety
miles an hour. Passenger Pigeons killed in the neighbor-
4 ‘USEFUL BIRDS.

 

hood of New York have had in their crops rice probably
taken from the fields of the Carolinas or Georgia, which
indicates that within six hours they had flown the three or
four hundred miles intervening, at about the rate of a mile
a minute.? ;

The rate of flight of a species must be sufficiently rapid
to enable it to exist, and so perform its part in the economy
of nature.

Birds find distant food by the senses of sight and hearing
mainly. The sense of smell is not highly developed, but
the other perceptive powers are remarkable. The perfection
of sight in birds is almost incomprehensible to those who
have not studied the organs of vision. The keen eye of the
Hawk has become proverbial. The bird’s eye is much larger
in proportion to the size of its owner than are the eyes of
other vertebrates. It is provided with an organ called the
pecten, by which, so naturalists believe, the focus can be
changed in an instant, so that the bird becomes nearsighted
or farsighted at need. Such provision for changing the focus
of the eye is indispensable to certain birds in their quick rush
upon their prey. Thus the Osprey or Fish Hawk, flying
over an arm of the sea, marks its quarry down in the dark
water. As the bird plunges swiftly through the air its eye
is kept constantly focussed upon the fish, and when within
striking distance it can still see clearly its panic-stricken
prey. Were a man to descend so suddenly from such a
height he would lose sight of the fish before he reached the
water. The Flycatcher, sitting erect upon its perch, watch-
ing passing insects that are often invisible to the human eye,
in like manner utilizes the pecten in the perception, pursuit,
and capture of its prey. Most of the smaller birds will see
a Hawk in the sky before it becomes visible to the human
eye. The Vulture, floating on wide wings in upper air,
discerns his chosen food in the valley far below, and as he
descends toward it he is seen by others wheeling in the dis-
tant sky. As they turn to follow him they also are seen by
others soaring at greater distances, who, following, are pur-

 

* American Ornithology, Wilson and Bonaparte, Vol. IV, pp. 319, 320. Evi-
dently a quotation from Audubon's Ornithological Biography.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 5

 

sued from afar by others still, until a feathered host con-
centers from the sky upon the carrion feast.

Birds are lower in the organic scale than the class of
mammals which includes man, the four-footed animals, and
even the seal and the whale. Birds are closely allied in
structure to reptiles. The earliest bird known, the Archee-
opteryx, had teeth,
two fingers on each
wing, and along rep-
tilian tail adorned
with feathers. Still,
notwithstanding the
comparatively low
place which is given
by the systematists
to birds, their
physical organiza-
tion excels in some
respects that of all
otheranimals. They
surpass all other
vertebrate animals
in breathing power
or lung capacity, as
well as in muscular
strength and activ-

 

ity. The tempera- Fig. 1.—The Archeopteryx, a bird with teeth. Re-
ture of the blood is stored from the Jurassic epoch. About one-fifth natural

‘ 2 . size; after Chapman.
higher in birds than

in other animals, and the circulation is more rapid. To
maintain this high temperature, rapid circulation, and great
activity, a large amount of food is absolutely necessary.
Food is the fuel without which the brightly burning fires
of life must grow dim and die away. Birds are, therefore,
fitted for their function of aerial police not only by their
powers of flight and perception, but also by their enormous
capacity for assimilating food. When food is plentiful,
birds gorge themselves, accumulating fat in quantities.
Shore birds frequently become so fat during the fall migra-
6 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

tions that, when shot, their distended skins burst open
when their bodies strike the ground. This accumulation of
fatty tissue may aid to tide the birds over a season of
scarcity, but the moment they need food they must seek
-it far and wide, if need be, as they cannot live long with-
outit. Birds are not always the ethereal, care-free creatures
of the poet’s dream. In time of plenty, the joys of flight,
of sunshine, of singing, of riding swinging boughs, or toss-
ing to and fro on flashing waves, are theirs to the full;
but in times of scarcity, or when rearing their helpless
young, their daily lives are often one continued strenuous
hunt for food. Food, therefore, is the mainspring of the
bird’s existence. Love and fear alone are at times stronger
than the food craving. The amount of food that birds are
capable of consuming renders them doubly useful in case of
an emergency.

The utility of birds in suppressing outbreaks of other an-
imals by massing at threatened points is of no greater value
in the plan of nature than is the perennial regulative influ-
ence exerted by them individually everywhere as a check on
the undue increase of other forms of life.

He who studies living birds, other animals, or plants, and
the relations which these living organisms bear to one
another, will soon learn that the main effort of each plant
or animal is to preserve its own life and produce seed or
young, and so multiply its kind. He will see, also, that the
similar efforts of other organisms by which it is surrounded
tend to hold its increase in check.

The oak produces many hundreds of acorns; and were
each acorn to develop into a tree, the earth eventually would
be full of oaks, for all other trees would be crowded out.
But many animals feed on the acorns or the young seedlings ;
other trees crowd out the young oaks; caterpillars feed on
the foliage; other insects feed on the wood and bark, de-
stroying many trees; so, on the average, each oak barely
succeeds in producing another to occupy its place.

Certain moths deposit hundreds of eggs in a season; and
were each egg to hatch and each insect to come to maturity
and go on producing young at the same rate, the entire earth
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 7

 

in a few years would be carpeted with crawling caterpillars,
and the moths in flight would cover the earth like a blanket
of fog. But under natural conditions the caterpillars that
hatch from the eggs of the moth are destroyed by birds,
mammals, insects, or other animals, by disease or the action
of the elements, so that in the end only one pair of moths
succeeds another. If every Robin should produce five young
each yéar, and each Robin should live fifteen years, in time
every square foot of land on this continent would be packed
with Robins; but the surplus Robins are killed and eaten
by various other birds or by mammals, each striving to
maintain itself; so that, eventually, the number of Robins
remains about the same.

Thus we see that, while birds, insects, other animals, and
plants are constantly striving to increase their numbers, the
creatures that feed upon them operate continually to check
this undue multiplication. The Hawk preys upon the smaller
birds and mammals. The smaller birds and mammals feed
on insects, grass, seeds, leaves, and other animal and vege-
table food, each virtually endeavoring to gain strength and
increase the numbers of its race at the expense of other
living organisms.

There is a competition among various dissimilar organisms,
also, in seeking certain kinds of food. Grazing mammals,
such as cattle, sheep, and deer, eat grass. Grass is eaten
also by birds, mice, and insects. If any one kind of these
creatures should be left without check, and become too
numerous, it might consume the food supply of all.

In the great struggle for existence, each perpetuating
form of life that we call a species is really an expansive
force, that can be restrained and kept in its proper place
only by the similar expansive forces (other species) by
which it is surrounded. It is as if the whole field of ani-
mal and vegetable life consisted of a series of springs, cach
exerting a pressure in all directions, and each held in place
only by the similar expansion of the springs surrounding it.
This action and reaction of natural forces constitute what is
known as the balance of nature. Any serious disturbance
of this balance is always fraught with serious consequences.
8 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

All animals and plants are sustained and nourished by
air, water, and food. Food supplies the material for growth
and development. Its abundance increases the energy and
fertility of a species, —its ability to produce young abun-
dantly. The study of the food and food habits of birds and
other animals is of the utmost importance, for by this study
alone we are enabled to trace their life relations to each.
other, to plants, and to man. Some progress has ‘already
been made in this study. We know in a general way the
character of the food of some of the common birds of the
United States ; but we know so little as yet of the food of
the smaller mammals, the reptiles, batrachians, many insects
and other lower animals, that it is impossible to tell what
may be the ultimate effect of the destruction of any one of
these animals by birds.

On the other hand, no one can tell what grave and far-
reaching results might follow the extermination of a single
species of bird; for it is probable that the food preferences
of each species are so distinctive that no other could fill its
place.

Birds are guided by their natural tastes in selecting their
food, unless driven by necessity. Of the food which suits
their tastes, that which is most easily taken is usually first
selected. In the main, species of similar structure and
habits often choose similar food, but each species usually
differs from its allies in the selection of some certain favorite
insects. Were a species exterminated, however, its place
might be taken eventually by the combined action of many
species, for nature always operates to restore her disturbed
balances.

The complexity of the food relations existing between
birds and other organisms may be indicated hypothetically
by a brief illustration. The Eagles, larger Hawks, and Owls
feed to some extent on Crows, and probably the nocturnal,
tree-climbing, nest-haunting raccoon also robs them of eges
and young; otherwise, they seem to have very few natural
enemies to check their increase. Crows feed on so many
different forms of animal and vegetable life that they are
nearly always able to find suitable food; therefore they
are common and widely distributed.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 9

 

The general fitness of the Crow is admitted by all. Un-
doubtedly it has a useful work to perform in the world ; but
a careful study of its food habits shows so many apparently
harmful traits that it may well leave the investigator in some
doubt as to the Crow’s value in the general plan. Crows
rob the nests of Robins, eating very many eggs and young
birds ; they therefore constitute a serious check on the in-
crease of this species. Robins feed largely on common black
beetles, called ground beetles (Carabide), which run about
on the ground, hiding under stones and other rubbish. As
these beetles are not quick to fly by day, \
and are easily caught, they form a consid-
erable part of the food of many ground-
frequenting birds. But ground beetles
feed, to a greater or less extent, on other
insects. The question then arises, Is not
the Robin doing harm in killing ground
beetles, and does it not merit the destruc-
tion of its eggs and young by the Crow? igo Ground
If the Robin’s habit of eating these beetles beetle.
is harmful, is not the Crow rendering a service by destroy-
ing a bird so apparently destructive as the Robin? Perhaps,
if there were too many Robins, they might eat too many
ground beetles, and thus become the indirect cause of the
destruction of much vegetation, by saving the lives of the
caterpillars and other harmful insects that the ground beetles,
had they been left to themselves, might have destroyed.!

Many ground beetles that are eaten by the Robin feed
much on vegetable matter.?- This makes these beetles doubly
useful in one respect, for they can maintain their numbers

   

 

1 These questions can be answered only by one having a thorough knowledge
of the food of our ground beetles, —a knowledge which no living man yet pos-
sesses; but enough has been learned to throw some light on their food habits.
Insects that feed promiscuously on other insects are generally classed as bene-
ficial in so far as they take insect food, even though they may destroy some
so-called useful insects; for, as the so-called injurious insects far outnumber the
useful ones, it is considered safe to regard the habit of feeding on insects a bene-
ficial one. :

2 The ground beetles of the genus Calosoma and those of some closely allied
genera are believed to feed entirely on animal food, as their structure fits them
for that alone. They feed ravenously upon both beneficial and injurious insects,
and when too numerous they devour one another. These are not the beetles that
are generally eaten by the Robin, however, but rather by the Crow.
10 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

when insect food is not plentiful, and so be ready to check
any increase of insects which may occur. On the other
hand, if they become too numerous, they may create serious
disturbances by destroying grass, grain, or fruit. I have
witnessed attacks made by certain of these beetles on grain
and strawberries; and were they not held in check by
birds, it is probable that they would soon become serious
pests. Their destruction by Robins and other birds tends
to keep these beetles within those normal bounds where
they will do most good and least harm; while the check
kept by the Crow on the increase of the Robin may pre-
vent the latter from destroying too many ground beetles.
If certain low-feeding caterpillars became so numerous as to
be injurious, ground beetles and Robins would feed largely
on them. The caterpillars would then largely take the place
of the beetles in the Robin’s food. The beetles, therefore,
would increase in numbers, and the force of both bird and
beetle would be exerted to reduce the caterpillars to their
normal limit. This accomplished, the Robin would again
attack the ground beetles, and thus tend to reduce them
to normal numbers.

Let us now go back to the beginning of our chain of
destruction. The Eagles, Hawks, Owls, and raccoons may.
indirectly allow an increase in the number of Robins by
preventing too great an increase of the Crow. But Hawks
and Owls also prey on the Robin, and, by dividing their
attention between Robin and Crow, assist in keeping both
birds to their normal numbers. Whenever Crows became
rare, Robins as a consequence would become very numerous,
were it not that the Hawks also eat Robins. (Hawks and
Owls eat also some species of insects that are eaten by both
Robin and Crow.)

There are compensations in the apparently destructive
career of the Crow. An omnivorous bird, it seems inclined
to turn its attention to any food which is plentiful and readily
obtained. It is a great feeder on May beetles (miscalled
“June bugs”), the larvee of which, known as white grubs,
burrowing in the ground, sometimes devastate grass lands
and also injure the roots of many plants, including trees.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 11

 

The Crow is also a destroyer of cutworms. These are
the young or larve of such noctuid moths or “millers”
as are commonly seen fluttering from the grass by any one
who disturbs them by walking in the
fields. Robins also feed largely on
cutworms, as well as on the white Fig. 3.—Cutworm.
grub of the May beetle. When these insects are few in
number, a part of the usual food supply of both Robin
and Crow is cut off. This being the case, the hungry
Crows are likely to destroy more young
w, Robins and other young birds than
usual, in order to make up the supply
of animal food for themselves and their
ravenous nestlings. Ina few years this
would decrease perceptibly the number
of Robins and other small birds, and would be likely in
turn to allow an increase of May beetles and cutworms.
As these insects became more plentiful, the Crows would
naturally turn again to them, paying less attention to the
young of Robins and other birds for the time, and allowing
them to increase once more, until their multiplication put
a check on the insects, when the Crows would of necessity
again raid the Robins.

The Blue Jay may be taken as another instance of this
means of preserving the balance of nature. Hawks and
Owls kill Blue Jays, Crows destroy their eggs and young ;
thus the Jays are kept in check. Jays are omnivorous
feeders. They eat the eggs and young of other birds, par-
ticularly those of Warblers, Titmice, and Vireos, — birds
which are active caterpillar hunters. But Jays are also
extremely efficient caterpillar hunters. Thus the Jays
compensate in some measure for their destruction of cat-
erpillar-eating birds, by themselves destroying the cater-
pillars which they unconsciously have allowed to increase
in numbers by destroying these birds. Like the Crow,
they virtually kill the young of the smaller birds, and eat
them, that they (the Jays) may eventually have more in-
sect food for their own young. When this object has been
attained, the Jays may again, perhaps, allow an increase of

 

 

Fig. 4.—Noctuid moth.
12 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the smaller birds, the survivors of which they have unwit-
tingly furnished with more insect food, thus making con-
ditions favorable for the increase of the smaller birds.
These oscillations or alternate expansions and contractions
in the numbers of birds or insects are usually so slight as
to escape common observation. It is only in those cases
where they are carried to extremes that they result disas-
trously. Under nature the checks on the increase of birds
are essential, else they would increase in numbers until
their food supply had become exhausted, when they would
starve, and other consequences even more grave and much
more complex would then follow.

While these examples of the way in which the balance of
nature is preserved may be regarded as somewhat hypothet-
ical, they probably approximate what actually takes place,
although the feeding habits of birds undoubtedly produce
far more complicated results than are here outlined.

It is a law of nature that the destroyer is also the protector.
Birds of prey save the species on which they prey from
overproduction and consequent starvation. They also serve
such species in at least two other ways: (1) the more
powerful bird enemies of a certain bird usually prey upon
some of its weaker enemies; (2) these powerful birds also
check the propagation of weakness, disease, or unfitness, by
killing off the weaker or most unfit individuals among the
species on which they prey, for these are most easily captured
and killed.

We have seen already that Jays, which are enemies of
the smaller birds, are preyed upon by the more powerful
Crows, Hawks, and Owls. These latter also destroy skunks,
weasels, squirrels, mice, and snakes, all of which are also
enemies of the smaller birds. No doubt these animals would
be much more injurious to the smaller birds were they with-
out these wholesome feathered checks on their increase.

In a state of nature, albino birds er those that are rendered
conspicuous to their enemies by any unusual mark or color
are soon captured by some bird of prey, and seldom live to
perpetuate their unfitness.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 13

 

An experience with domestic Pigeons, related to me by
Mr. William Brewster, will serve as proof of this state-
ment. He had kept a flock of twenty-five or thirty Pigeons
in confinement at Cambridge for many years. Under such
protective domestication the individuals of the flock had
assumed a variety of shades and colors. There were blue
Doves, white Doves, and many pied individuals varying
between the two extremes. He removed the flock to. his
farm in Concord, where they were at liberty to roam at will
during the day. Here they were attacked by Hawks, and
in five years’ time the white and pied birds were practically
all weeded out, and the flock consisted of blue rock Doves
alone.

The preservation of birds by the weeding out of sickly
or wounded individuals did not escape the notice of Prof.
Spencer F. Baird, who wrote : —

It has now been conclusively shown, I think, that Hawks perform an
important function in maintaining in good condition the stock of game
birds, by capturing the weak and sickly, and thus preventing reproduc-
tion from unhealthy parents. One of the most plausible hypotheses
explanatory of the occasional outbreaks of disease amongst the grouse
of Scotland has been the extermination of these correctives, the disease
being most virulent where the game keepers were most active in de-
stroying what they considered vermin.!

It appears, then, that under natural conditions the birds of
prey destroy merely the unfit and surplus individuals of the
species on which they prey, and do not, on the whole, reduce
their numbers below what the land will support.

The relations of birds to insects merit the most profound
thought and study. No one can study intelligently the effect
produced by birds upon insect life unless he first acquires
some knowledge of the habits and transformations of insects,
and is able to distinguish the so-called injurious and -benefi-
cial groups. A brief explanation here of the transformations
of insects will better enable the reader to understand the
terms used later in describing them as food for birds.

 

1 Letter from Prof. Spencer F. Baird to Mr. J. W. Shorton, published in the
Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, 1882, Vol. V, pp. 69, 70.
14 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Most insects emerge from eggs, which ordinarily are de-
posited and fixed by the female parent in positions where
the young will find suitable food in readiness
for them when the eggs hatch. Some insects
bring forth their young alive, but this is an
Fig. 5.—Fly ana exception to the general rule. The young

itslarva. —_ insect that emerges from the egg is called the
larva (plural, larve). Some larvee are provided with short
legs or feet, others have none that can be seen; but all are
without wings, and move about mainly by crawling. Their
principal occupation is to feed. Some species, such as the

 

 

 

 

 

  

Fig. 6.— Chestnut beetle or weevil, enlarged. wu, larva or grub, enlarged;
b, young larva in chestnut, natural size.

leaf-eating caterpillars, rest during certain parts of the day;
others, like the larve of fiesh-feeding flies, apparently feed
constantly. As all eat enormously and grow rapidly, they
are capable, when in great numbers, of doing much harm or
good, as the case may be. The larve of flies are commonly
called maggots or slugs, those of beetles are called grubs,
and those of butterflies and moths are called caterpillars.
Much of the injury
done by insect pests

is attributable to the
Jarvee 5; a lthou g h Fig. '7.— Caterpillars, the larvee of butterflies.

 

some, like certain leaf-eating beetles, are injurious in the per-
fect form. During the rapid growth of a larva the skin is
shed several times, until full size is reached, when the next
transformation is effected, and the larva becomes a pupa or
chrysalis. -Among the butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera)
the insect often spins from within itself a thread, which it
weaves into a case or cocoon which encloses it while in the
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 15

 

pupal form. This stage it passes without food and while
fixed to some object. The pup or nymphs of some other
insects, however, move about freely, as is the case with
locusts, grasshoppers, and like insects (Orthoptera).?

The pupa finally throws
off its outer shell, and
emerges a fully developed
or perfect insect or imago
with wings; although some
insects which, like some
birds, have lost the use
of their wings, never fly.”
After the union of the sexes
the female insect eventually
deposits the eggs for the Fig. 8.—Pupe or chrysalids.
next generation. Thus we have four forms which insects
assume: (1) the egg, (2) the larva, (3) the pupa or nymph,
(4) the imago or perfect winged insect.

Practically all living animals of appreciable size, as well
as most plants that are visible to the unaided eye, furnish
food for certain insects. Other insects feed on dead animals,
dead trees, or other decaying animal or vegetable matter.
A certain larva has been known even to tunnel into marble.
Those insects which feed on live vegetation or living animals
are capable of doing great harm if they increase unduly;
while those that feed only on dead animals or dead and
decaying vegetation can do only good in nature, although
they may be injurious to man by destroying hides, furs, pre-
served meats, or clothing.

It is difficult to perceive the usefulness of those so-called
injurious species which feed on the different parts of plants ;
still, the larvee that eat the buds, the caterpillars that feed

 

 

1 In the Orthoptera the transformations are imperfect; the larve of grass-
hoppers, for example, are provided with well-developed legs, and much resemble
the imago or perfect iisect, but are without wings. In this stage they are usually
called nymphs. As they approach maturity they enter what is virtually an im-
perfect pupal stage, but retain their shape, limbs, and activity. They now show
rudimentary wings, but it is only at maturity that they are capable of flight.

2 The Thysanura, or lowest order of insects, including ‘‘ bristle tails,” “‘ spring
tails,” ‘‘ fish moths,’’ and the like, never become winged or develop any trace of
wings.
16 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

on the leaves, the borers that attack the twigs, and the insects
that destroy the blossom or the fruit, all probably, when in
normal numbers, exert a useful influence by a healthful and
necessary pruning, which at least does no injury to the tree.
It is only when these insects increase abnormally in numbers
that they seriously injure or destroy many vigorous plants
and trees. During such outbreaks birds often come to the
rescue of the trees. Birds feed very largely on such insects,
and by keeping down their excessive multiplication perform
a great service in the economy of nature.

Here the keen senses and remarkable flight powers pos-
sessed by birds aid them in concentrating their forces imme-
diately when and where they are most needed. The rule
will bear repetition here that, other things being equal, birds
will take such suitable food as is most plentiful and most
easily obtained. This is especially true of the feeding of
birds on insects, although there are some insects that are so
protected by prickly spines or acrid secretions that few birds
will eat them. Such are the caterpillars of the mourning-
cloak butterfly (Huvanessa antiopa) and the imagoes of the
Colorado potato beetle (Doryphora decemlineata) .

Birds are quick to assemble wherever in the woods the
disappearing foliage denotes the presence of great numbers
of destructive caterpillars, or where patches of dead and.
dying grasses indicate that grubs are destroying the grass
roots on meadow or prairie. Birds flock to such places to
feed on the easily procured insects, and so take a prominent
part in repressing such insect outbreaks. This is so well
known as to be worthy of only passing mention here, were it
not to inquire whether the birds that assemble in such locali-
ties do not neglect their normal and special work of hold-
ing in check certain species elsewhere. If the Robin, for
example, which feeds normally on such ground-frequenting
insects as white grubs, cutworms, grasshoppers, March flies,
and ground beetles, goes to the woods to féed on caterpillars,
as is sometimes the case, does it neglect to devour any one
of the insects on which it usually feeds, and so give this
insect a chance to increase? If so, it would be merely sup-
pressing one outbreak and permitting another. But birds
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 17

 

do not neglect any one element of their ordinary food in
such cases. They neglect them all, both animal and vegetal,
for the time being, and turn to the npw abundant insect food
that is more readily accessible. This I have observed in
studying outbreaks of cankerworms, and Professor Forbes
records a similar experience with birds feeding on canker-
worms.!

This apparently agrees with the experience of the forest
authorities in Bavaria during the great and destructive out-
break of the nun moth (Liparis monacha) which occurred
there from 1889 to 1891. The flight of Starlings collected
in one locality alone was credibly estimated at ten thousand,
all busily feeding on the caterpillars, pupz, and moths.
Enormous flights of Titmice and Finches were similarly
engaged. The attraction of Starlings to such centers be-
came so great that market gardeners at a distance felt their
absence seriously .?

Evidently in such cases the birds, changing their usual
fare entirely for the time being, remove their restraining
influence from both useful and injurious insects, leaving one
to exert its full force as a check on the other, until the urgent
business of the serious outbreak of grasshoppers, caterpillars,
or some other pest has been attended to; then the birds
return to their usual haunts and food, and exert the same
repressive influence as before.

Although the insects which are potentially injurious are
greatly in the majority, there are many species which per-
form a very.apparent useful function in nature. Such are
the bees and some of their allies of the order Hymenop-
tera, — insects which travel from flower to flower in search
of sweets, and, becoming loaded with pollen, fertilize the
blossoms, rendering the trees fruitful. Other insects seem
especially adapted to hold the potentially injurious species
in check. Some which are called predaceous insects attack
other insects and devour them, as do the ground beetles

 

1 The Regulative Action of Birds upon Insect Oscillations, by S. A. Forbes.
Bulletin No. 6, Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, 1883, p. 21.

2 Protection of Woodlands, by Herman Fiirst. English edition, translated by
John Nisbet, 1893, p. 126.
18 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

(Carabide) already mentioned, the tiger beetles (Cicinde-_
lide), the ladybirds (Coccinellide), and many of the true
bugs. Such insects are often miscalled parasites, but they
do not merit this misnomer.

The predaceous beetles are
the wolves, lions, and tigers of
the insect world. They hunt
down their prey, pouncing
upon it and killing it when
found. Often these insects
are so ravenous that they con-
tent themselves with drawing

' the life blood and other juices
from their quarry, leaving the
J rest to be devoured by ants
Fig. 9.—Predaceous beetle; the lion OF other scavengers. While

Nepean the larger predaceous beetles
attack many of the larger insects, smaller species, such as
ladybirds, assail other minute insects, such as the aphids
or plant lice.

The bugs are the vampires of the insect world. Armed
with a strong proboscis, the bug pursues its
prey, pierces it and sucks its juices, leaving it
drained and lifeless ; but the so-called parasitic
insects feed in a manner entirely different.

Certain families of the Hymenoptera’ and
Diptera contain parasitic genera and species.
These insects range in size from that of a large
wasp down to that of a small midge. Most of Fig. 10.—Pre.

* ae * daceous beetle;
them have the habit of depositing their eggs a tiger among

 

 

on, or in, the bodies of other living insects. IERIE,
Each ichneumon fly is armed with a long
Kk ovipositor, which operates somewhat like a

hollow sting, by means of which it is en-
abled to pierce the skin of the larve of
other insects and pass its eggs through the
ao a ee puncture, depositing them in the body tis-
Imago, natural size Sues beneath the skin. These eggs soon

ond enlarged, hatch, and the young larve, emerging from
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 19

 

them, feed first upon the fatty portions of the caterpillar
in which they find themselves. The caterpillar thus unwill-
ingly becomes their host, furnishing them with food and
lodging from and within its own substance. When they
have made their growth, and it is nearly time for them to
pupate, they attack the vitals of their host, killing it, and
then pupating either within or upon its body. Soon they
emerge as perfect flies, the females
again seeking other caterpillars as
hosts for their progeny. Often
these parasites do not kill their

 

sey Fig. 12.— Host caterpillar, with
host until it has sought some place cocoons of the parasite upon its

back.

of safety and pupated. Every cat-
erpillar or pupa thus destroyed nourishes one or many of
these parasites, to emerge and attack surviving caterpillars.
The parasites themselves, however, are often attacked in the
same manner by a secondary parasite, which destroys them
precisely as they destroyed the caterpillar. The larger pri-
mary parasites may deposit a single egg or only a few in
each caterpillar, while the smaller ones may deposit the
entire brood in the body of a single caterpillar.

Birds eat both predaceous and parasitic insects. We have
seen that they eat ground beetles, many of which are pro-
vided with acrid secretions that are supposed to render them
disagreeable and offensive to the taste, and so
give them a certain immunity from their ene-
mies. Evidently, however, it takes a very
strong flavor to take the edge off a bird’s
appetite, for birds eat bugs; and any child
who has ever eaten berries from the bushes,
and inadvertently put one of the berry-eating
bugs in his mouth, knows how disgusting their
Fig.13.—Tiger flavor is. There are some useful insects that

beetle; auseful are seldom eaten by birds. The very smallest
by very few are beneath the notice of most birds. The
eae tiger beetles and some of the useful flies
are so quick that birds find it difficult to catch them.
Wasps and bees, though eaten by some birds, can protect
themselves very well with their stings. Probably, however,

 
20 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

birds eat a great many caterpillars containing parasites,
though birds will reject any caterpillars that show signs of
weakness or disease. The question then arises, Is the bird
doing harm by eating caterpillars or other larve containing
parasites? The bird certainly ends the destructive career
of the larva at once. The parasites would have ended it
eventually ; but had it been left to them, it might have gone
on for some time in its destructive career, doing as much
injury as if not parasitized; the parasite merely destroys it
in time to prevent it from propagating its kind. So far the
evidence is in favor of the bird. The question remains,
however, whether the bird and its young would eventually
destroy more caterpillars than would the progeny of the
parasites had they not been eaten by the bird. This question
evidently is unanswerable. Birds act as the primary check
on the increase of destructive insects; parasitic insects are
the secondary check provided by nature to operate in con-
junction with the birds, or to supplement the regulative
action of birds where the number of birds is insufficient to
check the increase of insects.

Birds sometimes kill many of the imagoes of parasitic
insects in flight, where such insects are numerous. At first
sight, this would seem to condemn the birds; on further
study, it seems probable that this is often a harmless habit.
Where parasitic insects are found in great numbers, it is
probable that the birds destroy mainly the surplus flies,
which otherwise, failing to find hosts for their young, would
merely live out their time and die without issue were they
not killed by the birds. Such harm as birds do in killing
primary parasites may be offset by the killing of secondary
parasites by birds, for this acts as a protection to the pri-
mary parasites.

Certain predaceous bugs feed not only on insects but also
on vegetable food. They also attack other predaceous or
useful insects. Birds, by preventing their undue increase,
may prevent excessive injury to both useful plants and
insects.

All reasoning from known premises leads to one conclusion
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. 21

 

regarding the utility of birds in nature. It may be stated
confidently, as a general rule (not without exceptions, how-
ever), that, in the natural order of things, the species that
is kept within normal numbers without great fluctuations,
whether beast, bird, reptile, batrachian, or insect, will serve
a useful purpose; while the species that increases unduly
will devour too much animal or vegetable food, and, by dis-
turbing the balance of nature, become a pest. It is the
abnormal increase of the gipsy and brown-tail moths and
the “English” Sparrow in this Commonwealth that has
been responsible for the injury they have done. If birds
do well their part in holding in check native insects, small
mammals, reptiles, batrachians, and other forms of life on
which they feed, they have fulfilled their mission, even if
in doing this they destroy some individuals of some species
that are classed as useful.

This, then, is the chief mission of the birds in organic
nature: to fill their peculiar place in preserving the balance
of nature’s forces, —a place that cannot be filled by any
other class of animals.

In much of the foregoing it appears that the birds are
engaged in checking the increase of insects and other ani-
mals, exerting that check constantly when and where it is
most, needed. The vegetable food of birds is perhaps of
less importance, but here also they exercise a restraining
influence by destroying seed as wellas in other ways. They
also exert a beneficial influence by planting seed.

Birds also play a great part in the distribution of plants,
the upbuilding and fertilizing of barren islands, and a minor
part in the distribution of insects. Wild-fowl and Herons
may sometimes carry small seeds for many miles embedded
in particles of mud which adhere to their feet. Where this
mud drops from their feet, the seeds may sprout and grow.
The fruit-eating birds are among the most valuable of tree
planters, distributing the seeds far and wide. Certain insects
which cling to the feet or feathers of birds are sometimes
distributed in this way. The part taken by birds in forest
planting and fertilizing barren lands will be taken up far-
22 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

ther on, in connection with their relations to forestry and
agriculture.

Taken all in all, the relations of birds to the natural world
are beneficent. Evidently birds are an essential part of
nature’s great plan. This being the case, they must be
serviceable to man also, for man, the animal, is a mere inte-
gral part of nature.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 23

 

CHAPTER I.

THE VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN.

Birds are classed as useful or injurious only as they affect
man or his property. In an uninhabited country birds can-
not be ranked as beneficial or harmful, good or bad, for there
is noagriculture. There the earth, untroubled by man, brings
forth vegetation, and animals after their kind. Nature’s laws,
working in harmony, need none of man’s assistance. The
condition of the earth before man appeared is typified in the
Biblical account of the garden of Eden.

PRIMITIVE MAN’S RELATIONS TO NATURE.

We have seen that under such natural conditions all birds
are essential to the general welfare, each filling well its
appointed place. But trouble and discord come to Eden.
Man appears, and becomes the dominant power on the earth.
He sets up artificial standards of his own, and bids nature
conform to them. He is constantly at war with nature. He
classes wild creatures as injurious, provided they either in-
jure his person, or cause him loss by destroying or harming
any of his property or any of the wild animals or plants
which he regards as useful. He considers all wild creatures
beneficial that contribute directly or indirectly to his own
welfare, or to the increase in value of his property.

He is often in error, even from his own standpoint, in
thus classifying animals, owing to an insufficient knowledge
of their food habits ; but the principle holds good, and stand-
ards change with the acquisition of knowledge.

Man in a savage state lived, like other animals, in harmony
with nature. At first he practised no agriculture and domes-
ticated no animals. He made war mainly upon his fellows
and the larger beasts of prey, killing them in self-defence
or for food. (It seems prebable that primitive man was
a cannibal.) Otherwise, he fed altogether upon the wild
24 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

products of forest, meadow, sea, lake, or river. The only
creatures that he then could regard as injurious were those
that attacked his own person or the persons of his family.

Any irruption of animals, such as vast herds of deer, bison,
or antelopes, hordes of monkeys or rats, flights of birds or
locusts, outbreaks of caterpillars or other creatures, was
about as likely to benefit as to injure him. For instance,
when locusts became so numerous as to destroy a part or all
of his vegetable food, he followed the example of other
creatures, and, by feeding for the time on the superabundant
locusts, exerted an influence toward restoring the balance
of nature. (There are still savage tribes in various parts
of the earth that eat monkeys, rats, locusts, grubs, or
caterpillars. )

In times of plenty primitive man feasted, as did other
animals ; and in times of want, like them, he starved. But
usually he was indifferent to any ordinary injury done to the
animal or vegetable life around him, .as he owned no prop-
erty, and could readily move his camp from a region of
want to one of plenty.

CHANGED RELATIONS PRODUCED BY AGRICULTURE.

With the beginning of agricultural practice, however, all
this was changed. When man began to domesticate animals,
he faced immediately a host of enemies. Wild animals and
birds attacked his cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and hogs, or
devoured their young. Tormenting insects stampeded his
herds, or carried disease and death among them. His poul-
try were decimated by scores of rapacious animals. When
he began to plant seed and raise grain, both his growing
and his garnered crops were attacked by a host of ene-
mies; for now he had begun to disturb nature’s balance,
and nature asserted herself in the effort to resume her inter-
rupted sway. This was the beginning of a war with nature
which will never cease so long as man inhabits the earth ;
for the agriculturist does not work altogether with nature,
but largely against her. Most of the animal and vegetable
forms that he produces are at variance with those produced
by nature, and must be continually fostered and protected
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 25

 

if they are to maintain their artificial characters and excel-
lences. Left to themselves, the various breeds of domesti-
cated Pigeons would all disappear, merging into the original
Dove from whence they sprang. All artificial varieties of
animals, plants, and fruits would, under nature, become, in
time, like the wild stock from which they originated. Hence
man must wage war continually against organic nature, in
order to maintain his artificial standards against her inex-
orable laws.

The beginning of agriculture was the first step toward
civilization as well, for the necessity of remaining near his
crops to guard them from their enemies compelled the prim-
itive farmer to erect a permanent habitation. This took his
attention from war and the chase, for much of his time was
now occupied in tilling the soil and caring for his crops and
animals.

- The slow growth of primitive agriculture in the older
civilized countries gave time for a gradual adjustment of the
forces of nature to the new conditions established and main-
tained by man. The gradual or partial clearing away of the
forests occupied centuries. The planting of crops merely
kept pace with the natural increase of population, while
the destruction of wild animals and their replacement with
domesticated species were similarly gradual and progressive.
So, although in the older countries agriculture suffered much
from the pests to which its operations must always give rise,
it remained for the peopling of newer lands to develop the
greatest difficulties in the path of the farmer.

Agriculture produces an increased food supply. The
population increases correspondingly, and the overflow seeks
new fields. In these new lands, of which America is the
most prominent example, the conditions of civilization and
agriculture have replaced with marked rapidity those of
savagery and primeval nature.

MAN AT WAR WITH NATURE IN THE NEW WORLD.

All the greater changes that were effected gradually by
man in Europe, where, in the course of centuries, civiliza-
tion was slowly evolved from savagery, —all these stupen-
26 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

dous changes, — were wrought here in a few years by the
tide of immigration from the eastern world.

Tn many communities only a score of years elapsed be-
tween the subjugation of the unbroken wilderness and the
building of a farming town or growing city. In Massachu-
setts the settlers cut down the forest; killed off most of the
larger mammals and birds ; imported and bred horses, cattle,
and poultry ; cleared and planted much of the arable land ;
introduced many new plants; and rapidly changed the ap-
pearance of the country from that of a wilderness to that of
an agricultural colony. Thirty years after the landing of
the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, eastern Massachusetts was
well colonized; with several growing seaport towns; with
prosperous farms, fertile fields and green pastures; with
flocks and herds grazing on many a hill, where the wild
Indian and the red deer formerly roamed.

All these changes, taking place so rapidly, produced great
disturbances in the economy of nature. As the wolf, lynx,
puma, and bear were killed or driven away, the smaller
animals on which they had formerly preyed increased in
numbers and attacked the crops. Crows, Blackbirds, and
many insects, finding in the grain crops new sources of food
supply, swarmed upon them and multiplied exceedingly.
Birds and insects attacked the cultivated fruit. Thousands
of acres of cleared meadow land were producing crops of
grass. Given this increased food supply, locusts and other
grass-eating insects increased in numbers. The settlers,
meantime, were destroying the Heath Hen, Quail, Plover,
Blackbirds, Hawks, and Crows, the natural enemies of the
locusts. As time went on, many new plants were introduced
from Europe, and in some cases insect pests unwittingly
were brought with them. The two succeeding centuries
brought about a tremendous immigration from Europe. As
settlement extended into the western States, great fields of
wheat and other grains were established, covering the plains
in some instances as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of
thousands of acres were planted to orchards and vineyards;
great areas near the cities were devoted to garden vegetables ;
north and south, corn, wheat, and cotton clothed the land.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 27

 

THE INCREASE OF INSECT PESTS.

Insects introduced from foreign lands found here a para-
dise, in which to multiply, in the great areas planted year
after year to the same crops. Having escaped their native
enemies, they had come to an abundance of food in a land
where many of the insect-eating birds and other insectivo-
rous animals had been much reduced in number by the unwise
policy of the settlers. Hence the rate of increase of im-
ported insect pests in America has far exceeded that of the
same insects in their native lands.

Certain native American insects, finding their food plants
destroyed by the cutting down of the forests or thé break-
ing up of the prairie, turned their attention to the crops
of the farmer, and became important pests.
Such are the cutworms (Noctuide) ; : their
name is legion. Others, having been reached
in their desert or mountain homes by the
advance of civilization, left their natural food
for the more succulent plants raised by man,
and so spread over the country from farm pig. 14.—cninch
to farm. Such are the chinch bug and the ce a en.
Colorado potato beetle, which, as civilization
advanced westward, met it and spread toward the east.

The enormous losses which have occurred in the United
States from the destruction of growing crops by insects must
seem incredible to those who do not realize how vast are the
numbers of insects, how stupendous their power of multi-
plication, how insatiable their voracity.

When we fully appreciate the consuming powers of insects,
they assume an economic importance greater than can be
accorded to the ravening beast of prey. Let us consider
briefly, then, the potency for evil that lies hidden in the tiny
but innumerable eggs of injurious insects, which require only
the warmth of the summer sun to release from confinement
their destructive energies.

 
28 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

THE NUMBER OF INSECTS.

The number of insect species is greater by far than that
of the species of all other living creatures combined. More
than three hundred thousand have been described. There
are many thousands of undescribed species in museums.
Dr. Lintner, the late distinguished State entomologist of
New York, considered it not improbable that there were a
million species of insects. The number of individual insects
is beyond human comprehension or computation.

Dr. Lintner says that he saw at a glance, in a small extent
of roadway near Albany, more individuals of a single species
of snow flea, as computed by him, than there are human
beings on the entire face of the earth. A small cherry tree
ten feet in height was found by Dr. Fitch to be infested with
an aphid or plant louse. He estimated (first counting the
number of these insects on a leaf, the number of leaves on a
branch and the number of branches on the tree) that there
were twelve million plant lice on the tree; and this was only
one tree of a row similarly infested. To give the reader an
approximate idea of the number of insects on the tree, it
was stated that, were a man to count them singly and as
rapidly as he could speak, it would require eleven months’
labor at ten hours a day to complete the enumeration.!

In the days of their abundance the Rocky Mountain locusts
in flight filled the air and hid the sun. From the high peaks
of the Sierra Nevada they were seen filling the valleys below
and the air above as far as a powerful field glass could bring
the insects within focus. The chinch bug in countless mil-
lions infests the grain fields over towns, counties, and States.
The army worm moves at times in solid masses, destroying
the crops in its path.

THE REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY OF INSECTS.

Insects are enormously productive, and, were the progeny
of one pair allowed to reproduce without check, they would
cover, in time, the entire habitable earth.

 

” Our Insect Enemies, by J. A. Lintner. Sixteenth Annual Report, New
Jersey State Board of Agriculture, 1888-89, pp. 293, 294.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 29

 

The rapidity of propagation shown by some insects is per-
haps without a parallel in the animal world.

In order to give some idea of the powers of multiplication
of the Colorado potato beetle, the Canadian
Entomologist states that all its transformations
are effected in fifty days; so that the result of
a single pair, if allowed to increase without
molestation, would in one season amount to Meee ais
over sixty millions.} beetle.

Speaking of the great power of multiplication shown by
plant lice or aphids, Dr. Lintner says that Professor Riley,
in his studies of the hop vine aphis (Phorodon humuli),
has observed thirteen generations of the species in the
year. Now, if we assume the average number of young
produced by each female to be one hundred, and that every
individual attains maturity and produces its full complement
of young (which, however, never occurs in nature), the
number of the twelfth brood alone (not counting those of
all of the preceding broods of the same year) would be
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (ten sextillions) of indi-
viduals. Where, as in this instance, figures fail to convey
any adequate conception of numbers, let us take space and
the velocity of light as measures. Were this brood mar-
shalled in line with ten individuals to a linear inch touching
one another, the procession would extend to the sun (a space
which light traverses in eight minutes), and beyond it to the
nearest fixed star (traversed by light only in six years), and
still onward in space beyond the most distant star that the
strongest telescope may bring to our view, — to a point so
inconceivably remote that light could only reach us from it
in twenty-five hundred years.

The remotest approach to such unchecked multiplication
on the part of this insect might paralyze the hop-growing
industry in one season. While the aphids may represent
the extreme of fecundity, there are thousands of insect
species the unchecked increase of any one of which would
soon overrun a continent. Mr. A. H. Kirkland has com-

  

 

1 Report of Townend Glover, entomologist, in Annual Report of the United
States Commissioner of Agriculture, 1871, p. 74.
30 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

puted that the unrestricted increase of the gipsy moth would
be so great that the progeny of one pair would be numerous
enough in eight years to devour all the foliage in the United
States.

THE VORACITY OF INSECTS.

Many insects are remarkably destructive because of the
enormous amount of food which they must consume to grow
rapidly to maturity. Many caterpillars daily eat twice their
weight of leaves; which is as if an ox were to devour, every
twenty-four hours, three-quarters of a ton of grass.1

This voracity and rapid growth may be shown by the
statement of a few facts. A certain flesh-feeding larva will
consume in twenty-four hours two hundred times its original
weight ; a parallel to which, in the human race, would be an
infant consuming, in the first day of its existence, fifteen
hundred pounds of food. There are vegetable feeders,
caterpillars, which during their progress to maturity, within
thirty days, increase in size ten thousand times. To equal
this remarkable growth, a man at his maturity would have
to weigh forty tons. In view of such statements, need we
wonder that the insect world is so destructive and so potent
a power for harm ??

Mr. Leopold Trouvelot, who introduced the gipsy moth
into this country, was occupied for some time in raising
silkworms in Medford, Mass. He made a special study of
the American silkworm (Telea polyphemus). Regarding its
food and growth he says :—

It is astonishing how rapidly the larva grows, and one who has had
no experience in the matter could hardly believe what an amount of
food is devoured by these little creatures. One experiment which I
made can give some idea of it. When the young worm hatches out, it

 

1 A probable cause for this voracity in the case of herbivorous larve is that the
stomachs do not have the power of dissolving the vegetable matter received into
them, but merely of extracting from it a juice. This is proved both by their
excrement, which consists of coiled-up and hardened particles of leaf, which,
when put into water, expand like tea, and by the great proportion which the
excrement bears to the quantity of food consumed (Kirby and Spence’s Ento-
mology, p. 259).

? Our Insect Enemies, by J. A. Lintner. Sixteenth Annual Report, New
Jersey State Board of Agriculture, 1888-89, p. 295,
 

PLATE I.--The American Silkworm Moth (Telea polyphemus).
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 31

 

weighs one-twentieth of a grain; when ten days old, it weighs one-half
a grain, or ten times the original weight; when twenty days old, it
weighs three grains, or sixty times the original weight ; when thirty days
old, it weighs thirty-one grains, or six hundred and twenty times the
original weight; when forty days old, it weighs ninety grains, or eight-
een hundred times the original weight; and when fifty-six days old, it
weighs two hundred and seven grains, or forty-one hundred and forty
times the original weight.

When a worm is thirty days old, it will have consumed about ninety
grains of food; but when fifty-six days old it is fully grown, and has
consumed not less than one hundred and twenty*oak leaves, weighing
three-fourths of a pound; besides this, it has drunk not less than one-
half an ounce of water. So the food taken by a single silkworm in
fifty-six days equals in weight eighty-six thousand times the primitive
weight of the worm. Of this, about one-fourth of a pound becomes
excrementitious matter, two hundred and seven grains are assimilated,
and over five ounces have evaporated. What a destruction of leaves
this single species of insect could make, if only a one-hundredth part
of the eggs laid came to maturity! A few years would be sufficient for
the propagation of a number large enough to devour all the leaves of
our forests.!

When we consider the dangers arising from the immense
numbers, fecundity and voracity of insects, the fact that
insects new to cultivated crops are continually appearing
becomes a source of grave apprehension.

THE GREAT LOSS TO AMERICAN AGRICULTURE BY
INSECT RAVAGES.

Economic entomologists, who are constantly increasing
our knowledge regarding insect pests, discover every year
new species attacking important crops or trees. Dr. Lintner
made a list of the insects injuring apple trees in the United
States, which was published in the appendix to his first
report as entomologist of New York State. It contained
one hundred and seventy-six species, while large though
lesser numbers have been found on the plum, pear, peach,
and cherry.

The study of the insect enemies of the forest trees of the
United States has not yet progressed far enough to deter-

 

1 The American Silkworm, by L. Trouvelot. American Naturalist, Vol. I,
p. 85.
32 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

mine with approximate accuracy the numbers of insects that
infest our forest trees. The forest insects of some sections
of Europe have been studied longer, and the numbers of in-
sects found injuring the principal trees are surprising. Kal-
tenbach enumerates five hundred and thirty-seven species
of insects, from central Europe, injurious to the oak; to the
elm he ascribes one hundred and seven. The poplars feed
two hundred and sixty-four species; the willows harbor
three hundred and ninety-six ; the birches, two hundred and
seventy; the alder, one hundred and nineteen; the beech,
one hundred and fifty-four; the hazel, ninety-seven; and
the hornbeam, eighty-ecight. Among the coniferous trees,
the pines, larch, spruce, and fir, collectively, are attacked
by two hundred and ninety-nine species of insects.1

Dr. Packard enumerated over four hundred species which
prey upon our oaks, and believed it not improbable that
ultimately the number of species found on the oaks of the
United States would be from six hundred to eight hundred
or even one thousand.?

The list of insects which feed on grasses, cereals, field and
garden crops is very large and constantly growing, for it is
continually receiving accessions from both native and foreign
sources. The destructiveness of some of these insects is so
enormous and widespread that the financial loss resulting
therefrom amounts to a heavy annual tax on the people of
the United States. Hence since the first settlement of the
country the amount of this annual tax has been increasing.

In 1854 the loss in New York State alone from the ravages ,
of the insignificant wheat midge (Diéplosis tritic’), as esti-
mated by the secretary of the New York State Agricultural
Society, was fifteen million dollars. Whole fields of wheat
were left ungarnered. So destructive was this insect in the
following years as to stop the raising of white wheat, and
reduce the value of all wheat lands forty per cent.®

 

1 Die Pflanzenfeinde aus der Klasse der Insekten.

? Insects Injurious to Forest and Shade Trees, by A. S. Packard. Fifth Report
of the United States Entomological Commission, 1886-90, p. 48.

3 Report on the Rocky Mountain Locust, by A. S. Packard. Ninth Annual
Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territo-
ries, 1875, p. 709.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 33

 

In 1856, in Livingston County, New York, two thousand
acres on flats which would have yielded thirty bushels of
wheat per acre were not harvested because of the destruc-
tive work of this insect.1

Dr. C. L. Marlatt, of the Bureau of Entomology of the
United States Department of Agriculture, who has made
careful calculations of the loss. still
occasioned by the Hessian fly (Cecido-
myta destructor) in the wheat-growing
States, says that in comparatively few
years does it cause a loss of less than
ten per cent. of the crop. On the val-
uation of the crop of 1904 this would
amount to over fifty million dollars.
Dr. Marlatt states that in the year 1900
the loss in the wheat-growing States Figs 16.“ iaadtinn ay,
from this tiny midge undoubtedly ap- ee
proached one hundred million dollars.?

The chinch bug (Blissus leucopterus) attacks many staple
crops, and has been a seriously destructive pest in the
Mississippi valley States for many years, where it injures
chiefly wheat and corn. Dr. Shimer in his notes on this
insect estimates the loss caused by it in the Mississippi
valley in 1864 at one hundred million dollars,? while Dr..
Riley gives the loss in that year as seventy-three million
dollars in Illinois alone.t These are only a few of the
extreme losses. Year after year the injuries from the
depredations of this bug have amounted to many millions
of dollars.

The cotton worm (Alabama argillacea) has been known
as a serious pest to the cotton crop for more than a century.
The average loss in the cotton States from this caterpillar

 

 

* First Annual Report on the Injurious and Other Insects of the State of New
York, by J. A. Lintner, 1882, p. 6.

2 The Annual Loss occasioned by Destructive Insects in the United States, by
C. L. Marlatt. Yearbook, United States Department of Agriculture, 1904, p. 467.

3 Report on the Rocky Mountain Locust, by A. S. Packard. Ninth Annual
Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories,
1875, p. 697.

4 First Annual Report on the Injurious and Other Insects of the State of New
York, by J. A. Lintner, 1882, p. 7.
34 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

for fourteen years following the civil war was estimated at
fifteen million dollars per year.

In 1873 the injury to the cotton crop reached twenty-five
million dollars, and later averaged from twenty-five million
to fifty million dollars annually.2- Now a new enemy, the
Mexican cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), threatens
equal destruction.

The Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) began
to destroy crops as soon as the country it inhabits was set-
tled, and is still injurious. From time to time its enormous
flights have traversed a great part of the Mississippi valley.
It reached a maximum of destructiveness from 1874 to 1877,
when the total loss from its ravages in Kansas, Nebraska,
Iowa, Missouri, and neighboring States, including injury by
depression of business and general ruin, was estimated at
two hundred million dollars.?

In those years this devastating insect swept over the Missis-
sippi valley. Wherever its vast flights alighted or its young
developed, they destroyed nearly all vegetation, ruining
great numbers of farmers, causing a famine in the land, and
driving many people to emigration. This was an extreme
calamity, such as is not likely to occur again.

A still larger but more widely distributed loss from insect
pests, however, is still borne annually by the American
people. Dr. Lintner states his belief that the annual and
periodical injury caused by cutworms in the United States
is greater than that caused by the Rocky Mountain locust.

In September, 1868, Prof. D. B. Walsh, editor of the
American Entomologist, estimated that the country then
suffered to the amount of three hundred million dollars
annually from the depredations of noxious insects. By the
census of 1875 the agricultural products of this country were
valued at two billion, five hundred million dollars. Of this

 

* Fourth Report of the United States Entomological Commission, by C. V.
Riley, 1885, p. 3.

? Report on the Rocky Mountain Locust, by A. S. Packard. Ninth Annual
Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Terri-
tories, 1875, p. 591.

* Report on the Rocky Mountain Locust, by Riley, Packard, and Thomas.
First Report of the United States Entomological Commission, 1877, pp. 115~122.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 35

 

amount, Dr. Packard says that in all probability we annually
lose over two hundred million dollars from the attacks of
injurious insects. In the report of the Department of Agri-
culture for 1884 (p. 324) the losses occasioned by insects
injurious to agriculture in the United States, it is said, are
variously estimated at from three hundred million to four
hundred million dollars annually.

Prof. C. V. Riley, in response to a letter of inquiry, in
1890, stated that no very recent estimate of the injury done
by insects had been made; but that he had estimated, some
time previously, that the injury done to crops in the United
States by insects exceeded three hundred million dollars
annually.

Dr. James Fletcher, in his annual address as president of
the Society of Economic Entomologists, in Washington, in
1891, stated that the agricultural products of the United
States were then estimated at about three billion, eight hun-
dred million dollars. It was believed that a sum equal to
about one-tenth of this amount, or three hundred and eighty
million dollars, was lost annually through the ravages of
injurious insects.

It is evident that, in spite of the improved methods of
fighting insects, the aggregate loss from this source increases
in proportion as the land under cultivation increases.

The most recent estimate of the loss occasioned by insect
injury in the United States which has come to my notice is
that of Dr. C. L. Marlatt, who by careful estimates approxi-
mates the percentage of loss to cereal products, hay, cotton,
tobacco, truck crops, sugars, fruits, forests, miscellaneous
crops, animal products, and products in storage.

Dr. Marlatt attributes an annual loss of eighty million
dollars to the corn crop alone, and approximates the loss to
the wheat crop at one hundred million dollars each year.
The injury to the hay crop is estimated at five hundred and
thirty thousand dollars, while the codling moth alone is be-
lieved to injure fruit crops to the amount of twenty million
dollars annually.

This statement, based on the value of farm products as
given in the reports of the Bureau of Statistics of the United
36 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

States Department of Agriculture for 1904, gives the loss
from insect depredations for that year as seven hundred and
ninety-five million, one hundred thousand dollars; and this
is believed to be a conservative estimate of the tax now im-
posed by injurious insects on the people of the United States,
without reckoning the millions of dollars that are expended
annually in labor and insecticides in the fight against insects.+

LOSSES BY INSECT RAVAGES IN MASSACHUSETTS.

The proportion of this loss that Massachusetts is called
upon to bear has not received the attention that it deserves.
Some figures, however, may be given. In 1861 the army
worm (probably Heliophila unipuncta) swept eastern Mas-
sachusetts. The damage done to crops, according to Dr.
Packard, exceeded five hundred thousand dollars.22 We have
no estimates of the loss occasioned by more recent invasions
of thisinsect. Prof. C. H. Fernald ® estimates that an amount
of cranberries equal to one-third the possible crop of the Cape
Cod region is annually destroyed by insects. Thus a sum
not less than five hundred thousand dollars is yearly lost to
the people of that region.

In 1890 Dr. Henry H. Goodell, president of the Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College, stated that it was costing the
farmers of the United States. two million dollars, and the
farmers of Massachusetts eighty thousand dollars, each year,
to hold the Colorado potato beetle in check by the use of
Paris green.

In 1901 Hon. J. W. Stockwell, then secretary of the
Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, asked me to esti-
mate the annual loss to the Commonwealth through the rav-
ages of insect pests. My estimate, which seemed to me at

 

* The Annual Loss occasioned by Destructive Insects in the United States, by
C. L. Marlatt. Yearbook, United States Department of Agriculture, 1904, p. 464.

* First Report on Injurious and Beneficial Insects of Massachusetts, by A. S.
Packard. Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1870,
Part I, p. 353.

5 In Bulletin No. 19 of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts
Agricultural College, Professor Fernald gives statistics of the cranberry crop,
and evidence from which his estimate is made.

* Agricultural Education, by H. H. Goodell. Sixth Annual Report of the
Rhode Island State Board of Agriculture, 1891, p. 186.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 37

 

the time a most safe and conservative one, was three million,
one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Stockwell also asked
Dr. H. T. Fernald and Mr. A. H. Kirkland, both expert
economic entomologists, to make, independently, a similar
estimate. Their replies follow, showing how they made up
their figures. These gentlemen had every facility for obtain-
ing knowledge of insect injury in the Commonwealth. It
will be seen that their approximations considerably exceeded
my own. Dr. H. T. Fernald says :!—

Years ago a number of experts, figuring independently, came to the
conclusion that for farm, market-garden and orchard crops the loss by
the attacks of insects in an average year would represent one-tenth of
the value of the crop, or about two million, six hundred thousand dollars
for Massachusetts. Recently, however, prominent entomologists have
expressed the opinion that this per cent. istoolow. Three factors have
caused this change: first, the concentration of crops of the same kind
into large contiguous acreage; second, the introduction of over one
hundred pests from foreign countries, which have been here long enough
to make their presence seriously felt; and third, the great reduction in
the number of insectivorous birds. ~

I believe it will be entirely safe to take fifteen per cent. of the crop
valuation of Massachusetts, and that you will be sufficiently conserva-
tive in using that amount as representing part of the damage. I have
never scen a cherry tree killed by plant lice, yet I have often seen lice
so abundant on cherry trees as to much reduce the crop, which is true
of a large proportion of our crops; and it is loss of this kind which is
covered by the fifteen per cent. estimate, . . . but how are we to place
a money value on the defoliation of an elm tree unless it be repeated
year after year until the tree dies? I would be inclined to add, to the
fifteen per cent. estimate already given, two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars for labor, apparatus, poison, etc., used in the fight against
insects, and another two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to cover
damage actually done, but which cannot be reduced to figures, making
a total yearly damage of four million, four hundred thousand dollars for
Massachusetts.

Mr. Kirkland says : ! —

The best figures available for estimating the loss caused by pests in
this State are those of the 1895 census. From the report of this census
T have taken figures giving the value of certain crops notably attacked

 

‘ Report of Secretary J. W. Stockwell, Annual Report of the Massachusetts
State Board of Agriculture, 1901, pp. xiii, xiv.
38 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

by insects, and have estimated in each case the probable average yearly
rednetion in value caused by these pests. The data used are given be-
low. Ihave tried to make a conservative estimate in the case of each
product, since, to have any value, such an estimate should fall below
rather than above the actual amount. Even then the figures afford
material for serious reflection on the part of agriculturists.

 

 

 

 

 

Percentage
Value Amount
Baoouers of Product. coma: of Damage.
Greenhouse products, oe} $1,749,070 10 $174,907 00
Hothouse and hotbed products, ox) tis 97,227 5 4,861 35
Nursery products, . oP Gal 182,906 15 27,435 90
Wood products,. . . Sy a) os 2,780,314 20 556,062 80
Cereal products, i ca Ss 1,104,578 5 55,228 90
Fruits, berries, and nuts, be ot os 2,850,585 25 712,646 25
Hay and fodder cues sah Ms 8 12,491,090 10 1,249,109 00
Vegetables,.  . Bl. EN te 6,389,533 20 1,277,906 60
Tobacco, me ea Aa 5 Ran of 544,968 10 54,496 80
Property : —
Fruit trees, vines, etc... . . . 7,924,878 10 792,487 80
Totals, . & & & &. w $36,115,149 $4,905,142 40

 

 

 

 

Assuming the accuracy of these data, and exclusive of the damage
wrought by insects to our woodlands, street trees, parks, ete., we have
in round figures five million dollars as the average annual damage from
insects to agricultural products and property in this Commonwealth.

While the cost of insect injury is enormous, the expense
of fighting injurious insects in the attempt to protect crops
and trees from their ravages is proportionately great. In
recent years Massachusetts has had, and is still having, a
costly experience in attempting to control or suppress an
imported insect.

The gipsy moth (Porthetria dispar), a well-known pest
of European countries, was introduced into Medford, Mass.,
by Mr. Leopold Trouvelot, in 1868 or 1869. Twenty years
later the moths had increased in numbers to such an extent
that they were destroying the trees and shrubbery in that
section of Medford where they were first liberated.

They swarmed over the houses of the inhabitants, invaded
their gardens, and became such a public nuisance that in
1890 the Legislature appropriated fifty thousand dollars for
their extermination. It was learned within the next two years
that the moths had spread over thirty towns. The State
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jenuue st} WOLZ) “sy1eq puelpoo~, ut yo Asdiy ay jo s33q ayy sutfosap jo yO“, sAtsusdxg — ‘TIT @ LW1d

ates

    
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 39

 

Board of Agriculture was given charge of the work in 1891,
and over one million dollars were expended within the next
ten years in the attempt to exterminate the insect. As at
the expiration of that time all the larger moth colonies had
been destroyed, the Legislature, deeming further expendi-
ture unwise, gave up the work, despite the protest of the
Board of Agriculture, and its prediction that a speedy rise
of the moth would follow the cessation of concerted effort
against it. This prediction has been abundantly fulfilled,
and the policy of the Board has been fully justified.

Dr. Marlatt, who in 1904 visited the region infested by the
moth, reported to the Bureau of Entomology at Washington
that the people of the infested district were then fighting the
insect at a greater annual cost than that formerly assumed
by the State. Since the State gave up the work, a single
citizen, Gen. Samuel C. Lawrence of Medford, has expended
over seventy-five thousand dollars to protect the trees and
plants on his estate.

Finally, in 1905 the Legislature was obliged to renew the
fight, and appropriate the sum of three hundred thousand
dollars for work against both this insect and another im-
ported pest, —the brown-tail moth (Huproctis chrysorrhea) ,
which had been introduced into Somerville some time in the
latter part of the nineteenth century.

The State has also been obliged to call on municipalities
and individuals to assist in the work of suppressing these
moths, at an annual expense to those concerned which ex-
ceeds all previous yearly expenditures for this purpose.

These insects have gained a much larger territory than
ever before, and thousands of acres of woodland have been
attacked by them during the present year (1905), and many
pine and other trees have been killed.

The gipsy moth has been found in Rhode Island, Connect-
icut, and New Hampshire, and the brown-tail moth is also
spreading into other States.

The prospect now seems to be that our protective expenses
against these two insects, as well as the injury done by them,
will increase constantly ; and that other States also will be
put to similar expense, with no prospect of permanent relief
40 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

save by such checks as may come, in time, through natural
causes.

In view of the dangers threatened by insect increase and
voracity, how fortunate it is for the human race that so many
counter-checks are provided against the multiplication of
these destructive creatures. If we could increase by so much
as one per cent. the efficiency of the natural enemies of
insects, a large proportion of the loss occasioned by insect
injury might be saved. Hence the importance of the study
of these natural enemies, among which birds hold a high
place,

THE CAPACITY OF BIRDS FOR DESTROYING PESTS.

When we realize the losses that insects are capable of in-
flicting, we see at once that birds, in their capacity of insect
destroyers, continually operate to prevent the destruction of
some of our most important industries. If birds are present
in sufficient numbers, they will prevent the excessive increase
of any kind of a pest which they will eat.

The number of birds required: to accomplish this highly
desirable end need not be very large in comparison with the
number of insects; for each bird can devour an incredible
number of insects, and the young birds in the nests require
more of this food, in proportion to their size, than do their
parents.

The Digestion of Birds.

The digestive organs of birds are so constructed and
equipped that they can both contain and dispose of a very
large quantity of food. The stomachs of many species
quickly separate the indigestible portions of the food from
the digestible parts, and the former are thrown out of the
mouth, thus relieving the stomach of much worthless mate-
rial, and enabling the bird immediately to consume more
food. The alimentary canal (including the crop, gullet or
cesophagus, the first division of the stomach or proventricu-
lus, the gizzard, gigerium or second division of the stomach,
the intestine and the cloaca) consists of a tube reaching from
mouth to anus, conveying the food. The nutritious qualities
of the food are drawn off by the lacteals as it passes; the
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 41

 

refuse is voided. Thisis digestion. The food is often manip-
ulated, crushed, or divided by the beak. It then receives
saliva from the mouth, and passes through the pharynx into
either the gullet (a muscular and membranous tube) or crop
(a pouch), as the case may be, organs capable
of great distention, and connecting with the
first division of the stomach. MHere, then,
is the first receptacle of the food. Birds
of prey, Herons and some other large birds
sometimes fill the gullet to the very mouth,
while awaiting the digestion of the food in
a stomach already full. The Pelicans have
also another great receptacle or pouch, ex-
ternal and beneath the beak, where a store
of food can be carried. Many of the smaller
birds also are able, after filling the stomach,
to stow away a still larger supply of food
in the gullet. The stomach is large, and
usually capable, by distention, of contain-
ing a considerable quantity of food. The 2-92
food passes from the gullet or the crop to pig, ie ‘Alimen-
the proventriculus or glandular portion of — tary canal of Bluc-
bird, reduced; after
the stomach. This is where the process  Auduvon. a,,gu!-
of digestion begins. Mixed with salivary, ee
ingluvial, and proventricular secretions, the eens fb in-
food next passes to the gizzard or muscular re ;
division of the stomach, where the food grist is ground fine.

Among seed-eating birds the heavy, powerful muscles of
this portion of the stomach are, with the rough, calloused
stomach lining, assisted in their work by sand and gravel
which are swallowed. This mineral matter takes the place
of teeth in grinding the food.

In vegetable-feeding birds the intestine is very long and
much coiled, while the digestive tract is generally shorter
and simpler in the flesh-eating and fish-eating species. All
the processes of digestion are remarkably rapid. The sali-
vary glands, the liver and the pancreas all quickly pour their
copious secretions into the alimentary canal; the food is
chylified after impregnation with the biliary and pancreatic

  
42 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

fluids ; the chyle is drawn off by the lacteals, and the residue
is excreted. The vigor, perfection, and rapidity of these
processes in insect-eating birds are such as might be expected
among animals of such high temperature, perfect respiration,
and rapid circulation. :

The various dilations of the digestive tract serve well their
purpose of enabling the bird to consume the large amount
of food necessary for its maintenance. Digestion is partic-
ularly rapid in the growing young of most birds, for they
require not only food sufficient to sustain life, but an extra
supply as well to enable them to increase daily in size, and
to grow, in a few days, those wonderful appendages that we
call feathers.

The Growth of Young Birds.

The growth of many birds from the egg to the hour of-
flight requires less time than is needed by some insects to
reach the flight stage. It is most significant that young birds
can develop as rapidly as can many in-
sects on which they feed, for it shows how
readily, under favorable conditions, the
increase of birds might keep proportion-
f ate pace with that of insects. Weed and

= = Dearborn, in their interesting manual, en-
Fig. 18.— Young Cedar titled “Birds in their Relations to Man,”

ys

naked, blind,andhelp- state that they watched four young Song

less, with mouth open

for food. Reduced; Sparrows that were out of the nest on the

eee Teme eighth day. Mr. Owen records another
instance where a brood of young Song Sparrows were
fledged and left the nest within the same period.! Probably
this is exceptional ; but many of the smaller birds rear their
young from the egg to the first flight within two or three
weeks. Mr. Owen found that on one particular day this
family of five young Song Sparrows increased in average
weight forty-eight per cent., while the smallest bird gained
fifty-five per cent. in a single day.

The young of perching birds (Insessores) come into the
world tiny creatures, either naked or covered with down,

 

 

' A Family of Nestlings, by D. E. Owen. The Auk, Vol. XVI, No. 3, July,
1899, pp. 221-225.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 43

 

blind, and helpless; yet in a few days, or at most a few
weeks, they havé grown to nearly the size of their parents,
and produced a perfect
suit of feathers, including
the strong quills of wings
and tail. In a few weeks
more they are able to
begin a journey of hun-
dreds or thousands of
miles over land and sea,
in their first migration.

The young of precocial
birds, such as Grouse,
Snipe and Plover, are
able to run about soon
after they are hatched. i
Young Grouse learn to fly Fig. 19.— Young Cedar Birds, less than three
when quite small, but they eee
develop more slowly than do the young of the smaller
altricial birds. It is difficult, therefore, to determine the
amount of food they
require, as they leave
the nest at once and
wander from place to
place, picking up
their own food.

The young of the
altricial perching
birds, however, re-
main quite helpless in
the nest until nearly
fledged, affording an
Fig. 20.— Young Grouse, just from the egg, but able excellent opportunity

NS: for the investigator
to determine the amount and character of their food, and
to watch the progress of their development. We can learn
how much food such young birds require by feeding them
in confinement.

 

 
44 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The Amount of Food required by Young Birds.

It seems necessary to the health and comfort of the nest-
ling bird that its stomach be filled with food during most
of the day. Nearly half a century ago Prof. D. Treadwell
called attention to the great
food requirements of the
young Robin. Two young’
birds from the nest were
selected for his experiment.

. LL One soon died of starvation,

c- as the supply of food given

Sey —7_ them at first was much too

DoS small. The food of the re-

SS ee maining bird was gradually
Fig. 21.— A young Woodcock, ready to jncreased from day to day,
leave the nest. $ :

until on the seventh day it

was given thirty-one angleworms; but there was no increase
in its weight until, on the fourteenth day, it received sixty-
eight worms, weighing, all told, thirty-four pennyweights.!

Later the same bird ate x
nearly one-half its own
weight of beef in a day.
A young man eating at
this rate would consume
about seventy pounds of
beefsteak daily. The
Robin even when full
grown required one-third
of its weight of beef
daily.

Mr. Charles W. Nash fed a young Robin from fifty to
seventy cutworms and earthworms a day for fifteen days.
While experimenting to see how many cutworms the bird
would eat in a day, he fed it five and one-half ounces of this
food, or one hundred and sixty-five cutworms. As the
Robin weighed but three ounces in the morning, it must

We ae,

   

 

Fig. 22.— Young Robins, in the nest.

 

* The Food of Young Robins, by D. Treadwell. Proceedings of the Boston
Society of Natural History, Vol. VI, pp. 396-399.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 45

 

have eaten, during the day, a quantity one and five-sixths
times its own weight.!

Three young Robins, about ten days old, fed by their
parents, were watched by Weed and Dearborn. By an in-
genious method of weighing and calculating, the observers
arrived at the conclusion that apparently there was eaten a
daily amount equal to more than half the birds’ own weight.?

Mr. Daniel E. Owen kept a young Hermit Thrush, which
ate regularly half its weight of raw steak daily, and would,
he says, probably have eaten as much more had it been fed
oftener.?

In 1895 two young Crows were kept and fed by Messrs.
A. H. Kirkland and H. A. Ballou, then my assistants, from
August 7 to September 2, when one bird was killed by
accident. The survivor was kept until September 14, when
it was killed to determine some points regarding digestion.
These birds were confined in a large cage or enclosure in an
insectary, and were also allowed access during the day to
an enclosed yard, which they reached through the window.
This gave them considerable exercise.

A careful record was kept of most of their food. Never-
theless, they occasionally picked up some sprouted grain in
the yard, and probably a few insects that could not be re-
corded or weighed. For this reason the quantity of the daily
food supply recorded is probably, on the average, too low,
or, in other words, on the safe side. Some of the smaller
animals fed to the birds (toads, frogs, and salamanders) were
not always weighed, but they were measured and could be
compared with others of known weight, so that the weight
was approximated closely.

The birds were well grown when they were first received ;
but the amount of food at first given them probably was not
sufficient for their needs, as their weight did not increase,
although they were fed a variety of both vegetal and animal

 

1 Birds of Ontario in their Relation to Agriculture, by Charles W. Nash.
Toronto, Department of Agriculture, 1898, p. 22.

? Birds in their Relations to Man, by Clarence M. Weed and Ned Dearborn,
1903, p. 65.

5 Notes on a Captive Hermit Thrush, by Daniel E. Owen. The Auk, Vol.
XIV, No. 1, January, 1897, pp. 1-8.
46 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

food. They were designated by number. On August 20
No. 1 weighed seventeen ounces and No. 2 fourteen ounces.
That day the two birds had two ounces of tomato, five ounces
of sweet corn, fifty grasshoppers (about three-fourths of an
ounce), —in all, nearly eight ounces, —and they also had free
access to some grain in the yard. As their weight remained
the same, they were fed the next day one-half ounce of
tomato, one ounce of corn, one ounce of muskmelon, five
ounces of meat, one ounce of beets, and fifty grasshoppers,
—in all, fully nine ounces. An apple also was eaten to
some extent, and there was still some grain in the yard.
Nevertheless, each bird lost about an ounce in weight that
day.

They were fed at about the same rate the following day,
and, as they were losing weight, they were given on the
23d two ounces of melon, all the grasshoppers that could be
collected near their place of confinement, four frogs, a sala-
mander, two ounces of tomato, and five ounces of corn. On
this diet the Crows regained some of the weight they had
lost, weighing the next morning sixteen and one-half and
thirteen and one-half ounces respectively. On the 24th they
were fed more than twelve ounces, and the larger bird lost
half an ounce and the smaller gained about the same weight.
On the 25th they received over seventeen ounces of food,
the smaller bird gaining another half ounce and the larger
bird remaining the same. No. 1 now weighed sixteen ounces
and No. 2 fourteen and one-half ounces. The next day,
with twelve ounces of food, the smaller bird lost one-half
ounce and the larger bird made no gain. Evidently where
any gain was made by one bird on this amount of food the
bird either got more than its share, or found some food in
the yard.

On August 28 nearly twenty-seven ounces of food were
given. This was all vegetal matter except thirty grass-
hoppers (one-third of an ounce). J¢ was all eaten, and
apparently all needed, for neither bird increased in weight,
No. 1 losing half an ounce. It seemed evident throughout
the experiment that the birds required much animal food,
and when vegetal food alone was given, a larger amount
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 47

 

than usual was needed. The next day about twenty ounces
of food, containing a large proportion of animal matter, were
given; and on August 30 the larger bird had again regained
its weight of seventeen ounces, while the other held its own.
So far the experiment seemed to show that when they were
fed from twenty to twenty-five ounces of a ration containing
both animal and vegetable food the birds held their own or
gained slightly ; but if fed less than twenty ounces of this
ration, one or both of the birds fell off in weight.

After the death of one bird the other and all its food were
weighed daily. All opportunity to secure scattered grain or
other food than that weighed was denied. The greatest
weight reached by this bird was eighteen and one-half ounces
on September 13, on which date it was fed as much corn,
cucumber, and tomato as it cared to eat, also a frog, two
toads, twenty-seven grasshoppers, thirty-one borers, eight
beetles, and eighteen crickets. The record of the twelve
days during which this bird was alone seems to show that
less than eight ounces of food daily was hardly sufficient for
its needs, as on a less amount it tended to lose in weight,
while when the amount was increased to ten ounces or more
the tendency toward a daily gain in weight was marked.

When the quantity of food given these birds was largely
reduced in any one day, there was a corresponding reduction
in their weight. On September 13 the larger Crow was given
only two ounces of tomato, fifty-six grasshoppers, twelve
crickets, and a little grain, —in all, not much over three
ounces of food. The next morning it had lost one and
one-half ounces in weight. The fact that a bird, while in
confinement and without a great amount of exercise, could
lose nearly ten per cent. of its weight in a single day, even
when fed a quantity of food equal to about one-sixth its
weight, shows how dependent birds are upon their supply
of food.

If this single experiment can be regarded as conclusive,
we may assume that young Crows, when fledged, absolutely
require a daily amount of food equal to about one-half their
own weight; and it is evident that they will consume much
more than this to their own advantage if they can get it. It
48 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

seems quite probable that a young bird at liberty, depend-
ing largely on its own exertions to procure food, and thus
exercising more than in confinement, would require still
more food to repair the consequent extra waste of the
tissues.

Others have made similar experiments with Crows in con-
finement. Samuels says that he has kept specimens in cap-
tivity, and has proved by observation that at least eight
ounces of such food as frogs, fish, etc.; are eaten daily by
our common Crow. He says that a Crow can live on a very
limited allowance, but believes eight ounces to be a reasonable
amount. He leaves us to infer that he is speaking of adult
Crows, which undoubtedly require less food than their grow-
ing young.!

Weed and Dearborn kept a wounded adult Crow in a small
box, twelve by thirteen by twenty inches. In these cramped
quarters, where the bird could hardly stretch its wings, it
ate fish for three days in succession at the rate of four and
eighty-three hundredths ounces per day,—more than a
quarter of its own weight, or about half what our young
Crows ordinarily required.”

Probably the amount of food eaten by this captive bears
about the same proportion to the quantity eaten by a vigor-
ous Crow at liberty that the food taken by a prisoner in
solitary confinement, or that consumed by a sedentary clerk,
bears to the amount required by a strong man at hard labor,
or by a prize-fighter in training.

The amount of food taken by young birds could not be
disposed of by such limited powers of digestion as are given
to other animals. What a wonderful contrast is presented
between the quantity of food required by the hot-blooded,
quick-pulsing, active bird, and that needed by the cold-
blooded vertebrates. Many reptiles can live for months
without food. Even some of the mammals do not eat at
all during their hibernation.

 

1 Birds of New England, by Edward A. Samuels, 1870, p. 359.
2 Birds in their Relations to Man, by Clarence M. Weed and Ned Dearborn,
1903, p. 61.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 49

 

The Time required for Assimilation of Food.

If we assume that the stomach and cesophagus of a young
Crow can contain but an ounce of food, then the bird would
be required to digest from eight to twelve meals a day,
according to its appetite and opportunity. The question at
once arises, How can any digestive system complete such a
task? Experiments were made with our young Crows to
determine the time required for
digestion. The birds were kept
without food until the stomach
and intestines were empty.
They were then fed insects’ eggs,
in the belief that some parts of
the shells would escape the grind-
ing processes of the stomach and
be voided in the excreta. Sub-
sequent occurrences justified this
belief. Ten experiments of this
kind were made with the two

 

birds. Fig. 23.— Young Crows, well

From the time when the birds nee
began to feed until the time when the first eggshells were
dropped in the excreta there elapsed, on the average, one
hour, twenty-nine minutes and forty-five seconds. The
shortest time was forty-eight minutes, and the longest one
hour and fifty-four minutes. This, it should be noted, was
not merely the time that the food remained in the stomach,
but the full interval occupied in digesting and assimilating
it, for within this period at least a part of the food had
passed the entire digestive tract.

In most cases all evidence of the food used in the experi-
ment had disappeared from the excreta in from tio to two
and one-half hours. If we contrast this with the slower
digestion of man, we shall see how birds readily dispose of
more meals each day than a man is capable of digesting. To
learn how long food remains in a Crow’s stomach, it would be
necessary to kill a large number of Crows, each being killed
at a longer or shorter interval after it had filled its empty
50 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

stomach. I am not aware that this has ever been done, but
have no doubt that the majority of the farmers of Massachu-
setts would not object to the destruction of a considerable
number of young Crows for this purpose, or any other.

The Crow which was accidentally killed had fed freely
upon grasshoppers for twenty minutes, and died ten minutes
after the close of the feeding period. An examination of
the alimentary canal showed the stomach to be quite full,
but less than fifty per cent. of its contents, consisting mainly
of the hard parts of wings, thoraces, and legs, was in a con-
dition to be recognized. The strongly chitinized pronota
and hind femora of the grasshoppers offered the most resist-
ance to the digestive processes. The other fifty per cent.
of the stomach contents had been so finely divided, in the
very brief time that it had been in that receptacle, that one
would hardly have cared to express a positive opinion as
to its identity. This condition of stomach contents is not
unusual. In examining the contents of birds’ stomachs we
often find more than fifty per cent. of the food so finely
comminuted and mixed as to be practically unrecognizable.
The presence of insects in a bird’s stomach is sometimes made
known by a mere mandible or some other recognizable por-
tion, which has resisted for a time the grinding of this remark-
able digestive organ. It is significant, however, that, in the
thirty minutes intervening between the beginning of a feeding
period and death, the stomach had thoroughly pulverized
half the food eaten.

This experiment was carried further with the second Crow.
On September 14 the only food materials given the bird were
six crickets and eleven grasshoppers. These it ate within
four minutes, and thirty minutes later it was killed.

Only about twenty-five per cent. of the stomach contents
was recognizable, but this is not all. The alimentary canal
was thirty-six inches in length, and in the intestine at a
distance of from twelve to fifteen inches from the stomach,
and again at twenty-five to twenty-eight inches from that
organ, were found a few small pieces of the fore wings of the
grasshoppers. As the bird had not been fed since 4 o’clock
in the afternoon of the previous day, these remains probably
 

 

 

(Photograph by

eyed Vireo feeding Young.

PLATE IV.— Red-

A. Reed.)

C
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 51

 

came from the insects fed to it not more than thirty-three
minutes before it was killed.

In summing up the results, Mr. Kirkland says: “I think,
from what we have seen, that we might expect to find the
gizzard empty in from one to one and one-half hours.”

Such an experiment should be carried further, but enough
was learned to show that the stomach of a young Crow prob-
ably can be filled with food and emptied of the digested
material from eight to twelve times a day during the long
days of midsummer, when their appetites are at their best.

Digestion in some of the smaller birds is doubtless even
more rapid, for they are enabled to dispose of a still larger
amount of food in proportion to their size. Mr. Owen in-
forms us that the time required for a blueberry to traverse
the digestive tract of his Hermit Thrush was practically an
hour and a half. Mr. C. J. Maynard once told me that in
a similar experiment a Cedar Bird passed the residue of food
within thirty minutes after the food was taken. Weed and
Dearborn found that a blackberry was digested by a young
Cedar Bird in half an hour.

The Number of Insects eaten by Young Birds in the Nest.

The remarkable appetites of young birds keep their de-
voted parents very busy supplying food most of the time
from morning till night. The mother bird spends practically
all her time either in searching for food, brooding, protect-
ing, and feeding the young, or cleaning the nest (for all the
smaller birds that nest openly are obliged to dispose of the
excreta of their young, that it may neither befoul the nest
nor betray its location to their enemies). Most of the visits
made by the old birds to the nest during the day are for the
dual purpose of feeding the young and keeping the nest
clean. Records kept of the number of these visits show
the industry of the parent birds and the food capacity of
the young.

My assistant, Mr. F. H. Mosher, watched a pair of Red-
eyed Vireos feeding their young on June 13, 1899. There
were three nestlings, about one day old. At this early age
the young of most small birds are fed mainly by regur-
52 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

gitation. The parent birds swallow the food, and probably
soften or partly digest it, ejecting it afterwards through their
own mouths into the open mouths of the young. No attempt
was made, therefore, in this case, to determine the character
or amount of the food, for fear of disturbing the parents and
interrupting the regularity of the feeding. The birds were
fed between 7 and 8 a.m. four-
teen times; between 8 and 9,
nine times; between 9 and 10,
twelve times; between 10 and
11, seven times; between 11
and 12, sixteen times; between
12 and 1, nine times; between 1
and 2, twelve times; between
2 and 3, fifteen times; between
3 and 4, thirteen times; and be-
tween 4 and 5, eighteen times.
It will be seen that one or
\ the other parent came to the
: \N nest with food one hundred and
Fig. 24.— Passenger Pigeon feeding twenty-five times in ten hours,
by regurgitation. From Samuels. even when the observer was
watching near by; but this leaves four hours unaccounted
for, to fill out the long June day, from dawn to evening.
The feeding periods averaged less than six minutes apart dur-
ing the time the birds were watched; so it seems probable
that, had the entire record for the day been kept, at least
one hundred and fifty visits to the young would have been
recorded. Young birds are fed oftenest at morning and even-
ing, or during the hours when these Vireos were not watched.
Mr. Mosher watched a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
feeding their young on June 12, 1899. The young were
nearly ready to leave the nest, as one of them stood on a
branch near its edge. The nest was situated about fifteen
feet from the ground, in the top of a slender white birch in
the woods. The ground was well covered with hazel bushes
about three and one-half feet high, which nearly concealed
the observer. During the first half hour he made no record,
as the birds were alarmed by his presence. As they com-

   
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 53

 

menced bringing food regularly, he began the record at 6
A.M. Between 6 and 7 they came to the nest fifty-two times ;
between 7 and 8, forty-seven times; between 8 and 9, forty-
three times; between 9 and 10, thirty times; between 10
and 11, thirty-six times; between 11 and 12, twenty-seven
times ; between 12 and 1, thirty-two times; between 1 and
2, thirty-eight times; between 2 and 3, forty-one times;
between 3 and 4, twenty-two times; between 4 and 5, fifty-
eight times. The majority of the larve seemed to be leaf
rollers from the oak trees. The female came on the average
about three times to each two visits of the male; he was
occupied much of the time in keeping other birds away from
the vicinity of the nest.

When the young of most insect-eating birds are well grown,
the parents feed them whole insects just as they are picked
up. With a glass, therefore, the insects brought by these
Grosbeaks could be seen in the birds’ beaks. Their lusty
youngsters were fed almost entirely on insect larve or cater-
pillars taken from the forest trees. On only four visits did
either parent bird bring less than.two larve each. In eleven
hours, then, they made four hundred and twenty-six trips,
and must have fed their nestlings at least eight hundred and
forty-eight larvee or caterpillars, and possibly more, as a bird
has been observed to carry as many as eleven small cater-
pillars on one visit to its young.

In comparing the records of the two nests as given above,
it is noticeable that the Grosbeaks fed the young much oftener
than did the Vireos. This difference is due mainly to the
fact that about the time the young birds are ready to fly,
as were these Grosbeaks, they require much more food than
when first hatched, as was the case with the Vireos. This,
of course, is mainly owing to their increased size. The dif-
ference in the number, age, and size of the young probably
accounts largely for the great variation in the number of
visits made to them by the parent birds, as recorded by dif-
ferent observers.

I have published some notes on the feeding of young
Chickadees by the parent birds. Six visits were made to
these young within thirteen minutes. In each case the bills
o4 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

of the parent birds were filled with a mass of small insects,
mainly ants and plant lice, to which were added a few spiders.
These young were also fully fledged.?

The number of young in the nests of the smaller perch-
ing birds is usually from three to five. In the case of the
Chickadees mentioned above there were seven, and in another
case that I have recently observed there were nine. Chick-
adees and Wrens, because of their insectivorous habits and
the large broods they rear, probably reach the maximum in
the number of insects brought to their young.

Dr. Judd gives an account of the feeding of some young
House Wrens by the mother bird alone. These young Wrens
were about three-fourths grown, and were visited one hun-
dred and ten times in four hours and thirty-seven minutes.
They were fed, during this time, one hundred and eleven
insects and spiders. Among these were identified one white
grub, one soldier bug, three millers (Noctuide), nine spiders,
nine grasshoppers, fifteen May flies, and thirty-four cater-
pillars. On the following day, in three hours and five min-
utes, the young were fed sixty-seven times.?

Professor Aughey states that during a locust year in
Nebraska he saw a pair of Long-billed Marsh Wrens take
thirty-one small locusts to their nest inan hour. It is inter-
esting to note that a pair of Rock Wrens that he watched
took just thirty-two locusts to their nest in another hour.’

Another observer is reported by Dr. Barton to have seen
a pair of Wrens coming from their box and returning with
insects from forty to sixty times an hour. In an exceptional
hour they carried food seventy-one times. He estimates
that at that time they took from the garden six hundred
insects per day.*

Few people, unfortunately, who are qualified for the task,

 

1 Two Years with the Birds on a Farm. Annual report of the Massachusetts
State Board of Agriculture, 1902, p. 129.

2 The Birds of a Maryland Farm, by Sylvester D. Judd. Bulletin No. 17,
United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Biological Survey,
pp. 45, 46.

3 Notes on the Nature of the Food of Nebraska Birds, by S. A. Aughey. First
Report of the United States Entomological Commission, 1877, Appendix, p. 18.

4 Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania, by Dr. B. 8S. Barton,
Part I, 1799, p. 22.
j oF
Biig

 

 

 

PLATE V.—Chickadee. Female, with mass of insects in her
beak, entering nesting box at author’s window. (From Ameri-
can Ornithology.) :

 
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 55

 

have both the time and patience to watch the feeding of young
birds for an entire day. Dr. C. M. Weed and Mr. W. F.
Fiske, however, have accomplished this feat. They watched
the nest of a Chipping Sparrow from 3.40 a.m. to 7.49 p.m.
on June 22,1898. The valuable record of these observations

 

Fig. 25.—Chipping Sparrow feeding young.

shows that these two birds, having only three young in the
nest, visited it at least one hundred and eighty-two times
during that day; and Dr. Weed says that they made almost
two hundred trips, although some of the trips evidently were
made to furnish grit for grinding the food. The birds were
busy from daylight to dark, with no long intermission. The
food, so far as identified, consisted largely of caterpillars.
Crickets and crane flies were seen, and it was believed that
a great variety of insect food was brought. !

A committee on useful birds, selected from the Pennsyl-
vania State Board of Agriculture, reported that an observer
had watched the nest of a pair of Martins for sixteen hours,
from 4 a.m. until 8 p.m., to see how many visits the parent
birds made to the young. One hundred and nineteen visits
were nade by the male and one hundred and ninety-three by
the female.? _

 

1 The Feeding Habits of the Chipping Sparrow, by C.M. Weed. Bulletin
No. 55, New Hampshire College Agricultural Experiment Station, 1898.
2 C. C. Musselman, in Agriculture of Pennsylvania, 1887, p. 105.
Or
os

USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The number of insects consumed daily by young birds in
their nests is difficult of estimation, because of the variation
in size among insects and the great difference in size between
the mature insect and the newly hatched larva. Five hun-
dred of the young larve of a moth might occupy less space
in the stomach of a bird than would the moth itself; while a
thousand aphids might take no more room than a full-grown
caterpillar. Nevertheless, many estimates have been made,
based on known data, as to the number of insects fed to
young birds.

The introduced House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), com-
monly called the English Sparrow, undoubtedly eats fewer
insects, here, in proportion to the rest of its food than any of
our smaller native birds. The young are fed very largely on
grain and other non-insectivorous food. Still, a Sparrow’s |
nest in the city of Paris is said to have contained seven hun-
dred pairs of chafer wing-cases.1

Mons. P. Pélicot gives a table of the estimates, made by
several foreign authors, of the numbers of insects eaten by
Sparrows in a given time. These approximations vary from
that of Blatin, who estimates that two Sparrows will destroy
twelve hundred chafers in twelve days, to that of Tschudi,
who believes that a single Sparrow will destroy fifteen hun-
dred larvee within twenty-four hours.?

Bradley mentions watching a bird’s nest and discovering
that five hundred caterpillars were consumed in one day.®
He says (according to Samuels) that a pair of Sparrows
will destroy thirty-three hundred and sixty caterpillars for
a week’s family supplies. A single pair of Sparrows is
reported to have carried to the nest five hundred insects in
an hour.

These statements may be exaggerated, but if they approx-
imate the facts, what immense numbers of insects must be

 

1 Notes on Recent Progress of Agricultural Science, by David A. Wells. Re-
port (on Agriculture) of the United States Commissioner of Patents, 1861, p. 323.

2 A Favorable View of the English Sparrow, a Review of ‘“‘Un Passereau
a Protéger,”’ Insect Life, Riley and Howard, Vol. IV, 1891, p. 153, published by
the United States Department of Agriculture.

5 Birds and Bird Laws, by J. R. Dodge. Annual Report of the United States
Commissioner of Agriculture, 1864, pp. 436, 437.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. a7

 

consumed by the young of native Massachusetts birds that
are fed almost entirely upon insect food.

Weed and Dearborn watched three young Cedar Birds in
the nest for the fifteen days they remained there, and found
that they each devoured not less than ten ounces of food in
that time, or more than ten times their weight on the day
they left the nest. .

The Amount of Food eaten by Adult Birds.

There is no way of determining how much food is required
daily by the adult bird, except it be kept in confinement ; in
that case, the food taken can be weighed or measured. This
has been done. Dr. Stanley mentions sixteen Canaries which
ate one hundred grains of food per day, or an amount equal
to about one-sixth of their weight, which is probably much
less than wild birds of the same species would eat.1 Seed-
eating birds, like the Canary, however, require less food
than the insectivorous species, as their food is more con-
centrated. Mr. Robert Ridgway, the distinguished ornithol-
ogist of the Smithsonian Institution, makes the statement in
the American Naturalist for August, 1869, that a Western
Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis), which he kept in a cage,
devoured one hundred and twenty locusts in a single day.

Compared with the wild bird, the specimen that is caged
or confined is a poor, weak thing at best, short of breath,
low in vitality, and lacking the vigorous assimilative powers
of the free bird. Keepers of cage birds, who know well
the capacity of their pets, find it difficult to believe that
wild birds can possibly consume the amount of food that
actually has been found in their stomachs by economic
ornithologists.

When the reader is told that thirty grasshoppers were found
in the stomach of a single Catbird, he conjures up a mental
photograph of the full-grown grasshopper (the imago) that
he sees in the field in late summer, and fails to remember,
perhaps, that grasshoppers come from eggs, and in their
growth to maturity may be found of all sizes, between that
of the newly hatched insect and the full-winged hopper.

 

’ History of Birds, p. 225.
58 USEFUL BIRDS. e

 

While the Catbird’s stomach might not be large enough to
contain thirty full-grown locusts, it would easily contain more
than thirty small ones. The statement that thirty grasshop-
pers were found in the Catbird’s stomach might also need
modification in another way. The least fragment of an in-
sect found in a bird’s stomach is usually considered good
proof that the bird has eaten that insect. There might be
found in the stomach of a bird a mass of unrecognizable
material, from which the expert would be able to sort out
and recognize enough of the harder parts of different grass-
hoppers to prove that thirty of these insects, of consider-
able size, had been eaten within a certain time, even though
a greater part of those first swallowed had already disap-
peared from the stomach.

Prof. F. E. L. Beal writes me as follows regarding the
methods used at the United States Department of Agri-
culture in counting the insects’found in the stomachs of
birds : —

In the case of grasshoppers and caterpillars it is the jaws (mandi-
bles) that are counted. Birds when not sleeping appear to eat all the
time when not occupied in other duties, such as nest-making or feeding
their young. The process of digestion is continuous. The more easily
digested parts pass out of the stomach very quickly, but the hard parts
remain somewhat longer. In this way when a bird is feeding upon
grasshoppers the jaws of those first eaten remain after the rest of
the body has passed on. When the stomach is opened the jaws are
counted, and for every two we estimate at least one grasshopper killed.
In cases where only a few insects were involved I have taken the pains
to pair the jaws, and in this way have often found that the number that
had been eaten was more than half the number of jaws. In this work
each head that appears to be whole is carefully examined, to see that it
has not lost one or more of its jaws; were it not for this precaution,
the insect might be counted twice. Caterpillars, like grasshoppers,
are easily broken up, and so the heads are counted when whole; other-
wise the jaws are counted.

The variation in size of different species of insects should
also be considered. While the caterpillars of some species
of moths reach three or four inches in length, others never
grow to be half an inch long.

These and other similar considerations, well known to
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 59

 

the economic ornithologist, lead him to accept as facts the
extreme statements made by competent investigators.

It will be seen from the foregoing explanations that, while
a large number of injurious insects found in a bird’s stom-
ach may indicate its usefulness, it may not always mean that
it has eaten a great bulk or quantity of such food.

The question which most interests the farmer, however,
is, not so much what birds require to sustain life, as how
much they will eat if they can get their fill. If in times of
plenty birds will eat more than they really need, then they
become more useful or injurious, as the case may be, than
they would be if they ate only, enough to live. The amount
of food that has been found in birds’ gizzards indicates that
they will eat until surfeited.

Professor Beal, who has examined the contents of over
twenty thousand stomachs, says, regarding this habit :—

The majority of people have no idea of how much these insects can
be compressed in the stomach of a bird. -It is often the case that when
a stomach has been opened, and the contents placed in a pile, the heap
is two or three times as large as the original stomach with the food all
in it. Moreover, in the cases where remarkable numbers of insects
have been found, the crops or gullets usually have been full, as well as
the stomach itself. It is a fact, perhaps not generally known, that with
birds that have no special enlargement of the gullet in the nature of a
crop, the whole gullet is used for the purpose; and when favorite food
is abundant, the bird will fill itself to the throat. I have seen a Snow-
bird so full of seeds that they were plainly in sight when the beak was
opened, and from the bill to the stomach was a solid mass of seed.
The stomachs of birds are often packed so hard and tight with food
that it is a wonder how the process of digestion can go on; but it does,
nevertheless.

In giving the maximum amounts of food found in birds’
stomachs, I shall be obliged to refer to the publications of
the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture; and it is but just to say here
that the world owes much to Dr. Merriam, chief of the
Bureau, for his indefatigable labors in behalf of science and
agriculture.

In connection with the work of the survey, the contents
of more than thirty-five thousand bird stomachs have been
60 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

examined, and much has been done in observing the feed-
ing habits of birds in the field. The work in economic orni-
thology performed by Merriam, Fisher, Barrows, Beal, and
Judd is of great value. Its results rank above those of
all other similar investigations, and must be considered as
authoritative.

Professor Beal found in the stomach of a Yellow-billed
Cuckoo two hundred and seventeen fall webworms, and in
another two hundred and fifty American tent caterpillars.
Two Flickers were found to have eaten respectively three
thousand and five thousand ants. Sixty grasshoppers were
found in the stomach of a Nighthawk.

Professor Harvey found five hundred mosquitoes in a
Nighthawk’s stomach. In this case the insects must have
been fully grown, as the larve of the mosquito are found
mainly in water, and the Nighthawk takes its food on the
wing. The stomach of this useful bird is much larger in pro-
portion to its size than that of most other birds; but sev-
enty-five hundred seeds of the yellow wood sorrel had been
eaten by a Mourning Dove, sixty-four hundred by another,
and ninety-two hundred seeds, chiefly of weeds, were found
in another. Here we have twenty-three thousand one hun-
dred seeds, mostly those of weeds, eaten at a meal by three
birds. Probably where these Jarge numbers are given, the
result is approximate, and is arrived at by counting a part
of the contents for a measure, and from this estimating the
rest in bulk.

Dr. Judd says that the stomachs of four Bank Swallows
contained, all together, just two hundred ants, and that a
Nighthawk has been known to eat one thousand at a single
meal. He speaks of seventeen hundred seeds of weeds hav-
ing been taken at one feeding by a Bob-white; three thou-
sand leguminous seeds were found in the stomach of another,
and no less than five thousand seeds of pigeon grass were
taken from a third. Dr. Warren has taken twenty-eight
cutworms from the stomach of a Red-winged Blackbird.
Stomachs of Snowflakes have each contained from five
hundred to fifteen hundred seeds of amaranth. Professor
Forbes found in the stomachs of seven Cedar Birds a number
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 61

 

of cankerworms varying from seventy to one hundred and
one each, the number found in most cases averaging nearly
one hundred for each bird.

A Ruffed Grouse, killed in winter, had in its crop twelve
leaves of sheep laurel and four hundred and thirty-five buds
and bits of branches, all taken for its morning meal. The
crop of another contained over five hundred buds and twigs.
As these birds eat such food both at morning and at night, it
would seem that they must require daily, for these two meals
alone, between eight hundred and one thousand buds and
twigs.

The following notes, received from Professor Beal since
the above was written, are of great interest : —

,

From the stomach of a Franklin's Gull (Larus franklinit) there were
taken seventy entire grasshoppers and the jaws of fifty-six more; from
another, ninety grasshoppers and one hundred and two additional jaws ;
from another, forty-eight grasshoppers and seventy more jaws ; and still
another contained sixty-seven grasshoppers. Another stomach of this
species contained sixty-eight crickets. These grasshoppers and crickets
were each more than one inch in length. We examined the stomach
of a Franklin’s Gull which contained three hundred and twenty-seven
entire nymphs of dragon flies, each three-fourths of an inch in length.
In the stomach of a Cliff Swallow were found one hundred entire
beetles (Aphodius inquinatus), with remains of others. These insects
are a little more than three-eighths of an inch in length. We are now
examining birds’ stomachs from Texas, and from the stomach of a Yel-
low-billed Cuckoo were taken the remains of eighty-two caterpillars
that originally were from one to one and a half inches in length. From
another stomach were taken eighty-six, and from forty to sixty from
several others.

All evidence acquired by observation as to the amount of
food eaten by wild birds at liberty must perforce be frag-
mentary, for such observation is necessarily limited to brief
periods. The difficulties attending such work make its re-
sults somewhat uncertain and unsatisfactory ; nevertheless,
some information as to the quantity of food eaten by wild
birds may be obtained in this way. Vultures are said to so
gorge themselves that they are unable to fly. Ihave known

 

+ Birds in their Relation to Man, ly Clarence M. Weed and Ned Dearborn,
1903, p. 62.
62 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

a Goshawk in winter to kill a domestic Cock of more than
its own weight, and devour the greater part at two meals.
I have learned, by following certain Warblers and Titmice
through the woods, that their search for and consumption of
insects are almost continuous during most of the forenoon.
As the noon hour approaches they become less active, and
on warm days devote some tine to resting and bathing. In
the afternoon their activity increases, until toward night
their quest for food is almost as strenuous as in the early
morning. They are, therefore, actually engaged for the
larger part of the day in capturing and eating insects. In
feeding wild birds in winter I have noticed that Chickadees
come to the food supplied for them about three times an hour
all day long, and that in the intervals they are mainly occu-
pied in finding their natural food. On May 28, 1898, Mr.
Mosher watched a pair of Northern Yellow-throats eating
_plant lice from the birches in the Middlesex Fells Reserva-
tion, where these insects swarmed. He was equipped with
a good glass, and concealed close to the spot where the birds
were feeding, and so was able to count in turn the number
of times each bird picked up an insect. One of these War-
blers apparently swallowed eighty-nine of these tiny insects
in one minute. The pair continued eating at this rate for
forty minutes. Mr. Mosher states that they must have eaten
considerably over seven thousand: plant lice in that time. It
would seem impossible for the birds to crowd that number
of insects into their stomachs ; but we must remember that
the insects were infinitesimal in size, soft-bodied, easily com-
pressed in the stomach, and quickly digested, so that by the
time a part were eaten those first taken would be well dis-
posed of, leaving room for more. Mr. Mosher is a very
careful, painstaking, and trustworthy observer ; undoubtedly
his statement is accurate; but, to eliminate any possibility
of error, we will assume for purposes of calculation that
they ate only thirty-five hundred in an hour.

A pair of Yellow-throats (presumably the same) were seen
to come daily and many times each day to the birch trees
which were infested with these aphids. Probably they spent
at least three hours each day feeding on these insects. If
VALUE OF BIRDS VO MAN. 63

 

the two birds ate only thirty-five hundred an hour for three
hours a day, they would consume ten thousand five hundred
aphids each day, or seventy-three thousand five hundred in
a week. It requires no
draft on the imagination
to see how such appe-
tites may become useful
to the farmer if they are
satiated on his insect
enemies.

Two Scarlet Tanagers
were seen eating very
small caterpillars of the
gipsy moth for eighteen minutes, at the rate of thirty-five
a minute. These birds spent much time in that way. If
we assume that they ate caterpillars at this rate for only an
hour each day, they must have consumed daily twenty-one
hundred caterpillars, or fourteen thousand seven hundred
in a week. Such a number of caterpillars would be suffi-
cient to defoliate two average apple trees, and so prevent
fruitage. The removal of these caterpillars might enable the
trees to bear a full crop. It is easily possible, therefore,
for a single pair of these birds in a week’s time to save the
fruit of two average apple trees, —a crop worth from two
to five dollars or more, according to the productiveness of
the trees and the price paid for apples.

 

Fig. 26.— Yellow-throat catching birch aphids.

BIRDS SAVE TREES AND CROPS FROM DESTRUCTION.

Since birds evidently operate to check insect outbreaks, it
follows that in their capacity of insect destroyers they must
in many instances have saved trees and crops from destruc-
tion by insect pests. If, however, we turn to the literature
of agriculture, entomology, and ornithology, we shall not find
it replete with such instances. Still, there are enough on
record to show that conspicuous services of birds have been
noted oceasionally ; and I am convinced by my own experi-
ence that such checks to insect increase occur commonly, but
escape both observation and record.

Some brief but striking accounts of this class of occur-
64 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

rences may be gleaned from European records. Samuels
writes that in Pomerania in 1847 an immense forest that was
in danger of being utterly ruined by caterpillars was very
unexpectedly saved by Cuckoos, which, though on the point
of migrating, established themselves there for some weeks,
and so thoroughly cleared the trees that the next year “ neither
depredators nor.depredations were to be seen.”! He also
speaks of a European outbreak of the gipsy moth (Bombyx
dispar) in 1848, saying that the hand of man was powerless
to work off the infliction, but that on the approach of winter
Titmice and Wrens paid daily visits to the infested trees,
and before spring had arrived the eggs of dispar were en-
tirely destroyed. This account agrees with the following
translation from Altum :—

In the year 1848 endless numbers of the larvee of Bombyx dispar had
eaten every leaf from the trees of Count Wodzicki, so that they were
perfectly bare. In the fall all the branches and limbs were covered
with the egg clusters. After he had recognized the impracticability of
it, he gave up all endeavor to remove them by hand, and prepared to
see his beautiful trees die. Towards winter numerous flocks of Titmice
and Wrens came daily to the trees. The egg clusters disappeared. In
the spring twenty pairs of Titmice nested in the garden, and the larva
plague was noticeably reduced. In the year 1850 the small feathered
garden police had cleaned his trees, so that he saw them during the
entire summer in their most beautiful verdure.?

According to Reaumur, these larve were so extremely
numerous on the limes of the Alle verte at Brussels in 1826
that many of the great trees‘of that noble avenue were nearly.
defoliated. The moths swarmed like bees in the summer.
They were also very numerous in the park, and if one-half
the eggs had hatched in the following spring, probably scarce
a leaf would have remained in these favorite places of public
resort. Two months later, however, he could scarcely dis-
cover a single egg cluster. This happy result was attributed
to the Titmice and Creepers, which were seen busily running
up and down the tree trunks.?

 

1 Agricultural Value of Birds, by E. A. Samuels. Annual Report of the
Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1865-66, pp. 116, 117.

* Translated from Forstzoologie, II, 1880, p. 324.

® Reau. i387. Cited by Kirby and Spence in their Introduction to Entomology,
1857, pp. 117, 118.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 65

 

The value of birds has already been recognized at the
antipodes. Australian farmers have suffered greatly from
inroads of locusts upon their crops and pastures.

The Australian correspondence of the Mark Lane Express
of March 7, 1892, had a paragraph relating to the value of
the Ibis to farmers during the locust incursions of that year
and the year previous. In the Glen Thompson district
several largé flocks, one said to number fully five hundred
birds, were seen eating the young locusts in a wholesale
manner. Other insectivorous birds were flourishing upon
the same diet. Near Ballarat, Victoria, a swarm of locusts
was noted in a paddock; and just as it was feared that all
the sheep would have to be sold for want of grass, flocks of
Starlings, Spoonbills, and Cranes made their appearance, and
in a few days made so complete a destruction of the locusts
that only about forty acres of grass were lost.1

American farmers have had many similar experiences.
When the Mormons first settled in Utah their crops were
almost utterly destroyed by myriads of crickets that came

 

Fig. 2'7.—The western cricket that destroyed the settlers’ crops at Salt Lake,
Natural size; after Glover.

down from the mountains. Hon. Geo. Q. Cannon, as tem-
porary chairman of the third irrigation congress, told how it
happened. The first year’s crop having been destroyed, the
Mormons had sowed seed the second year. The crop prom-
ised well, but when again the crickets appeared, the people
were in danger of starvation. In describing the conditions
in 1848 Mr. Cannon says : —

 

1 Insect Life, Riley and Howard, 1891-92, Vol. IV, p. 409.
66 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Black crickets came down by millions and destroyed our grain
crops; promising fields of wheat in the morning were by evening
as smooth as a man’s hand, —devoured by the crickets. .. At this
juncture sea Gulls came by hundreds and thousands, and before the
crops were entirely destroyed these Gulls devoured the insects, so that
our fields were entirely freed from them... ‘The settlers at Salt
Lake regarded the advent of the birds as a heayen-sent miracle. .

I have been along the ditches in the morning and have seen lumps of
these crickets vomited up by the Gulls, so that they could again begin
killing. «

These “lumps of crickets” were probably pellets com-
posed of indigestible portions of the insects, regurgitated
by the birds. These crickets (Anabrus purpurascens) tray-

 

Fig. 28.— Gulls saving crops by killing crickets.

elled in enormous hordes, stopping at no obstacle, even
crossing rivers. Several times afterward the crops of the
Mormons were attacked by them, and were saved by the
Gulls.!| Dr. A. K. Fisher is authority for the statement

 

1 This account of the deliverance of the Mormons by the Gulls is vouched for
by many witnesses. See Irrigation Age, 1894, p. 188; also, Insect Life, Vol. VII,
p. 275; Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1871, p.
76; Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture, 1871, p. 79;
and Second Annual Report of the United States Entomological Commission,
1878-79, p. 166.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 67

 

that the bird referred to is undoubtedly Franklin’s Gull
(Larus franklinti), which occurs in enormous flocks about
the small fresh-water lakes of the northwest, and feeds in
great companies on Orthoptera of all sorts. The Gulls were
practically canonized by the grateful Mormons, and protected
by both law and public sentiment, as a recognition of their
worth.

Similar services were performed by birds during the great
locust ravages which followed the settlement of the Missis-
sippi valley. When large swarms of locusts appeared, nearly
all birds, from the tiny Kinglet to the great Whooping Crane,
fed on them. Fish-eating birds, like the Great Blue Heron,
flesh-eating birds, like the Hawks and Owls, shore birds,
Ducks, Geese, Gulls, —all joined with the smaller land birds
in the general feast. Prof. Samuel Aughey learned this
by dissecting birds and observing their feeding habits in
Nebraska. In a paper published by him in 1877, but not
often quoted, he gives some of the practical results of the
work done by birds in protecting crops from the mighty
swarms of locusts which were devastating most of that
region. He says: —

In the spring of 1865 the locusts hatched out in countless numbers in
northeastern Nebraska. Very few fields of corn and the cereal grains
escaped some damage. Some fields were entirely destroyed, while
others were hurt to the amount of from ten to,seventy-five per cent.
One field of corn northwest of Dakota City was almost literally covered
with locusts, and there the indications were that not a stalk would
escape. After, and about the time the corn was up, the Yellow-headed
Blackbirds in large numbers made this field their feeding ground.
Visiting the field frequently, I could see a gradual diminution of the
number of the locusts. Other birds, especially the Plovers, helped the
Yellow-heads ; and, although some of the corn had to be replanted once,
yet it was the birds that made the crop that was raised possible at all.
During the same season I visited Pigeon Creek valley, in this county,
and I found among the eaten-up wheat fields one where the damage
done was not over five per cent. ‘The Irishman who pointed it out to me
ascribed it to the work of the birds, chief among which were the Black-
bird and Plover, with a few Quail and Prairie Chickens.

Professor, Aughey speaks of a locality where, on several
old fields, locusts hatched to the number of about three hun-
68 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

dred to the square foot. Birds soon found them, and the
ground was frequented by Blackbirds, Plover, Curlews,
Prairie Chickens and small land birds. Long before the
middle of June most of the locusts had disappeared. In
1886 locusts, he says, invaded Cedar and Dixon counties in
swarms that darkened the sun. Nevertheless, at one point
under observation the great number of birds that attacked
these insects very materially lessened their numbers. In
1869 more than ninety per cent. of the locusts in one
neighborhood were destroyed, apparently by birds, in one
week. Other experiences are given, and several interesting
letters from farmers are published, one of which follows : —

Dear Sir:—In answer to your question about the birds and the -
locusts, I must say this: every farmer that shoots birds must be a fool.
I had wheat this last spring on new breaking. The grasshoppers came
out apparently as thick as the wheat itself, and indeed much thicker. I
gave up that field for lost. Just then great numbers of Plover came,
and flocks of Blackbirds and some Quail, and commenced feeding on
this field. They cleaned out the locusts so well that I had at least
three-fourths of a crop, and I know that without the birds I would not
have had any. I know other farmers whose wheat was saved in the
same way. S. E. GoopMorE.

FREMONT, NEB.

‘ Another farmer wrote that the locusts hatched in immense
numbers in his corn fields, but flocks of Blackbirds came and
destroyed the insects, so that he raised a good crop. In an-
other case, related by State Senator Crawford, a wheat field
was swept clean by the locusts when the wheat was about
two inches high; but flocks of Blackbirds came and de-
voured the locusts, and the wheat sprang up again and made
a-good crop. The members of the United States Entomo-
logical Commission were much impressed with the value of
birds as locust destroyers. They said that the ocular dem-
onstration of the usefulness of birds as insect destroyers was
“so full and complete that it was impossible to entertain any
doubt on this point.” In one instance a farmer took one
of the members of the commission out into the field, to
show him how numerously the young locusts were hatching.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 69

 

When they arrived, the insects had disappeared from the
place where they had been so abundant in the morning.
The statement by the family that a flock of Blackbirds had
been there during the farmer’s absence solved the mystery.
In another instance a garden was attacked by an innumer-
able host of little locusts. The owner battled bravely with
them for awhile, but at last, giving up in despair, sat down
to watch the destruction of his vegetables and flowers, when
suddenly a flock of Blackbirds alighted on the young cot-
tonwoods he had planted in his yard. Having chirped a
song, as if to cheer him, they flew into the garden; when
they left, an hour or so later, the dreaded “hoppers” were
gone, and his garden was saved.}

A severe outbreak of the forest tent caterpillar (Malaco-
soma disstria) occurred in New York and some of the New
England States in 1897-98. Thousands of acres of wood-
land were devastated, great damage was done to the sugar-
maple orchards of New York and Vermont, and the injury
extended into Massachusetts. Birds and other natural ene-
mies attacked the caterpillars vigorously in many localities,
and by the year 1900 the plague had been reduced so that
the injury was no longer seen. Miss Mary B. Sherman of
Ogdensburg, N. Y., wrote on May 18 of that year that the
town was then full of birds which were feeding on the cater-
pillars. There had been numerous Warblers in the maples,
and the Orioles, Sparrows, Robins, Cedar Birds, several
species of Warblers, and probably the House Wren, were
killing caterpillars. Birds were reported in large numbers
in the county. On May 26 she wrote again, stating that
there were practically no caterpillars left, cold weather hay-
ing killed many, and the birds apparently having destroyed
the remainder.”

The good accomplished by birds in quelling great insect in-
vasions should be patent to all, but very few people realize
what the birds are doing. Many Nebraskans failed to notice

 

1 First Report of the United States Entomological Commission. Riley, Pack-
ard, and Thomas. 1877, pp. 335, 336, 338-344.

2 Report on the Injurious and Other Insects of the State of New York, by
E, P. Felt, 1900, p. 1019.
70 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

that birds were feeding on the locusts until Professor Aughey
called their attention to this fact by articles published in the
press.

Birds are doing the same kind of work in Massachusetts
to-day, in repressing smaller outbreaks of common insects.
Had we more observing people to record such services, their
amount and variety probably would astound us. Professor
Beal saw a family of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks clear the potato
beetles from a potato patch of about one-fourth of an acre.
Mr. E. W. Wood of West Newton, a well-known horticultur-
ist, informed me that during one season, when the spring can-
kerworms (Paleacrita vernata) became quite numerous in his
orchard, a pair of Baltimore Orioles appeared, built a nest
near by, and fed daily upon the cankerworms. This they
continued to do assiduously; by the time the young birds
were hatched, the numbers of the worms were considerably
reduced. The birds then redoubled their diligence, carry-
ing ten or eleven worms to the nest at once. Soon the
cankerworms had disappeared, and there has been no trouble
from them for many years.

Instances were recorded during the first State campaign
against the gipsy moth, from 1890 to 1895, where small
isolated moth colonies appeared to have been suppressed
and even annihilated by birds. A serious outbreak was
discovered in Georgetown, Mass., in 1899. It had been in
existence for a long time, but its spread had evidently been
limited by the great number of birds that were feeding there
on all forms of the moth. Several months later the State
abandoned the work against the moth, and little hope was
entertained that anything more than a severe check had been
given the insect in Georgetown. Nevertheless, in the six
years that have since elapsed comparatively few moths have
been found in that locality. The most feasible explanation
of this seems to be that up to 1906 the birds have kept the
numbers of the moths below the point where they can do
appreciable injury.

I have had several opportunities, within the last fifteen
years, to watch the checking of insect uprisings by birds.
One morning in the fall of 1904 I noticed in some poplar
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 71

 

trees near the shore of the Musketaquid a small flock of
Myrtle and Black-poll Warblers, busily feeding on a swarm
of plant lice. There were not more than fifteen birds. The
insects were mainly imagoes, and some of them were flying.
The birds were pursuing these through the air, but were also
seeking those that remained on the trunks and branches. I
watched these birds

for some time, noted

their activity, and 3
then passed on, but AY J
returned and ob- , afi MEY if
served their move- ,  ¥
ments quite closely
at intervals all day.
Toward night some
of the insects had
scattered to neigh-
boring trees, and a
few of the birds
were pursuing them
there; but most of
the latter remained
at or about the place
where the aphis
swarm was first seen, and they were still there at sundown.
The swarm decreased rapidly all day, unti] just before sunset
it was difficult to find even a few specimens of the insect.
The birds remained until it was nearly dark, for they were
still finding a few insects on the higher branches. The plant
lice I had secured for identification were destroyed or lib-
erated during the night, probably by a deer mouse which
frequented the camp ; so the next morning at sunrise I went -
to the trees to look for more specimens. The birds, how-
ever, were there before inc, and I was unable to find a single
aphis on the trees. The last bird to linger was more suc-
cessful than I, for it was still finding a few ; but it soon gave
up the effort, and left for more fruitful fields. Probably a
few insects escaped by flight; but in examining the locality
in 1905 I could not find one. The apparently complete

     

Gi

; ni i
; a an Ny

Fig. 29.— Warblers destroying a swarm of plant lice.
72 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

destruction of these insects may have been due in part to
the hard winter that ensued, but the effect produced by the
birds was most obvious.

Such instances of the quelling of insect outbreaks by birds
are noticeable, but the regulative influence steadily and
perennially exerted by them, which tends to keep hundreds
of species of injurious insects below the point where their
injury to trees and plants would become apparent, is very
seldom appreciated.

THE INCREASE OF INJURIOUS INSECTS FOLLOWING
THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS.

Many cases have been noted where the destruction of birds
has been followed by an immediate increase in the numbers
of injurious insects. Frederick the Great, king of Prussia,
being particularly fond of cherries, was annoyed to see that
the Sparrows were destroying his favorite fruit. An edict
was issued ordering Sparrow extermination. All the re-
sources of the fowler were brought to bear, and the cam-
paign was so successful that not only were the Sparrows
destroyed, but many other birds were either killed or driven
away by the extraordinary measures taken against the Spar-
rows. Within two years cherries and most other fruits were
wanting. The trees were defoliated by caterpillars and other
insects, and the great Frederick, seeing his error, imported
Sparrows at considerable expense to take the place of the
birds that had been killed.?

In the year 1798 the forests in Saxony and Brandenburg
were attacked by a general mortality. The greater part of
the trees, especially the firs and pines, died as if struck at
the roots by some secret malady. The foliage was not de-
voured by caterpillars; the trees perished without showing
any signs of external disease. This calamity became so gen-
eral that the regency of Saxony sent naturalists and skillful
foresters to find out the cause. They soon found it in the
multiplication of one of the lepidopterous insects, which in
its larval state fed within the tree upon the wood. When-

 

1 Agricultural Value of Birds, by E. A, Samuels. Annual Report of the Mas-
sachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1865-66, pp. 116, 117.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 73

 

ever any bough of the fir or the pine was broken this insect
was found within it, and had often hollowed it out even to the
bark. The naturalists reported that apparently the extraor-
dinary increase of the insect was owing to the entire dis-
appearance of several species of Woodpecker and Titmouse,
which had not been seen in the forest for some years.!

In 1858 Kearly wrote to the Entomclogists’ Intelligencer
that a friend who had been spending a short time in Belgium
informed him that in the previous year Sparrows and other
birds had appeared in the park at Brussels in unusual num-
bers. These birds probably were attracted by an unusual
supply of insect food; but complaint was made of the
Sparrows as a nuisance, and their destruction was ordered.
“But,” says Kearly, “it now turns out that in exterminat-
ing the birds the park goers have got rid of one evil only
to entail upon themselves a greater. Throughout the past
summer the place has swarmed with insect pests.” He says
also that the larva of the gipsy moth stripped nearly all of
the trees of their foliage, and was one of the chief offenders.
He adds that, had the authorities known what Kirby and
Spence say on this subject (regarding the destruction of
this insect by birds in Brussels in 1826), they would have
remained guiltless of killing their feathered protectors.

During the year 1861 the harvests of France gave an un-
usually poor return, and a commission to investigate the
cause of the deficiency was appointed at the instance of the
Minister of Agriculture.22 The commission took counsel
of experienced naturalists, St. Hilaire, Prevost, and others.
By this commission the deficiency was attributed in a great
degree to the ravages of insects which it is the function of
certain birds to check.

It seems that the French people had been killing and
eating not merely the game birds, but the smaller birds
as well. Insect-eating birds had been shot, snared, and
trapped throughout the country. Fruit-eating and grain-
eating species especially had been persecuted. Birds’ eggs

 

1 Utility of Birds, by Wilson Flagg. Annual Report of the Massachusetts
State Board of Agriculture, 1861, pp. 66, 67.

2 Notes on the Progress of Agricultural Science, by David A. Wells. Report
of the United States Commissioner of Patents, 1861, pp. 322, 323.
74 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

had been taken in immense numbers. A single child had
been known to come in at night with a hundred eggs, and
the number of birds’ eggs destroyed in the country each year
was estimated at eighty to one hundred millions. Before
such persecution the birds were actually dying out. Some
species had already disappeared, and others were rapidly
diminishing. As an apparent result of the destruction of
birds, the vines, the fruit trees, the forest trees, and the
grain in the fields, had suffered much from the attacks of
destructive insects, that had increased as a result of the dis-
turbance of nature’s balance caused by the decrease of birds.
In one department of the east of France the value of the wheat
destroyed by insects in a single season was estimated at five
million francs. It was concluded that by no agency save that
of little birds could the ravages of insects be kept down.
The commission called for prompt and energetic remedies,
and suggested that the teachers and clergy should endeavor
to put the matter in its proper light before the people.

In 1895 I received a letter from Mons. J. O. Clercy,
secretary of the Society of Natural Sciences, Ekaterinburg,
Russian Siberia, in which he stated that the ravages of two
species of cutworms and some ten species of locusts had con-
tributed (together with the want of rain) to produce a famine
in that region. One of the evident causes which permitted
such a numerous propagation of insect pests was, he said,
the almost complete destruction of birds, most of which had
been killed and sent abroad by wagonloads for ladies’ hats.
A law for the protection of birds was then enacted, and, said
M. Clercy, “The poor little creatures are doing their best
to reoccupy their old places in the woods and gardens.” The
reoccupation, however, did not go on as rapidly as did the
destruction.+

Mr. R. E. Turner, in an important paper upon insects,
read before an agricultural conference at Mackay, Quecns-
land, stated that he considered that the decrease of insectiv-
orous birds, owing to their indiscriminate shooting by the
Kanakas on the plantations, had a great deal to do with the

 

1 The Gipsy Moth, by E. H. Forbush and C. H. Fernald, p. 206. Published
by the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1896.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 75

 

increase of the sugar-cane insects, particularly white grubs,
which were then so abundant.!__A similar effect was observed
by the early settlers of America to follow the shooting of
the birds which attacked their crops. Kalm states, in his
Travels in America, that in 1749, after a great destruction
among the Crows and Blackbirds for a legal reward of three
pence per dozen, the northern States experienced a complete
loss of their grass and grain crops. The colonists were
obliged to import hay from England to feed their cattle.
The greatest losses from the ravages of the Rocky Mountain
locust were coincident with, or followed soon after, the de-
struction by the people of countless thousands of Blackbirds,
Prairie Chickens, Quail, Upland Plover, Curlew, and other
birds. This coincidence seems significant, at least.

Professor Aughey tells how this slaughter was accom-
plished. He says that the Blackbirds and many other birds
decreased greatly in Nebraska in the twelve years previous
to 1877. He first went to the State in 1864. He never saw
the Blackbirds so abundant as they were during 1865 over
eastern Nebraska. Vast numbers of them were poisoned
around the corn fields in spring and fall during the twelve
years, so that often they were gathered and thrown into
piles. This was done in the belief that the Blackbirds were
damaging the crops, especially the corn. Great numbers of
birds of other species were destroyed at the same time. A
single grain of corn soaked with strychnine would suffice to
kill a bird. In one autumn, in Dakota County alone, not
less than thirty thousand birds must have been destroyed in
this way. Regarding this slaughter he wrote : —

Supposing that each of these birds averaged eating one hundred and
fifty insects each day, we then have the enormous number of onc hun-
dred and thirty-five million insects saved in this one county in one
month that ought to have been destroyed through the influence of birds.
When we reflect, further, that many of these birds were migratory, and
that they helped to keep down the increase of insects in distant regions,
the harm that their destruction did is beyond calculation. The killing
of such birds is no local loss; it is a national, a continental loss.?

 

1 Insect Life, by Riley and Howard. 1894, Vol. VI, No. 4, p. 333.
2 First Report of the United States Entomological Commission. Riley, Pack-
ard, and Thomas. 1877, pp. 348, 344.
76 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Professor Aughey gathered statistics regarding the killing
of Quail and Prairie Chickens for the market during this
period, and concluded that in thirty counties the average
yearly slaughter of these birds must have been at least five
thousand Quail and ten thousand Prairie Chickens for each
county, or four hundred and fifty thousand birds in all. We
can only conjecture as to how great was the destruction of
other game birds.

The poisoning of birds in the west permitted an increase
of many other insects besides the locusts. A farmer from
Wisconsin informed me that, the Blackbirds in his vicinity
having been killed off, the white grubs increased in number
and destroyed the grass roots, so that he lost four hundred
dollars in one year from this cause.

THE DESTRUCTION OF INJURIOUS MAMMALS BY BIRDS.

The injury to trees and crops by insects is not the only
evil that has followed the destruction of birds and other
animals by man. Rapacious birds hold a chief place among
the forces which are appointed to hold in check the gnawing
mammals or rodents, which breed rapidly, and, unless kept
within bounds, are very destructive to grass fields, crops, and
trees. The great swarms of lemmings which have appeared
from time to time upon the Scandinavian peninsula are his-
torical. Their migrations, during which they destroy the
grass or grain in their path, until finally they reach the sea
and perish in a vain attempt to cross it, have been recorded
often. A similar increase of rodents may take place any-
where whenever their natural enemies are unduly reduced in
numbers. Such cases are on record in England and Scot-
land. In Stowe’s Chronicle, in 1581, it is stated : —

About Hallontide last past (1580) in the marshes of Danessey Hun-
dred, in a place called South Minster, in the county of Essex, there
sodainlie appeared an infinite number of mice, which overwhelming the
whole earth in the said marshes, did sheare and gnaw the grass by the
rootes, spoyling and tainting the same with their venimous teeth in such
sort, that the cattell which grazed thereon were smitten with a murraine
and died thereof; which vermine by policie of man could not be de-
stroyed, till at the last it came to pass that there flocked together such
 

   

—
’

PLATE VI.— Field or Meadow Mouse. A prolific and destructive
species, held in check by Hawks and Owls.

 

PLATE VII.— White-footed or Deer Mouse. A destructive wood
mouse, the increase of which is controlled by Hawks and Owls.
 
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. V7

 

a number of Owles, as all the shire was able to yield, whereby the
marsh-holders were shortly delivered from the vexation of the said
mice. The like of this was also in Kent.

This reads a little like a fable or legend, and we must be
permitted to doubt the statement as to the cause of the
“murraine ;” but the accuracy of the story, in the main, is
corroborated by the records of later occurrences of a similar
nature in the same region. Childrey also records this occur-
rence in his Britannia Baconica, 1660, p. 14.

Similar “sore plagues of strange mice” were experienced
in Essex again in 1648, near Downham Market, Norfolk, in
1745, and again in Gloucestershire and Hampshire in 1813—
14.1 With regard to Norfolk, the following extract is of
interest : —

Once in about six or seven years, Hilgay, about one thousand acres,
is infested with an incredible number of field mice, which, like locusts,
would devour the corn of every kind. Invariably there follows a pro-
digious flight of Norway Owls, and they tarry until the mice are entirely
destroyed by them.?

Notwithstanding that both the cause and remedy of these
frequent outbreaks of field mice were apparent, the de-
struction of their natural enemies by man still goes on. In
1875-76 a noted outbreak of mice occurred in the borders of
Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, and Dumfriesshire, also in parts
of Yorkshire. The abundance of the mice attracted Hawks,
Owls, and foxes in unusual numbers. In 1892 an alarming
increase of these field mice again occurred in the south of
Scotland. In Roxburgh and Dumfries alone the plague was
estimated to have extended over an area of eighty thousand to
ninety thousand acres.? A preponderance of opinion among
farmers was reported, tracing the cause of this outbreak to
the scarcity of Owls, Hawks, weasels, and other so-called
vermin. All these animals, and Crows also, are to be
ranged among the natural enemies of mice. The state-

 

1 See Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1892, p. 223, and papers there
cited.

2 Gentleman’s Magazine, 1754, Vol. 24, p. 215.

® Report to the Board of Agriculture on the Plague of Field Mice or Voles in
the South of Scotland, 1892,
78 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

ment made by Childrey as to the assemblage of Owls when
the field mice swarmed in Essex in 1580 received confirma-
tion during 1892. Local observers reported that, after the
great increase of voles was noticed, the Short-eared Owl
( Otus brachyotus) became much more numerous on the hill
farms, and that many pairs, contrary to precedent, remained
to breed.

Dr. W. B. Wall expresses the opinion, from his experience
with the pests, that their chief enemies are the Owl and the
Kestrel (a Hawk), which do more to reduce their ranks than
all the traps of the farmers and the “microbes of the scien-
tists” combined. Both farmers and game keepers in England
and Scotland are inclined to regard these birds as vermin, to
be shot at sight.

In some parts of the United States the destruction of the
natural enemies of rodents by man has been so complete that
these animals have greatly increased in numbers. Prairie
hares, or Jack rabbits, as they are called, became so numer-
ous in some States at times that they could not be kept in
check by ordinary hunting, and the people of whole town-
ships congregated to drive them into great pens, where
thousands were killed with clubs. Gophers or spermophiles
have so increased in numbers that they have become pests.
Farmers have been obliged to resort to extraordinary meas-
ures to destroy them. Jn Montana such large sums were
paid out in six months of 1887 in bounties for the destruc-
tion of ground squirrels or gophers and prairie dogs, that
a special session of the Legislature was called to repeal the
law, lest it should bankrupt the State.

In New England our common hares (miscalled rabbits)
are kept in check in thickly settled regions by hunters; but
the field mice, which are not subject to this check, have
increased so rapidly in many localities that during the hard
winters of 1903-04 and 1904-05 thousands of young fruit
trees in the New England States were attacked by them and
ruined. These mice have become so numerous that in some
places young trees cannot be grown unless protected from
them. They also destroy a great quantity of grass and grain,
some small fruit, and vegetables. Unfortunately, the food
habits of these little animals have never been fully studied.
 

 

 

Sereech Owl.

 

PLATE VIII.—A Useful Mouse-eating Owl. (From Warren,
after Audubon.)
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 79

 

Enough is known, however, to show that they have some
beneficial habits, as well as some injurious ones; but they
constitute a very potential force for harm, on account of their
great fecundity. Ido not know how many young our com-
mon species can produce ina year, but two female European
field mice kept in captivity gave birth to thirty-six young
within five months. The tally was ended by the escape of
one of the pair, else there probably would have been re-
corded a still larger number. The interval between the birth
of one litter of young and that of the next was only from
twenty-four to twenty-nine days: This shows the danger
that might easily arise from the unchecked increase of a
creature which, feeding upon both crops and trees, is capable
of unmeasured devastation. It also shows the folly of ex-
tirpating those Hawks and Owls which are known to feed
largely on field mice, for they constitute the only natural
force, that can quickly assemble at a threatened point, for
the reduction of these pests.

The number of small rodents eaten by the rapacious birds
is almost as remarkable in proportion to their size as is the
number of insects taken by smaller birds. Lord Lilford says
that he has seen a pair of Barn Owls bring food to their
young no less than seventeen times within half an hour,
and that he has fed nine mice in succession to a young Barn
Owl two-thirds grown.! During the summer of 1890 a pair
of Barn Owls occupied a tower of the Smithsonian building
at Washington. It is the habit of Owls to regurgitate the
indigestible portions of their food. Dr. A. K. Fisher found
the floor strewn with pellets of bones and fur which these
birds and their young had thrown up. An examination of
two hundred of the pellets gave a total of four hundred and
fifty-four skulls: two hundred and twenty-five of these were
meadow mice; two, pine mice; one hundred and seventy-
nine, house mice ; twenty, rats; six, jumping mice ; twenty,
shrews; one, a star-nosed mole; and one, a Vesper Spar-
row.2. In my examinations of the stomachs and pellets of

 

1 An article on the Barn Owl, by W. B. Tegetmeier. Field, Vol. LXXV,
No. 1956, June 21, 1890, p. 906.

2 The Hawks and Owls of the United States, by Dr. A. K. Fisher. United
States Department of Agriculture, 1893.
80 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

small Owls I have almost invariably found that the food
consisted very largely of field mice and wood mice, with a
few shrews, and rarely a bird or two. Several species of
Hawks seem to feed almost entirely on field mice, small
reptiles, batrachians, and insects.

The young of Hawks and Owls remain a long time in the
nest, and require a great quantity of food. They probably
tax the resources of the parent birds excessively in the etfort
to find enough food for them ; hence some species are forced
to commit depredations on the poultry yard, while a few kill
birds and poultry from choice. But most of these birds are,
on the whole, useful to the farmer. Dr. Fisher, having ex-
amined the contents of two thousand six hundred and ninety
stomachs of Hawks and Owls from various parts of the United
States, and collected the evidence of many observers, con-
cludes that Owls are among the most beneficial of all birds ;
and that Hawks, with possibly one or two exceptions, are in
some degree beneficial to the farmer.

THE VALUE OF WATER-BIRDS AND SHORE BIRDS.

Many shore birds are to some extent insectivorous. Many
Gulls and Terns might be reckoned among the friends of the
farmer, were they fully protected by law and public senti-
ment, as they now are in some countries and in some west-
ern localities in our own country. But here they have been
so persecuted that they usually keep well away from the
vicinity of field and farm. Even as it is, however, they ren-
der some service to man. Certain water-birds are useful to
navigators, fishermen, and pilots. In thick summer weather
the appearance of Terns or Gulls in numbers, or the sound
of their clamorous voices, gives warning to the mariner that
he is nearing the rocks on which they breed. Shore fisher-
men enshrouded in fog can tell the direction of the islands
on which the birds live by watching their undeviating flight
homeward with food for their young. The keen senses of
sea birds enable them to head direct for their nests, even in
dense mist. Fishermen often discover schools of fish by.
watching the sea birds, that, like the larger fish, pursue the
small fry.
 

PLATE IX.—Regurgitated Owl Pellets.

of bones and fur, also feathers of a Robin, were left near author's
house by Screech Owls.

These pellets, composed

 
    
 

4

    

sypce CVI VIIPINA

8 eeeer Bie Me r

x

PLATE X.— The Same Pellets, dissected. The fur is shown in a

pile on the right, and, on the left, portions of skulls and other
bones of mice, shrews, and moles, eaten by the Owls.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 81

 

Navigators approaching their home port during seasons
of bird migration welcome the appearance of familiar land
birds which are seen while land is still far out of sight. Mr.
Frank M. Chapman has shown, in an interesting paper on
the ornithology of the first voyage of Columbus, that we
possibly owe the discovery of America by Columbus to the
fact that he happened to approach the land at the right time
and place to cross the line of the fall flight of land birds that
were going from the Bermudas to the Bahamas and Antilles.
The discouraged seainen were on the verge of mutiny, and
might have compelled Columbus to return to Spain, had not
small land birds come aboard unwearied and singing. The
course of the vessel was changed to correspond with the
direction of their flight, and the voyage was thus shortened
two hundred miles and pursued to its end.!

The well-known services of Vultures, which destroy gar-
bage and carrion in the tropics, have no real counterpart in
the north. Crows are of some use, but Gulls and other
water-birds are most valuable to man in this respect, in that
they devour the garbage and refuse that are cast into harbors
and arms of the sea, thus undoubtedly preventing the pollu-
tion of many bays and beaches by floating filth and refuse
from great cities.

Sea birds must be reckoned among the chief agencies which
have rendered many rocky or sandy islands fit for human
habitation. The service performed by birds in fertilizing,
soil-building, and seed-sowing on many barren islands has
entitled our feathered friends to the gratitude of many a
shipwrecked sailor, who must else have perished miserably
on barren, storm-beaten shores.

THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF BIRDS.

In all the foregoing we have considered mainly “the good
offices that birds voluntarily take upon themselves in our
service.” We have yet to take into account the tax which
we impose upon them for our own revenue of profit or
pleasure, —a tax which we collect unsparingly, and with the
strong hand of force.

 

1 Papers presented at the World's Congress on Ornithology, 1896, pp. 181-185,
82 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

This tribute of flesh, blood, and feather is levied largely
upon those orders of birds which in domestication become
poultry, and in the wild state are known as game birds ; but
many small land birds have become victims of man’s greed,
and the sea birds have been forced to contribute to his food
supply.

The eggs of certain Gulls, Terns, Herons, Murres, and
Ducks that breed in large colonies find a ready sale in the
market, or furnish a part of the food supply of the people
who live near these breeding places. Wholesale egging was
carried on along the coast of Massachusetts and other New
England States, until the Gulls and Terns were in most cases
driven away from their breeding places. The inhabitants
along the shores of the southern States, as well as those
“on the Pacific coast, gathered the eggs of the sea birds by
boatloads for many years. For nearly fifty years Murres’
eggs were collected on the Farallone Islands and shipped
to the San Francisco market. It is said that in 1854 more
than five hundred thousand eggs were sold there in less than
two months. This must have been an important item in the
food supply of the young and growing city. Mr. H. W.
Elliot mentions that on the occasion of his first visit to
Walrus Island in the Behring Sea six men loaded a badarrah,
carrying four tons, to the water’s edge with Murres’ eggs.
On Laysan, one of the Hawaiian Islands, there is a great
breeding place of an Albatross (Diomedea immutabilis).
Such immense quantities of their eggs have been gathered
that cars have been loaded with them.' All this egg collect-
ing, however, should be stopped, for it tends to exterminate
the birds, and all the eggs needed for human consumption
can be produced by poultry.

Sea birds which breed on isolated islands or barren shores
feed mainly on animal food, which they get from the sea.
Guano consists of the excreta and ejecta of sea birds, mixed
with the remains of birds, fish, and other animals. It is found
on the gathering places of these birds. In the rainless lati-

 

1A Review of Economic Ornithology in the United States, by Dr. T. S.
Palmer. Yearbook, United States Department of Agriculture, 1899, pp. 271, 272.
See this paper also for an account of the guano trade.
Cuqnjouoy ‘sure “ff Aq ydersoyoyg) ‘S839 TIAL popvo] Wo9q ABT SIBd
aIoIpM ‘spaq vas Jo aov[d Surpsatq y “] ‘HW ‘pue[s] ueskeT uo sassoneqiy — ‘IX ALV Id

 

 
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 83

 

tudes of the Pacific, near the equator, guano once accumulated
in tremendous deposits. It dried quickly, and where there
were no rains to wash it away it was preserved with most of its
fertilizing constituents intact. The guano found on islands
outside the dry latitudes is of less value, as its nitrogen is
quickly washed out or dissipated. The importance of guano
as a fertilizer was recognized in Peru by the Indians more
than three centuries ago. Under the Incas the birds on the
Chincha Islands were carefully protected, and the deposits
of guano jealously guarded. It is said that the penalty of
death was inflicted on any one who killed birds near these
rocks in the breeding season.

Humboldt, returning from his travels in tropical America
in 1804, carried some samples of guano to Europe, and first
called attention to the value of the deposits of this substance
on the Chincha Islands; but it was nearly forty years later
that guano became a stimulus to intensive agriculture, and
furnished a source of revenue to civilized nations. The vast
deposits on these three islands covered the rocks in some
places to a depth of ninety or one hundred feet. The amount
still undisturbed in 1853 was estimated by the official sur-
veyors of the Peruvian government as twelve million, three
hundred and seventy-six thousand, one hundred tons. Its
use was first attempted in England in 1840; at that time the
beds seemed inexhaustible. The guano trade soon became
so important as to be a source of diplomatic correspondence
between nations. It is said to have brought Peru and Chile
to the verge of war. By 1850 the price of Peruvian guano
had advanced in the United States to fifty dollars a ton, and
American enterprise began to seek guano elsewhere.

Americans have since filed with the government claims
to bout seventy-five guano islands in the South Pacific or
in the Caribbean Sea. The vast deposits on the Chinchas
are nearly exhausted, and fertilizers are now manufactured to
supply the demand. Undoubtedly, however, the discovery
and use of guano marked the beginning of the present enor-
mous trade in commercial fertilizers. The manurial value
of the phosphoric acid and nitrogen contained in fish has
now become quite generally recognized, and fleets of small
84 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

vessels are employed in seining menhaden and other fish for
use in the manufacture of fertilizers.

Notwithstanding the value of birds to man as destroyers
of insects and vermin, they are killed and utilized by him
in various ways.

The destruction of game birds has been so great in Mas-
sachusetts, and the demand so much in excess of the supply,
that birds are now imported from other States and from
other countries. It is becoming a serious question, with
those most interested, how we shall so regulate the shooting
of game birds that the supply may be kept up. The game
birds of America have a great intrinsic value as game. The
flesh of many is considered to rank high among delicacies.
The pursuit of these birds has formed a large part of the
occupation of many members of the rural population during
the shooting seasons, and a vast business has grown out of
the traffic in birds’ flesh. Anenormous game business has
been carried on by provision dealers in this country, and the
demand for game is continually increasing. Few accurate
statistics of the amount of game sold are obtainable; but
Mr. D. G. Elliot, writing in 1864, states that one dealer in
New York was known to receive twenty tons of Prairie
Chickens in one consignment, and that some of the larger
poultry dealers were estimated to have sold from one hun-
dred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand game birds
in the course of six months.!

The killing of birds for sport has a certain economic affin-
ity with market hunting, in that it supports a large trade in
guns, ammunition, boats, dogs, and all the tools, appliances,
and impedimenta of the sportsman. It furnishes employment
to guides, dog breakers, and boatmen, and helps support
many country hostelries and seaside hotels. The manufac-
ture of firearms and ammunition for sportsmen has become
a great industry. Altogether, many thousands of men are
dependent for a part of their livelihood on the killing of
game for sport or food, while a still larger army finds its
chief outdoor recreation in the pursuit of game birds. The

 

+ Report of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture, 1864, pp. 383, 384.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 85

 

value of game birds to the farmer, epicure, marketman, and
sportsman should insure them the most stringent protection.
Nevertheless, some of the migratory species, through lack
of effectual protection, have already been so reduced in num-
bers that they are no longer of any commercial importance.

The domestication of birds probably was coincident with
that of animals, and grew from the desire of the primitive
agriculturist to have always at hand a fresh supply of deli-
cate and nutritious animal food. No other animals can ever
be so adapted to the environments of civilization as to fur-
nish us with a similarly valuable supply of both meat and
eggs.

The poultry business of this country has grown to such
importance that the total value of the annual poultry prod-
uct has reached nearly three hundred million dollars. Mas-
sachusetts imported probably about eighteen million dollars’
worth of poultry products in 1903. When we consider that
in all the centuries the work of domestication has included
but a few species, it is evident that the possibilities in this
direction have not been exhausted.

Within the last half-century fashion has been responsible
for the killing of millions of birds for the millinery trade.
This trade is now limited by laws making it illegal to kill or
use most native birds, except game birds, for this purpose.
Instances of the destruction of birds for millinery purposes
will be given in another chapter. The American demand
for feathers for ornamental uses is now largely met by
articles manufactured from the feathers of domestic fowls
and game birds. The demand for Ostrich plumes has re-
sulted in the establishment of a new industry in America, —
the raising of Ostriches.

There has been a growing demand for American song birds
for cage purposes ; but this traffic is now prohibited by law.

THE ZSTHETIC, SENTIMENTAL, AND EDUCATIONAL
VALUE OF BIRDS.
Thus far I have written solely from the standpoint of
“enlightened selfishness,” entertaining no consideration of
the esthetic, humane, sentimental, or educational. I have
86 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

attempted to look at birds solely from the utilitarian point
of view, and to demonstrate the fact that their contributions
to man’s welfare have at least a material value. Now let us
turn for a moment from the contemplation of such utility
of birds as money can measure to “some of the higher and
nobler uses which birds subserve to man.” In so doing we
step at once from the beaten path of economic ornithology
into a boundless realm, sacred to art, letters, sentiment,
and poetry on the one hand, while on the other lie the fair
fields in which we may take up, if we will, the fascinating
study of birds, which may end merely in delightful experi-
ences, or lead to the class room, the museum, the laboratory,
or the closet of the systematist. Wherever it may lead us,
this phase of our subject is of the highest importance, and
demands the most serious consideration. Although presented
last, its benefactions should perhaps come first among the
items which go to make up the sum of our indebtedness to
birds.

The beauty of birds, the music of their songs, the weird
wildness of their calls, the majesty of their soaring flight,
the mystery of their migrations, have ever been subjects of
absorbing interest to poets, artists, and nature lovers every-
where. Prominent among the undying memories of men
are mental pictures of the birds of childhood, their coming
in the spring, their nesting, and their chosen haunts. Many
an exiled emigrant longs in vain to hear again the outpour-
ing melody of the Skylark, as it soars above the fields of
England. Many a New England boy, shut in by western
mountains, yearns for the bubbling, joyous song of the Bob-
olink in the June meadows. The characters and traits of
birds, their loves and battles, their skill in home building,
their devotion to their young, their habits and ways, —all
are of human interest. Birds have become symbolic of cer-
tain human characteristics ; and so the common species have
come to be so interwoven with our art and literature that
their names are household words. What biblical scholar is
not familiar with the birds of the Bible? Shakespeare makes
over six hundred references to birds or bird life. Much of
the best literature would lose half its charm were it shorn of
poetic allusions to birds.
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 87

 

Birds often have inspired the poets. Bryant’s lines ” To
a Water-fowl,” and Shelley’s “Skylark,” each exhibit a phase
of such inspiration. These are but instances of the stimu-
lating power exerted on the mind of man by the bird and
its associations. Some of the grandest poems ever written
have been dependent on their authors’ observation of birds
for some touch of nature which has helped to render them
immortal. Thus Gray, in his famed “Elegy written in a
Country Churchyard ” : —

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,

The Swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The Cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,

No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

Who, reared in a country home, can fail, as he reads
these lines, to recall the twittering of the Swallows under
the spreading rafters in the cool of early morning? The
mental contemplation of that peaceful pastoral scene, the
train of tender recollections of the time of youth and inno-
cence, all tending toward better impulses and higher aspira-
tions, are largely due to the mention of the familiar bird in
its association with the home of childhood. Is not literature
the richer for the following lines of Longfellow in his “Birds
of Passage ”?

Above, in the light

Of the star-lit night,

Swift birds of passage wing their flight
Through the dewy atmosphere.

I hear the beat

Of their pinions fleet,

As from the land of snow and sleet
They seek a southern lea.

How much of life and color the presence of birds adds to
the landscape! ‘The artist appreciates this. What marine
view is complete without its Gulls in flight? How much a
flock of wild-fowl adds to a lake or river scene!

Birds are a special boon to child life, and a never-ending
“source of entertainment to many children who live upon
isolated farms, where the observation of birds’ habits adds
greatly to the rational enjoyment of existence.

It is not a far ery from the poet to the philosopher, and
88 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

he also sees a value in birds for the opportunity they afford
for the culture of the intellect. Every page of the book of
nature is educational. But, as Dr. Coues says, there is no
fairer or more fascinating page than that devoted to the life
history of a bird. The systematic study of birds develops
both the observational faculties and the analytical qualities
of the mind. The study of the living bird afield is rejuve-
nating to both mind and body. The outdoor use of eye, ear,
and limb, necessitated by field work, tends to fit both the
body and mind of the student for the practical work of life,
for it develops both members and faculties. It brings one
into contact with nature, — out into the sunlight, where balmy
airs stir the whispering pines, or fresh breezes ripple the blue
water. There is no purer joy in life than that which may
come to all who, rising in the dusk of early morning, wel-
come the approach of day with all its bird voices. The nature
lover who listens to the song of the Wood Thrush at dawn
—an anthem of calm, serene, spiritual joy, sounding through
the dim woods —hears it with feelings akin to those of the
devotee whose being is thrilled by the grand and sacred music
of the sanctuary. And he who, in the still forest at even-
ing, harkens to the exquisite notes of the Hermit, — that
voice of nature, expressing in sweet cadences her pathos and
her ineffable mystery, — experiences amid the falling shades
of night emotions which must humble, chasten, and purify
even the most upright and virtuous of men.

The uplifting influence that birds may thus exert upon the
lives of men constitutes to many their greatest value and
charm. <A growing appreciation of the esthetic and the edu-
cational value of birds has sent many cultured folk to the
woods, fields, and shores. People are turning toward nature
study, and the observation of birds in the field is one of the
most popular manifestations of an increased and abiding in-
terest in nature. To the utilitarian this movement has an
economic aspect. Students who have become familiar with
the common birds of their own vicinity long for new fields
and new birds. Leta well-known writer describe in print any’
locality in Massachusetts where rare or interesting birds are
to be found, and soon some of his readers will be upon the
VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 8Y

 

ground. This travelling about of those in search of birds bids
fair eventually to assume considerable proportions, and can-
not fail to be of some pecuniary importance to transportation
companies, as well as to those who minister to the wants of
man and beast. Many people prefer to spend their vacations
in localities where both the larger and smaller birds are plen-
tiful. Thus the wxsthetic value of the soaring Hawk or the
wading Heron becomes of practical importance to the farmer
and hotel keeper who are looking for summer boarders.
People of means are fully sensible of the many advantages
of life in the country, and are making homes for themselves
on our farms. But a merchant prince who established sich
a home found his enjoyment of the place greatly abridged by
the scarcity of birds. With the growing interest in birds,
towns or localities where birds are plentiful will have an
added value as places of residence.

Possibly, however, the greatest boon that the study of
birds can confer upon man is seen in the power of the bird
lover to keep his spirit young. One who in his early years
is attracted to the study of birds will find that with them he
always renews his youth. Each spring the awakening year
encompasses him with a flood of joyous bird life. Old friends
are they who greet him, and they come as in the days of
childhood, bringing tidings of good cheer. Thus it is ever.
Years roll on, youth passes, the homes and woods of our
childhood disappear, the head becomes bowed with sorrow
and frosted by the snows of time, the strong hand trembles,
the friends of youth pass away ; but with each returning spring
the old familiar bird songs of our childhood come back to
us, still unchanged by the passing years. The birds turn
back, for us, the flight of time. Their songs are voices
from our vanished youth. Let us, then, teach our children
to love and protect the birds, that these familiar friends of
their childhood may remain to cheer them with song and
beauty, when, toward the sunset of life, the shadows will
grow long upon the pathway.
90 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

CHAPTER II.

THE UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS.

Massachusetts contains very little land that can be digni-
fied by the name of forest. She has practically no forests
such as are cared for by European States, nor has she any
extensive primeval wilderness of trees such as still exist on
some western mountain ranges; nevertheless, a large area
of the State is forested with coppice growth or seedling
trees, which are usually allowed to grow from thirty to fifty
years, and are then cut for either firewood or lumber.

While this large area of woodland produces comparatively
little valuable timber, its aggregate value, as estimated in
the census of 1895, is twenty-three million, nine hundred
and thirty-six thousand, three hundred and sixty-two dol-
lars. It is no exaggeration to say that for the preservation
of this great woodland estate from the ravages of insects we
are largely indebted to birds. The service that birds per-
form in protecting woodland trees is more nearly indispen-
sable to man than any other benefit they confer on him; for
the money value of forest trees, while large in the aggre-
gate, is not ordinarily great enough ‘to pay the owners to
protect them against their many enemies, even if this were
possible. The little things of life are the most difficult for
man to control. The wild animals and venomous serpents
of the woods he may exterminate; but insects, which are
even more dangerous to human life or property, will still
possess the land. Were the natural enemies of forest in-
sects annihilated, every tree in our woods would be threat-
ened with destruction, and man would be powerless to
prevent the calamity. He might make shift to save some
orchard or shade trees; he might find means to raise some
garden crops; but the protection of all the trees in all the
woods would be beyond his powers. Yet this herculean task
ordinarily is accomplished as a matter of course by birds and
OTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 91

 

other insectivorous creatures, without trouble or expense to
nan, and without appreciable injury to his great woodland
interests. ;

Birds attain their greatest usefulness in the woods, mainly
because the conditions there closely approach the natural,
and organic nature has an opportunity to adjust her balances
without much human interference. Man may be supreme in
the garden, field, or orchard, but in the woods nature reigns.
There her laws, unhampered, operate for the good of her
children. .

THE RELATIONS OF THE BIRD TO THE TREE.

A mere glance at the economy of the forest shows us a
series of interrelations and interdependences existing be-
‘tween the bird and the tree. Mr. Frank M. Chapman thus
indicates tersely and clearly the nature of these relations :—

Between birds and forests there exist what may be termed primeval,
economic relations. Certain forest trees have their natural insect foes,
to which they furnish food and shelter; and these insects, in turn, have
their natural enemies among the birds, to which the trees also give a
home. Here, then, we have an undisturbed set of economic relations :
(1) the tree; (2) the insect, which lives in the tree, preys upon it, and
may assist in the fertilization of its blossoms; (3) the bird, which also
finds a home in the tree, and, feeding upon insects, prevents their un-
due increase. Hence it follows that the existence of each one of these
forms of life is dependent upon the existence of the other. Birds are
not only essential to the welfare of the tree, but the tree is necessary to
the-life of the bird. Consequently, there has been established what is
termed ‘“a.balance of life,” wherein there is the most delicate adjust-
ment between the tree, the insect, the bird, and the sum total of the
conditions which go to make up their environment. The more trees,
the greater the number of insects, and hence an increase not only in
food supply for the birds, but an increase in the number of nesting
sites.!

Nearly all the wood birds are dependent upon trees.
Destroy the trees, and some of the insects might find new
food in the crops of the farmer, but the birds lose their home

 

! The Economic Value of Birds to the State, by Frank M. Chapman. Sev-
enth Annual Report of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission of New York
State, 1903, p. 6.
92 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

when the tree falls. Lacking the nesting sites, protection,
and shelter once afforded them among the trees, they must
find other shelter, or perish. The interests of birds and
trees are identical, and each must protect the other for the
good of all. Birds are conspicuously useful in distributing
the seed, and in planting, pruning, and protecting the trees.

THE FOREST PLANTERS.

If we take a white pine cone, containing seeds, break it
open and examine a seed, we find that it is enveloped in a
membrane with a wing-like appendage. Now take the seed
and toss it into the air, and it will descend to the ground with
a rotary motion, like that of a pickerel
spoon when drawn through the water.
As the seed descends, its wing in rotat-
Fig.30.—Thewingedseed ing forms a spiral plane at an angle with

eRe es the direction of its descent, serving as
a parachute to sustain it in the air. If there is the slightest
breeze, the seed floats off upon it and descends diagonally
to the ground. The phenomenon is much the same as that
observed in falling seeds of the ash and some other deciduous
trees. Such seeds are winged, like the pine seed, for dis-
tribution. Although they will not float on a gentle breeze,
like thistle or dandelion seeds, still, in a strong wind they
are carried fifteen or twenty rods, or more. When pine
seeds fall to the ground they soon separate from their wings.
A heavy washing rain or the foot of some animal may bury
them with earth mould, or falling leaves may cover them,
and the planting is done. Should they fall upon the surface
of a lake, the gentle breeze would waft them along over the
surface, like a fleet of little boats, to islands or distant shores
should they fall upon a stream, they would float away with
the current.

Although the seeds of many forest trees do not grow their
own wings, we find them as widely distributed as the seeds
of the pine. Notice the distribution of the wild cherry along
the roadsides. Jn spring we see here and there, on bushes
or trees, the webs of the tent caterpillar. They are usually
found upon the apple and wild cherry; and if, late in May,

 
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 93

 

we search woods and fields, along walls and on bushy hill-
sides, we may be surprised in certain years to find wild
cherry trees everywhere. When they are rendered conspic-
uous by the caterpillar webs they bear, we see how they are
scattered through the woods, where birds that fed upon the
fruit dropped the stones as they flew. It is a law of nature
that the destroyer of the fruit is also the distributer of the
seed.

When first I found the nest of the Wood Thrush, some
thirty-five years ago, I noticed that after the young had flown,
a little heap of cherry stones, polished clean and white, was
left in the nest. I did not know at the time how the birds
were able to do this. On Oct. 21, 1896, Mr. Thomas
Proctor wrote me that he had seen similar collections of
cherry stones in the nests of the Wood Thrush, and that by
keeping individuals of the species in captivity he had learned
that they swallowed cherries whole, taking several in suc-
cession and at almost regular intervals; and that, prior to
the next feeding, they expelled the polished stones by the
mouth. This is a provision of nature for the distribution
of the cherry tree. The pits found in the nest were prob-
ably left there by the young birds just before leaving the
nest; but after the birds have flown it is not probable that
many pits are left together in the same place except when
the birds are at roost. The cherry stones found by Mr.
Proctor in the nest were, he said, probably such as are known
to botanists as “escapes,” or varieties which have escaped
from cultivation. Much of the planting of such trees is due,
no doubt, to birds; but wild cherry pits are oftener planted
by their agency. Mr. Proctor wrote that he had kept
several hundred birds of different species, and that he had
come to the conclusion, from observation of their feeding
habits, that other Thrushes and Warblers in general reject the
larger indigestible portions of their food in this way.

Mr. Proctor has since then published in The Auk the
results of his observations on this subject. The seeds of
berries are often expelled or excreted with their vitality
unimpaired. Thus birds are instrumental in extending the
growth of the woodlands and thickets in which they dwell.
94 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

One day I noticed a young pine growing some ten feet
from the ground in the fork of a maple by the roadside.
There were no other pines near. What planted’ it there?
This was merely an illustration of the fact that tree seeds
are furnished with transportation by the wings or legs of
animals that feed upon them.

. The Jays alight in the tree top; each Jay breaks off an
acorn with his feet, hammers it open with his beak, and eats
the kernel on the spot, or carries it off to some hiding place,

 

 

 

 

Fig. 31.— A forest planter. The Blue Jay lends wings to the acorn.

sometimes dropping it from the tree or while flying, appar-
ently by accident or for no purpose except perhaps to hear it
strike the earth. A sudden fright will cause a bird to drop
whatever food it may be carrying. Such acorns are usually
left where they happen to fall.

We cannot study the relations of birds to the forest with-
out noting also the important part that squirrels take in tree
planting. In the autumn of 1897 the mast crop was light in
some sections of eastern Massachusetts, but here and there
an oak tree was found which bore a good crop. Such trees
were soon discovered by the Jays and squirrels, several of
which might be seen gathering the acorns from each tree.
The ground squirrels work in pairs, as do the squirrels of
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 95

 

the Pacific coast, one climbing the tree and throwing the
acorns down to the other.

Jays, Crows, and squirrels seem to have a mania for distrib-
uting and hiding things. I recall an old shellbark hickory
by a farmhouse door, the crevices of its ragged bark orna-
mented with walnuts, tucked in here and there all over the
trunk. Any one watching the Jays and squirrels in the fall
will find them filling crevices with nuts or seeds, dropping
nuts, acorns, corn, and other things into cavities and hollows
in the trees, or burying them in the leaf mould on the
ground.

I once watched a Crow killing a large, brightly colored
beetle, probably Calosoma scrutator, which it buried care-
fully beneath a tuft of grass. Returning a few moments
later, the sable bird unearthed the brilliant insect, carried it
away and buried it in another place. In a pine wood in
Medford, on April 16, 1897, several Crows flew from the
ground. Here, under the pines, an interrupted feast was
found. Crows, Jays, and squirrels had been digging out
stores of acorns which probably had been buried there the
previous fall. The interrupted diggers had left six acorns
which they had dug from one hole; others were partly
unearthed.

It is said that squirrels bite off the germ ends of the acorns
before burying them. This habit has never come under my
observation. These acorns not only had their germ ends
intact, but seven of them had sprouted. One had sent the
tap root down four inches into the mould. They had been
carefully set with the points downward, as if by a squirrel,
and at just the right depth for planting. A man could not
have done it better. They were deeply covered with light
mould and pine needles. Some of the digging looked like
the work of squirrels, but marks on some of the acorns were
apparently made by the beak of a bird. A gray squirrel
was seen near by. Had its feast been interrupted by the
Crows, or had all been at work together? How could the
Crow know that the acorns lay buried just there? Did he
remember that he planted them? Had he seen the disturb-
ance of the pine needles, caused by the young sprout? Or
96 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

had he watched the squirrel, and descended to rob it of its
stores? Who is wise enough to interpret the workings of a
Crow’s mind? Who can tell how far its perceptive faculties
will serve, or mark the boundary between instinct and reason ?
We may say that some creature had been merely storing up
food against a season of want, and that may be true, but it is
only half the truth. Many of the seeds which are dropped
or hidden by birds and squirrels are never found by them
again. There is an immense amount of vitality in these
animals, which must be expended in some way. When the
red squirrel is not eating, sleeping, providing food for itself,
or getting into some abominable mischief, it is usually scold-
ing or chattering in profane squirrel language at some in-
truder, or busy burying something or digging it up. The
squirrel makes its journeys back and forth, burying acorns,
pine seeds, chestnuts, beech nuts, and hickory nuts in secret
places. One day, however, as it is going its accustomed
way up the walnut tree, a Hawk swoops down, and the
squirrel is no more. That squirrel has stored up a supply
of food which it will never gather. As Thoreau says, it has
planted “a hickory wood for all creation.” That Hawk
has protected the planted seed.

The part ordinarily taken by birds in forest planting is not
so conspicuous as that of the squirrels, but it results in a
wider distribution of seed. The birds and squirrels destroy
a large part of the seed crop, but the trees produce a great
surplus, and the wild creatures plant an abundance of good
seed which they leave to germinate. Thus it is that the
destroyer of the seed disseminates it, and so perpetuates the
tree which furnishes him sustenance.

The Influence exerted by Birds and Squirrels on the Succession of
Forest Trees.

When we cut down an oak or chestnut wood that is com-
posed of old and heavy timber, a pine wood is likely to
spring up in its place, particularly if there are pines near
by ; while if we cut off pines, they are usually succeeded by
a wood composed mainly of deciduous trees, mostly hard
woods, or the nut-bearing or acorn-bearing kinds. Such a
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 97

 

succession of trees has long been considered by farmers to
be the rule. In other words, in some way there often comes
rotation of crops when wood lots are cut off. This is be-
lieved by some people to be due to the springing up of seed
which has been buried in the ground for many years. When
an oak wood springs up where a pine wood has been cut
away, there is no doubt that it has sprung from seed in the
ground; probably, however, it has not come from seed which
has been buried for many years, but from seed sown by
birds and squirrels within a few years, and which has been
given a new lease of life by the sun’s rays let in by the
removal of the dense foliage from above. All through the
autumn months, when nuts and acorns are plentiful, Jays,
Crows, and squirrels are gathering and storing away the seed
among the pines, where they resort for shelter.

Thousands of Crows will roost in a pine wood for months
during the winter, when the leaves are off the deciduous
trees. The pines then offer the best hiding places for all
‘woodland creatures. In some of the large Crow roosts among
the pines extensive deposits of various seeds and other mate-
rial ejected by Crows are found. When a pine wood is sur-
rounded by oak and nut trees, when squirrels and Jays
are plentiful, and the trees bear well, quantities of acorns
and nuts will be carried into the pine wood by these crea-
tures and buried beneath the dead “needles” or hidden away
in crevices. Many of these nuts and acorns are dug up
during the winter months, especially by the red squirrel,
but many others are never found.

Note an opening in the pines made by cutting away a few
trees. Here young oaks spring up, and we find oaks and
walnuts in such openings quite as often as we find pines.
Examine the ground under the pines in summer, and you
may find many little oak, walnut, and maple trees coming
up from beneath the pine needles, and you will also find
young pines here and there. All these young trees soon die
in the dense shade of the larger pines. But let the pine

 

1 Tf the lot is not favorably situated, if the woods are very dense, if birds and
squirrels are not plentiful, and, above all, if the crop of mast has been light the
year before, there may be no young walnuts and oaks springing up.
98 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

wood be cut off, and if the conditions are favorable, the
young hard-wood trees spring up and flourish. But why do
not pines spring up where pines are cut off? For this there
are several reasons : (1) pines do not sprout from the stump ;
(2) there is not a crop of pine seed each year, therefore,
when the pine wood is cut there may be little good seed
in the ground; (3) young pines need some shade and pro-
tection, and if the larger trees are all cut down, many of
the young pines may die when exposed to the sun. Those
who, with a knowledge of this fact, plant pines on unshaded
ground, usually sow rye or some other cereal with the pines,
so that the quick-growing grain may shade the young plants
for the first year. The shaded trees grow, and in time fur-
nish shade for others, and so the wood extends.

Now let us see why pines sometimes appear where hard
woods have been cut off. This kind of succession is not
common. The trees growing on most wood lots are cut for
cord wood as soon as they are of sufficient size. Immedi-
ately on the opening of the season, sprouts shoot up rapidly
from the hard-wood stumps, choking many young pines.
Still some will live and flourish, and so there comes a mixed
growth of pines and hard-wood trees. This is the character
of much of the wooded region near Boston. But if an oak
or walnut wood is allowed to grow until the trees are old,
and is cut when the roots have lost their vigor, the sprouts,
if they come up at all, are not so vigorous, and the young
pines have a better opportunity. Where birds and squirrels
are numerous, a considerable part of the fruitage of the pine
is removed by them, and cones or detached seeds are buried
or scattered about, not only among the pines, but among the
hard-wood trees. The winds also scatter pine seed far and
wide among deciduous trees ; so, if there are pines near hard-
wood lots, young pines usually sprout among the hard-wood
trees. When an old growth of deciduous woods is cut off,
these young pines, having had a start in the shade, flourish
and afford some shade for still younger seedlings, which
quickly germinate from the seed in the ground; thus occa-
sionally the pines succeed the broad-leaved trees.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 99

 

THE TREE PRUNERS.

If the young tree escapes or survives the assaults of its
many enemies, and grows vigorously, it is prone to an over-
production of fruit or leaves. Orchardists and some foresters
practise pruning, and believe that when it is judiciously done
it is good for the tree. Nature has many ways of pruning.
Superfiuous buds are nipped off by birds and squirrels, or
destroyed by insects. When
the sun lies warm in February
and March on wooded hillsides,
the Ruffed Grouse or Partridge
may be seen “budding” on the
wild apple trees, alders, pop-
lars, and birches. In May the
Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the
Purple Finch attack both buds
and blossoms, scattering snowy
petals far and wide. We have
seen that all trees have numer-
ous insect enemies, which live
upon them; but most of these
insects, when occurring in nor-
mal numbers, are either harm- Fig. 32.— Ruffed Grouse, “ bud
less or beneficial rather than ee
injurious. Their interests, like those of the birds, are iden-
tical with those of the tree which supplies them with suste-
nance. <A few leaf-eating caterpillars may be a benefit to
the tree, by removing surplus foliage, and thus checking a
too vigorous development, which otherwise might be injuri-
ous. Other insects, if not too numerous, may destroy the
surplus fruit or seed, and thus direct the energies of the tree
toward perfecting larger and better fruit. Certain insects
cut off the twigs ; others destroy branches. The numbers of
these insects are regulated by birds. In 1896 oak pruners
(Elaphidion villosum) were numerous in eastern Massachu-
setts. They attacked several species of oaks, hickories, and
maples. They also assailed the apple trees. Their occur-
rence in numbers seems to be periodical, and thus the trees

   

mC y
PP as
1
100 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

are subject to a more or less regular periodical pruning.
Large quantities of twigs and small branches fell from the
oaks and other trees in 1896, and it appeared as if the
oak pruners might do considerable injury to these trees;
but birds and other natural enemies attacked the insects,
and the trees were not injured, —very likely in most cases
they were even benefited by this removal of the twigs from
the upper branches. Jays, Crows, and Hawks break off
strong twigs and small branches to use in their nest build-
ing. Squirrels gnaw off many twigs while gathering nuts
and acorns, or while building their nests. When branches
are injured by insects or overshading to such an extent that
they die, they are removed later (when weakened by decay)
by the action of the wind, or are broken off in winter by
ice and snow. ‘Thus the pruning of the trees is effected.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE TREES.

Birds guard the Trees the Year round. — We know that
trees are subject to many injuries by reason of the undue
multiplication of animals that feed upon them. The foliage
is devoured by insects and other animals; the fruit and
seeds by insects, birds, and squirrels; the twigs are killed
by borers or girdlers ; the bark is eaten by mice, hares, squir-
rels, or porcupines ; the trunks are attacked by wood borers ;
the roots have insect enemies; even the very life blood, the
sap, is sucked out by aphids. When we consider well the
fecundity, voracity, and the consequent great possibilities
for mischief possessed by their enemies, we wonder that
trees survive at all. Still, trees spring up and grow apace.
In a wooded country a few years’ neglect of field and pasture
suffices to clothe them with a growth of bushes and saplings,
and in time a wood lot succeeds the cleared land. That
trees are able thus to spring up and grow to maturity with-
out man’s care is sufficient evidence that they are protected
by their natural friends from the too injurious inroads of
their natural enemies. Among these friends birds hold a
high place.

It is generally believed that there are few birds in deep
woods. Travellers often have remarked the scarcity of birds
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 101

 

in the forest. It is true that usually there are fewer birds,
both in numbers of species and individuals, in most northern
forests than in more open or cultivated lands. This is par-
ticularly true of coniferous forests, for such woods harbor
fewer insects than deciduous forests, and so furnish a more
meager food supply for birds. Those birds that live and
breed in the deep woods, however, are especially fitted to
destroy the trees’ enemies.

This care of the trees is kept up throughout the year by
the ebb and flow of the tide of bird life. In the chill days
of March and early April, when sunshine and shadow fleck
the lingering snow, in silent, leafless woods and along swol-
len streams, the lusty Fox Sparrow searches for seeds and for
dormant insects, which only await the warmer sun of April
or May to emerge from their hiding places and attack the
trees. This Sparrow and its companions, the Tree Sparrow
and the Junco, soon pass on to the north, making way for
the White-throats and Thrushes, which continue the good
work, to be followed in their turn by other Thrushes and the
Towhees. Birds are not plentiful in the woods in early
April, but nevertheless diligent Titmice,
Woodpeckers, Jays, Nuthatches, and
Kinglets are there and at work. In the
warm days of May, when nature has
awakened from her long winter’s sleep ;
when the little, light-green oak leaves are
just opening; when the bright young Fis. Bee Theda
birch leaves decorate, but do not hide, é
the twigs; when every leaflet vies with the early flowers
in beauty, and every branch upholds its grateful offering ;
when insects which were dormant or sluggish during the
earlier days of the year become active, and their swarming
offspring appear on bud and leaf,— then the south wind
brings the migratory host of birds which winter near the
equator. Unnoticed by men, they sweep through the woods,
they encompass the trees; flight after flight passes along
on its way to the north, all resting daily in the woods and
gleaning insects ere they go. No one who has not watched
these beautiful birds hour after hour and day after day, and

 
102 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

who has not listened to their multitudinous notes, as, night
after night, they have passed overhead, can realize the num-
bers that sweep through the woods in the spring and fall
migrations. Those who watched the great flights of War-
blers during the season of 1905 could but marvel at their
vast and changing procession.

One must be in the woods most of the time, during both
spring and autumn, to form any adequate conception of
these movements ; and even then he may be mystified by
the sudden changes he will observe. While at Amesbury,
Mass., on May 11, 1900, I went out at daybreak with a few
friends who were interested in bird study. As we walked
through the streets of the village many male Blackburnian
Warblers were seen among the street trees. A little later
we saw them all about us in the orchards, their brilliant
orange breasts flashing in the sunlight. As we approached
the woods it was everywhere the same. The night had
been very cold, and other insect-eating birds were seeking
benumbed insects on or near the ground. There were four
bright Redstarts flitting about on the upturned sod of a
newly plowed garden. These and other species of Warblers
were to be seen in every orchard, wood, and thicket. The
Blackburnian Warblers had come in during the night, and
were busy hunting for their breakfasts until 7 o’clock, when
we went to ours. At 8 o’clock not a single Blackburnian
was to be seen. I scoured the country until nearly noon,
finding all the other Warblers as at daybreak, but not a
Blackburnian could be found. They had done their share
in the good work, and had passed on. A later riser would
have missed them. Had we not been afield that morning,
the flight might have been unrecorded.

In May most of the smaller birds that pass the summer in
our northern woods — Thrushes, Warblers, Vireos, Cuckoos,
Towhees and their kin —arrive, mate, and build their nests.
In June the growing insect hosts increase, and the activities
of the parent birds in procuring food for their young are at
their height. Each occupied nest is a sepulchre for worms,
spiders, and insects; each young bird’s mouth is an open
door, yawning for their destruction. The parent birds are
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 103

 

ever hunting, hunting, hunting, to find the wherewithal to
stop those insistent, hungry cries; for hunger is not good
for young birds, and their cries may betray them to their
enemies. This continual search for food for the callow
young goes far towards checking the uprising host of in-
sects in June and July, and preventing the absolute destruc-
tion of the trees.

When the young birds are out of the nest, their parents
lead them to some spot where insects are most plentiful, and
there continue to feed them for a time. When the fledge-
lings are strong and well able to fly about and find their own
sustenance, the old birds usually drive them away from the
' vicinity of the home, and they scatter in search of food,
drifting here and there, wherever food is most plentiful,
until they find themselves moving southward, with the
receding tide of bird life, toward that land where frost
and snow are never known.

Some of the Warblers are ready to leave for the south by
midsummer. Such of the summer residents as still remain
wander through the woods in late summer and early fall, in
search of insect outbreaks, wild fruit, and seeds, feeding as
they move along. They are now slowly migrating. The
chill of autumn evenings accelerates their southward move-
ment, and on clear, still nights their call notes and even
their beating wings may be heard as they fly southward.

The birds are now without home attachments, and gather
wherever food is most plentiful. Those that have found
insects in plenty call to others that are flying by or overhead,
bidding them also to the feast. So the tide of bird life
sweeps back through the woods of the temperate zone toward
the equator. In late October bird songs are heard no more.
A few Thrushes, Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Kinglets, Creep-
ers, and Nuthatches flit here and there; Blue Jays mourn-
fully call; a Crow caws now and then; but otherwise the
woods seem deserted. Still, at this season of the year and
all through the winter and early spring months the few birds
that remain are accomplishing the greatest good for the
forest ; for now the development and increase of all insects
are arrested, while their destruction by birds goes on. In
104 OSEFUL BIRDS.

 

winter the smaller wood birds that remain in the north must
subsist largely on the hibernating eggs of insects, for many
insects pass the colder months in the egg; the bird that eats
these eges can destroy at least a hundred times as many
insects in this minute, embry-
onic form as it could in the
summer, after the caterpillars
had hatched and grown toward
maturity. The Jays, Titmice,
Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers,
which remain through the win-
ter in the northern woods, give
months more of service to our
trees than do the majority of
birds that come here as sum-
mer residents or migrants only.
‘These all-the-year-round birds,
with the Creepers and Kinglets,
Fig. 34.—Winter tree guards, a are the most valuable guardians
SS ee hy ee of the wood. Millions upon
millions of insects and their eggs are destroyed by them
during the long winter months. In this work they are
assisted to some extent by certain of the winter Finches
and Sparrows. °
Birds guard All Parts of the Tree. — Even insects which
feed upon the roots are dug out of the ground by birds, or
attacked by these feathered enemies whenever they appear
above the surface. Sparrows, Thrushes, and Towhees search
among the dead leaves for caterpillars which drop from the
trees and crawl on the ground, and for those which pupate
among the litter of the forest floor. Woodpeckers, tapping
the trunks, find and bring forth injurious ants, bark beetles,
and wood-boring insects. Creepers, Kinglets, Titmice, and
Nuthatches search the bark and cavities of the trunk and
limbs for insects’ eggs, scale insects, bark lice, borers, bark
beetles, and other insects which hide there. Jays, Warblers,
Tanagers, Wrens, Titmice, Vireos, Cuckoos, and other tree-
loving birds pry about among the leaves and branches in
search of caterpillars of all sorts. Even the hidden leaf-

 
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 105

 

rollers are sought out. The gall insects are dragged from
their hiding places by Jays and Grosbeaks. Titmice get the
bud worms, and Woodpeckers search out the fruit worms.
When the spanworms, disturbed by the movements of the
caterpillar-hunting Warblers, Vireos, and Sparrows among
leaves and twigs, spin down on their gossamer threads, and
so escape one class of enemies, they are marked by Fly-
catchers sitting on the watch or hovering in the air ready
to dart upon them. When the mature insects, gaining wings,
attempt to escape by flight, they are snapped up by these
same Flycatchers, that sit waiting on the outer limbs of the
trees; or, escaping these, they are pursued by Swallows
and Swifts in the upper air. Those whose flight is noc-
turnal must run the gauntlet of the Screech Owl, Night-
hawk, and Whip-poor-will. Each family of birds seems
exactly fitted for the pursuit and capture of insects that
feed on a certain part of the tree, while nearly all species
can so adapt themselves, at need, as to feed readily on
insects not ordinarily taken by them.

While living in the woods, much of the time alone, for
several seasons, I have been greatly impressed by both the
vast yearly uprising of insect pests and the strong repressive
influence exerted by birds upon their increase. When the
buds open in spring, broods of tiny, hungry caterpillars
emerge, only to be preyed upon by the constantly increasing
flights of birds that peer, swing, flutter, or hop from twig
to twig through all the woods. At this time these caterpil-
lars are not at all noticeable, and are very difficult to find;
still, the great majority of them are readily found and eaten
by birds, and therefore never become apparent to ordinary
observation. As summer comes and the caterpillars grow
in size, each brood is reduced in number, until, as they ap-
proach full size, a band which erstwhile numbered hundreds
of little crawlers has shrunk to a score or two, a “baker’s
dozen,” or even less. When the survivors pupate they are
still attacked by birds, and the moths or butterflies as they
emerge and try their wings are pursued by their swifter
feathered enemies.

In studying the increase of the gipsy moth it was found
106 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

that during the first few years after its introduction into a
locality its inroads on the foliage were not noticeable ; nearly
all the insects resulting from each egg cluster fell victims to
their natural enemies. This is true to a still greater extent
of most of our native insects. As the season advances the
few large caterpillars that are left from each brood injure the
leaves a little, so that on close inspection in July the foliage
appears somewhat ragged and riddled, but at a distance, or to
the casual observer, the trees seem in fine foliage.

He who watches the birds feeding from day to day can
only wonder how they can possibly find so many caterpillars ;
for birds do find them continually, by going over the same
ground day after day. When it is difficult for us to see
even a single specimen on the leaves, the birds continue to
find them until summer wanes and the leaves begin to fall.

The value of the service performed in woodlands by birds
that eat caterpillars is far greater than it seems at first sight,
for wherever the foliage of a tree is destroyed by insects the
fruit of that tree cannot mature, and the tree also suffers a
serious check in growth. There is much woodland in Massa~-
chusetts that pays very little in excess of the taxes. <A leaf-
less tree makes no wood growth; therefore, whenever trees
that are grown for wood or lumber are stripped of their
leaves by caterpillars, the size of the annual wood ring is so
much below the normal that the owner realizes no profit, and
may even suffer a loss on his wood lot that year.

But this is the least danger that is threatened by the attacks
of caterpillars. Most people know that the tree “breathes
through its leaves,” and when for a long period these organs
are prevented from developing, it must inevitably die. Most
coniferous trees, like the pine and hemlock, die when stripped
of their foliage for one season; and deciduous or broad-
leaved trees, such as the oak, ash, and maple, often succumb
if deprived of their leaves for a considerable length of time
each year for even two or three years in succession. Most
trees would soon be killed in this way were it not for the
birds, for there is a succession of many species of caterpillars
that feed upon the trees all summer, and, were they not held
in check by birds, they would destroy the foliage month
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 107

 

after month. The consequent weakened condition of the
trees would invite the bark beetles and other borers which
attack such trees, and, multiplying exceedingly, cut channels
beneath the bark until all the vital tissues are
destroyed. J have seen many trees defoliated
by the gipsy moth that afterward succumbed
to the attacks of these insidious borers, which ie
are probably the ultimate cause of the death Fig. 35.—De.
of many defoliated trees. eer ae
The destruction of these larve in their re- Ht al En:
treats under the bark is effected mainly by
insect parasites, predaceous insects, the various species of
Woodpeckers, and possibly by Titmice. The adult beetles,
when they emerge from their retreats in the spring, are also
attacked by many birds. The Woodpeckers are most valu-
able, because they drag from secret hiding places certain
boring coleopterous and lepidopterous larvee
that might otherwise destroy the trees. A
single borer may be sufficient to kill a young
tree, but the Woodpecker takes the perni-
cious grub from its burrow, and by eating
several at a meal may save many trees in
Fig. 36.—Wooa. the course of a year.
pecker bunting When the European leopard moth ap-
or peared in New York and Brooklyn, caus-
ing great havoc among the trees in the parks, it was feared
that as the insect spread it would become a serious enemy
to the trees of the entire country; but I was informed by
Dr. John B. Smith, entomologist to the New Jersey Agri-
cultural College Experiment Station, that this moth, while
a pest in cities, was doing little damage in the country,
‘where the native birds seemed to keep it in check. At
first it looked as if the large larvee, because of their habits,
would escape the birds. They are borers, beginning life
within the small twigs, and when these get too narrow for
them they eat their way out and crawl down outside to larger
twigs. It is then that they are taken by many native birds,
though the “ English” Sparrows do not appear to check them.
Dr. Smith says that the Woodpeckers eat the female moths,

 

 
108 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

and probably drag the young larve out of the smaller
twigs.

It is extremely difficult and expensive to raise forest trees
in regions where there are no arboreal birds. The larve
of several large nocturnal moths are among the most
destructive insects known. Mons. Trouvelot’s statement
(pp. 30, 31) regarding the quantity of food eaten by the
larva of polyphemus illustrates the power for harm that
these creatures possess. The larvee of Platysamia cecropia
and Actias luna are so gigantic and their rate of increase is
so great that they constitute one of the gravest dangers that
constantly menace our woodlands, yet we never hear of any
serious injury done by them in Massachusetts. Indeed, such
species, although large and conspicuous, are not often seen
except by entomologists and collectors of insects, who know
their haunts and habits. The main reason for their compar-
ative scarcity is indicated by Trouvelot’s experience in rear-
ing the larve of Telea polyphemus, the “ American silkworm.”
He had a tract of about five acres enclosed, and covered with
netting for the protection of these caterpillars. The vegeta-
tion on this land as I saw it years afterward was largely scrub
oak and whortleberry or huckleberry bushes. Trouvelot says
that when he began rearing silkworms the bushes were of
about five years’ growth, and it seemed as if there would be very
little to do after the place was enclosed and the insects put
in; but he found that most of his time was occupied in de-
fending his treasures against the birds. The smaller of these
would push through the meshes or get under the edges, while
the larger ones would find some hole by which they could
enter. He says that he was obliged to chase them “all the
day long,” as when he was pursuing them on one side they
would fly to the other and quietly feed until he reappeared.
“Birds,” he says, “are the greatest foes of silkworms, espe-
cially the Thrushes, Catbirds, and Orioles.” He believes it
probable that in a state of nature ninety-five per cent. of
the silkworms become the prey of these feathered insect
hunters.”

Samuels tells us that Trouvelot was obliged, in self-defence,

 

1 American Naturalist, Vol. 1, p. 145. 2 Tbid., p. 89.
‘spaiq Aq peyjorjuos st yng ‘ysed 901} ywois B SI [JOU SIT, “qo! eidois99g SUL —"IIX ALV Id

 
ULILITY OF BIRDS IN WOODLANDS. 109

 

to shoot the birds which thus penetrated into his enclosures
for the purpose of eating the worms. Although the land on
ali sides sustained a good growth of huckleberry bushes,
he never found the berries in the stomachs of the birds he
killed, but always found insects. He said that birds came from
all quarters to destroy his silkworms. To test the destruc-
tiveness of the birds, he placed two thousand larve of poly-
phemus on a scrub oak near his door. In a few days the
Robins and Catbirds had eaten them all. His experience of
several years in rearing the silkworm led him to the belief
that, were the birds to be killed off, all vegetation would be
destroyed. Such experiences show the difficulty of rearing
caterpillars, even under artificial protection, in a land fre-
quented by arboreal birds, and explain the rarity of serious
injury by such larve in our woods.

The rapidity with which caterpillars propagate where
there are no such birds, and their destructiveness under such
circumstances, may be shown by the experience of many
settlers in their attempts to establish groves on the open
prairies. It has been the beneficent policy of our govern-
ment to grant certain tracts of land (tree claims) to settlers,
provided they would plant trees. This was done with the
purpose of providing wind-breaks on the prairies, which
would eventually furnish the people with a supply of wood
and lumber. At first, however, this work met with little
success, for there were few tree-loving birds in the prairie
country except along the timbered river bottoms. The set-
tlers introduced insect pests on imported trees. The ene-
mies of tree insects being absent, because the country was
destitute of well-grown groves and orchards, the insects
multiplied and overran the seedling trees; the larger moths,
like cecropia and polyphemus, were the worst pests of all,
increasing rapidly, eating voraciously, and making it almost
impossible to raise trees. Dr. Lawrence Bruner, in a paper
on insects injurious to tree claims, states that the absence
alone of so great a factor as tree-loving birds in keeping
down insect pests and ridding the country of them soon
becomes apparent in the great increase and consequent dam-
age done by these pests. He asserts, also, that as an enemy
110 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

to tree culture cecropia has no equal in some portions of the
prairie country, and that its large caterpillars often defoliate
entire groves. Mr. W. C. Colt, who has had experience in
raising trees in Dakota, told me that the caterpillars of this

 

Fig. 3'7.— The larva of the cecropia moth, a destructive leaf-eating insect,
held in check by birds.

and other large species were terribly destructive there. As
groves and orchards became established, however, and arbo-
real birds spread over the country, these caterpillars were
reduced to a state of comparative harmlessness. There is
good reason, therefore, for the belief that the caterpillars so
commonly eaten by practically all arboreal birds would, to-
gether with the borers, destroy all the forests were the birds
to be banished from their chosen haunts.+

 

1 The latter part of this chapter consists of revised portions of several papers
by the author, originally published by the Massachusetts State Board of Agri-
culture, :
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. lll

 

CHAPTER III.

BIRDS AS DESTROYERS OF HAIRY CATERPILLARS AND
PLANT LICE.

Certain caterpillars are provided with defences which are
supposed to give them immunity from the attacks of birds.
It is now believed quite generally, by both ornithologists
and entomologists, that such protective devices are effective
against nearly all birds. I have learned, however, by both
observation and dissection, that in many cases such protection
does not protect. American writers seem to have accepted
the evidence of Europeans on this subject without having
taken the trouble to investigate the matter fully by observa-
tion at home. Among the earliest of this European “evi-
dence” now at hand is a paper by a writer in the Annales de
Tl Institut Horticole de Fromont, Vol. 5, p. 311, published
in Paris in 1833. In discussing the opinion promulgated by
the Natural History Society of Gorlitz, that the diminution
of fruits is on account of the diminution of birds, he places
the caterpillar of the gipsy moth at the head of the list of
injurious caterpillars, saying that “above all it is very essen-
tial that it be destroyed.” He says further, that, as these
caterpillars are armed with long hairs, the birds guard well
‘against bringing them to their young; and that in twenty
years of observation he has never seen a bird take one to its
young. He also states that these insects when in the chrysa-
lis are not sought by birds.

A more recent source of this widespread belief is indicated
by Dr. Packard, who, writing in 1870, notices some inter-
esting facts brought out by Mr. J. J. Wier of the London
Entomological Society, in the following words : —

He finds, by caging up birds whose food is of a mixed character
(purely insect-eating birds could not be kept alive in confinement),
that all hairy caterpillars were uniformly uneaten. Such caterpillars
are the “yellow bears” (Arctia and Spilosoma) and the salt-marsh
112 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

caterpillars (Leucarctia acrea), the caterpillar of the vaporer moth
(Orgyia) and the spiny larvee of butterflies; with these perhaps may
be classed the European currant sawfly. He was disposed to consider
the “flavor of all these caterpillars as nauseous, and not that the
mechanical troublesomeness of the hairs prevents their being eaten.
Larvee which spin webs, and are gregarious, are eaten by birds, but not
with avidity ; they appear very much to dislike the web sticking to their
beaks, and those completely concealed in the web are left unmolested.
When branches covered with the web of Hyponomenta evonymella (a
little moth of the Tinea family) were introduced into the aviary, those
larvse only which ventured beyond the protection of the web were eaten.”
* Smooth-skinned, gaily colored caterpillars (such as the currant Abraxas
or spanworm), which never conceal themselves, but, on the contrary,
appear to court observation,” were not touched by the birds. He states,
on the other hand, that “all caterpillars whose habits are nocturnal,
and are dull colored, with fleshy bodies and smooth skins, are eaten with
the greatest avidity. Every species of green caterpillar is also much
relished. All Geometrx, whose larve resemble twigs, as they stand
out from the plant on their anal prolegs, are invariably eaten.”?

Such statements as these are at least interesting, but they
must be classed as negative evidence, and cannot justify the
assertions so often made that birds do not eat hairy cater-
pillars, when there is convincing, positive evidence that cer-
tain species do eat them. This statement that birds do not
eat’ such caterpillars, which has been so long reiterated,
parrot-like, by one writer after another, is entirely at variance
with my experience, and my opportunities for investigating
this subject probably have been better than those of most
observers. The great burden of proof is upon those whoe
make the allegation, for it is always hard to prove such
sweeping generalizations, and often not at all difficult to dis-
prove them. A naturalist may with propriety say what he
has seen a bird do, but he should be cautious in stating what
it does not do. The reiterated assertion that hairy cater-
pillars are immune from the attacks of birds has been modi-
fied of late by some writers, and is now oftener given, in
effect, that few birds eat them ; but this statement needs still
further modification. We cannot rely on results secured by

 

1 First Report on Injurious and Beneficial Insects of Massachusetts, by A. S.
Packard. Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture,
1870-71, pp. 358, 359.
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 113

 

feeding a few European birds in captivity, or upon the mere
casual observations of any one, to establish facts.

No one, however, is warranted in attempting to dispute
assertions made by eminent naturalists, unless he is prepared
to show that his own experience has been extended and varied
enough to warrant him in assuming them to be in error. To
justify my own position, I shall present here some revised
portions of some papers previously published, and some field
notes from a few observers, that the reader may judge of
the character of the evidence offered to disprove the state-
ment that birds do not eat hairy caterpillars. It will first
be necessary, however, to explain how the evidence was
secured. For more than thirty years I have observed, from
time to time, the feeding of birds upon caterpillars, and
during nine years of this time I had an opportunity to com-
pare notes on this subject with many other field workers.
During the prosecution of the work against the gipsy moth
by the State Board of Agriculture more than a thousand
men were employed, among whom were many who knew
the more common birds. Some were keen field naturalists.
In the early history of the work, when it was seen that
birds were feeding on the hairy caterpillars, all those em-
ployees who knew birds were requested to watch both birds
and insects, and report results. There were eleven such ob-
servers on the force at that time. Others joined the force
from time to time, until the number of competent persons
whose experiences were recorded was increased to thirty-
eight. Some of these observers were employed only one
season; others were in the employ of the Board for six,
seven, or eight years, and made observations during each
year. The conditions under which these studies were made
were such that most of the birds could be observed within
either a few feet or a few yards. Those which could not
be so readily approached were watched with the aid of good
field glasses or opera glasses, and, where there appeared to
be doubt, birds were shot, and the contents of their stomachs
were carefully examined. Much that was learned by ex-
perience in the earlier studies was turned to good account
in conducting those made later. The value of such observa-
114 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

tions may be questioned by those who rely solely upon the
examination of stomach contents to determine the food of
birds ; but for the purpose for which these investigations are
made they are, if skilfully conducted, quite as serviceable
as stomach examinations. In fact, one must supplement the
other. Were one to follow the birds about through the

fields and woods, no doubt some interesting facts might be

learned in regard to their food; but it is not in this way
that a series of accurate observations can be made. For
our purpose, the method pursued was to find an outbreak
of hairy caterpillars situated in a locality where many spe-
cies of birds would be likely to find it. The watcher first
made sure as to the kind of insects to be found upon the
trees or plants to be watched; he then concealed himself
near the insects whose destruction he wished to observe, and
watched the birds which came there to feed. When this
method is followed methodically by trustworthy, painstaking
naturalists, and when results obtained by different observers,
working independently, agree in the main, there can be no
reasonable doubt as to the value of such observations. When
the caterpillars are small, certain marked branches are selected
to be watched, or certain nests, webs, or tents are studied at
close range. By this method, as well as by stomach exam-
inations, fifty-one species or subspecies of birds were found
to be feeding to a greater or less extent upon hairy cater-
pillars. A list of these is given below. It will be seen
that it comprises most of the common summer birds found
in Massachusetts woodlands, and some not commonly found

there.
Birds observed feeding on Hairy Caterpillars.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Blue Jay.

Black-billed Cuckoo. Crow.

Hairy Woodpecker. Red-winged Blackbird.

Downy Woodpecker. Baltimore Oriole.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Purple Grackle or Crow Blackbird.
Northern Flicker. Bronzed Grackle.

Kingbird. White-throated Sparrow.

Crested Flycatcher. Chipping Sparrow.

Pheebe. Field Sparrow.

Wood Pewee. Song Sparrow.

Least Flycatcher. Towhee.
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE.

115

 

Birds observed feeding on Hairy Caterpillars— Concluded.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Indigo Bunting.

English Sparrow.
Scarlet Tanager.

Cedar Waxwing.
Red-eyed Vireo.
Yellow-throated Vireo.
Warbling Vireo.
White-eyed Vireo.

Black and White Warbler.
Parula Warbler.
Golden-winged Warbler.
Nashville Warbler.
Yellow Warbler.
Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Birds feeding on the
Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Black-billed Cuckoo.
Hairy Woodpecker.
Downy Woodpecker.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Kingbird.
Crested Flycatcher.
Phebe.
Wood Pewee.
Least Flycatcher.
Blue Jay.
Crow.
Baltimore Oriole.
Chipping Sparrow.
Towhee.

 

Northern Yellow-throat.
Black-throated Green Warbler.
Oven-bird.

American Redstart.
Catbird.

Brown Thrasher.

House Wren.
White-breasted Nuthatch.
Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Chickadee.

Wood Thrush.

Wilson’s Thrush.
American Robin.
Bluebird.

Pupe or Imagoes.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Indigo Bunting.

English Sparrow.
Scarlet Tanager.
Red-eyed Vireo.
Yellow-throated Vireo.
Black and White Warbler.
Yellow Warbler.
American Redstart.
Catbird.

Brown Thrasher.
Chickadee.

Robin.

Bluebird.

It is interesting to note that certain birds feed on the eggs
of some of the parent moths, and that many birds take the

moths in flight.

Without going further into details here, I

shall endeavor later, in connection with the life history of
our more common and useful birds, to give some information
regarding the kind of hairy caterpillars each species eats,
and its comparative usefulness in this respect.

Assuming that our observations have proved that birds eat
hairy caterpillars, it may be interesting to inquire why this
116 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

fact has not been previously noticed. It will be seen at
once, by one who makes a study of the subject, that the
error which has been so long persisted in arises, first, froma
lack of careful observation. It is noteworthy that most of
the more observing writers give the Cuckoo as an exception
to their established (?) rule that birds do not eat hairy cat-
erpillars. It is not strange that the Cuckoos should have
been known for years to feed on such caterpillars. The
Cuckoos are sizable birds; they are not very shy, and, as
they feed on the larger caterpillars when those insects are
full-grown, and as both Cuckoos and caterpillars are common
in the vicinity of dwellings, their habits in this respect could
not escape the most casual observer. But it is much more
difficult to observe the habits of shy birds, such as the Crows
and Jays, which feed on the larger caterpillars; and to learn
the feeding habits of the smaller birds, which feed mainly
on the minute larve soon after these have hatched from
the egg, requires the most painstaking care. Most of the
caterpillars that are eaten by the smaller birds are taken
when the larvee are so small-and have done so little injury
that they have not become apparent to common observa-
tion. Thus they are destroyed before most people even
suspect their presence ; while, per contra, those which escape
the smaller birds and grow to a large size are seldom eaten
in this stage except by a few species of the larger birds,
which, like the Cuckoo, Catbird, Jay, and Crow, bolt them
whole. Thus another source of the prevalent opinion is ex-
plained. A few smaller birds, such as the Titmice, Vireos,
and Orioles, tear caterpillars open, and thus avoid swallowing
the head, skin, and hair. Sometimes, when the adult birds
put such caterpillars down the throats of their well-grown
young, the little birds will reject them. A young Oriole put
its foot upon the protruding end of a larva, and pulled the
wriggling creature back to daylight. There is no doubt
that when these caterpillars grow large many small birds
experience the same difficulty in eating them whole that we
should encounter were we attempting to swallow the bones of
a fish. So, when larvee have grown large, and are covered
with stiff spines or hairs, only the larger birds or the most
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 117

 

intelligent, industrious, and persevering of the smaller birds
will attack and devour them. When caterpillars are enclosed
in webs they are not quite so much exposed to the attacks
of birds as when they are feeding upon the foliage ; for many
birds lack either the intelligence, industry, or perseverance
exhibited by those that tear open the webs and hale forth the
inmates. Caterpillars get comparatively little protection,
however, by retreating into their webs, unless they feed at
night and remain clustered in the web during the entire day.
Even then they must run the gauntlet of some of the almost
crepuscular Thrushes and Flycatchers, the Owls and Whip-
poor-wills. Those who tell us glibly that tent caterpillars
are never attacked by birds forget that these larve are out
feeding upon the leaves during most of the day, where they
are just as much exposed to the attacks of birds as is any
other insect. It is true that at early morning and early
evening, a time when most birds are actively feeding, these
caterpillars are hidden away in their tents. Undoubtedly
this habit came through natural selection. Those that had
acquired the habit were more likely to escape the birds at
morning and evening than those that were out upon the
leaves at those times, and so, through generations, the habit
has become fixed. These caterpillars also may have some
immunity from birds by remaining in their tents during
some of the colder weather of early spring; nevertheless,
the tents are not an infallible protection. Many species
of birds besides the Cuckoo tear open caterpillars’ “ nests.”
Some do this merely to get at the larve, others mainly to
procure web with which to bind together the other mate-
rials of which their own nests are composed. This cater-
pillar web is much used by birds for this purpose. "Tent
caterpillars really have very little protection from birds
where the conditions are as they should be.

For five years the birds have been mainly depended upon
‘to clear these larve from the trees about my home, and
we have not in any year removed more than one or two
tents from the trees. In the spring of 1905 there were two
which appeared to have escaped the attacks of birds, and one
day, as we were about leaving home for the summer, I exam-
118 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

ined these tents, and concluded to remove them. At that
moment we were called to dinner, and left the trees for half
an hour; when we returned, the largest tent had been torn
open, and several dead caterpillars were scattered about that
had been dealt with in the manner characteristic of the Ori-
ole or the,Chickadee. Several large holes in the web showed
how they had been extracted. Being obliged to leave at
once, I was unable to watch the tree, to see what bird was
doing the good work; but Mr. C. Allan Lyford, who was
with me, remained and photographed the caterpillars’ nest.
The accompanying illustration made from his photograph
shows plainly an opening made by the birds, as well as sev-
eral of the dead caterpillars lying upon the limb or hanging
from it. We did not take off the tents, but left them and
their occupants to the tender mercies of the birds; and our
confidence in their protective service was fully justified by
the results observed later.

But, it may be asked, why have not those who have dis-
sected the stomachs of the birds discovered that they were
eating hairy caterpillars? To this it may be answered that
up to the present time most of the knowledge that has been
gained in regard to the destruction of hairy caterpillars by
birds has come from stomach examinations, and it is mainly
by stomach examinations that light has been thrown on
this question. Yet he who examines the stomachs of small
birds labors under many difficulties in determining the specific
character and quantity of this kind of food. Minute cater-
pillars are speedily reduced to a pulpy mass in the bird’s
stomach. While the field observer may readily identify the
small tent caterpillars, for instance, on which the birds are
feeding, and even count the number eaten, it might be im-
possible for the man in the laboratory, working without exact
knowledge of the conditions under which the bird was shot,
to do either. Most of the larger caterpillars eaten by some
of the smaller birds are not swallowed whole, but picked to
pieces; therefore the portion of the caterpillar swallowed
would be entirely unrecognizable when found in the bird’s
stomach. Other caterpillars are dissected, as it were, by the
bird, and only the internal parts chosen as food ; these can-
‘usas ATureld oq ued ‘sIeTId1e}e0 peop oUIOs pus ‘spIIq JO
syeoq ot} Aq opel ssujuedo oy, “sprig Aq payoryze useq pey yorym ‘reypidiayeg quay jo QaAA—'ILIX ALVWId

   
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE, 119

 

not be identified in the stomach of a bird. Orioles, Vireos,
and Titmice are among the birds that commonly dissect
caterpillars in this way. This is notra rare or exceptional
habit, nor is it difficult to observe. It seems to be a device
adopted by certain of the smaller birds mainly when feeding
on caterpillars too large to be swallowed whole without caus-
ing some inconvenience; therefore, they choose the parts
which can be digested readily, and reject the others.

There are two facts which have gone far to justify the con-
clusions of those who believe that birds do not eat hairy cat-
erpillars; they are: (1) most birds appear to prefer hairless
caterpillars with which to feed their young; (2) when small
hairless caterpillars are abundant, most birds seem to prefer
them to large hairy caterpillars. The first statement may
be accepted as a rule; nevertheless, fifteen species of birds
were seen by my assistants in the act of carrying away hairy
larvee apparently to feed their young, and some of these were
actually seen to put large hairy caterpillars down the throats
of the young birds. These fifteen species are: the Robin,
Wood Thrush, Catbird, Chickadee, Chestnut-sided War-
bler, Yellow Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Yellow-
throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Crow,
Blue Jay, Baltimore Oriole, Black-billed Cuckoo, and Ycl-
low-billed Cuckoo. Statement No. 2 is proved by records
made by several observers, in years when cankerworms
were abundant. They found that when birds had for some
time been feeding on the hairy caterpillars of the gipsy moth
they neglected these larve, for a time, at least, to feed on
the young cankerworms. While the above observations
show that the hairy caterpillars are not so eagerly sought
after by most birds as are many hairless kinds, and that the

‘ hairy species enjoy seasons of partial immunity from the at-
tacks of birds, they form no adequate excuse for the sweep-
ing, erroneous generalizations regarding this subject that
have been given a wide circulation.

If we turn to the literature of economic entomology, we
shall find many records which are corroborative of my state-
ments. The occurrence of the great flight of Starlings and
other birds that flocked to feed on the caterpillars of the nun
120 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

moth (as cited on p. 17), may be mentioned here in refu-
tation of the assertions of European writers to the effect
that hairy caterpillars are not eaten by birds. The fact that
birds have been seen to feed more commonly on such cater-
pillars in Massachusetts than elsewhere suggests the proba-
bility that this habit of feeding is local and exceptional.
But records of the destruction of the forest tent caterpillar
by birds in New York and New England, as given by Miss
J} Soule, Dr. Felt, and others, show that the species that attack
hairy larvee in Massachusetts are useful in this respect else-
where. There are many other records in the literature of
American economic entomology and ornithology which might
be offered to corroborate the specific instances hereinafter
given. This habit of birds has been observed more in Mas-
sachusetts than elsewhere merely because the conditions here
have been exceptional, and the birds have been carefully
watched.
It seems quite probable, from my experience, that those
extremely hairy and destructive caterpillars, the Arctians,
commonly represented by the yellow
bear (Diacrisia virginica) and the
woolly bear (Jsta isabella), are not
chosen as food by many birds. _ Still,
Fig. 38.—The woolly bear I have never known either of these
CHS GE MNES: species to be very abundant, and
think it not improbable that their comparative scarcity may
be largely due to their being eaten when very small by birds.
The earlier Thrushes
take some of these
larve that winter
upon the ground.

 

  

= 7 ; Lv

 

Should these cater- Fig. 39.—The yellow bear caterpillar. This and

pillars ever become the woolly bear are destructive hairy species, such
ag are eaten by Thrushes, Robins, and Bluebirds.
very abundant at any

time, it seems probable that other birds would attack them.
The tussock moth caterpillars (Hemerocampa leucostigma)
and others, which Dr. Packard instances as probably immune
from the attacks of birds, are eaten by a goodly number;
and I have no doubt that the exemption of our trees in the
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 121

 

country from injury by these insects is largely due to the
good work of native birds, while the greater destructiveness
of this insect in our cities is no doubt in consequence of the
scarcity of such birds there.

Regarding the immunity of brightly colored caterpillars
from destruction by birds, my evidence is mainly of a nega-
tive character, and
therefore of little
value. I have never
known birds to eat
certain of the most
gaudily colored cater-
pillars, while others
are commonly eaten

 

Fig. 40.— Caterpillar of the white-marked tussock

by them. It would moth, a destructive shade-tree pest, eaten by many
birds.

seem that such larvee
as are made conspicuous by their coloring must have some
means of protection against theirenemies. In some instances
these bright colors may serve to warn birds that the creature
displaying them is distasteful or unfit for food. Usually,
however, such caterpillars are not numerous, and must, there-
fore, be preyed upon by natural enemies.

In that most admirable local economic study of bird life
by Dr. Judd, “The Birds of a Maryland Farm,” we find the
following statements: “The pea plant louse is a new species,
unfamiliar to birds, which, however, seldom eat plant lice”
(p. 28); “The fact that plant lice are not selected by birds
has been mentioned in the notes on the pea plant louse”
(p. 29). I cannot understand how Dr. Judd could have
been led into making such erroneous statements, for the
facts are that, while some species of plant lice appear to be
ignored by birds, other species often form for them a staple
food supply. For example, I have never seen any bird eat
the melon plant louse, but several species eat the cabbage
plant louse, and the birch aphis is a favorite food for birds.
It is also a well-known and undisputed fact that some birds
subsist largely during the winter on the eggs of plant lice.
Before Dr. Judd’s paper was given to the public, several in-
vestigators had published the fact that certain birds eat cer-
122 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

tain plant lice; and two years previously I had published a
list of thirty-four species which feed upon plant lice. It is
a widely known fact in Massachusetts that practically all of
the resident and migrant Warblers eat the birch plant louse.
It is only necessary for one to find a locality where these
insects are numerous if he wishes to make sure of finding in
their seasons about all the Warblers that breed in that region
or migrate through it, and also many other birds not ordi-
narily found among the birches. Trees are seldom killed
by plant lice; but they are often seriously weakened, their
fruitage lessened, and their growth greatly retarded by the
attacks of these prolific creatures. Undoubtedly the plant
lice of the birch would greatly reduce the annual crop of
birch wood and Jumber were it not for the manner in which
their increase is checked by birds. A list of thirty-eight
species of birds that have been found, either by myself or
my assistants, feeding on birch plant lice, is appended : —

Downy Woodpecker. Chickadee.

Northern Flicker. Scarlet Tanager.

Chimney Swift. Red-eyed Vireo.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Yellow-throated Vireo.

Wood Pewee. Black and White Warbler.
Least Flycatcher. Myrtle Warbler.

Purple Finch. Parula Warbler.

Rusty Blackbird. Yellow Warbler.

Red-winged Blackbird. Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Baitimore Oriole. Magnolia Warbler.
American Goldfinch. Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Slate-colored Junco. Northern Yellow-throat.
Chipping Sparrow. Black-throated Green Warbler.
White-throated Sparrow. Black-poll Warbler.

Field Sparrow. Oven-bird.

Bobolink. American Redstart.

Towhee. Catbird.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak. White-breasted Nuthatch.
Indigo Bunting. American Robin.

 

Some of the evidence from which my conclusions were
drawn regarding the economic relations existing between
birds on the one hand and plant lice and hairy caterpillars
on the other, is here presented, that the reader may have an
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 123

 

opportunity to judge for himself as to the value of these
birds. If this volume does no more than to correct the
prevalent erroneous impression regarding the relations be-
tween birds and hairy caterpillars, and call attention to
the necessity of protecting the birds that eat such larve, it
will have accomplished something worth while. The ques-
tion whether or not birds will eat the caterpillars of Bom-
bycid moths is of vast importance to the Commonwealth,
the adjoining States, and the nation; for, unless we can
get help from the natural enemies of the gipsy moth and
the brown-tail moth, the fight against these insects is likely
to cost the State many millions of dollars in the end, while
other States that surely will be invaded must suffer also.
If it can be shown that birds are capable of doing effective
work against these insects, it ought not to be difficult to
create such a public sentiment in favor of bird protection as
will result in a considerable increase in the numbers of the
useful species which obtain a part of their sustenance from
this abundant food supply.

In May, 1898, injurious insects were unusually prominent
in the Middlesex Fells. The birches swarmed with aphids ;
cankerworms appeared on the apple and elm trees; the
growing webs of tent caterpillars were seen on most of the
wild apple and wild cherry trees; forest caterpillars were
gathering on oaks and maples; sawflies, mosquitoes, ants,
leaf-rollers, and many other injurious species were abun-
dant. The brown-tail moth was just getting a good foothold
in the woods, while the ever-present gipsy moth larve were
beginning to swarm up the trees from the furry egg clus-
ters hidden among the loose stones and seamed ledges of
the rocky hills. As usual at such times, birds were present
in large numbers. Warblers were flitting among the birch
trees, regaling themselves on countless thousands of plant
lice, plucking young tent caterpillars from the opening buds
of wild apple trees or from the fast-forming webs. They
alighted on the tree trunks and climbed around them, as they
eagerly sought tiny hairy larve of the gipsy moth, or flut-
tered in the sunlight as they chased winged gnats in air.

It seemed that there could be no better opportunity to ob-
124 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

serve the usefulness of birds as destroyers of plant lice and
hairy caterpillars, and we determined to have both insects
and birds watched at intervals through the spring and
summer, that others might learn much that a lack of time
rendered it impossible for us to determine by personal ob-
servation. It was evident that certain birds were living very
largely at this time on plant lice and three or four species
of hairy caterpillars, and we wished to learn whether they
and others would follow up this practice through the spring,
and also whether they were learning to eat the larvee of the
brown-tail moth. These larve are provided not only with
long hairs but with a coating of short, loosely attached hairs
on the posterior part of the body, which are easily detached,
barbed like the quills of a porcupine, and so tenacious that
they will work quickly into the human skin and cause a vio-
lent irritation and an itching eruption, which lasts for several
days. It was to be expected that these, more than any other
hairy caterpillar, would prove distasteful to birds, but the re-
sult of the investigation that followed showed that birds were.
learning how to manage them. Messrs. Charles E. Bailey
and F, H. Mosher, both woodsmen and thoroughly compe-
tent observers, well acquainted with both birds and insects,
were instructed to make frequent visits to places where the
conditions were such that they could readily observe the
feeding of birds on hairy caterpillars and plant lice. They
were asked to take notes and report the results each day.
In order to give the reader a clear idea as to the character of
the evidence thus secured, some of their field notes are tran-
scribed below. The following notes are from Mr. Mosher’s
reports : —

May 26, 1898.—TI went to the park near Hemlock Pool, Stoneham.
An Oven-bird stayed near me twenty minutes; took eight gipsy moth
larve, several larve that I could not determine, and many plant lice;
then hopped to the ground and walked away, searching in the leaves.
Three Chickadees came to the trees, and two of them took a gipsy
larva each. They were picking plant lice and scales from the bark, and
were picking off the loose bark, but I could not see what they got from
beneath it. Two Black and White Warblers flitted from tree to tree,
picking something from the bark and leaves, and were particularly busy
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 125

 

with the small twigs of the oaks. On looking at them after the birds
were gone I found small scales on the twigs. The birds also took plant
lice from the under sides of the birch leaves, four larve that looked like
cankerworms, and three gipsy larve. A Red-eyed Vireo came four dif-
ferent times, taking each time respectively seven, three, twelve, and
fifteen gipsy larvee. Besides these, he took plant lice and other insects
from the leaves and bark. Yellow-throated Vireos were coming and
going constantly, and I could not distinguish between them. They
were eating plant lice and insects from the bark and leaves. I saw
them eat thirty-two gipsy larve. I heard a commotion among the
Robins that have a nest a short distance away. On going to the spot,
I found a Crow in the act of carrying away one of the young birds.
Probably he came later and took the remainder of the young, for the nest
was empty when I returned. J changed my position to the edge of the
woods. A pair of Bobolinks that are living in the fields near by came
to the birches and picked plant lice for over half an hour, then a move-
ment on my part frightened them away. The Orioles were busy taking
the plant lice, and several times the male went to the tent caterpillars’
nest and ate them. I saw them eat over forty of the gipsy caterpillars,
that I was sure of, in the hour they were in sight. There were Che-
winks, Least Flycatchers, Redstarts, Scarlet Tanagers, Brown Thrushes,
Wood Thrushes, and one Red-winged Blackbird that were feeding, but
I could not see plainly what they were feeding on.

May 28, 1898. — A Black-billed Cuckoo went to an oak tree and ate
thirty-six forest tent caterpillars inside of five minutes. Its nest was
near by, with two eggs, and both birds were carrying the withering
blossoms of the oak and poplar to line it. The Black and White War-
blers were eating forest tent caterpillars, cankerworms, and other larvee,
besides plant lice. I could not see them for more than a moment at
a time, but when seen they were continually eating. They were also
picking insects from the crevices of the bark. The Rose-breasted Gros-
beaks were eating plant lice and the gall insects from the galls on the
oak leaves. The Red-eyed Vireos were eating plant lice, forest tent
caterpillars, cankerworms, and other larve that J could not determine.
From one oak tree the Red-eyed Vireos took ninety-two forest tent
caterpillars in anhour. The Purple Finches were eating plant lice in the
tops of the birches, but were so wild that their habits could not be
observed. . . . A Red-winged Blackbird perched for a moment in the
birches, and ate the plant lice while there. A pair of Catbirds have a
nest near the grove, and they would both perch in the branches and pick
the plant lice for an hour at a time. ‘The Tanagers confined themselves
almost wholly to the oaks, taking larve from the leaves. One took
seven forest tent caterpillars from a mass on a branch. The Redstarts
were equally as industrious as the Yellow-throats,’ but they did not con-

 

» See Mr. Mosher’s report regarding these Yellow-throats, on p. 62.

~
126 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

fine themselves to any one tree, and would dart about in such a manner,
taking insects on the wing, flies, moths, winged plant lice, etc., that one
could not keep count of what they ate. A male Chewink came to a
tent caterpillars’ nest that was on a wild cherry, and he was eating the
caterpillars. When I made a movement to enable me to see more
plainly, he flew away.

May 31, 1898. —I went to Rural Avenue, Medford. During the first
hour the birds were very plentiful, but by 9 a.m. there were but few
there. There was a family of Crows in the place all the time, but they
were in the tops of the pine trees, therefore I could not see what they
were feeding their young, but could hear their feeding cries very fre-
quently. A Blue Jay was carrying food to her young. I got near
enough to see her take two gipsy larve and carry them away. A
Wood Thrush was singing in the bushes near the water. I got near
enough to see him picking jarve from the leaves. He took five gipsy
larvee aiter I came in sight; the cracking of a twig caused him to fly
away. The Catbird was present, as usual, first eating larvae (voth
gipsy and other species), then perching on the top of the highest bush
and singing with all its might, now and then throwing in a fairly good
imitation of the “caw” of the Crow. A new bird now made his ap-
pearance. He was of a bluish color, and was seen picking plant lice
before I was certain of his identity. He then took a short flight to the
oak sprouts, revealing his yellow back. This Parula Warbler ate three
small gipsy caterpillars and four or five green larve, and then flew
out of sight. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak ate plant lice, gipsy larve,
gall insects, and took some kermes from a branch, cracking them with
his bill and dropping the shells to the ground. A Yellow-billed
Cuckoo came, and ate forty-one gipsy larve in about fifteen minutes ;
she then flew away. On my way out of the woods I stopped at the
edge of the open to observe what birds were feeding on plant lice on
the birch trees. Some Indigo Birds were busy eating them, and while
I was looking I saw a Robin alight in the birches and pick up plant lice.

JUNE 1, 1898. —I went to the park near the Malden-Stoneham line,
and took up my position in a grove of small white birches and some
wild cherry trees with tent caterpillar nests on them. A Brown Thrush
came to the cherry trees and took five tent caterpillars from the outside
of the nest, and ate them. Several Chestnut-sided Warblers came to
the birches and were picking plant lice all the time they were there,
also larvee of different kinds. They were coming and going all the
time I was in the place. A Chipping Sparrow remained in the birches
for sixteen minutes, and ate plant lice and green larvee during that
time. A Flicker alighted on an oak tree and took two forest tent cater-
pillars from the trunk. He also took insects from the crevices of the
bark. A Wood Pewee alighted on a dead branch, and took moths, flies,
and plant lice on the wing. An Oriole came four times, and each time
took a tent caterpillar from the nest to his young. An Indigo Bird came
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 127

 

twice and ate plant lice and some small larve. Three Red-eyed Vireos
came to the oak trees and ate the larve from the leaves and the plant
lice from the birch leaves.

JUNE 3, 1898.—I went to the park near the boulevard. Saw an
Oriole take four forest tent caterpillars, one at a time, and carry them
away to its young. A Yellow Warbler was eating plant lice for fifteen
minutes, although it rained quite hard. A pair of Oven-birds were
feeding on plant lice for a long time. Several Chestnut-sided Warblers
came to the birch trees and ate plant lice, then went to the oaks and
poplars and took larve of different kinds and ate them. A Catbird was
picking larve from the under sides of the leaves; most of them were
green larve. Two Chewinks (Towhees) were scratching in the leaves,
but I could not see what they got from the ground. They took some
forest tent caterpillars from the trunks of the oaks. A Maryland Yel-
low-throat came out of the thick brush and ate plant lice for about ten
minutes. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was busy in the oak trees. He
came to the birches for a moment and ate plant lice. A Red-eyed
Vireo ate two forest tent caterpillars, taking them from the under side
ofa limb. The Indigo Bird could not be easily observed; he was evi-
dently eating plant lice. The Brown Thrush could not be seen dis-
tinctly ; he was searching in the fallen leaves. A Black-billed Cuckoo
had a nest near, and carried forest tent caterpillars to its mate.

JUNE 6, 1898.— The Red-eyed Vireos seem to be feeding on more
gipsy larvee than the other birds that come near enough to be observed.
They will take a larva from the under side of a leaf or a crevice in
the bark, and, putting one foot on the larva, will proceed-to pull it to
pieces, eating the softer parts and dropping the hairy parts. An Oven-
bird came to the colony and ate four of the small larvse, picking them
from the under sides of the leaves. I saw a Black and White Warbler
carrying cankerworms to its young; it would take two and sometimes
three at atime. A Baltimore Oriole was taking tent caterpillars to its
young, taking those that were on the outside of the nest. A male Bobo-
link came to the birch trees and remained about twenty minutes, picking
plant lice. The Field Sparrows and Indigo Birds were also busy feed-
ing on plant lice. A Wood Thrush took the cankerworms away to its
young. A Chewink took two tent caterpillars from a bush and ate them.
A Scarlet Tanager flew from the oaks into the apple tree and ate canker-
worms. The Chestnut-sided Warblers were the most plentiful of any
of the birds, and were eating plant lice almost constantly.

JUNE 8, 1898. —I went to the park, Stoneham, near Spot Pond, to
observe the feeding habits of birds. A pair of Brown Thrushes were
feeding their young; they averaged going to the nest one every five
minutes, and carried several larve each time. A Kingbird caught a
Buprestid beetle and ate it. I had made an attempt at catching it when
it was on the trunk of the apple tree; it flew, and was snapped up by
the Kingbird. This orchard is infested with cankerworms. It is situ-
128 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

ated near the woods, in fact, there are woods on both sides, and no
houses near. The following birds were seen in the orchard during the
forenoon: Crow, Blue Jay, Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow Warbler,
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Maryland Yellow-
throat, Bobolink, Indigo Bird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Goldfinch,
Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Kingbird, Brown Thrush, Catbird,
Robin, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, and Black-billed Cuckoo.
A Black-billed Cuckoo came to the orchard and ate twenty-seven canker-
worms in two minutes; he remained over half an hour, and part of the
time was eating much faster than when I counted. A Grosbeak came
and ate both cankerworms and birch aphids. A pair of Song Sparrows
were carrying cankerworms to their young. A male Oriole came a long
distance to the orchard, for when he had got some cankerworms in his
bill he would start across the woods in a straight line, flying out of sight ;
he would come back in about half an hour. The Red-winged Black-
birds came to the orchard from a swamp nearly half a mile away, and
ate the cankerworms and carried them to their young. A Catbird
came occasionally and ate cankerworms, then would go and perch in
the alders beneath which his mate was sitting on her eggs, and sing
with all his might. I saw a Chimney Swift taking plant lice on the
wing.

On July 9, 1898, Mr. Bailey made some interesting early
morning notes on birds feeding on the gipsy moth. These
are quoted below : —

I left Malden for Medford at 3.30 a.m., and went to Forest Street,
Medford. I arrived there at 4 a.m., and there were some birds in the
place then. The first bird that I saw eating the gipsy caterpillars was
the Red-winged Blackbird. The Blackbirds came in almost at the same
time that I arrived, and they stayed until 6 o’clock, then left and did not
come back. TI could not tell how many caterpillars were eaten by these
birds, but they took them very often, both the large and the small ones.
I saw them take no pupx. All the caterpillars were taken from the tops
of the trees. J did not see the birds come near the ground. There were
seven Baltimore Orioles, and they wére eating caterpillars all ‘the time
from 4.30 until 8; then they stopped eating, but did not go outside the
woods. As nearly as I could judge, the Orioles did not pick out small
caterpillars, but took as large ones as there were. I did not see them
take any pupe. The Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos were there
all the time that I was. They did not take the caterpillars as often as
did the other birds. Those that they did take were picked from the
trunk of the tree or from the ground; they went very little to the tops
of the trees. Pups were eaten by these birds. I could get within ten
feet of them very often. The Blackbirds and Orioles ate more cater-
pillars than the other birds. There was one Catbird in the woods; it

i
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 129

 

came about the same time as the Blackbirds, but I saw it for only a
short time; it took caterpillars and pupw. ‘There were four Red-eyed
Vireos, but I saw them take only one caterpillar, and they were in the
place all the time that I was. There were also six Downy Wood-
peckers, butI did not see them take any caterpillars or pupe. A brood
of Chickadees was there all the time, and they took caterpillars and pup
of the gipsy moth and some kind of a green caterpillar. They took all
their food from near the ground, and would pick the pupz and cater-
pillars open before eating them. There was a nest of the American
Redstart, and the tree had been stripped of leaves by the caterpillars.
There were four young birds in the nest. I saw the old birds take but
one very small gipsy moth caterpillar to the young, but they would pick
the large ones off the nest and drop them to the ground very often.?
There were no pup near the nest that I could see. Two Robins
came to the colony very often to get food for their young. I could not
tell how many they took with them each time, but should judge from
the cluster of caterpillars in the bill that there were as many as six.
The Robins took all the caterpillars from near the ground or from the
ground. I did not look for the Robins’ nest, but could see the birds go
one hundred and twenty-five yards to a large maple tree, and I think
the nest was in this tree. One Blue Jay came, but stayed only a very
short time. It took two caterpillars, but, as they were in the tops of
trees, I was not sure that they were gipsy caterpillars. A brood of
Crows (four young and two old birds) came, and stayed till I moved,
and then left and did not come back. They came at 8 o’clock and
stayed until almost 9. They were all in the trees directly over me for
a long time; at times they were within ten feet of me. They would
go to a cluster of pups and caterpillars and eat some, but drop more
than they ate. JI think they took more pup than caterpillars, but took
a large number of caterpillars. The young birds took many more than
the old ones. ‘The old birds left the place for a short time, but came
back. I think the six Crows took two hundred pupse while in sight.
Some of the time they took them as fast as a hen would pick up corn.

After this time most of the smaller birds neglected the
hairy caterpillars to attack the cankerworms, which were
then becoming very prominent. When the cankerworms
had disappeared the larger species continued to feed on the
gipsy moth so long as it could be obtained.

These observations were begun rather late in the season,
and the records kept by the observers were not very full, on
account of the pressure of other duties, which also limited

 

' Redstarts are among the most useful birds that eat the smaller caterpillars,
put at this season the larvee were nearly all too large for the bird to manage.
130 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the time that could be spared for this kind of work. In
1899, however, Mr. Mosher was detailed for this work early
in the season, and instructed to spend such time daily as
was necessary to observe the feeding of birds on these in-
sects. He was requested also to make full notes each day.
As many of these field notes as the available space will per-
mit are given below. Many of the observations were made
in the morning, but not during the earlier morning hours,
when birds feed most actively. The weather being mild, on
the 24th of April a few brown-tail moth larve that had win-
tered on the trees began to crawl out.

Aprit 24.—In Cambridge, near Fresh Pond, I
saw a large flock of Red-winged Blackbirds foraging
on a newly plowed field, and from a large pile of
dressing they were taking flies. From a pear tree
near by three of them took brown-tail moth larvae
from the opening buds. They were in the tree seven-
teen minutes, and were eating all the time.

APRIL 26.—In Revere, near the Malden line, I
found a pear tree with a brown-tail moth web on it.
A pair of Crow Blackbirds came, and remained about
forty-five minutes in that tree and the one adjoining.
They plumed their feathers for a while, then began
looking over the tree for food. They alighted sev-
eral times on the branch that was most infested, and
picked the larvee from the buds and from the crevices
of the bark.

A little later the tent caterpillars began
Fig.41.—Webor batching, under the influence of the warm

the browntail spring sun, and the birds could find a few of

moth caterpil-
lar, reduced. them.

 

APRIL 27.—In Stoneham, off Forest Street, I observed the birds
feeding on tent caterpillars. A Black and White Warbler came three
different times, and took the small caterpillars from the buds. The
Chickadees visited the bush, and took a few caterpillars. None seemed
to take them from the web. The May flies were unusually plentiful,
and the Least Flycatchers were feeding on them.

APRIL 28.—-On Mr. Dutton’s estate, Malden, I saw Black and
White Warblers feeding freely on tent caterpillars, and also Chickadees
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 131

 

feeding on them. A pair of Robins were building near by. When
the female was arranging the materials of the nest the male was search-
ing for food. When she started for another load he would fly after
her. He flew to a small wild cherry tree and picked a few of the
young tent larvee from the branch just above the web.

May 1.—Near the Fells, Malden. The White-throated Sparrows
were quite plentiful all day. I observed one come from the thick
brush along the edge of the swamp, and forage along in the lower
trees. It went to a tent caterpillars’ web, and ate at least eight of
them. Most of these Sparrows were foraging in the low bushes and
on the ground.

May 2.— A Field Sparrow took a number of tent caterpillars from
a branch. The Field Sparrows were very plentiful, but I could not
often get near enough to see what they were eating. A Chewink took
some of the tent caterpillars from the branch that I had placed in the
thicket to see if they would eat them.

May 3.—In Malden. I saw a Robin go toatree with many brown-
tail larvee on it, and eat several of them. The day was very cold, and
the larvee were clustered together on the Branches. The bird picked
into the mass five times, and must have taken several each time.

May 4.—In Stoneham. Six Cedar Waxwings came to an apple
tree on which was a tent caterpillars’ web, and two of them picked the
ljarve from the branches just above the web. Most of the time they
were picking the small cankerworms. A Brown Thrush came to the
wild cherry trees, and, after singing for a short time, ate a great many
tent caterpillars, then flew to the thick bushes and began searching in
the dead leaves.

May 5.— An Oriole came to the small wild cherry tree and ate sev-
eral tent caterpillars from the outside of the web, then tore it open and
ate out nearly all that were in it. This was a large web when I first
saw it; now there are but few of the caterpillars left, — the birds and
bugs have nearly cleaned them out. A Redstart came to another small
tree and took out three of the tent caterpillars from the twigs.

May 6.—A Rose-breasted Grosbeak went to an apple tree with a
tent caterpillars’ web on it, and took at least two of the larvee and prob-
ably took away more.

May 9.—I observed a number of Golden-winged Warblers working
near the cherry trees. Finally one went to the larger one, and after
working in it for a time went to the branch that had the web on it and
ate fourteen of the tent caterpillars. A male Nashville Warbler came
to the tree and took a few of the tent caterpillars, but he was so shy I
could not make out distinctly how many he ate.

May 10. —I located a male Red-winged Blackbird and two females
that were building in a small swamp hole. They were feeding, every
time I went past, in a small place where there were no bushes. There
132 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

were small tufts of grass growing out of the water. I took a branch
from an apple tree, put twenty-four tent caterpillars on it, and stuck it
up in the mud on their feeding grounds. J went away and was gone
twenty-five minutes, and when I came back the male was looking the
branch over. On examining the branch, I found but two caterpillars
left. They had crawled to the under side of the branch, and were well
concealed by leaves. At the apple tree with the brown-tail larvee there
were three species of birds seen to feed: Oriole, Robin, and Black and
White Warbler. ‘The Oriole came three times during the afternoon,
and took-fourteen the first time in six minutes, twenty-seven the second
time in eight minutes, and ten the last time in three minutes. The
Robin came but once, and took over thirty and stayed but little over
four minutes. The Black and White Warbler took twelve while in
sight, but was on the opposite side of the trunk and branches at least
half the time, and stayed nine minutes. The first took most of his
from the leaves, the second from the upper sides of the horizontal
branches, and the last from the bark crevices of the upright trunk.

May 11.—A pair of Blue Jays came to the apple tree and took
forty-seven of the brown-tdil larve. They were in the tree eighteen
minutes. A Robin came and picked off four brown-tail larvee and ate
them, then flew away. A Black and White Warbler ate fifteen brown-
tail larvae; stayed about ten minutes. <A pair of Chestnut-sided War-
plers came to the apple trees and ate cankerworms for about twenty
minutes. They must have eaten a great many, as they were pecking
all the time, but were behind the leaves a part of the time, so I could
not see the number. A Parula Warbler also came to the tree and ate
the cankerworms, then went .to the wild cherry tree and ate five tent
caterpillars. I counted seven Yellow Warblers at one time in two
apple trees, and they were all eating cankerworms. One of them went
to the cherry tree and ate three tent caterpillars that were on the out-
side of the web. Several Golden-winged Warblers came to the orchard
and ate cankerworms, but they were very shy. A Nashville Warbler
ate eight of the tent caterpillars, and stayed only three minutes. The
Yellow-throats were in the apple trees nearly all the forenoon, and
were busy most of the time eating the small cankerworms. I did not
see them trouble the tent caterpillars.

Cankerworms and gipsy moth caterpillars were now hatch-
ing in some numbers, and the birds could take their choice.

May 12.— There was a large flight of Warblers this morning. On
first arriving at the orchard I found the trees literally alive with them.
There were Golden-winged, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Parula, Black and
White, Nashville, Yellow-throated, and others that I was not sure of.
They would stop but a moment in any one place, but were chasing each
other from tree to tree, and were all singing in chorus. I saw all of
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 133

 

the above-mentioned eating cankerworms, but could not keep any one
individual in sight more than a few seconds at a time. By 7.45 most
of them had left the orchard. I saw a Least Flycatcher alight on a
branch of an apple tree near me, and when it saw a cankerworm move,
it would fly and snap it up from the leaf. I saw it take nine in this way
before it flew away. In the swamp
a Yellow Warbler came to the wil-
lows, and, after foraging in the top
for a time, alighted on one of the
shoots that was infested with the
gipsy moth, took fifteen of the larvae
in less than five minutes, then flew
out of sight. A Nashville Warbler also came and
remained among the willows for about half an
hour, and took forty-two gipsy moth larva while
in sight, but must have taken away many more,
for he was not in sight all the time. A Rose-
breasted Grosbeak came to the apple tree and ate
fifty-seven brown-tail larve. He was in the tree about twenty minutes,
and was singing and eating all the time. He probably ate more than
I was sure of.

May 15. — An Oriole ate fifteen of the tent caterpillars from the web
at one sitting, and nine in about twenty minutes after. The Robin was
still hanging around the brown-tail moth tree, but I did not see her eat
any. A Chestnut-sided Warbler came and stayed about twelve minutes,
and I counted twenty-eight brown-tails that he ate.

May 16.—I found that one large tent that was full of caterpillars a
week ago contained only three to-day, and a large part of the web had
been carried away by the birds for nesting material. Just after I had
? opened the web an Oriole flew to
it and took one of the remaining
caterpillars. The Orioles are eat-
ing immense numbers of canker-
worms. The row of apple trees
nearest the woods now show but
Fig. 43.—Caterpillar of the brown-tail little signs of the presence of

Das cankerworms. A pair of Scarlet
Tanagers came to the brown-tail moth tree. The male stayed seven-
teen minutes and the female ten minutes. The male ate at least forty-
four larvee, and probably many more. They took only those that were
on the leaves, and they examined all leaves that were curled up, and
took from them all the larvee they contained. A Wood Thrush came
to the tree just at night, and perched and sang for nearly half an hour.
Occasionally he would move along the branch and pick a brown-tail
larva or two. The Black and White Warblers came again, stopped a
moment, taking two and three each, then flew away.

   

Fig. 42.— Nashville
Warbler, natural size.

 
134 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

May 17. — A male Yellow Warbler came to the brown-tail moth tree
and began eating the larvee. He had eaten four when a flock of English
Sparrows flew into the tree and drove him out, one of them chasing him
across the boulevard. The remaining five Sparrows pecked a few times
at the larvae, then they flew to the street below. A Song Sparrow came
to the tree in the early morning and perched a while and sang, then he
went to the ground and foraged for about twenty minutes, searching in
the grass, then among the leaves. I saw him take two small green
grasshoppers. He then went to the tree and picked five brown-tail
larve from the branch, then flew away. A pair of Wood Thrushes
came to the orchard and stayed thirteen minutes. They were chasing
each other through the trees most of the time, but I saw one of them
take several cankerworms from the leaves. Finally they were chased
out by a Kingbird that is nesting near by. A Yellow-throated Vireo
came to one of the apple trees that has a tent caterpillars’ web on it,
took two of the caterpillars, and, after hammering them well on the
branch, swallowed them whole. He then went to another tree and
began eating cankerworms.

The number of gipsy moth caterpillars increased from this
time on, as the eggs hidden away in cool and shady places
hatched out; the number of birds seen feeding on them also
increased.

May 18.— Malden. In the deer park, just back of Mr. Dutton’s, I
found the gipsy moth larvee quite plentiful. A Black and White Warbler
came to the infested trees and hopped along on the trunk of a tree near
me, picking at the bark, and finally hopped to one of the branches with
larvae on the leaves, took eight gipsy larvee in a very short time, then
flew over the ledge out of sight. A pair of Golden-winged Warblers
were busy for a long time in the thick bushes. They came to the small
infested trees and picked the larvee from the leaves. Saw them take
twelve gipsy larvee, and they must have taken more. Yellow Warblers
were constantly passing through the trees. They would alight for a
moment and pick three or four gipsy larve, then fly on. Ishould think
there were as many as twenty-five that passed through. A single Chest-
nut-sided Warbler came to the trees and stayed fourteen minutes, and
took twenty-two of the gipsy larve that I saw, and many besides, I
presume. He also took some kind of green larvee from the leaves. He
would pick a few, and thensing. A pair of Oven-birds were apparently
building near. They were chasing each other through the trees every
few minutes, and would alight on the low bushes and pick the larve
from the leaves. They would stay but a moment at atime. A Brown
Thrasher, after scratching in the leaves in the bushes out of sight for a
while, came out into the opening, hopped along under the small cherry
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 135

 

trees, and took two of the tent caterpillars from a low branch. She
would hammer them on the ground for quite a time, then swallow them
whole. When she had swallowed the second one she saw me, and flew
away.

May 19.—A pair of Redstarts were in the orchard most of the fore-
noon, and were apparently eating cankerworms most of the time. ‘They
would take those that were spinning down by threads. In the afternoon
I saw one come to the
apple tree and remain
for about five min-
utes, and take eleven
brown-tail larve. <A
pair of Tanagers came
to the apple tree and
remained four min-
utes, and one took nine
and the other sixteen
brown-tail larve. A
Black and White War-
bler came to the apple
tree and remained
about ten minutes,
and took twenty-eight
brown-tail larvae, that
I saw, from the leaves

and trunks. He prob-
ably took many more. Fig. 44.— Warblers feeding on young caterpillars of the
gipsy moth.

 

A pair of Yellow
Warblers came to the tree, and each took a few, but they were so
active I could keep them in sight but a moment at a time.

May 20.—In the swamp off Broadway, Everett, the Warblers were
very plentiful in the morning, and were present in quite large numbers
until about 10 o’clock. Most of them were in the tops of the trees, and
it was a difficult thing to see what they were eating. The Yellow War-
blers, Yellow-throats, and Redstarts were feeding on the trunks of the
trees. There are very few limbs on the trees for a distance of fifteen
or twenty feet from the ground. The Warblers would cling to the
bark and pick the gipsy moth larvee from the crevices of the bark.
Their habits were different from those of a Creeper. Instead of cling-
ing to the bark with the body lengthwise of the trunk, and supported
by the tail, their bodies were crosswise of the trunk, and they depended
wholly on their feet to hold and balance them. They were hopping
round and round the trunks so that it was impossible to count the number
of larvee eaten by any one Warbler, or to keep him in sight any length
of time, on account of his swift movements. There were a great many
Crow Blackbirds that were nesting in the evergreens in Woodlawn Cem-
136 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

etery. They were also eating the gipsy larve. There was only one
that I could get near enough to see what and how many he was eating.
He, in a little over three minutes, ate forty larve that I was sure of.
Two pairs of Wilson’s Thrushes were near me nearly all the forenoon.
They did not stay in the trees much of the time. I saw one alight on a
small sprout on a willow and eat five gipsy moth larvie, then fly to the
ground. They were feeding almost wholly on the hummocks among
the bushes and grass.

May 22.—A pair of Chickadees came to the apple tree and stayed
seven minutes. One ate fifteen and the other twenty-one brown-tail
Jarve. They must have eaten more than twice that number, for they
were not so we could see them nearly all of the time, but we could see
that they were busy. Mr. Kirkland observed one, and I the other. A
Yellow-throated Vireo came to the tree and ate three brown-tail larvee
as he passed through.

May 23.— A Robin was in the apple tree when I got there, but flew
away. Soon she came back and foraged on the ground for a while,
thea went to the apple tree and to a fork near the top where the brown-
tail larvee were congregated in great numbers, picked into the mass
and swallowed them. I saw her take eight mouthfuls. The next
bird to come was a Red-eyed Vireo. He confined himself to the
branches where the larvae were comparatively scarce, and went about
picking them from the leaves. I saw him take forty-three brown-tails
in ten minutes. He stayed longer than that, but changed to the oppo-
site side of the tree, so I could not see him. He was finally driven out
by an English Sparrow. A Yellow Warbler passed through the tree
and stopped fora moment. I saw him take six brown-tail larve. The
next visitor was a Blue Jay. He came in a very noisy manner, and
perched on one of the upper branches. He looked suspiciously at me
for a few seconds, then went to feeding on the larve. He hopped
from one branch to another, and took them from the forks where they
were clustered. I could not count how many he ate, but there were at
least’ thirty brown-tails. A female Chestnut-sided Warbler came into
the tree and ate eleven brown-tails, when she was followed by the
male. He would eat one or two, then chase his mate through the apple
tree and the adjoining trees. They were in and out of the tree, back
and forth, for nearly twenty minutes. A Chipping Sparrow came to
one of the upper branches and took a larva, flew to the ledge near me,
hammered it, and ate it, swallowing it whole. She then flew back, took
another, flew to a lower branch with it, and ate it in the same way.
Then she flew away.

May 24.— A Black-billed Cuckoo came to the apple tree that has a
tent caterpillars’ nest in it, pulled open the web and took two caterpil-
lars from it, when he was seen by a Kingbird and chased out. The
Kingbird went to the nest and pulled out a mouthful of web and took it
away to its nest. A male Oriole came soon afterward, and took three
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BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 137

 

caterpillars from the web and ate them. There were two Crows in the
brown-tail moth tree when I came in sight of it. I saw one of them
peck twice at the branch, and swallow something. In attempting to get
nearer to them I made a noise, and frightened them away. Could find
nothing on the branch they were on except brown-tail moths, which
they were eating. The next visitor was an Oriole, who came to the
tree and ate thirty-four larve in six minutes, then flew away. He
hammered each larva once or twice before swallowing it. The next
visitor was a Wilson’s Thrush. He first perched on a small oak on the
top of the ledge, then hopped to the dry leaves, and seemed to be
searching among them for food for about five minutes. Then he flew
to the tree and took a larva while in sight and swallowed it. He
probably took more while in the tree. He was in the tree four minutes.
He then flew down and began searching in the grass. A Red-eyed
Vireo perched in the oaks and searched for about nine minutes. I saw
him take over fifty larvae of various kinds from the leaves, some of
which were leaf-rollers. I could see him picking insects from the under
sides of the leaves. ‘Io accomplish this he would grasp the petiole with
his feet, and hang, back down, and pick the larvee off. He then went
to the apple tree and took twenty-nine larvee (brown-tail) before flying
across the boulevard. He was in the apple tree about six minutes. He
beat nearly every one on the branch before eating it.

From this and later experiences it seems that many birds
have learned to eat the larve of the brown-tail moth even
when the caterpillars reach an age when the detachable hairs
are dangerous. Probably by shaking off these hairs the birds
render the larve eatable, and even fit to feed to their young.

May 25.—A Golden-winged Warbler came to the oak trees next
the boulevard, and sang for nearly five minutes in a low, wiry voice.
He then began searching for food. Frequently I would see him take
some small green larve from the leaves, but could. not tell what kind
it was. He then flew to the apple tree and picked eleven brown-tail
larvee from the leaves and swallowed them, after hammering them on
the limbs. He probably took more while feeding in the tree, about
eight minutes. He then flew over the ledge. A pair of Orioles were
back and forth over the ledge, and would occasionally stop and eat the
brown-tail larvee for a moment or two, but did not make a long stay
while I was there. They had probably got their fill earlier in the day.
An Indigo Bird lit in the top of one of the oak trees for a moment, then
flew to the apple tree and ate six of the brown-tail larve, and was then
chased out by the English Sparrows. Three of the Sparrows perched
in the tree and picked off two or three brown-tail larve apiece, then
flew to the boulevard. A pair of Scarlet Tanagers perched for about
138 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

twelve minutes in the apple tree, and were busy all the time eating
brown-tail larve. I could see but one distinctly, and he ate forty-three
brown-tails that I saw, and probably a few more, but not many.

May 26.—I watched a Maryland Yellow-throat on the low willow
sprouts, and saw him pick off fifty-two gipsy moth larve before flying
away. Isaw Warblers flying in and out among the trees, taking one
here and another there all the time I was there, but could not watch
any one individual for any length of time. The Yellow Warblers were
taking them from the trunks as well as the sprouts, and also in the tops
of the tall trees. A pair came to a bunch of sprouts near me, and I
counted thirty-five gipsy larve that they took in the two minutes they
were there. A pair of English Sparrows have a nest in a hollow tree in
the grove, and they are almost continually chasing the Warblers and
other birds that come near them ; but I did not see them feed any in the
grove, —they go out to the streets and dooryards. The Redstarts were
also eating large numbers of the larve. One that I got near enough
to observe ate thirty-one gipsy larvee before he left the clump of willows.
At the brown-tail moth tree a Black-billed Cuckoo came, and, going
to a branch where the larva: were very numerous, began eating them
greedily. Te had taken four mouthfuls when a Robin, that has a nest
in a pine tree near, chased him out. A Yellow-throated Vireo came to
the tree and ate fourteen brown-tails in less than five minutes. He
probably ate many more, as he could not be distinctly seen nearly all
of the time. A Red-eyed Vireo came to the opposite side of the tree
and ate several larve, but his doings could not be clearly seen. A
male Indigo Bird perched on the topmost branch of the apple tree and
sang for several minutes, then hopped down a branch or two and
picked the larvee from the branch. I saw him eat sixteen of them
(brown-tails) after he had hammered them on the branch.

May 27.—A Yellow-billed Cuckoo came to a willow tree near me
and ate forty-seven forest tent caterpillars in six minutes, then flew
to a small maple tree and sat on a branch for nearly ten minutes and
plumed his feathers, then returned to the willow and ate sixteen more,
and flew away. He would take the caterpillar and hammer it once
or twice, then swallow it. A Blue Jay caine, and took two of the
forest tent caterpillars and flew away with them. A male Redstart ate
three forest tent caterpillars. He would take one, fly to a neighboring
branch, hammer it well, swallow it, then go back for another. A male
Oriole came to the tree three times during the forenoon, and fed on the
forest tent caterpillars. The first time he came he stayed four minutes,
and took eighteen caterpillars ; the second time he stayed seven minutes,
and took twenty-six larvee; and the last time he stayed about ten min-
utes, and ate fourteen larve. At the brown-tail moth tree there were
quite a number of birds feeding in the surrounding trees, but not nearly
all the species visited the apple tree. A Red-eyed Vireo came to the
tree and would take the brown-tail moth larvee and hammer them a

 
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 139

 

few minutes, then pull the larger ones to pieces, and swallow them;
the smaller ones she would swallow whole. I saw her eat fifteen in the
eight minutes she was in the tree. A Catbird came to the tree, picked
four brown-tail larvee from the branch, and ate them, and would prob-
ably have eaten more, but a Robin chased her out of the grove toward
the boulevard. She would give the larve a knock or two, then swal-
low them.

May 29. A pair of Blue Jays were very busy carrying food to their
young. They came twenty-four times to a willow tree, with forest tent
caterpillars on it, during the three hours I was there, and took at least
two or three larve each time. Once they went to some hazel bushes
near by, where a Chestnut-sided Warbler was sitting, and would prob-
ably have taken the eggs, if I had not interfered. A White-breasted
Nuthatch came to a willow and climbed around the trunk for a time,
when she found two forest tent caterpillars. She ate one after hammer-
ing it for a moment, but passed over the other. I saw her pass over
two others in the same way, apparently preferring to pick the smaller
insects from the bark. These were so small that I could not see what
they were. A Wood Thrush took two of the forest tent caterpillars and
ate them, and later in the day I saw a Wood Thrush go to the apple
tree and eat five of the brown-tail larvae, and then fly away. Isawa
Flicker alight on an ant hill and make a hole in the hill with her bill,
and pick up the ants. She was busy in this way for nearly fifteen min-
utes, and must have eaten large numbers of them. I found in the thick
woods a few oak trees that were badly infested with forest tent cater-
pillars, and there were quite a number of them on the low bushes on
the ground. A Chewink came to the brush, scratched in the leaves and
pulled out large grubs, but I could not make sure what they were. , She
then hopped about and took six of the forest tent caterpillars, beat them
on the ground, and atethem, An unwise move on my part frightened
her away. A Black-billed Cuckoo came and gorged himself. He ate
twenty-nine forest tent caterpillars at first, then rested between ten and
fifteen minutes, then ate fourteen more. He would shake and hammer
one on the branch, then swallow it, and pick up another. A Nashville
Warbler came to the apple tree, picked a brown-tail larva from the
leaves, beat and shook it for about thirty seconds, and swallowed it;
then took another, hammered it in the same way, and swallowed it.
He then flew to the low shrubs. A Robin was passing to and fro, but
I did not see her eat any of the brown-tails; she seemed to eat nothing
but what she took from the ground. The angleworns were plentiful
that day, and she had no appetite for anything else.

May 81.— An Indigo Bird came to the brown-tail moth tree, took a
brown-tail larva from the leaves, and flew to a low branch, shook and
hammered the larva, and ate it. He then went back, took another, and
flew with it to a neighboring oak, ate the larva, and flew away. A
Warbling Vireo sung and fed in the oak trees for nearly thirty minutes.
140 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Te then went to the apple tree and took a brown-tail moth larva, picked
it to pieces, and swallowed it. He then took another, and was proceed-
ing in the same way, when he was driven out by the English Sparrow,
and flew up over the ledge out of sight. A pair of Red-eyed Vireos were
in the oaks near the apple tree for a long time, foraging. They would
hold on to the petiole of the leaf, hang with their heads down, and take
insects from the under sides of the leaves. One of them went to the
apple tree, took a brown-tail larva from the leaves, beat it on the branch,
and swallowed it. His mate then flew across the street, and he followed.
A Yellow-throated Vireo went to a small oak tree and took three gipsy
moth Jarvee that were resting ona burlap band. She scarcely stopped
to shake them at all, but swallowed them at once. A pair of Chestnut-
sided Warblers were busy taking cankerworms to their young. They
averaged one each, every three minutes for nearly thirty minutes. In
the mean time they themselves ate quite a number. The young could
not have been more than a day old. A Yellow Warbler came to an oak
tree on the edge of the orchard and took two forest tent caterpillars, then
flew to the thick apple trees and fed on cankerworms. Four Waxwings
visited the orchard for a few minutes and ate a few cankerworms, but
they seemed to be picking into the blossoms of the young fruit more than
anything else. A Redstart took a forest tent caterpillar fromr a branch,
hammered it, and ate it. He then flew out and caught a small moth,
then flew into the thick woods. A female Black and White Warbler
took a forest tent caterpillar from the trunk of an oak, flew with it to
the ground, hammered it until she broke it in pieces, and then swal-
lowed the pieces.

JuNE 1.— An English Sparrow came to the apple tree, took a brown-
tail moth larva, and, after hammering it for a moment, flew away with
it to her young. A Field Sparrow came to the open space around the
apple tree, foraged among the bushes for a few moments,
then perched in a small oak and sang. He then flew to the
apple tree, took a brown-tail larva, flew to the ground with it,
and ate it. He then flew to the open fields across Highland
Avenue. A pair of Orioles came to the tree, and the male
ate sixteen and the female twenty-five brown-tails. They
were in the tree seven minutes. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo came to the
tree and stayed about eighteen minutes, including a rest he took. He
ate thirty-four brown-tails, then rested seven minutes, and
ate twelve more. He would give them a couple of shakes,
and swallow them. The Robin coming in spied him, and
chased him out. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak visited a tree
for a moment and took at least five brown-tail larva.
He probably took more, as he was not in sight all the time. A pair
of Chickadees also visited the tree; they stayed about five minutes.
One ate nineteen brown-tail larves, and the other ate eight that I saw ;
he probably ate many more, as I could not watch him all the time,

 

 

.
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 141

 

being occupied with the other bird. A Yellow-throated Vireo came
through the place, visited the tree for a moment, and took two larvee,
then passed on. A male Golden-winged Warbler ate two forest tent
caterpillars, after hammering them a long time until he got them in
pieces. A female Black and White Warbler took a forest tent cater-
pillar from the trunk of a tree near me, flew to the ground and beat it
until she got it in pieces, when she took the inside parts and flew away
to her young, leaving the other parts on the ground; she did not come
back for them. A Red-eyed Vireo took a forest tent caterpillar from
a branch and hammered it, then he pulled it to pieces and ate it all.
The next one he treated in the same way, except that he ate only the
inside, and dropped the skin and head to the ground. <A Chestnut-
sided Warbler came to an oak tree infested with the gipsy larve and
took six in a few seconds, then flew to the high trees. An Oven-bird
came to the same tree and took eight gipsy larve from the leaves,
then flew away. A Yellow Warbler ate thirty-three cankerworms in
a little over six minutes. A Song Sparrow took two of the gipsy larvee
and carried them away to her young.

Burlap bands were placed around the trees as a shelter
or trap for the gipsy caterpillars. Jays and Orioles soon
learned where to find them when hidden there. An inter-
esting note on another bird follows : —

Juty 5.—I saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch take gipsy larve from
under the burlaps and eat them. When first seen, it was on the trunk
of a pine tree just below the burlap. The bird examined the burlap
all around the tree, then flew to the next and examined it in the same
way, and found nothing. On the fourth tree examinéd it found a
small, smooth-skinned larva, just under the burlap, and ate it; then it
found a medium-sized gipsy larva, and, beating it a few times on the
trunk, swallowed it. It took another on the same tree. On the next
tree it took another, and, after beating it more than the first, started to
fly away with it, when a Wood Pewee chased it away.

As the season advanced, the caterpillars began pupating,
and birds that were not particularly fond of hairy caterpil-
lars pursued the imagoes as they emerged from the pupa.

JuLy 6.—Medford. A company of English Sparrows were picking
the brown-tail moths from the elm trees and from fruit trees near the
street. Some of these would get away from the Sparrows and fly out
into the street, and were snapped up by a Least Flycatcher that was sit-
ting on a dead limb, and also by two Kingbirds that were sitting on the
telephone wires. On Highland Avenue, near the Hook farm, I saw a
Great-crested Flycatcher take two of the brown-tail moths.
142 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

All the above notes, taken, as they were, in different lo-
calities in several different towns, seem to establish the fact
that birds are not by any means indifferent to hairy larve.
Reference may also be made to a summary of the observa-
tions of a large number of men, published in 1896, which
show the avidity with which certain birds eat the larve of
the gipsy moth.!

Mr. Mosher’s notes, quoted above, fail to show the attrac-
tion of birds to caterpillar outbreaks, for at that time there
were no great irruptions of any such insects in that region.
The greatest swarms of gipsy moths and brown-tail moths
had been suppressed by the work of the State Board of
Agriculture, and neither the American tent caterpillar nor
the forest tent caterpillar was in very great numbers. Going
back to 1895, we find Mr. Bailey recording briefly his ex-
perience in a visit to a destructive swarm of the gipsy moth.
Mr. Henry Shaw and others give similar experiences. Mr.
Shaw says : —

JUNE 28, 1895.— The newly found ‘colony of gipsy moths in Dor-
chester seems to be a great attraction for birds of all kinds. In the
last three days I have seen the Black-billed Cuckoo in great numbers
eating larvee, also the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I have seen the Cat-
bird, Red-eyed Vireo, and Yellow-throated Vireo feeding on the larve
of the gipsy moth. The Red-eyed Vireos seem to be living on them.
They take large ones, and swallow them whole. The Purple Grackles
are around there apparently after the larvie.

Mr. Bailey says, regarding the gipsy moth : —

JULY 27, 1895. —I left here at 4.15 a.m., and started for Woburn,
to see how many birds there were in the infested woods. I think there
were more than I have seen at any one place this summer. The fol-
lowing is a list of species seen: Chickadee, Black and White Creeper,
Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Catbird, Crow, Blue J ay,
Pheebe, Wood Pewee, Least Flycatcher, Kingbird, TTowhee, Chipping
Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Swamp Sparrow, Chestnut-
sided Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Downy
Woodpecker, Redstart, Baltimore Oriole, Black-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-
billed Cuckoo. Most of the birds left the woods by 11 a.M., or, if they
did not, they kept very quiet after that hour. I think some of the birds
have come a long way to feed here, for I saw some of them go about

 

1 The Gipsy Moth, by E. H. Forbush and C. H. Fernald, 1896, pp. 206-243.
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BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 143

 

half a mile. I think the best bird to destroy the moths is the Kingbird.
The Kingbirds came into the woods at 6.15 A.M. There were seven of
them, and they did nothing but hunt the moth until 9.30. I saw them
take seventy-nine males and twenty-four females. They dropped six
of the females. They would cut the wings off both males and females
with the bill. It is safe to say that the seven Kingbirds from 6.15 a.m.
to 9.30 a.m. killed two hundred and fifty males. I could not keep one
bird from the rest, so I took the number each time I saw a bird catch
one. I did not see the birds take any males except on the wing, and
most of the females were taken from branches of trees near the ground.
They almost all stopped feeding at one time, left the woods, and did
not come back while I was there. Isaw the Chipping Sparrow take
five females; three were taken from the ground, two from a tree.
They took a number of males on the wing. They would peck both
males and females before eating them. There were six Least Fly-
catchers, and I saw them take thirty-one males and nine females. Two
of the female moths were caught by the birds when the moths were
falling from the tops of trees; some other bird might have dropped
them. One was taken from the ground and six from the trunks of
trees near the ground. They took the wings off, just as the Kingbird
did. They took the moths only when they came near them. The
Wood Pewee took twenty-two males and seven females, that I saw.
There were three of these birds inthe woods. Eight of the male moths
were taken off the trunks of trees, and twelve were taken on the wing.
The Cuckoos fed very little. I saw them take eight larvee and three
pup. The larvee were pecked several*times before they were eaten.
I did not see them take any notice of the moths. The Black-billed
Cuckoo was hunting for a small larva in the tops of the trees; I could
not get one to determine the species, but it was not the gipsy larva.
A large number of Chickadees came into the woods at
6.30 a.m., and stayed there until I left, but were not
feeding all the time. I saw them take several male gipsy
moths from the bark of the trees, but did not see them
take any on the wing. I saw one bird take a female moth
and pick it all up in very small parts. Another bird took
a female, took only the wings off, and ate her. They were hunting
for some small insect that is feeding on the new leaves, but I could not
tell what it was. I saw eight pups taken by the Chickadees, and all
of them were pecked open by the bird before any part was eaten. The
Baltimore Oriole came, found four small gipsy moth larve, and I am
sure took one male moth on the wing. ‘The Redstarts took several
male moths on the wing. A Yellow Warbler took a male moth from
the trunk of a tree and ate it. . A number of Towhees were hunting for
the moths, and took the female as readily as the male. I saw them
take eighteen in all; then they left the ground where they had been
hunting, and went into the tops of the trees, hunting for the moths.

 
144 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

In September, 1895, a second brood of the gipsy moth
hatched in Woburn. The Warblers were then migrating
southward, and had stopped there to feed on the young cat-
erpillars. Mr. Mosher refers to this briefly, as follows : —

SEpT. 21, 1895. —I went to the Woburn colony in the forenoon, to
observe the young larve. Ifound that many of them were gone, prob-
ably having been eaten by birds. Since these warm days the eggs are
hatching again. The birds were very numerous, especially the War-
blers and Vireos, and the Chickadees, Blue Jays, and Hairy Wood-
peckers were quite plentiful.

In July, 1899, a serious outbreak of gipsy moths was dis-
covered in Georgetown at some distance from the region
then known to be infested by this insect. On visiting the
place I found birds very plentiful there, and most species
appeared to be feeding on the gipsy moth in some of its
forms. Mr. Mosher was sent there, and spent several days
investigating the natural enemies of the moth. Some of
the notes taken there by him are given below : —

Juty 11.— A Chickadee came, and ate one larva and one pupa. He
held them with his feet, pulled them to pieces, and ate the fragments. I
saw an Oven-bird carrying a gipsy moth larva to her young. A young
Black-billed Cuckoo came to an oak tree, took a larva from a branch,
flew to a lower branch, and began working the larva around in its bill.
It continued this for several minutes, when it dropped the larva to the
ground, flew and picked it up, and finally swallowed it. A Blue Jay
remained in sight about four minutes, and was seen to eat ten pupz
and three larve. <A pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks could be seen
among the pine trees, feeding steadily when they were in sight. They
were in the colony at least two hours. There were seven Blue Jays
in the colony at one time, and all were eating both larve and pup
steadily when seen. A pair of Scarlet Tanagers were in the trees for
nearly an hour, and were eating caterpillars pretty steadily while they
were in sight, which was about half the time. Several times a Black and
White Creeper came, and ate a few pups each time. A Downy Wood-
pecker was heard several times on the edge of the defoliated tract ;
finally he came into it, and was seen to take a few pupz from the
clustered masses, pull them in pieces, and eat them. A pair ef Great-
crested Flycatchers were passing to and fro. One of them alighted
on a tree near me, and, after hopping about for a little and taking one
or two small moths on the wing, it took a pupa from among the pine
needles on a small bough, and ate it. There was a family of Black-
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and Other Trees,

PLATE XVII. — Pines, Oaks,

orous Caterpillars of the Gipsy Moth.

(From the annual

July 11, 1899.

r’s observations were made),
report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1899.)

Moshe
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 145

 

billed Cuckoos that were coming and going all the time I was there,
and they were eating large quantities of larve. The young would take
a larva and work it over with the bill for a long time, and then swallow
it. The old ones would take a larva, beat it on a limb a few times, and
swallow it. Most of the birds were gone by 8.30 a.m. They were
most plentiful between 5.30 and 7 a.m. ‘The Cuckoos and Chickadees
were coming and going all day.1| When we came in sight of the place
after dinner we saw nine Crows fly to the edge of the stripped patch,
and alight in the trees that were partially stripped, but when we tried
to get near them, they flew away. When I went into the colony I
found there were still two Crows there. I saw one of them eat three
pupze, then they took flight. Several species that were not seen to eat
the moth were heard in the woods outside the stripped area. Among
the number were the Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bird, Wood Thrush, Che-
wink, Maryland Yellow-throat, Black-throated Green Warbler, Chest-
nut-sided and Yellow Warblers.

JuLy 12.—In the morning, when I came in sight of the place, I
found the whole flock of Crows there, and could hear them feeding
their young very frequently. When I tried to get near enough to see
what they were doing, they all flew away. The Grosbeaks were back
again to-day. They kept on the farther side of the tract, and were eat-
ing both pup and larvee when they could be observed. The Black-
billed Cuckoos were eating great numbers of the larve, as was the case
yesterday. There were three of them in sight at one time, and they
were coming and going all day. The Blue Jays were around the col-
ony all the time, just outside the stripped area, and when seen were
eating both pup and larve. They are so shy that it is very hard to
get near them. There were a great many Chickadees
flying back and forth through the colony. Each one
would stop now and then, take a larva from the trunk,
take it to @ branch, and with its feet on the larva would
pull it to pieces and eat it. A pair of Phoebes came to
the colony about 8 o’clock and remained nearly two hours, and caught
all the male moths that came near them. One of the Great-crested
Flycatchers was in and out of the colony at intervals all day, taking
food to its young in a hollow apple tree near by. I saw the pair take
all forms of the moth to-day, — caterpillar, pupa, and male and female
moths. They would hop along on a branch, and at a distance might
be taken for Robins. I saw them take five pupz, two larve, and two
female moths, besides a great many male moths, and carry them to
their young. A Kingbird also caine, remained nearly half an hour, and
took many male moths.

JuLy 13.— The Crows were in the colony when I arrived, and all

 

 

1 Most birds leave the defoliated woods during the hotter part of the day, re-
tiring to the cool shade, and feeding in the stripped woods mostly at morning
and night.
146 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

flew out and went to the meadow land near by, and were searching for
grasshoppers most of the day. I could hear them feeding their young
there very often. Whenever I left the place for a few minutes to go to
the spring they would fly back again. I counted nine Blue Jays in the
colony at one time, and they were all busy eating the larve: and pup.
I could see only one distinctly, and he ate five pups and two larve in
two and one-half minutes. A family of Oven-birds were scratching
about on the ground among the thick bushes. They were walking
about like a flock of chickens, and took the larva that were crawling
on the ground or that happened to fall from the leaves. A young
Cuckoo was perched in the oak sprouts near me. The old bird
brought him larve at the rate of one every two minutes for about
thirty-six minutes; he then went into the swamp. A Red-eyed Vireo
came into the colony and ate steadily for forty minutes. He ate sev-
enty-three larve that I saw. He would hold the larve with his feet,
pull out the inside, eat it, and drop the outside. A Downy Woodpecker
came into the colony, ate two pups, and then flew away.

JULY 14.— The Crows are still in the colony, back and forth, when
no one is there. They fly out when they see any one. They seem to
be eating great numbers of the pups. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo came
in the early morning and fed forty-eight minutes, and ate eighty-one
larvae. He would beat each one once or twice and swallow it, then rest
a short time before taking another. Chickadees are still here in large
numbers, and are eating a great many caterpillars, as they
eat only the inside. Blue Jays are still eating large quan-
tities of larvee and pup, but their actions cannot be seen
accurately, as they are so shy. Black-billed Cuckoos are
here to-day, as before. J saw four at one time, and they
were here at intervals all day, and always eating the cater-
pillars. There were several Tanagers, or the same one
several times; each one would eat two or three of the
Jarve each time he was in sight. He seemed to pick out the small
ones. He would hammer them well before he swallowed them.

Jury 15.— When I arrived this morning there were three Flickers
in the path where the larve were crossing to get green food. These
birds were picking the larvee up as they crossed, and eating them.
They would hammer them on the ground. Yesterday there was a
Hairy Woodpecker around the colony, but I could not see what he was
doing. To-day he came and picked into the mass of pups, pulled them
in pieces, and ate them. The Downy Woodpecker was also here again
to-day. I saw him eat three pups. He was around nearly all day.
The Crows are getting tamer, and came several times during the day,
and I saw them take both larve and pups and feed their young with
them. The Chickadees are here in greater numbers than any day be-
fore; there were evidently two families of them. All were feeding on
the larvae, in the same manner as mentioned before. A Chewink perched

 
BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 147

 

in a tree near the edge of the colony, sang for a few minutes, then flew
to the sprouts that are infested, then to the ground. He scratched in
the leaves, and I saw him take seven pupz from the leaves, and two
larvx that were crawling on the ground. There was a pair of Great-
crested Flycatchers coming and going all day. They took a great many
male moths, and I saw them take five female moths from the tree
trunks. A Robin perched in the tops of the oak trees, picked off four-
teen of the pups from the branches, and ate them. A Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker came, and I saw it eat two pupsx. It remained at least
half an hour more, but I could not see what it was doing. A Yellow-
billed Cuckoo ate ten larvee in a few minutes.

Thousands of these insects are undoubtedly eaten by birds,
for every one that they are seen to eat; but, it may be asked,
if the birds are effective enemies of these introduced gipsy
larvee, why have they not kept down the increase of these
insects? To this it must be answered that we have not birds
enough, nor are there likely ever to be enough, to do away
with these pests entirely, unless birds learn to eat the eggs.
Other natural enemies must also help in this work, if we are
to see an end of the moth plague; but there is little that we
can do to protect the insect enemies of the moth or to insure
their multiplication, while we can protect and feed the birds,
and so secure an increase in their numbers., In so far as
we are able to take measures that will result in increasing
the numbers of certain birds, just so far shall we be able to
prevent the increase of destructive insects. As time goes
on, it is probable that birds will become more and more effi-
cient as enemies of the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth,
as they learn better how to manage them. It seemed appar-
ent that they had not learned to eat the eggs of the gipsy
moth up to 1896, when my last studies on that subject were
made; still, now that ten years have passed, the subject
should be investigated again. It is quite possible that by
this time some birds may have learned that these eggs are
good for food. As the gipsy moth spends more than half
the year in the egg, this is its most vulnerable point. If
Jays, Creepers, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, and other birds
could learn to eat these eggs, as European birds are said to
do, they would then have an increased food supply the year
round. Naturally they would increase in numbers, and thus
148 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

an effective natural check to the gipsy moth in America
would be established, provided these birds were protected.
But the egg clusters of these insects are covered with a fine,
yellow hair, which causes them to
resemble in appearance a fungous
growth which often appears on
trees. Apparently the birds failed
to recognize anything edible in
them, and whenever a bird broke
open an egg cluster, the fine hairs
sticking to the beak seemed to dis-
gust it.

The brown-tail moth is more ex-
posed to the attacks of birds than
is the gipsy moth, since the larve
hibernate in their nests in curled-
up leaves that remain onthe tree
all winter. Already some birds are
Fig. 45.—Egg cluster of gipsy learning to open these winter nests

aii and to extract the larve from them.
If the birds once learn this lesson thoroughly, the power of
this pest will be greatly lessened.

 
.

SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 149

 

CHAPTER IV.

TTHE ECONOMIC SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD.

The conditions in the orchard regarding bird life approx-
imate those in the woods. The trees offer some shelter to
birds, and also nesting places secure from such of their
enemies as cannot climb or fly. The cutting over of wood
lots destroys the breeding places of such birds as nest in
hollow trees. Apple trees, on the other hand, are allowed
to stand for a century or more if they still bear profitable
fruit crops. Many orchard trees are much decayed, as a
result of neglect or bad pruning, and the dead and hollow
trunks furnish homes to such birds as once bred in the decay-
ing trees of the woods. The trees in the orchard also provide
an abundance of insect food. They are usually planted in
or near fields or gardens, where many species of insects find
food and shelter. For these reasons, orchards are much
frequented by birds. The service rendered by birds in pro-
tecting the orchard is not, however, as effectual for man’s
purposes as that given by them to the woodland; for birds
are the servants of nature, and in planting and cultivating
the orchard man sets nature at defiance. His object here is
not the mere growing of trees, but rather the production of
an improved variety of fruit. Nature’s efforts, on the other
hand, are put forth mainly to produce such fruit as will
make for the production and distribution of good seed that.
will insure the propagation of the tree. The fruit grown by
nature is often considered by man as unfit for food. He
wants fruit suited to his tastes. The seed is of little value to
him, for he does not often use it, but propagates the tree of
his choice by grafting or budding.

The production of a vastly increased quantity of fruit, of a
better quality than the natural product, offers an increased
* food supply for the creatures that feed upon that fruit. So
the planting of large fruit-bearing orchards gives the insects
6
\

150 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

which feed upon the fruit, seed, or other parts of the tree
an increased opportunity to multiply. Insects unfamiliar to
our native birds are introduced. The undergrowth, shrub-
bery, and vines which shelter many such useful birds are
cleared away. This drives these birds away, and so the fight
against insects in the orchard is begun with an inadequate
number and variety of birds and an unusual abundance of
insects.

Even under these adverse conditions, the entire protection
of the foliage from insects may be left to birds, provided that
the orchard is favorably situated, that the birds are attracted
to it in winter, and that those which nest there in summer
are protected, encouraged, and furnished with nesting places.
This I have demonstrated by a series of experiments, cover-
ing a period of about ten years.

The protection of the trees and their foliage by birds in-
sures the maturing of such fruit as the trees will bear ; and,
as probably two-thirds of the fruit trees in Massachusetts
receive little care at the hands of their owners, the people
of the Commonwealth are largely indebted to the birds fora
great part of their annual fruit crop. Even as it is, insect
pests destroy a large part of the apple crop in some seasons,
and hardly a hand appears to be raised to stay them. Hence
I repeat that such fruit crops as we get are largely due to the
protection our trees receive from the birds.

My first attempt at availing myself of the services of the
birds in an orchard was made in 1894—95, and the result was
given in a bulletin issued by the State Board of Agriculture.
The winter birds were attracted to the orchard, and fre-
quented the trees during the entire winter of 1894-95. In
the fall, winter, and spring they destroyed many thousands
of the imagoes and eggs of the fall and spring cankerworm
moths, the eggs of the tent caterpillar, and probably also the
pupe and imagoes of the codling moth, besides scales, tineids,
and other enemies of the trees. When spring came, efforts
were made to attract the summer birds to the orchard. These
attempts met with such signal success that, although most of
the eggs and young birds were destroyed by cats, boys,
Crows, and other agencies, the remaining injurious insects
SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 151

 

were so completely disposed of by the birds that the trees
bore luxuriant foliage during the entire summer, and produced
a good crop of fruit. This occurred in a season when both
the tent caterpillar and the cankerworm were remarkably
prevalent. The only other orchard in the neighborhood
that produced any fruit whatever was that of the nearest
neighbor. (See p. 169.) This had been partly protected by
tarred bands and partly by the birds from my place. Else-
where in the town most of the apple trees were defoliated,
and very few produced any fruit that year. While the result
secured in such an exceptional year seemed remarkable, the
experience of succeeding years has demonstrated that it was
not so. Year after year we have kept the trees free from
serious insect injury, without spraying or otherwise protect-
ing the foliage, merely by a little effort and expenditure to
attract the birds and furnish them safe homes. While the
protection of the tree itself is essential (7.e., its trunk, limbs,
twigs, and bark), the protection of its foliage, which shades
the fruit and so allows it to mature, is also imperative.

It must be admitted, however, that he who wishes a large -
crop of the finest fruit must himself prevent the inroads of
those insects which attack the fruit directly. There are two
insects of this class which the birds have thus far failed to
control completely ; and, while birds might possibly check
such insects under the most favorable circumstances, I believe
that ordinarily they cannot be relied upon to do so. The in-
sects referred to are the codling moth ( Carpocapsa pomonella)
and the apple-fruit maggot or “railroad worm” (Rhagoletis
pomonella). These insects are for a greater part of their
lives protected from the attacks of birds by being hidden
either in ground, rough bark, or fruit. Only a few birds ‘are
known to dig out the larve of the codling moth from their
hiding places; probably fewer still find the railroad worm.
Weevils or curculios are eaten by many birds; still, suffi-
cient numbers usually escape to spoil much fruit; and the
pernicious introduced San José scale seems to be overlooked
thus far by birds.

Tt cannot be expected of the birds that they will become
efficient allies of man in protecting his artificially propagated
152 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

fruit from the attacks of all the too numerous insects that
are introduced and fostered by his methods. The bird is
designed to assist in carrying on nature’s work in maintain-
ing such a balance of her forces as will allow the production
of a natural fruitage. Birds merely perform a service in
the orchard similar to their natural work in the woodland,
by protecting the tree from the enemies which, under normal
conditions, attack its different members. In the mean time,
birds feed to a greater or less extent on the fruit which they
protect. While such service as they may render in direct
protection of the fruit should be placed to their credit, they
cannot be expected to deviate much from those habits which
they have contracted under natural conditions, or to make
any special effort to assist man in producing an unnatural
surplus of fruit. | Birds are not as essential to the orchard
of the intelligent, enterprising, modern fruit grower, who
sprays his trees and cares for them in every possible way,
as they are to those of ordinary mortals. ) Nevertheless, so
long as human nature continues as it is to-day, the birds will
always be a great help in the orchards of the poor, or of those
who for various reasons have not the spare time or money
necessary to enable them to care for their trees in the most
approved and scientific way.

A series of poison sprays used for the destruction of the
codling moth will destroy most other leaf-eating insects, and
so protect both fruit and foliage. There is, however, a host
of tiny insects that are not affected by any amount of arseni-
cal spraying, — insects so small, indeed, that their presence is
seldom noticed until the injury done by them has progressed
so, far as to destroy the fruit. Such insects are the plant lice
and their allies, the bark lice, scales, and all the lilliputian
host that unnoticed sucks out the juices of the tree from
trunk, limbs, twigs, leaves, or fruit. Warblers, Titmice,
Creepers, and Nuthatches are often very efficient helps in
holding the increase of such insects in check.

As an instance of the unnoticed beneficial guardianship of
the birds over our orchard trees, I will relate a recent expe-
rience of my own. ‘The reader has already been told how
in the spring of 1905 I left my trees to the tender mer-
SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD. 153

 

cies of the caterpillars, trusting them to the care and pro-
tection of the birds. I visited the place occasionally during
the summer, and in the fall saw that measures were taken,
as usual, to attract the birds. On November 12 I returned
for the winter, and noticed no evidence of insect injury
among the fruit trees. A small flock of Myrtle Warblers
and some Goldfinches were very busy among the apple
trees, and were paying particular attention to the pear trees
near the house. I was told that they had been coming there
for about two weeks. Realizing at once that they must be
engaged upon those leafless trees in the suppression of some
insect, I examined the trees casually, but at first was unable
to find the object of their quest. One .of the birds was
. watched closely. It was taking something from the lower
sides of the twigs and the crevices between them. With a
glass it was seen to take some very small insects that were
hiding in these situations. Evidently the insects were no
longer plentiful, as the birds had to search somewhat to find
them, and the only way in which I could find a specimen
was by driving a bird away just as it was about to attack the
insect, and then examining the twig. Three tiny insects,
which appeared like little cicada-shaped flies, were found
and secured in this way. Two of these were forwarded to
Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the Bureau of Entomology, at
Washington, who identified them as adults or imagoes of
the pear tree psylla (Psylla pyri), a pest imported into this
country from Europe about 1832. According to Circular
No. 7, second series, issued from Dr. Howard’s office, an
overwhelming invasion of this insect occurred in the year
1894 in one of the largest pear orchards in Maryland ; there
were similar occurrences in Virginia and New Jersey. This
insect has long been known as a pest of the pear tree. It is
a true bug, of the order Homoptera, intermediate between
the scale insects and the plant lice on the one hand, and the
cicadas and larger plant bugs on the other. The Psyllide
are commonly known as the jumping plant lice, on account
of their vaulting ability. They are extremely prolific, having
several broods each year. In the infested Maryland orchards
the leaves and fruit fell, the latter before it was half. grown,
154 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

and the trunks of the trees appeared as if smoked. The
enormous secretion of honeydew that the hosts of these
insects produced from the sap of the trees fell like rain,
drenching the horses used in cultivating the orchard, and
running down the trunks in such quantities that it extended
in a discolored circle from six to eight inches from the base
of each tree. This information comes from the above-nien-
tioned circular.

If the birds had been engaged for more than two weeks in
clearing these insects from the few pear trees about my home,
there must have been a great number of insects on those trees,
for the pests are so small that each bird might eat thousands
of them ina day. At the time of my return the insects were
evidently becoming scarce ; but the birds persevered in their .
attentions to those trees, until in a few days I could not dis-
cover a single specimen of the insect ; but even after that they
looked the trees over occasionally, and still foundafew. By
the end of another week, however, they had exhausted the
supply, and, although they were seen occasionally in the
woods, they seldom visited our trees. Apparently this was
an incipient outbreak of a pest, brood after brood of which”
had probably been attacked by birds during the summer.
As autumn came on, and the summer Warblers left on their
southern migration, the last brood developed. The late-
coming Warblers found them, and eagerly completed the task
left unfinished by the summer birds. The pear trees had con-
tinued to bear both foliage and fruit as usual, and showed
no injury. They will probably receive a similar protection
next year. ‘

Dr. Howard intimates in his bulletin that the causes.
which control the increase and decrease in numbers of this
insect are not fully understood. Here is one agency of
control that we can understand. It would be interesting
to know to what extent this insect is distributed in Massa-
chusetts, and how much the birds are doing to’ control it.
These insects are so tiny as to escape obsgrvation, and this
episode would have passed unrecorded, like so many others
of its kind, had I remained away from home a few days
longer.
SONG BIRDS OF ORUHARD AND WOUDLAND. 1595

 

CHAPTER V.

SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND.

The common birds that live and feed in woodland or
orchard are usually of the greatest service there. Those few
that nest in orchard or woodland, but seek most of their food
elsewhere, while occasionally of much service in protecting the
trees, are ordinarily of more value in the field or garden, and
will be considered later among the birds of those localities.
Those common species that may be found in Massachusetts
throughout the year, and therefore are known as residents,
are most useful to man; but those that remain here only in
summer or winter have considerable economic value. Such
familiar birds will be briefly described and also figured in
this chapter and those following. Those species that merely
pass through the State in migration will receive but brief
mention, or none, except such as are known to be conspicu-
ously useful while here. The Shrikes, Hawks, Owls, Crows,
and Jays will be treated separately among the enemies of birds.

WOODLAND THRUSHES.

The Thrush family is considered the highest group among
birds, and is ranked accordingly, although the Crows, Jays,
and Titmice exhibit in certain ways a higher degree of
intelligence.

The Thrushes of the genus Hylocichla are mainly wood-
land birds, although some members of the family are com-
monly seen feeding in gardens and fields.

Professor Forbes’s studies of the food of the American
genera of this family in Illinois (including also the Catbird
and Brown Thrasher) show that sixty-one per cent. of their
food consists of insects, one per cent. of myriapods (com-
monly called thousand legs), and thirty-two per cent. of
fruit. Thirty parts of the food consist of injurious insects,
and only seven of beneficial species. His examinations were
156 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

made on adult birds; and, were the food of the nestlings
considered, the percentage of injurious insects eaten would
probably be higher. A large proportion of the fruit eaten
by these birds in Massachusetts consists of wild berries,
particularly such as are unfit for human consumption. The
family, therefore, as a whole is eminently beneficial.

The Robin and Bluebird are not typical woodland birds,
although the Robin both breeds and feeds in the woods to a
considerable extent. Both birds nest in the orchard, but feed
generally in gardens and fields. For this reason they will
be considered farther on, among the birds of the field and
garden. The Hermit which breeds sparingly in the State
and the other Thrushes will be omitted.

Wilson’s Thrush. Tawny Thrush. Veery.

Hylocichla fuscescens.

Length. — About seven and one-half inches.

Adult. — Above, tawny brown; no white eye ring; below, mainly whitish ; throat
and upper breast washed with buffy or yellowish brown, faintly marked
with a few dark spots.

Nest.— Usually on or quite near the ground, containing no mud or leaf mold,
and composed of grass, dried leaves, grapevine bark, etc.

Eggs.— Greenish-blue; smaller than those of the Robin and lighter than the
Catbird’s.

Season. — May to September.

This gentle bird may be recognized by its light tawny
upper parts and the faintness of the elongated spots on its
light brown-washed breast. It is a summer resident through-
out most of Massachusetts, but is generally confined to the
vicinity of swampy woods or streams, and is not found
ordinarily on the summits of the highest elevations. It runs
about much in the manner of the Robin, but rather more
listlessly, and often with drooping wings. Alert, but not
suspicious, it seems to be aware of its protective coloring,
which makes difficult the task of distinguishing it from the
leafy ground of its favorite groves. Its flight is rapid, and
when much alarmed it vanishes swiftly among the vistas of
the woods. Although it often alights on the lower branches
of trees, it is seldom seen among tree tops, but keeps habit-
ually near the ground, where it finds most of its food. The
song of this Thrush, one of the sweetest sounds of the wood-
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 157

 

land, is among the earliest notes of the morning, and is often
heard during the day and in the dusk of evening. It consists
of several ringing phrases or triplets, which its name Veery
describes fairly well. It is not so full-toned as the songs of
other Thrushes, but has an attenuated sound. Robert Ridg-
way expresses the quality of the phrases by
the syllables “ taweel'ah, taweel‘ah, twil-
ah, twil-ah.” The last two phrases are
lower in tone than the first, and end
with a vibrating chord which sug-
gests the vanishing of the note
into ethereal space. The ,
melody often has a mufiled
sound when heard near by,
but at a distance it seems
to ring out clear. To be
fully appreciated, this song Fig. 46.—Wilson’s Tirush, two-thirds
must be heard when one is SOMME plat

alone in the deep woods, among the falling shades of the
coming night. It breathes the spirit of the dying day.
Sometimes at evening these Thrush songs reply to one
another like echoes in the moonlight.

The bird sings soon after its arrival in May, and usually
ceases when the molting period begins. It sings little dur-
ing a long drought, but becomes vocal after a rain. The
ordinary note of the Veery is a sort of whee-oo, half chirp,
half whistle, which often has a peculiarly liquid sound. It
has also a sharp chick, a prolonged, bleating aaah, and other
occasional cries.

The Veery feeds very largely on insects. Those which
frequent the ground and the lower parts of trees are com-
monly sought. Ants, ground beetles, curculios, and grass-
hoppers are favorites. It goes to the fields sometimes at
early morning, probably in search of beetles, cutworms, and
earthworms. It has been seen, now and then, to eat the
hairy caterpillars of the gipsy moth. It feeds considerably
in the trees, and so takes many caterpillars; but is not usu-
ally seen much in gardens or orchards, except such as are
situated near woods. In summer and fall it eats wild fruit,

 
   
  
158 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

but seldom troubles cultivated varieties. Taken all in all, it
is a harmless and most useful species.

&

Wood Thrush. Song Thrush. Wood Robin.

Hylocichla mustelina.

Length. — About eight inches.

Adult. — Above, mostly cinnamon-brown, reddest on head ; eye ring white ; below,
mainly white, with large, rounded, dark-brown spots on breast and sides.

«Vest. — On shrub sapling or low branch, six to ten feet up; much like that of the
Robin, but usually composed of more woodsy material; the mud is often
replaced by leaf mold.

Eggs. — Usually four; greenish-blue ; resembling those of the Robin, but smaller.

Season. — May to September.

The Wood Thrush is, as its name indicates, primarily a
bird of the woads, preferring the tall timber in some shady
dell, where pure floods from the never-failing springs of
the hills have gathered into a water course.
Here, where the rushing stream dallies on
its way among moss-grown rocks, where
the skunk cabbage grows, where rank
ferns and lush mosses hide the oozy
ground, and where great swamp
maples stand cool and tall,
the.Wood Thrush loves to

dwell. Its apparent na-

tive modesty and retir-
ing disposition, its love
for shade and solitude,
seem to be prominent
characteristics of this
Fig. 4'7.— Wood Thrush, two-thirds natural sylvan recluse. Still, of
ae recent years the bird is

often found about the haunts of men, particularly in places
where it is protected, and where large and clustering shade
trees afford it cool retreats. Its carriage as it hops or runs
upon the ground is somewhat like that of a Robin. Rather
sedentary in habit, it seems to be confined during the breed-
ing season to a limited area around its home, where its song
may be heard more or less at all hours, but mainly during the
cooler portions of the day, throughout the summer months.

  
 
  
 
  
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 159

 

The song of the Wood Thrush is one of the finest specimens
of bird music that America can produce. Among all the
bird séngs that I have ever heard, it is second only in quality
to that of the Hermit Thrush. It is not projected upon the
still air with the effort that characterizes the bold arid vigor-
ous lay of the Robin, or the loud and intermittent carol of
the Thrasher. Its tones are solemn and serene. They seem
to harmonize with the sounds of the forest, the whispering
breeze, the purling water, or the falling of rain drops in the
summer woods. As with most other birds, there is a great
difference in the excellence of individual performers, and,
while some males of the species can produce such notes as
few birds can rival, this cannot truly be said of all. At
evening the bird usually mounts to the higher branches of
the taller trees, often upon the edge of the forest, where
nothing intervenes to confine or subdue his “ heavenly music.”
There, sitting quite erect, he emits his wonderful notes in
the most leisurely fashion, and apparently with little effort.
A olee, he sings, and rests; then, unhurried, pours forth a
series of intermittent strains which seem to express in music
the sentiment of nature ; powerful, rich, metallic, with the
vanishing vibratory tones of the bell, they seem like a vocal
expression of the mystery of the universe, clothed in a
melody so pure and ethereal that the soul still bound to its
earthly tenement can neither imitate nor describe it. The
song rises and falls; swells and dies ‘away, until dark night
has fallen. The alarm note of the bird is a sharp pit, pit,
several times repeated ; this alarum often rises to a long roll.
A soft cluck, also repeated, is sometimes heard. A mellow,
rather liquid chirp is another common note.

The food of the Wood Thrush consists largely of insects.
A considerable portion of fruit is taken in summer and fall.
Owing, perhaps, to the usually retiring habits of the bird,
cultivated fruit is seldom eaten; but, as wild blackberries,
strawberries, cherries, and gooseberries are taken, the culti-
vated varieties of those fruits probably are eaten to some
extent where the birds breed in the vicinity of dwellings.
The amount taken, however, is not large in any case. In
examining twenty-two specimens of this Thrush, taken from
160 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

April to September, Professor Forbes found that seventy-one
per cent. of their food consisted of insects, twenty per cent.
of fruit, and a small percentage of mollusks and spiders,
together with a large portion of myriapods. Mollusks, par-
ticularly clams, mussels, and snails, are eaten by many birds,
while the myriapod, or thousand legs, and the ground spiders
are eaten by most ground-frequenting species.

The Wood Thrush takes its food from ground, shrubbery,
and trees in the woods, and even invades the grass land at
times, where it is said, like the Robin, to take earthworms. It
eats injurious grasshoppers and crickets, also ground beetles
and their larvee, click beetles, wireworms, and other Coleop-
tera, both tree-feeding and ground-feeding species. It gleans
cutworms from lawn and field, and is particularly fond of ants.
It also does good service in killing some of the most destruc-
tive caterpillar pests, not neglecting the hairy species, like
the forest tent caterpillar, and the larve of the gipsy moth
and the brown-tail moth, as well as most of the hairless spe-
cies, such as both the fall and spring cankerworms, of which it
is fond. Italso destroys the rose beetle, as Professor Forbes
found the stomach of one specimen crammed with them.

This species appears to be quite as valuable as the Robin
in its insectivorous habits; and, as it eats far less fruit than
the Robin, it must be of great service to man whenever it
can be induced to nest about his dwellings. Were cats,
birds’-egging boys, and bird-killing Italians suppressed, this
bird might become as domestic as the Robin, if not as com-
mon. The prospect of the transmutation of the substance
of noxious caterpillars, grubs, and beetles into the glorious
music of the Song Thrush, should stimulate us to learn how
to attract it to our homes and domesticate it there for all
time.

KINGLETS.

These pigmy birds are probably among the most useful
species in woodlands. They are extremely small, ranking
next in size to Hummingbirds, and therefore feed to a con-
siderable extent on minute forest insects so small as to escape
most other birds. They are peculiarly fitted to care for the
trees, for they are able not only to creep about the trunks
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 161

 

and limbs, like the Creepers and Titmice, but they have all
the skill of the Warblers in searching the foliage, and they
are also such excellent flycatchers that it is difficult for the
smallest and swiftest insects to escape them. The Ruby-
crowned Kinglet is a mere migrant through the State in fall
and spring, but the Golden-crowned Kinglet may be found
in our woods, orchards, or shade trees not only in fall and
in spring but during the winter, and it breeds in northern
Worcester County and in Berkshire County.

Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Regulus satrapa.

Length. — About four inches.

Adult Male. — Above, gray and olive-green mainly, with yellowish-olive show-
ing decidedly on wings and tail; a bright, glossy orange crown spot, edged
with yellow, fronted and bordered on the sides by a black streak, which also
is bordered by a whitish streak, above the eye; below, dull grayish-white.

Adult Female. — Like male, but lacking the orange center of the crown patch,
which is replaced by yellow.

Nest. — A ball of moss, feathers, etc., in an evergreen tree.

Eggs.— Numerous, white, thickly but faintly speckled with buffy spots.

Season. — Resident in some localities, but usually seen between September and
April.

The Golden-crowned Kinglet probably does not breed in
Massachusetts except where the Canadian flora is found on
some of the higher lands of the central and western sections.
Its note, as commonly heard, is a weak
chirp or a fine tsee, tsee, tsee. Its song
I cannot attempt to describe.

Unfortunately, no careful study of
its food habits has ever been made,
but it is said to be almost entirely
insectivorous. It is believed to feed Fig. 48.—Golden-crowned
largely on bark beetles, scale insects, Pay eae
and the eggs of injurious moths and plant lice.

Kinglets are particularly serviceable in woodlands, espe-
cially among the coniferous trees in which they dwell. At
Wareham, on Dec. 25, 1905, I watched the Gold-crest hunt-
ing its insect food amid the pines. The birds were flutter-
ing about among the trees. Each one would hover for a
moment before a tuft of pine “needles,” and then either
alight upon it and feed, or pass on to another. I examined

 
162 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the “needles” after the Kinglets had left them, and could find
nothing on them; but when a bird was disturbed before it had
finished feeding, the spray from which it had been driven was
invariably found to be infested with numerous black specks,
the eggs of plant lice. Evidently the birds were cleaning
each spray thoroughly, as far as they went.

Since the above was written several of these infested sprays
have been sent to Prof. F. E. L. Beal of the Biological
Survey, who submitted them to Mr. Pergande of the Bureau
of Entomology, who says that they are the eggs of a plant
louse of the genus Lachnus, and in all probability Lachnus
strobi, the white pine louse. The pines are considerably
infested, and several pairs of Kinglets have been seen feed-
ing upon the eggs.

Again since the above was written I have had occasion to
observe the work of Kinglets in our home grove of white
pine. For the past two years certain plant lice or bark lice
that infest these trees have been increasing so rapidly in
the grove as to menace the trees; but on Dec. 29, 1905,
seven Kinglets were seen feeding there. As it was unusual
to see so many there, they were carefully watched. They
were not working upon the foliage, as in the case mentioned
above, but mainly on the trunks and larger branches. They
were very unsuspicious, and it was easy to see that they
were feeding upon the eggs of the aphids. Some of these
eggs were sent to Dr. L. O. Howard, who gave it as his
opinion that they belonged to some species of Lachnus.
These eggs were deposited in masses on the bark of the pines
from a point near the ground up to a height of thirty-five feet.
The trees must have been infested with countless thousands
of these eggs, for the band of Kinglets remained there until
March 25, almost three months later, apparently feeding most
of the time on these eggs. When they had cleared the
branches the little birds fluttered about the trunks, hanging
poised on busy wing, like Hummingbirds before a flower,
meanwhile rapidly pecking the clinging eggs from the bark.
In those three months they must have suppressed hosts of
little tree pests, for I have never seen birds more industrious
and assiduous in their attentions to the trees. One might
SONG BIRDS UF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 163

 

expect such work of Creepers or of Woodpeckers ; but the
' Kinglets seemed to have departed from their usual habits of
gleaning among limbs and foliage, to take the place of the
missing Creepers, not one of which was seen in the grove
last winter.

NUTHATCHES AND TITS.

This useful family is well represented here in woodland and
orchard by three common species, one Titmouse and two Nut-
hatches. The Hudsonian Titmouse is too rare to be of any
economic importance. The common Titmouse or Chickadee
is a well-known species that visits every village and farm.
The Nuthatches may be known by their short tails and their
habit of climbing about over the trunks and limbs of trees,
somewhat after the manner of Woodpeckers, except that they
do not use the tail as a support, as the Woodpeckers and
Creepers de, and that they often move about head downwards,
or suspend themselves in this manner, which Woodpeckers
seldom do. The name Nuthatch probably originated from
nuthack or nuthacker. It was first applied to the European
species because of its habit of cracking nuts or acorns, —
presumably for the kernel; but the American species seem
to open nuts or acorns mainly for the insects that feed within.
In winter, however, these birds will eat the kernels of broken
nuts that are often put out for them by humane people.
They can scarcely be called song birds, but sometimes the
males twitter softly, as if attempting to whisper a song.

Chickadee. Black-capped Titmouse.

Parus atricapillus.

Length. — About five and one-quarter inches.

Adult.— Top of head, nape, and throat black; sides of head and neck white;
back ashy; breast white; wing feathers and tail feathers margined with
whitish ; belly and sides washed with creamy buff.

Nest.— Sometimes built in a natural hollow of some tree in the woods or
orchard; often placed in a cavity hollowed out by the birds themselves in
a decayed birch or pine stump, and composed of moss, feathers, and other
warm materials.

Eggs. — Usually six or seven, but sometimes even ten; white, and finely spotted
with reddish-brown or a paler shade.

Season. — Resident.

The Chickadee remains in Massachusetts throughout the
year, but is usually more commonly seen in winter than in
164 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

summer. It nests in April or May, and sometimes rears
two broods in a season. The ordinary cheery chattering
call, from which the bird derives its name, is often varied in
the milder weather of winter and toward spring by its so-
called “ phcebe” note, a
musical, whistling call,
which by the children
is sometimes translated
“Spring’s come.” Now
and then some peculiarly
gifted male essays a jumble
of slightly musical notes, which
seem to be an attempt to express
Fig. aes oes one-half the unconquerable cheerfulness of
its nature; but the Chickadee’s at-
tempts at song never give very brilliant results.e Neverthe-
less, the little bird is so happy, companionable, and confiding
that in New England it is one of the most beloved of the
feathered race. While, for a bird, it exhibits remarkable
intelligence in many ways, it seems to confide in man to an
unusual degree. It is an easy mark for the small boy with
his air gun, and numbers of these birds fall victims to their
misplaced confidence in human nature.

Chickadees sometimes go to the camps of woodchoppers,
in hard winters, and learn to take food from the hand. One
day while I was sitting on the ground in the woods a Chick-
adee alighted on a branch about two feet away and looked
up in my face; and they have often hovered within a few
inches of my head, as if about to alight there. Occasionally
one may be readily taught to feed from the hand. Minot
says that they are so merry, genial, and sociable that their
company is sought by other birds, such as Creepers, Nut-
hatches, Kinglets, and Woodpeckers, whose habits are like
their own. This has been observed by every ornithologist,
but no one seems to have mentioned the fact that many birds
other than those given above seek the company of the Chick-
adee for a different reason. Every fall the Warblers, on their
way south, stop for a time in favorable localities, and accom-
pany the small roving bands of Chickadees. At this season

  
 
  
  
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 165

 

one has but to follow the note of the Chickadee to find most
of the smaller wood birds. Warblers are not plentiful in the
woods at any time when there is a scarcity of their insect
food ; but the industrious, prying, resident Chickadee knows
the ground, and where to find food. His cheery notes call
the other birds to him. The Chickadees extract caterpillars
from webs or from rolled-up leaves; and the Warblers im-
mediately follow and do.likewise, though not with the skill
of the Chickadee. Now Chickadee finds some caterpillars
too large for him to swallow; he catches-one, places it on a
branch, puts his foot upon it, and soon extracts from it with
his beak all that he desires, leaving the remains where they
fall. The Warblers, less skillful, come along and exhaust
themselves in vain attempts to swallow the large caterpillars
whole. They eat what smaller ones they can, however, and
leave the rest to the Chickadees and Vireos. I never yet
have seen a Chickadee fail to manage any insect that it at-
tacked, although occasionally it drops one into the under-
brush. I once saw a Chickadee attempting to hold a monster
caterpillar, which proved too strong for it. The great worm
writhed out of the confining grasp and fell to the ground,
but the little bird followed, caught it, whipped it over a twig,
and, swinging underneath, caught each end of the caterpillar
with a foot, and so held it fast over the twig by superior
weight, and proceeded, while hanging back downward, to dis-
sect its prey. This is one of the most skillful acrobatic feats
that a bird can perform, — although I have seen
a Chickadee drop over backward from a branch,
in pursuit of an insect, catch it, and, turning
an almost complete somersault in the air, strike
right side up again on the leaning trunk of the
tree. Indeed, the complete somersault is an every-day ac-
complishment of this gifted little fowl, and it often swings
completely round a branch, like a human acrobat taking the
“giant swing.” Although the Chickadee ordinarily is no
flycatcher, it can easily follow and catch in the air any insect
that drops from its clutch. This bird stands very close to the
first place among the useful birds of orchard and woodland,
and therefore its food habits merit an extended notice here.

 
166 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Much of the daylight life of the Chickadee is spent in a
busy, active pursuit of or search for insects and their eggs.
This is particularly the case in winter, when hibernating
insects or their eggs must be most diligently sought, for
then starvation always threatens. But the Chickadee is one
of the few insectivorous birds that is keen-witted
enough to find abundant food and safe shelter dur-
ing the inclement northern winter. Nevertheless,
its busy search for food is sometimes interrupted
for so long a time during severe storms, when the
trees are encased in ice, that it dies from cold and hunger.
During a sleet storm Mr. C. E. Bailey saw two Chickadees
creep under the loose clapboards of an old building for
shelter. Their tails were so weighted down with ice that
they could hardly fly, and had he not cared for them they
might have perished.

The Chickadee, notwithstanding its hardiness, requires
protection from cold winds and storms at night. It finds
such shelter either in some hollow tree or in some deserted
bird nest. Late one cold and snowy afternoon Mr. Bailey
detected a movement in a cavity under an old Crow’s nest,
and on climbing the tree he found two Chickadees nestling
there. They remained there until] he had climbed to the
nest and put his hand on one, when they flew out, only to
return before he had reached the ground. Minot speaks
of a Chickadee that slept alone in winter in a
Pheebe’s nest under his veranda. It retires to its
refuge rather early at night, and does not come
out until the Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and
Junco are abroad.

Although the digestive organs of the Chickadee are not
those of a typical seed eater, it can digest and assimilate
seeds at need, and often lives to a considerable extent on
the seeds of the birch. Oats are sometimes eaten in winter,
but they are taken from waste grain found along the roads.
The fruit of the common sumacs, bayberry, and poison
sumac are also eaten; pieces of lichens and bud scales some-
times form a portion of the stomach contents; but. the food
of this bird is preferably of an animal nature. In winter

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 167

 

over half its food consists of insects, and in spring the per-
centage of insect food often runs up to nearly one hundred.
Among the pests which it eats are the tent caterpillars and
their eggs ; both species of cankerworm moths, their larve,
and eggs; codling moths with their larve; the forest tent
caterpillar ; and the larva, chrys-
alis, and imago of the gipsy moth
and brown-tail moth. The birch,
willow, and apple plant lice or Fig. 50.—Hggs of the tent cater.
thair eggs form & large part at pillar moth, eaten by Chickadees.
the Chickadee’s food at times. “The eggs are eaten mainly in
autumn and winter, when fixed upon the twigs of trees. Bark
beetles, so destructive to many species of fruit, shade, and
forest trees, are a favorite food of the Chickadees. Destruc-
tive flea beetles also are eaten by them. They frequently
may be seen tearing open spiders’ “ nests,” and eating the eggs
or young. At first sight this appears to be a harmful habit,
as spiders are supposed to be useful; but no doubt much
destruction of spiders is needed to keep them within normal
bounds. Let any one go out into the fields some fogey
summer morning, and note the thousands of “cobwebs” on
the grass, and he will see that the fields are “full of spiders.”
One night in September, 1904, I slept on the ground upon
a hill top in the Concord woods. arly in the night it rained
a little, and toward morning a river fog rose. At daylight
the whole country appeared to be covered with spiders’ webs.
They hung from the trees, every branch was ornamented
with them, each tuft of pine needles had its web, long
streamers ran from tree to tree, festoons of spiders’ webs
hung across the wood roads. The shrubbery, the vines, the
grass, all were enshrouded in dew-spangled webs. ‘The
work of a million spiders, ordinarily unnoticed, had become
visible, as if by magic, in a night. It was plain that the
woods as well as the fields were spider-ridden. At other
times flights of migrating spiders are wafted on the air by
their little balloons or parachutes, rising high and crossing
ponds and rivers. Such sights as these suggest what might
occur were not spiders held in check by birds. When we
consider the vast numbers of spiders and the possibilities

 
168 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

of their increase, we may be content that Chickadees and
other birds eat them.

Dr. Weed, who has studied the winter food of the Chick-
adee, says that the destruction of the myriad eggs of plant
lice, which infest fruit, shade, and forest trees, is probably
the most important service which the Chickadee ren-
ders during its winter residence. More than four
hundred and fifty eggs are sometimes eaten by one
bird in a single day. On the supposition that one
hundred were eaten daily by each of a flock of ten
Chickadees, there would be destroyed one thousand a day,
or one hundred thousand during the days of winter, by ten
birds only, —a number which he believes to be far below
the real condition, could we determine it precisely. Dr.
Weed has found in Chickadees’ stomachs a carabid beetle,
a snout beetle, a leaf hopper, and remains of what appeared
to be the oyster-shell bark louse. This prying bird eats
many of the most injurious insects that might escape the
observation of larger birds. The cocoons of certain micro-
lepidoptera that hibernate on the twigs of fruit trees are
eagerly sought by these birds. The little case-bearers are
greedily eaten by them.

Thus we see that the Chickadee feeds on borers which live
under the bark, on plant lice which suck the sap, on cater-
pillars which destroy the leaves, and on the cod-
ling moth which injures the fruit. It even digs we
into decaying twigs, and extracts wood borers.

It has not the skill of the Woodpecker in going Fig. 51.—Cod.
directly to the spot where the borer is located, 8 ™oth, par.

entoftheapple
but it finds the burrow, and pecks and chips worm, eatenby
away the decayed wood along it until the larva  ‘"°Om¢k#dee-
is reached. Undoubtedly Chickadees kill many of the de-
structive white pine weevils (Pissodes strobi). While work-
ing among pine trees I saw several Chickadees go to infested
shoots, peck them, and apparently extract the larvee. These
dying shoots seemed to be the principal attraction which
brought them to the pines.

The practical value of the Chickadee to the orchardist may
be inferred from the results of the experiment referred to on

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 169

\

p- 150, in which an attempt was made to foster and pro-
tect the birds in an old and neglected orchard, with a view
to observing the effect of such a policy upon the trees.
The Chickadees were at-
tracted to the orchard in
winter, and were seen
destroying thousands of
eggs of the fall canker-
eo moth, and ee Fig. 52.— Fall cankerworm moth: «, male
egg-bearing females as moth; b, wingless female moth; ¢, d, structural
well. A few of the birds ‘°*""*

were killed, and their. stomachs examined for evidence cor-
roborative of our observations. The following notes are
taken from the record of the experiment, as published in
the annual report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agri-
culture for 1895 : —

 

Eggs of the fall cankerworm found in stomachs of Chickadees :—

Eggs. Eggs.
Bird No. 1, z x - 273 | Bird No. 3, * 3 . 216
Bird No. 2, 3 . . 261 | Bird No. 4, é 3 . 278

 

Making in all ten hundred and twenty-eight eggs found in the stomachs
of four birds. Four birds killed later in the season had eaten the
female imagoes of the spring cankerworm (Paleacrita vernaia), as
follows : —

Moths. Moths.
Bird No. 1, . : . 41 | Bird No. 3, 3 27
Bird No. 2, P _ ‘ 18 | Bird No. 4, 3 ; . 19

 

Making a total of one hundred and five. In Nos. 2, 3, and 4 of the last
table there were a large number of eggs also. It is safe to say that
there were one hundred and fifty eggs in each stomach, in addition to
the female moths eaten.

 

Fig. 53. — Apple twig, with eggs of the cankerworm moth. These eggs are eaten by
the Chickadee.

Mr. C. E. Bailey carefully counted the eggs in the ovaries of twenty
of these female moths, with the following results : —
170 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Eggs. Eggs.
Moth No. 1, 158 | Moth No. 11, _ . : - ill
Moth No. 2, 272 | Moth No. 12, . ‘ - 160
Moth No. 3, 127 | Moth No. 13, . ‘ . 198
Moth No. 4, 184 | Moth No. 14, . is . 131
Moth No. 54, 213 | Moth No. 15, . 5 . 281
Moth No. 6, 135 | Moth No. 16, . ‘ . 242
Moth No. 7, 140 | Moth No. 17, : 3 . 116
Moth No. 8, 220 | Moth No. 18, . : » 281
Moth No. 9, 200 | Moth No. 19, . : - 192
Moth No. 10, 130 | Moth No. 20, . Fi - 217

It will be seen from this table that the average number of
eggs found in the ovaries of each moth was one hundred and
eighty-five. Mr. Bailey was very positive, from his contin-
uous field observations, that each Chickadee would devour on
the average thirty female cankerworm moths per day from
the 20th of March to the 15th of April, whenever these in-
sects were plentiful. If the average number of eggs laid
by each female is one hundred and eighty-five, one Chick-
adee would thus destroy in one day five thousand, five hun-
dred and fifty eggs; and in the twenty-five days in which
the cankerworm moths “run” or crawl up the trees, one
hundred and thirty-eight thousand, seven hundred and fifty.
It is probable that some of the moths were not captured
until they had laid some of their eggs, but the Chickadees
found and ate most of these eggs also. When we consider,
further, that forty-one of these insects, distended as they
were with eggs, were found packed within the stomach of
one Chickadee, and that the digestion of the bird is so rapid
that its stomach was probably filled many times daily, the
estimate made by Mr. Bailey seems a very conservative one.

As the frost left the ground on the first warm days of
spring the wingless females of the spring cankerworm moth
appeared in the orchard and began ascending the trees in
great numbers. The Chickadees commenced catching these
insects and eating them and their eggs. Mr. Bailey placed
twenty-two of the females on one tree, and in a few minutes
twenty of them were captured and eaten by Chickadees. As
a practical result of the presence of the Chickadee in that
orchard during the winter, there were so few eggs of the
cankerworm moths left in the spring that, as heretofore
SONG BIRDS Of ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 171

 

stated, the summer birds were able to destroy the worms
resulting from them.

In early spring Chickadees feed much upon the ground in
the woods. At such times I have seen them opening soft-
ened acorns, that have lain all winter beneath the snow, and
extracting grubs from them.

The Chickadee is not known to have any harmful habits.
Wilson says that it has been known to attack and injure its
own kind, but he gives no positive evidence of this, and I
can find no record of this habit elsewhere. Their fondness
for animal food leads them. sometimes to eat the bodies of
other birds that have been stuck on thorns by the Butcher
Bird, or to feed from the carcass of any fox or other animal
left hanging in the woods by trappers. This habit probably
accounts for the fact that feathers or hair are sometimes found
in their stomachs.

One mild day in the winter of 1903-04 Mr. Mosher saw
two Chickadees catching a few bees that had come out of a
hive and were becoming benumbed by the cold. This was
a particularly hard winter, during which many birds died of
starvation and exposure, and the birds were doing no harm,
as the bees, once away from the hive, would never have been
able to return to its shelter. The Chickadee is not known
to injure grain or cultivated fruit. Occasionally it pecks a
frozen apple left hanging on the tree in winter, but I can
find no record of its having injured fruit at any other time.
It would be hard to find a bird more harmless or more useful
than this species.

White-breasted Nuthatch.

Sita carolinensis.

Length. — About six inches.

Adult. — Upper parts a rather light bluish-gray ; crown, nape of neck, and upper
pack black ; wings and tail marked somewhat with black and white; lower
parts and sides of head mainly white.

Nest.—In an old post or an excavation in a tree trunk, which is sometimes hol-
lowed out by the birds.

Eggs.— Much like those of the Chickadee, but larger.

Season. — Resident. i

Most writers regard this common and familiar species as
a bird of the forest; but in eastern Massachusetts it has
172 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

become a frequenter of orchard and shade trees, and is com-
monly seen along village streets in fall, winter, spring, and
sometimes even in midsummer, although comparatively few
breed in the State. In
the fall it may be seen
here and there in the
woods or orchards, often
in company with Chick-
adees and other tree
gleaners. In winter
ff this species is almost
Fig. 54.—White-breasted Nuthatch, two-thirds always engaged during

eres daylight in a diligent
search over the trunks and larger limbs of trees, particularly
on the rough bark of the larger trunks, where it finds a
great part of its insect food. In one instance, where a
workman had pared off most of the outer bark from a large
oak, two of these Nuthatches were seen busily engaged for
two days in searching and delving among the pile of bark
chips left on the ground.

This Nuthatch is the particular guardian of the deciduous
trees, preferring the oak, chestnut, elm, and other hard-wood
trees to the pine. It also frequents old orchards, where the
rough bark affords concealment for many injurious insects,
and offers a good foothold. It is a cheerful bird, and often
manifests much curiosity. It will sometimes come quite
near any one who attracts its attention, and, hanging head
downward on trunk or limb, utter its nasal quank, quank,
—a peculiar, weird sound, somewhat like the quack of a
duck, but higher keyed and with less volume, having rather
a musical twang.

No other native birds are so often seen upside down as are
the Nuthatches. Audubon and Wilson both say that these
birds sleep in this position. In winter the White-breast
passes the night in some cleft or hollow ina tree trunk.
Dr. G. V. Harvey of California says that one evening he
saw twenty-nine White-breasted Nuthatches come singly to
an old, dead, yellow pine, alight upon a knot, and vanish into
a large crack in the trunk. They came at quite regular in-

 

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 173

 

tervals, one after another, and evidently used the cavity as
a lodging place, for that night at least.

Even the Woodpeckers, supplied as they are with a re-
versed toe and a stiff, supporting tail, cannot compete with
the Nuthatches in descending head first. The Woodpecker
when going down the trunk finds itself in the same pre-
dicament as the bear, —its climbing tools work only one
way. It is dependent on its stiff tail for support, and so
must needs hop down backwards. The Creeper is still more
hide-bound in its habits, and its motto seems to be “ Excel-
sior.” It begins at the foot of its ladder and climbs ever
upward. But the climbing ability of the Nuthatch is unlim-
ited. It circles round the branches, or moves up, down,
and around the trunks, apparently oblivious to the law of
gravitation. Its readiness in descending topsy-turvy is due
in part to the fact that, as the
quills of its tail are not stiff
enough to afford support, it
is obliged to depend upon its
legs and feet. As it has on
each foot three toes in front
and only one behind, it re-
verses the position of one
foot in going head downward,
throwing it out sidewise and
backward, so that the three
long claws on the three front
toes grip the bark and keep
the bird from falling forward.
The other foot is thrown forward, and thus with feet far
apart the “little gymnast has a wide base beneath him.” In
the third volume of Reed’s American Ornithology Rev. Lean-
der S. Keyser describes and illustrates this manner of pro-
gression. The Nuthatch not only straddles in going down
the tree, but spreads its legs widely in going round the trunk,
as will be seen by the accompanying cut, sketched from life
in 1895. Mr. William Brewster has photographed the Red-
breasted Nuthatch in similar positions, but bird artists gen-

 

 

 

 

Fig. 55.—Nuthatches.

 

1 Reed’s American Ornithology, Vol. 2, 1902, p. 171.
174 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

erally seem to have overlooked this habit. The slightly
upturned bill of the Nuthatch, and its habit of hanging up-
side down, give it an advantage when in the act of prying
off scales of bark under which many noxious insects are
secreted.

The food of this bird consists very largely of insects, al-
though it is capable of subsisting on seeds, for it has a strong

‘muscular gizzard, and consumes much sand or gravel for
grinding its food. In winter, when it is difficult to find suffi-
cient insect food, the Nuthatch feeds in part on such seeds as
it can pick up. Oats and corn are then eaten wherever they
can be found.

Prof. E. Dwight Sanderson, who examined thirty-four
stomachs of this species taken in Michigan, found many
seeds, among them ragweed and wild sunflowers. The birds
had eaten seeds in winter to the amount of sixty-seven and
four-tenths per cent. of the stomach contents, while the re-
mainder consisted of gravel and insects ; but in early spring
only thirteen and five-tenths per cent. of the food was of a
vegetable nature, while seventy-nine and five-tenths per cent.
consisted of insects. He found Piesma cinerta the most
common noxious insect in these stomachs. This insect, as he
remarks, “never does any considerable injury.” Its frequent
presence in the stomach of the Nuthatch may possibly explain
why it is not more injurious. Although seven orders of
insects were represented in these stomachs, Professor Sander-
son regards the birds as neutral, for no first-class pests were
recognized, and many beneficial and neutral insects were
found ; but we have seen that the destruction of parasitic
or predaceous insects by birds is not necessarily or always
an injurious habit ; in Massachusetts several pests are eaten
by the Nuthatch, and we have not yet recognized in their
stomachs any large proportion of beneficial insects. This
suggests the possibility that the conditions in Michigan, when
the examinations were made by Professor Sanderson, were -
unusual. He notes that he was unable to obtain a specimen
from any orchard infested with insect pests.

 

* The Economic Value of the White-bellied Nuthatch and the Black-capped
Chickadee, by E. Dwight Sanderson. The Auk, Vol. XV., 1898, pp. 145-150.
1

SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 175

 

Professor King in Wisconsin found beetles, including
snap beetles and boring beetles, in the stomachs of fourteen
birds of the species. In Massachusetts it feeds largely on
beetles, taking many that bore in the bark or wood. It also
feeds on the eggs of insects, and on hibernating larve and
ants. Scale insects are taken
in winter. The oyster-shell
bark scale louse (Lepidosa-
phes ulmt), injurious to the
apple, pear, currant, and
other useful plants and trees,
is eaten greedily. The pro-
portion of insect food in-
creases as spring advances,
and the young are fed largely
if not entirely on insects.
On Nov. 26, 1897, Mr. Kirk- Fig. 56.— Wood-boring beetle, much en-
laid examined the stomach larged. Nuthatches eat such beetles.
of one of these birds, which contained one thousand, six
hundred and twenty-nine eggs of the fall cankerworm moth.
As there were no moth remains, it was evident that the bird
had gathered these eggs from the bark.

One day Mr. Bailey watched a pair of these Nuthatches
in Brookline. The birds went regularly from tree to tree,
searching beneath the burlap bands for gipsy caterpillars,
which for several hours they carried continually and fed to
their full-fledged young. The young birds also found and
killed a few. The preference shown by these particular birds
for the hairy gipsy caterpillars at this place seems remark-
able, as there were comparatively few of these larve to be
found there at the time.

This Nuthatch has been seen to eat cankerworms, forest
caterpillars, and plant lice, and there is no doubt that ordi-
narily it is a valuable species while here.

 
176 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch. Canada Nuthatch.

Sita canadensis.

Length.— Four and one-half to nearly five inches.

Adult Male.— Above, deep, bright bluish-gray; chin and throat whitish; other
lower parts rusty or deep buff; tail feathers marked with black and white ;
a white stripe above the eye, a broad black stripe through the eye, and a
black crown.

Adult Female. — Similar, but duller; the eye stripe dusky, and the crown lighter
than that of the male.

Nest and Eggs. — Much like those of the Chickadee.

Season. — Resident, but local in the breeding season.

This dainty little bird is considered rare in Massachusetts
in the breeding season. While a few nest in suitable local-
ities, the great majority retire to the northern wilderness

in summer. From Octo-
ber to April, however, it is
quite common in this State
during some seasons. It per-
forms for the pines a similar
service to that rendered by its
larger relative among the decid-
uous trees. Itis almost constantly
found in pine woods, and seems par-
ee ee ticularly fond of the pitch pine (Pinus
Nuthatch, one-half natural rigida) .
oe The common notes of the bird are
not unlike those of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but higher,
sharper, and quicker. It has also a musical varied twitter,
not mentioned in books, so far as I know, which can be heard
but a few feet away.

It runs about much in the manner of the White-breasted
Nuthatch, but is perhaps oftener seen beneath a limb. It
sometimes feeds nearer the ends of the branches in winter,
perhaps because it more commonly extracts the seeds from
pine cones. It picks up corn wherever it can be found in
winter, and I have watched it hiding the kernels behind
scales of bark on the pitch pine, —a habit common to both
Nuthatches and Titmice. A large majority of these birds
go farther south than Massachusetts in winter, but many re-
main wherever they can find pine seed, suitable insect food,

  
  
SONG BIRDS OF ORUHARD AND WOODLAND. 177

 

and safe shelter. They are seen more in woods and less
about orchards than is the preceding species, and, though
probably very useful in the pine woods, they are not of so
much value in orchards, unless attracted there by artificial
means.

CREEPERS.

This family of bark-climbing specialists has but one rep-
resentative in Massachusetts. The Creepers climb upward
and fly downward.

American Brown Creeper.

Certhia familiaris americana.

Length. — About five and one-third inches.

Adult.— Sepia-brown above, varying in intensity, finely marked with whitish ;
under parts white.

Nest. — Usually built behind some loose flake of bark or in a cleft in a tree trunk.

Eggs.— Grayish-white, nearly oval, and sparingly sprinkled with brown spots,
chiefly at larger end.

Season. — Resident, but local in summer.

This is a modest, quiet, and unobtrusive species. Its
curved bill and long, rigid tail distinguish it from all other
birds. It is quite common in Massachusetts in fall and
spring, less so in winter, and rather rare in sum-
mer. Most individuals of this species that do not
go farther north to breed retire in spring to
dark, cool cedar swamps, where they nest.

The usual note of this bird is a thin
screep, suggesting that of the Golden-
crowned Kinglet, often repeated twice
or more. It has also a fine chip, and
in summer a sweet, wild, indescribable
song. The Creeper is pre-eminently
a bird of the forest. Everywhere in
great tracts of woods it may be found
laboring day after day to surmount one
giant trunk after another, only to fly
down to the foot of still another, that it may climb again.
In the tall, dark forests of fir, pine, and cedar on the Pacific
slope of the Cascade Mountains the Creeper’s chirp is one
of the few characteristic bird notes that come down to the

 
 
  
  

Fig. 58. — Brown Creeper,
natural size.
178 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

wanderer from the dizzy heights of those towering trunks.
In the pine woods of New England or Canada the Creeper
ever goes its ceaseless rounds. It is a guardian of the
tree trunk. It is not very often seen among the branches,
although it sometimes feeds on the seed of the pine.

The Creeper feeds very largely on insects, which it finds
on the bark or extracts from the cracks and crevices with its
long, sharp bill. I have often tried to determine by obser-
vation the food of this bird, but can only say that it seems
to find boring grubs and the pupe and eggs of insects.
In this quest it examines a large number of trees daily. Mr.
Bailey spent an hour watching one of these birds on March 30,
1899. It inspected forty-three trees, beginning about two
feet from the ground, or at just about the height to which
the ground-frequenting birds would reach. Thirty-six trees
were white oak and seven white pine. It went up each tree
about twenty feet, going round and round the trunk, then
flew to another. It appeared to prefer the white oak to any
other tree, probably because the oaks in that locality were
infested with numerous insects. It progressed in this man-
ner about one hundred yards within the hour. At night a
Creeper, probably the same bird, was still in the near-by
woods. We have little accurate knowledge of the food of
this bird. The only precise determination of its food that
has come to my notice is recorded by Dr. Judd in Maryland.
The stomach contained such beetles as Helops acreus and
Bruchus hibisci; also sawflies, ants, spiders, and seeds of
serub pine.

THRASHERS AND MOCKINGBIRDS.

This group is represented here by the Thrasher and Cat-
bird. Both are birds of the thicket, and are found habitu-
ally in sprout growth or young coppice, and in shrubbery
on the borders of woods. They feed largely on or near the
ground and in shrubbery, but often make excursions into
woods, pastures, fields, or gardens,
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 179

 

Brown Thrasher. Brown Thrush. Red Mavis. Planting Bird.

Toxostoma rufum.

Length. ~ Nearly eleven and one-half inches.

Adult. — Reddish-brown above, with white wing bars; below, mainly white;
breast, belly, and sides of throat streaked or spotted with blackish.

Nest. — Loosely built of twigs, etc., on the ground or ina brush pile or low bush.

Eggs.— As large as the Robin’s; white or greenish, thickly spotted with light
reddish-brown.

Season. — April to October.

This bird may be distinguished from the true Thrushes by
its large size, long tail, and long, curved beak. It arrives in
Massachusetts the latter part of April, and leaves for the south
in October. Its rich, bold, and varied song may be heard
along the borders of woodland, in coppice growth, or from
some tall tree about the farmyard or pasture.

The song was first brought prominently to my attention
when as a barefoot boy of ten I was dropping corn in the field
at planting time. The Thrasher sat in a tree near the corn-
field, its swelling throat pouring forth a flood of music on
the warm May wind. Just over the wall in the adjoining
field a dusty plowman stopped his team. “There, boy,” he
said, “that is the Planting Bird. Some folks call it the Red
Mavis. Hear him sing, ‘Drop it, drop it, drop it; cover it
up, cover it up, cover it up; Ill pull it up, Pll pull it up.’”
Both words and song made so strong an impression on my
youthful mind that they have never been effaced from my
memory. Later we found that the Thrasher had kept his
promise, and pulled up some of the corn that we had planted.

This is the only really harmful habit of this bird, and this
seems to be more local than general; for, while it pulls a
little corn on some farms, there is no complaint from it else-
where. Thoreau reports a similar phrasing of the Thrasher’s
song, but omits every reference to the bird as a corn puller,
giving the last part of the song as “Pull it up.” He also
mentions the common name Mavis, by which I think the bird is
now known only among the older people. This name is prob-
ably of European origin, and came down to us from the early
settlers; but the bird is still known among farmers in some
sections of the State as the Planting Bird or Brown Thrush.
180 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Its alarm note is a loud smack or chick, very incisive, and
frequently followed by a mournful whistle. It also makes a
hissing or wheezing sound, which is often heard when it is
defending its young.

 

Fig. 59.— Brown Thrasher, one-half natural size.

The Brown Thrasher feeds largely on insects. As it
usually retires during the breeding season to scrubby lands
or sprout growth near woodland, it takes very little culti-
vated fruit, and the small amount of corn it consumes is
usually more than made up for by the white grubs taken from
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 181

 

woodland, cornfield, and garden. Dr. Judd gives a sum-
mary of the results of an examination of the stomachs of one
hundred and twenty-one of this species ; thirty-six per cent.
of the food was vegetable, and sixty-four per cent. was ani-
mal, which was practically all insects, mostly taken in spring,
when no fruit was ripe. Half the insects were beetles,
mainly harmful species. The remaining animal food was
chiefly grasshoppers, caterpillars, bugs, and spiders.

The Brown Thrasher more than repays us for the cultivated
fruit that it eats by the number of insect pests that it con-
sumes earlier in the season. While it eats considerable wild
fruit and some that is useful to man, it probably pays for
this by destroying many of the disgusting bugs that eat
berries. As the Thrasher feeds much on the ground, it
destroys many grasshoppers, crickets, white grubs, and May
beetles. Professor Forbes states that in Illinois nearly half
the food of this bird consists of waste grain picked from
the droppings on the roads. He also asserts that it eats
cultivated fruit in less proportion than do other Thrushes.
There, as here, June beetles form a considerable per cent. of
its food, and it eats both snap beetles and curculios. The
Thrasher eats caterpillars, but mainly such species as are
found on the ground. It picks up cutworms, cankerworms,
and some gipsy moth caterpillars, but is not usually fond of
hairy caterpillars. On the whole, it is a bird that should be
protected by the farmer.

Catbird.

Galeoscoptes carolinensis.

Length. — About nine inches.

Adult.— Both upper and under parts dark gray; top of head and tail blackish ;
under tail coverts chestnut.

Nest.— Composed of sticks and twigs, bark and rootlets, placed in a bush or
vine.

Eygs.— Dark, glossy, greenish-blue.

Season. — May to October.

The Catbird is very common in this State. Its voluble
manner, cat-like cry, musical song, habits of mimicry, and
bravery in defence of its young are all too well known
to need description. As an imitator, it is second only to
the Mockingbird. I have heard the cry of the Bob-white or
182 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Quail and some of the notes of the Wood Thrush, together
with those of many other birds, given by the Catbird. It
may not be generally known that this bird, like many other
species, often sings in a very low tone when it believes that
danger is near. In October it sometimes repeats its spring

 

Fig. 60.— Catbird, one-half natural size.

song so softly that it seems to come from far away when
uttered within a few feet of the hearer. The bird’s moods
are many. It is in turn a merry jester, a fine musician, a
mocking sprite, and a screaming termagant, but always an
interesting study, and never prosaic or mediocre.

No doubt the Catbird is useful, as it fills, in moist thickets,
a place similar to that taken by its relative the Thrasher on
the drier lands. Unfortunately, however, the poor bird has
acquired a bad reputation. It is accused of sucking the eggs
of other birds and destroying much fruit. The first charge
must be dismissed as not proven, but the second is sustained
by good evidence. Dr. Judd reports on the examination of
two hundred and thirteen stomachs, from Florida to Kansas
and Massachusetts. He finds that three per cent. of the food
consists of carnivorous wasps and bees; spiders are also
eaten; but the destruction of useful insects is more than
made up for by the number of weevils, plant-feeding bugs,
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 1838

 

May beetles, and other injurious species taken. The de-
struction of the ground beetles eaten by the Catbird is prob-
ably at the worst a necessary evil. It eats many caterpillars,
including. cutworms, also grasshoppers and crickets. Ants
and crane flies formed a large proportion of the insect food of
some Catbirds dissected by Professor Forbes, who says, how-
ever, that in midsummer the Catbird subsists mainly on fruit,
and only takes such insects as come its way. Young Cat-
birds while in the nest are fed very largely on insect food.
Dr. Weed examined the stomach contents of three nestling
Catbirds in Michigan, and found that ninety-five per cent.
of the food consisted of insects, two per cent. of spiders,
and three per cent. of myriapods. Sixty-two per cent. of
this food was composed of cutworms, eleven per cent. of
ground beetles, four per cent. of grasshoppers, three per
cent. of May flies and two per cent. of dragon flies. Dr.
Judd also found that the nestlings were fed almost entirely
on insects. All these statements go to prove the value of
the Catbird on the farm.

On the other hand, the adult Catbird often lives so largely
on cultivated fruit in midsummer that were its numbers
greatly increased it might become an unbearable pest to the
fruit grower. Its destructiveness to small fruits varies, how-
ever, in different localities. Sometimes the Catbird will
leave its favorite thickets and build its nest in the raspberry
or blackberry bushes, or among the grapevines in the garden.
A pair of these birds that occupied a nest in our garden at
Worcester where they were surrounded by fruit did no injury
compared with that inflicted by a pair of Catbirds that nested
in the shrubbery near our garden at Wareham. There I
found that the Catbirds came to the garden mainly for straw-
berries. They chose the best fruit, and seemed to live on
that alone during the strawberry season. The Catbirds ate
more fruit than the Robins, although the latter were far more
numerous, and, as is usually the case, were blamed at first
for the loss of all the fruit.

While the Catbird is often a pest to the fruit garden, eat-
ing, as it does, most small fruits, it is so useful in case of
insect outbreaks that it deserves protection. Five Catbirds
184 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

dissected by Professor Aughey during a locust irruption had
eaten one hundred and fifty-two locusts. When injurious
‘caterpillars are numerous, the Catbird attacks them. Its
name appears in the list of birds which feed on brown-tail
and gipsy caterpillars, cankerworms, forest caterpillars, and
tent caterpillars. It also feeds its young on the hairy cater-
pillars of the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth, and on
many of the imagoes as well as those of native noctuids.
I have frequently observed this habit. A Catbird used to
come to my window early in the morning to get the cut-
worm moths that had flown against the screen in the night.

Mr. F. H. Mosher watched two pairs of Catbirds and their
young in 1895, and found that the young were fed very
largely on gipsy caterpillars. He says: —

The Catbird when feeding is most busy in the morning until about
8.40. From that time she comes occasionally until from 3 to 4 o’clock,
when she is more active again. In the morning she would come and
eat two or three herself, and then carry one to her young. She would
be absent about five minutes. After she had made two or three trips
she would not stop to eat any herself. In the afternoon, during her
period of greatest activity, she would make trips about every ten minutes.
She seemed to prefer larvee to pup, but when hard pressed would take
pup. ‘The size of the larve seemed to make no difference to her, as
she took the full-grown just as readily as the small.

Mr. Mosher thought in 1895 that the Catbird was, next to
the Cuckoos and Orioles, the most important enemy of the
gipsy moth. These three species alone would be enough,
if in sufficient numbers, to check this insect in the localities
which they frequent. The Catbird forages mainly on the
ground and in shrubbery, but seldom in trees. The Cuckoos
feed mainly among the lower branches, while the Orioles go
up even to the topmost twigs.

From the evidence at hand we must conclude that, though
the Catbird is sometimes a nuisance to the fruit grower, it
must be tolerated and even encouraged for the good it does.
The problem before us is not how to destroy the birds, but
how to keep both birds and fruit.
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 185

 

WARBLERS.

Of the twenty-five species and two sub-species of War-
blers that may be confidently looked for each spring in
Massachusetts, either as migrants or residents, only eight
are generally distributed throughout the State in the breed-
ing season, and two of these are rather local. Several other
species breed here, but only locally or rarely. Only the
more common familiar summer resident species, which are
of great economic importance, will be mentioned here. The
migrants are of great though lesser importance. Their
abundance in migration is probably governed largely by
the number of insects to be found upon the trees. When-
ever large numbers of Warblers are seen here in migration,
their presence may be taken as an indication of a plenti-
ful supply of the arboreal insects on which chiefly they
feed. The fact that Warblers live mostly on small insects
does not lessen their usefulness, —it may even make them
more valuable. Warblers are undoubtedly responsible for
the destruction of many of the young caterpillars of the
great cecropia, promethea, and luna moths, which, while
still too small to do any harm, are killed off by birds. It
should be noted also that many of the greatest pests are very
small even at maturity. The onion fly, the Hessian fly, the
wheat midge, and many injurious Lepidoptera and Cole-
optera are among the tiny insects that are eaten by small
birds. Only the smaller birds can follow insects to the tips
of the slenderest twigs; therefore, the smaller the bird the
greater its special usefulness.

We have already seen that Warblers have a great capacity
for destroying small insects. In migration they seem to
possess most remarkable appetites. Rev. Leander S. Keyser
watched a Hooded Warbler, and found that it caught on the
average two insects a minute, or one hundred and twenty an
hour. He estimates that at this rate the bird would kill at
least nine hundred and sixty insects a day, assuming that it
sought them but eight hours.?

 

1 Papers presented at the World’s Congress on Ornithology, 1896, pp. 41, 42.
186 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Mr. Robert H. Coleman, in a letter to the Biological Sur-
vey, stated, according to Dr. Judd, that he counted the
number of insects eaten by a Palm Warbler, and found that
it varied from forty to sixty per minute. The bird, he
said, spent at least four hours on his piazza, and in that time
must have eaten about nine thousand, five hundred insects.

I-have seen Warblers eating from masses of small insects
at such a rate that it was impossible for me to count the
number of insects eaten. When larger insects are taken,
the time given to each increases. The bird will sometimes
spend at least ten minutes in the attempt to swallow a
large caterpillar. .Itis difficult, therefore, to approximate the
number of insects eaten by a Warbler in a day, except where
it is feeding mainly on a particular species.

In this family we find birds that assume the care of the
trees from the ground to the topmost twig. Some walk
daintily along the ground, searching among the shrubbery
and fallen leaves; others cling close to the bark, and search
its every crevice for those insignificant insects which collect-
ively form the greatest pests of forest and orchard ; others
mount into the tree, skip from branch to branch, and peer
about among the leaves or search the opening buds of the
lower branches; others habitually ascend to the tree tops;
while still others are in almost constant pursuit of the winged
insects that dart about among the branches. We will first
consider the common ground-frequenting species.

Northern Yellow-throat. Maryland Yellow-throat.

Geothlypis trichas brachidaclyla.

Length.— About five and one-quarter inches.

Adult Male.— Upper parts olive-green ; forehead and mask black, bordered above
by ashy-gray; under parts mainly bright yellow.

Adult Female.— Like the male, but without the black or ashy ; under parts paler.

Vest. — On or near the ground, supported by grass stems, leafy plants, or shrubs;
deep, and composed inainly of leaves and grasses; sometimes roofed, and
not infrequently hair-lined.

ggs.— White, spotted with brown and lilac at the larger end.

Season. — May to October.

This Yellow-throat is a bird of the brookside and swampy
thicket; but it is not by any means confined to these locali-
ties, for it is found in the fruit garden and orchard as well as
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 187

 

in the woods. While it feeds somewhat in trees, its habit,
like that of other Warblers of the genus, is to keep near the
ground and in shrubbery ; hence it is often seen along bushy
roadsides, particularly where the road crosses a swamp or
stream. It usually keeps close to the underbrush, peering
out from between leaves and stems,
and occasionally taking short flights
near the ground.

It greets all comers with a sharp
chirp, or voices its alarm in a rat-
tling, Wren-like chatter. In singing SS Tp
it sometimes mounts to a high perch Fig. 61.—Northern eltuies

in a tree or rises in air, but ordinarily throat, two-thirds natural
size.

  

 

delivers its song while pursuing its
usual avocations among the shrubbery. The song is a
series of phrases, with the accent on the first syllable, thus,
sich'-a-wijgle, sich'-a-wiggle, sich'-a-wiggle, or in some cases
awitchery, witchery, witchery. Tt is much varied in length
and expression, but usually may be known by the repeti-
tion of the strongly accented syllable. Like many other
Warblers, this bird has three or more variations to its strain,
but with perhaps one exception they are all unmistakable.
The Yellow-throat usually arrives at its chosen haunts in-
Massachusetts early in May. It often lays two sets of eggs,
and two broods are sometimes reared. In the fall flights
the birds may be seen from time to time as they stop on
their journey southward. One day you will find scarcely
one; the next, the brooksides and river banks may be alive
with them. This bird is undoubtedly among the most use-
ful species which in summer frequent our shrubbery, wood-
lands, orchards, roadsides, and bushy pastures. In pastures
the Yellow-throat eats many leaf hoppers, which are abun-
dant among the grass and low-growing herbage that it fre-
quents. Prof. Herbert Osborn has shown that on an acre of
pasture land there frequently exist a million leaf hoppers,
which consume, perhaps unnoticed, as much grass as a cow,
if not more. The Yellow-throat, on account of its destruc-
tion of leaf hoppers and grasshoppers, may be ranked among
the useful birds of the fields. In orchards it often feeds very
188 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

largely on cankerworms, going long distances from its nest
to get these caterpillars to feed to its young. Since one of
these birds was seen to eat fifty-two caterpillars of the gipsy
moth in a few minutes, it seems probable that it may yet be
ranked among the eflicient enemies of this pest. Case bear-
ers, leaf rollers, and many other destructive caterpillars are
greedily devoured, and it also catches and eats both butter-
flies and moths in considerable numbers.

Along the borders of woods it is very destructive to many
beetles, flies, and especially to plant lice, of some species
of which it is very fond. It often goes to grain fields,
where, so Wilson says, it eats insects that infest them.

Oven-bird. Golden-crowned Thrush. “Teacher Bird.”

Seiurus aurocapillus.

Length. — Six to six and one-half inches.
Adult. — Olive-brown above; crown dull orange or yellowish-buff, bordered by
black stripes; white below; breast and sides streaked with blackish.
Nest.—On the ground in woods, often on knoll or hillside; generally roofed,
with entrance on lower side; usually made of sticks, rootlets, leaves, etc.,
and lined with hairs; that from which the accompanying cut was made
was built entirely of pine leaves or ‘‘ needles.”

Eggs.— Creamy white, spotted with brown and faint lilac.

Season. — May to September.

How well I still recall that panorama of the dim woods
that passed before my eyes when as a child of eight years I
first began to wander off at daybreak to learn the secrets of
nature. As I first stole through the shadows down the
back of “ Muddy Pond Hill,” where the “cotton-tail rabbit”
bounded away before me, where the “ Partridge” burst into
thunderous flight amid a whirl of scattered leaves, and
dashed away through bending twigs and swaying branches,
every sight and sound impressed itself vividly upon my
youthful mind, but none made a more lasting impression
than the song of the Oven-bird. To me the bird then
seemed to say chick’, Kercuick’, KERCHICK’, repeating
its single phrase an indefinite number of times, while the
silent woods, acting as a sounding board, rang and rever-
berated with the crescendo strain. Later, when I lingered
in the woods at evening until the stars came out and the
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 189

 

bats were flying (for my days were spent at school, and
there was no time but morning and evening in which to
really live), I heard a burst of melody far above the tree
tops, and saw the little singer rising against the glow in the
western sky, simulating the Skylark, and pouring forth its

  
  

 

NG a ii
pee XY

‘*
4

  

Fig. 62.—Oven-bird and nest.

melody, not to the orb of day but to the slowly rising moon ;
then, when the melody came nearer, as the exhausted singer
fell from out the sky and shot swiftly downward, alighting
at my very feet, I saw in the dim light that the author of
this soaring vesper song was my little common, every-day
friend, the Oven-bird. Night after night I listened to its
flight song above the wooded hills of Worcester, where it
is one of the usual sounds of evening. Years afterward,
John Burroughs, the dean of nature writers, described its
evensong, and people seemed to marvel as if it were a new
190 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

discovery. It seemed to me impossible that any one who
ever went out into the woods at evening should have missed
hearing this characteristic song. But so it is. Some one
describes for the first time some common sight or sound of
the woods and fields, — something well known to all who fre-
quent them, something which it seems ought to be known
to all the world,—and it is received with acclaim as a
discovery. Mr. Burroughs has aptly given the Oven-bird
the name of calling “Teacher, teacher,” but here in Massa-
chusetts it exhorts the teacher to teach somewhat as fol-
lows: “Teacher, teacher, TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER,
TEACHER, reacn.” The bird is already becoming known
as the “Teacher Bird.” Its conimon alarm notes are a chuch
or a sharp chick.

Its golden crown, its spotted breast, and its manner of
walking upon the ground or along a limb, as well as its
characteristic song, which is usually uttered when the singer
is perched upon a horizontal limb in the woods, will all serve
to identify the bird. The lift of the tail, which is charac-
teristic of all birds of this genus, and which has given them
the name of Wagtails, is more noticeable among the Water-
Thrushes than with this species. The Oven-bird is more
distinctively a ground Warbler than any other common
species except the Water-Thrushes. It feeds very largely
from the ground, walking about silently and deliberately, as
if in no hurry, and picking up its food from among the fallen
leaves; but when alarmed it usually flies to the trees, among
the branches of which the males sing and woo their intended
mates. When the female, having young, is started from the
nest, she drags herself along over the ground fluttering as if
sorely wounded, in an effort to lead her disturber away from
her home. Both parents are exceedingly affectionate toward
their young, and endeavor to protect them by every means
in their power. se

When upon the ground it feeds like Thrushes and To-
whees, finding grubs among the leaves, and picking up cat-
erpillars or other insects that have dropped from the trees.
In this way it finds many caterpillars of the gipsy moth in
their hiding places among dead leaves or shrubbery. It
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 191

 

often goes to orchards near the woods, and seeks canker-
worms and other tree pests. Dr. Warren says that it eats
earthworms. While mainly insectivorous, this bird can sub-
sist partly on farinaceous food. It picks up many small
seeds, and dwellers in the woods find it coming about the
doors for crumbs.

Black and White Warbler. Black and White Creeper.
Mniolitta varia.

Length.— About tive and one-quarter inches.

Adult Male.—Streaked generally except on belly with black and white; belly
white; fine streaks on sides of neck and lower back sometimes give a gray
effect.

Adult Female.— Much the same, except duller, with colors more suffused; under
parts mainly white, with obscure streaks on sides.

.Vest. — On ground; much like Oven-bird’s ; similarly concealed, and often roofed,
but smaller; it is sometimes built in a hollow tree.

Eggs.— White, brown-spotted at large end.

Season. — April to September.

This common, well-known Warbler, which rarely builds
its nest in trees, resorts to them for a greater part of its
food. The bird is usually found in woodlands, ranging from
low river valleys to the slopes of high
hills. It usually nests on dry land in
deciduous woods, where if may be seen
throughout the season creeping about old
stumps, shrubbery, and the trunks and
limbs of trees. It follows out the limbs, pig, 63.— Black and
peering quickly here and there, over and ae Pose Sa
back, in its endless search for insects.

Its usual notes are a thin screep or chirp, and a sharp
chick. The ordinary song is a repetition of such notes, not
unmusical, and characteristic of the woods. Mr. Hoffman
describes it as wee-see’, wee-see’, wee-see’; but the bird has
another lay, far more musical and varied than this, which is
often heard early in the season, when the first males come.
This burst of melody is usually preceded by a few notes of
its common song. It chatters also when it ix excited or
disturbed by some enemy. This bird largely takes the eco-
nomic place in summer that is so well filled by the Brown
Creeper in the winter woods, but it is not so much confined

 
192 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

to the tree trunks. Like the Creeper, it searches every
cranny of the bark for insects; it feeds on wood-boring
insects, bark beetles, click beetles, curculios, and the egos
of insects. But it does much more than this, for when it
comes to Massachusetts the buds are about to burst, and all
through the spring and summer it searches over the limbs,
twigs, buds, and leaves, destroying caterpillars, beetles, and
bugs that are found on bark and foliage. Now and then it
startles a resting moth from a tree trunk, or observes one
flying below, and, darting down, catches it in air almost as
skilfully asa Flycatcher. Its swiftness and dexterity in fly-
catching seem to be derived largely from the impetus of its
downward plunge, for, so far as I have observed, it never
essays to follow insects that fly by above it.

The bird is very destructive at times to hairy caterpillars,
eating large quantities of them; and, as it also destroys the
pup and moths of these insects, it exerts considerable in-
fluence toward checking the gipsy moth. This Warbler is
quite as valuable in the orchard as in the woodland, as it
feeds on many orchard pests; but unfortunately it is not so
commonly seen in orchards as in its favorite woods. Its
food on those occasions when it descends to the ground is not
very well known, but it often picks up cutworm moths that
hide there, and Gentry says that it eats earthworms.

Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Dendroica pensylvanica.

Length. — About five and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Top of the head yellow; back yellow and ashy, black-streaked ;
ear patch and wing bars, large spots on tail feathers, and under parts,
white; a black patch extends from the lower mandible to and through the
eye above, and below to a broad chestnut streak which runs down the side
of the body.

Adult Female. — Somewhat similar, but duller.

Nest. — Usually in a low bush, lined with fine grasses. '

Eggs.— White, with purplish or reddish brown spots and blotches.

Season. — May to September.

This species is a summer resident throughout most of the
State, usually appearing here the second week in May. In
spring it may be seen gleaning insects in both woods and
orchards and in all kinds of vegetation, from low shrubbery
“

SONG BIRDS OF ORUHARD AND WOODLAND. 193

 

to tall trees; but, unlike the other species of Warblers
hereinbefore considered, it does not commonly go to the
ground for much of its food. During the breeding season
it is largelv a bird of the shrubbery on the borders of wood-
land, and, like the Yellow-throat, is common along bushy
roadsides. There in warm
weather it is often seen, with
its tail elevated and its wings
drooping, flitting occasionally
from bush to bush, or catch-
ing insects in air, after the
manner of the Myrtle Warbler.

Its common note is a sharp
chirp, much like that of other
Warblers; but its spring song Fig. 64.—Chestnut-sided Warbler,
is loud, varied, and distinct, naturalslec:
resembling most that of the Yellow Warbler. Its usual
summer song is a soft, prolonged, rather weak but pleasing
warble. The nest building of this Warbler is an interesting
part of its life history. Its nest, though often built in locali-
ties frequented by the Yellow Warbler, is little like that of
the latter except in shape. It is situated usually in a much
lower shrub than is that of the Yellow Warbler, and is built
more strongly and with more painstaking care. Mr. Mosher
notes on May 17, 1899, that a pair of these birds had just
completed a nest. They had been at work upon it for five
days. The female first laid the foundation at the forking of
three branches of an arrow-wood bush, about two and one-
half feet from the ground. She laid a few straws and fibers
of plants, then bound them to the three branches by means
of tent caterpillars’ web. Then she brought a few straws
at a time and placed them around the sides, shaping them
by turning round and round. She bound them very firmly
in place with the web, and thus fastened them to the three
branches. When the sides were all finished she put in the
lining. This consisted of fine grasses and soft fibers. The
nest when completed was much less bulky than the Yellow
Warbler’s, but much firmer; the walls were not more than
one-fourth as thick.

 
194 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The food of the Chestnut-sided Warbler is such that the
bird must be exceedingly useful in woodland and: shrubbery,
and in orchard and shade trees as well, whenever it frequents
them. It is probable that at times it destroys considerable
numbers of parasitic hymenoptera, as it is rather expert asa
flycatcher ; but itis very destructive to many injurious beetles
and caterpillars, being one of the most active consumers of
leaf-eating insects. Small borers or bark beetles, plant bugs
and plant lice, leaf hoppers, ants, and aphids are eaten.

In seasons of great want it eats a few seeds. Audubon
says that he once shot several birds in Pennsylvania during a
cold spell and snowstorm in early spring, and that the only
food in their stomachs was grass seeds and a few spiders, but
the birds were emaciated and evidently half starved. This
Warbler is almost entirely insectivorous, and for this reason,
perhaps, as soon as its young are well able to travel both
young and old begin their southern journey. In September
a few birds, probably from farther north, may be seen in
autumnal dress, gleaning insects from the tree tops, and no
more are seen until the following spring.

Yellow Warbler. Blue-eyed Yellow Warbler. Yellow Bird. Summer
Yellow Bird. ‘Wild Canary.”

Dendroica wstiva.

Length. — About five inches.

Adult Male.— Yellow; back a rich yellow-olive, occasionally streaked with
orange-brown; breast also streaked narrowly with the same color.

Adult Female. — Similar, but duller; breast generally unstreaked.

Nest.— A deep, soft cup five to ten feet from ground, in a bush, or higher up in
orchard or shade tree, or in a fork of small sapling or shrub.

Eggs. — Hither bluish-white or greenish-white, with obscure lilac markings, and
brown spots grouped around the larger end.

Season. — May to September.

The Yellow Bird is the most familiar of all our Warblers,
for it has forsaken the woodlands for orchards and shade
trees near dwelling houses. It arrives in May, when the first
young leaflets begin to clothe the trees with verdure, and
plays about like a rich yellow flame among the pink of the
apple blossoms. It is often confused in the popular mind
with the Goldfinch, which is also called the Yellow Bird,
but which may be distinguished at once by the black of the
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 195

 

crown, wings, and tail, for the Yellow Warbler has no black
markings.

Although the Yellow Warbler is not now commonly found
in the woods, it is sometimes seen within their borders, and
is common in thickets along streams and roads, as well as in
bushy pastures. It is not usually
seen on the ground or in the tops
of the tallest trees, but visits all
parts of trees and shrubbery.

Its alarm note is a loud chirp.
Its usual song has much the quality
of a whistle, and may be expressed
by the syllables we’-chee, we'-chee,
wee'oo. The song is frequently
much longer, has several variations, and often closely re-
sembles one song of the Chestnut-sided Warbler.

The nest building of this bird is performed entirely by the
female ; the nest is daintily but loosely constructed, and is
very rapidly built. The following brief account of the nest
building, taken from Mr. Mosher’s notes, May 16, 1899,
shows this bird to be an enemy of the cankerworm and the
tent caterpillar : —

 

Fig. 65.— Yellow Warbler, two-
thirds natural] size.

‘She first laid a foundation of a few straws and placed upon them
the cotton or down from fern fronds. These she bound together with
the silk from a tent caterpillar’s web. Then she went alternately
for the cotton and the silk, stopping occasionally at an apple tree and
feeding for a moment or two on cankerworms. When I went past the
nest at night I found she had it nearly complete; the lining only was
lacking.

It would be hard to find a summer bird more useful among
the shade trees or in the orchard and small-fruit garden than
this species. Almost entirely insectivorous, it feeds on many
of the greatest pests that attack our fruit trees, vines, and
berry bushes. Whenever the caterpillars of which it is fond
are plentiful, they form about two-thirds of its food. It is
destructive to the small caterpillars of the gipsy moth and
the brown-tail moth, and is inordinately fond of cankerworms
and other measuring worms. Tent caterpillars are com-
monly eaten. Small bark beetles and: boring beetles are
196 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

eaten, among them the imago of the currant borer. Weevils
are greedily taken. A few useful beetles are sacrificed ;
among them ground beetles, soldier beetles, and small scav-
enger beetles. The Yellow Warbler has some expertness as
a flycatcher among the branches, and seizes small moths, like
the codling moth, with ease, but apparently does not take
many parasitic hymenoptera, though some flies are taken.
Plant lice sometimes form a considerable portion of its food.
No part of the tree where it can find insect food is exempt
from its visits, and it even takes grasshoppers, spiders, and
myriapods from the ground, grass, or low-growing herbage.
It usually leaves Massachusetts in August or early September.

American Redstart.

Setophaga ruticilla.

Length. — Five to five and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Lustrous black; head, neck, and most of breast black; a wide
orange band across wing quills, and another across basal parts of all but
the middle tail feathers; sides of body and lining of wings flame color,
a tinge of which sometimes extends across the lower breast; other lower
parts mainly white.

Adult Female and Male of the First Year.— Similar, but without black; colors
paler, the black replaced above by gray and olive and below by white;
orange replaced by yellow, and a whitish line in front of and around the
eye. Tail of young male darker toward tip than that of female.

Nest.— A neat, compact structure, in upright fork of sapling or tree.

Eggs.— Somewhat similar to those of the Yellow Warbler, but usually with
fewer and finer spots.

Season. — May to September.

This species arrives in Massachusetts about the second
week in May. Unlike the foregoing Warblers, it forages
habitually from the ground and low underbrush to the very
tops of the tallest trees. It is also a very active and expert
flycatcher. Its bill is broadened at the base and its mouth is
surrounded with bristles, like those of the Flycatchers and
some other families that take their’ prey mostly upon the
wing. The Redstart is almost constantly in nervous motion,
darting and fluttering from twig to twig in pursuit of its
elusive prey. In all its moveinents its wings are held in
readiness for instant flight, and in its sinuous twistings and
turnings, risings and fallings, its colors expand, contract, and
glow amid the sylvan shades like a dancing torch in the
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 197

 

hands of a madman. Chapman tells us that in Cuba most
of our wood Warblers are known simply as “mariposas”
(butterflies), but the Redstart’s flaming plumage has won
for it the name of “ candelita,” the “little torch,” that flashes
in the gloomy depths of the tropical forest. He gives the

 

Fig. 66.— American Redstart. Lower figure, male; upper figure, female.
One-half natural size.

song as ching, ching, chee, ser-wee, swee, swee-é-e, and this
is a good description of its general character. The song
varies, however, like that of other Warblers, but is usually
more cheerful than musical. The alarm note of the Redstart
is a sharp chirp.

The insect food of the Redstart is perhaps more varied
than that of any other common Warbler. Apparently there
are few forest insects of small size that do not, in some of
their forms, falla prey to this bird. Caterpillars that escape
some of the slower birds by spinning down from the branches
and hanging by their silken threads are snapped up in mid air
by the Redstart. It takes its prey from trunk, limbs, twigs,
leaves, and also from the air, so that there is no escape for
198 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the tree insects which it pursues unless they reach the upper
air, where the Redstart seldom goes, except in migration.
It has been named the flycatcher of the inner tree tops, but
it is a flycatcher of the bush tops as well. While there are
few small pests of deciduous trees that it does not eat in
some form, it is not confined to these trees, but forages more
or less among coniferous trees. Also it is seen at times in
orchards, and gleans among shade trees in localities where
the woods are cut away. It is impossible to weigh the pros
and cons of this bird’s food, for no thorough examination of
it has ever been made. It is an efficient caterpillar hunter,
and one of the most destructive enemies of the smaller hairy
caterpillars. It catches bugs, moths, gnats, two-winged flies,
small grasshoppers, and beetles. It probably secures a larger
proportion of parasitic hymenoptera and diptera than most
other Warblers, occasionally destroying a few wasps ; other-
wise, its habits seem to be entirely beneficial.

Black-throated Green Warbler.

Dendroica virens.

Length. — About five inches.

Adult Male.— Olive above; sides of head and neck yellow, often with darker
line through eye; chin, throat, and breast black ; belly white; sides striped
with blackish; wings and tail dark; white wing bars; outer tail feathers
marked with white. .

Adult Female.— Yellow duller; black of throat largely obscured by gray.

Nest. — Usually fifteen to fifty feet up in a white pine, in a fork toward the end
of a branch ; made of bark, twigs, and grasses, and lined with soft materials.

Fggs.— Creamy white, with brown and purplish markings grouped toward the
larger end.

Season. — April to October.

The Warblers noted in the pages immediately preceding
live largely among deciduous trees and shrubbery; but
this species dwells by choice among coniferous trees, and
in Massachusetts it stays principally in groves of white
pine. While migrating in spring and fall it feeds any where
in mixed deciduous woods, but it is evidently more at home
among the pines, where it gleans its usual food from the
lower branches to the tree tops. This bird does not com-
monly descend to the ground except to procure nesting
material or to bathe.

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 199

 

One day, as I stopped to drink at a spring in the woods, a
beautiful male Black-throated Green Warbler shot down from
a tall tree and alighted on a moss-grown rock that bordered
the diminutive pool. Evidently he had not expected me, but
was not at all afraid. He looked up at me inquiringly for a
moment, and then, stepping into the
shallow water, dipped his head and
threw the drops in showers as he
shook out his brilliant plumage
in the bath. His ablutions
finished, quite within reach
of my hand, he mounted again
to the tree top, and sent back his drowsy

 
 
 
 
 
 
  

song. Fig. 6'7.— Black-throated

This bird has several chirps which it oe ee
utters to express different emotions, but
its song is most charming, harmonizing, as it does, with the
whispering of the pines to the summer wind. It has a zeeing
sound. Hoffman gives it as zee, zee, zu, zi. This is given
with a little of the quality which characterizes the song of the
harvest cicada, and often with a difference in the pitch of the
first and last syllables. John Burroughs graphically repre-
sents the notes thus: — —/— —. The upper lines signify
the higher tones. Bradford Torrey translates the song as
“Trees, trees, murmuring trees ;” but a more practical writer
assures us that the bird calls for “Cheese, cheese, a little
more cheese.” It has at least one other song of the same
character, but longer and perhaps a trifle more varied. This
is usually considered to be its entire repertoire; but no one
can ever be quite sure that he knows all the notes of any
bird. In the fall of 1905 I heard in a small birch tree in
Concord a song that resembled closely the lay of a Warbling
Vireo. In fact, I mistook it for the song of that bird; but
in trying to find the singer I soon learned that there was
no Vireo in the tree, and that the song came from a young
male Black-throated Green Warbler, which repeated it sev-
eral times before my eyes.

Mr. C. A. Reed says he believes that when its nest is in
danger of discovery this Warbler sometimes brings straws
200 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

and places them on a branch in plain sight of the observer,
in order to deceive him, and draw his attention away from
the nest. He states that he has known of more than one
occurrence of this kind. His observations seem to be cor-
roborated by the actions of a bird that was nesting in our pine
grove. When watched, it began carrying nesting material
into an old tin can that was suspended ina large pine tree ;
but when the attention of the observer was attracted else-
where, it went no farther with its nest in the can. While
the birds are building, the male brings some nesting mate-
rial, but the female does the work of construction. The
food of this Warbler, like that of others of the family, con-
sists of caterpillars and other larvee of many kinds, beetles,
small bugs, and flies. Professor Aughey says that the stom-
achs of five specimens taken in Nebraska contained two hun-
dred and twenty insects, — an average of forty-four to each
bird ; a large number of these insects were young locusts.

Pine Warbler. Pine-creeping Warbler.
Dendroica vigorsit.

Length. — Five and one-half to six inches.

Adult Male.— Above, olive; wings and tail dusky; two white wing bars; throat,
breast, and line over eye bright yellow, somewhat clouded or streaked on
sides with a darker shade. j

Adult Female.—Duller; often with little or no yellow below; large white spots:
on two outer tail feathers of both sexes.

Nest.—In much the same situation as that of the Black-throated Green Warbler,
but oftener in pitch pines; it is sometimes saddled on a horizontal limb,
and is then flat and rather slovenly in build; usually lined with feathers.

Eggs.— White with brown markings, chiefly at larger end.

Season. — April to October.

The Pine Warbler has a marked preference for pine woods
and groves; but, unlike the Black-throated Green Warbler,
it seems to prefer the pitch pines, and is one of the few birds
that habitually live and breed in the woods of this charac-
ter that exist on dry and sandy lands, like those of Cape
Cod. It has been called the Pine-creeping Warbler, from
its habit of creeping along the branches, and occasionally
up and around the trunks of pines. For a Warbler it
seems a rather slow and indolent bird; still, at times it is
remarkably active. Its alarm note is a sharp chirp; its
other notes are few and weak. The song is one of the most
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 201

 

soothing sounds of the pine woods. It has in it the same
dreamy drowsiness that characterizes the note of the Black-
throated Green Warbler, but is otherwise entirely different
in tone and quality, being composed of a series of short,
soft, whistling notes, run together in a continuous trill. It
resembles, in a way, the song of the Chip-
ping Sparrow, except that it is softer and
more: musical. Often the bird will
sit for ten or fifteen minutes
in one spot, and,
as the song seems
ventriloquial at
times, the singer is
then hard to find.
This bird is one of
the earliest Warblers to
arrive in spring. It is
undoubtedly the partic-
ular guardian of the
pines, about which it
remains until very late in the season, for it feeds mainly on
insects that infest pine trees. It has been seen in Wareham
in December and January. It is able to subsist to some
extent on the seeds of pines, and when there is a good crop
of pine seed it can remain longer than most other Warblers.

   
 

Fig. 68.— Pine Warbler, natural size.

Myrtle Warbler. Myrtle Bird. Yellow-rumped Warbler.

j Dendroica coronata.

Length. — About five and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Above, slaty; black-streaked; wings and tail brownish, marked
with white; chest clouded and streaked with black; two wing bars, throat,
tail spots, lower breast, and belly white; crown, rump, and a patch on each
side of breast bright yellow.

Female.—In spring, much like male, but duller; in fall, and male in fall,
generally browner, with colors less pure and conspicuous.

Young. — Brownish above, white below; rump yellow.

Nest. —In bush or coniferous tree, usually lined with fine, soft materials.

Eggs.— White, marked with browns and purples.

Season. — April to November; winters in favorable localities.

This beautiful bird probably does not breed in Massachu-
setts except in some higher parts of northern Worcester
202 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

County and among the western hills, but it is one of the
most common migrating Warblers throughout the State.

The Myrtle Warbler has a variety of notes, but the one
usually uttered both spring and fall is a soft chirp or chup,
which, at a little distance, exactly resembles the sound pro-
duced by a large drop of water as it strikes
on wet ground or leaf mould. These
sounds are so similar that after
storms in the woods I have often
found it difficult to distinguish the
note of this Warbler from the splash of
the large drops that were still falling from
the trees. The song is a rather weak
Fig. 69.—Myrtlewar. Warble, very sweet, and often of long

bler, nearly natural duration. Sometimes portions of it are

cra given quite loudly, in a jingling tone,
resembling somewhat that of the Indigo Bird. It has quite
as many variations as the song of any Warbler that I now
recall.

The Myrtle Bird remains through the winter in some por-
tions of the State where it can find food ; and, as it frequents
woodlands, orchards, and shade trees, as well as thickets,
it is probably the most useful of the Warblers that are not
common in summer. It remains in fall all along the coast
where bayberries grow, and until the supply of this fruit
becomes exhausted ; then the birds must either move to more
favored regions, or perish of cold and hunger, which latter
not infrequently happens in hard winters. They do not,
however, rely entirely on bayberries, but eat a few other
berries and some seeds, and spend much time in searching
for hibernating insects and insects’
eggs. They are not confined to
the sea coast in winter, for they
can live on the berries of the red
cedar; and I have found them Fig. 70.—Woolly apple tree

. < ae aphis, eaten by Myrtle Warbler.
wintering in sheltered localities in
central Worcester County. Dr. Weed made a special study
of the autumn food of this species. He found that they ate
bayberries, caddis flies, various insect larve, beetles, plant

  
   
 

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 2038

 

lice and their eggs, house flies and other diptera, and a very
few hymenopterous flies. I can only add to this the fact
that I have seen this species feeding on the woolly apple tree
aphis (Schizoneura lanigera) in late October and early No-
vember, after all the birch plant lice, of which these birds
are very fond, had disappeared. This apple tree aphis is a
particularly destructive species, which has done great injury
in the past. Young trees are frequently injured by these
aphids, which also attack the roots and the new growth
on older trees. As spring approaches, the Myrtle Warbler
feeds less on berries and seed, but eagerly hunts the early
flies, moths, and gnats that appear on warm days in sheltered
swamps and along water courses. It now becomes of great
service to orchard and woodland, for large flights of these
birds move slowly northward through the State, feeding
very largely on the tree pests that develop with the open-
ing foliage.
VIREOS.

The Vireos all normally seek orchard, woodland, or swampy
thicket. The three species, however, that breed commonly
in the greater part of Massachusetts, have all learned to nest
about the habitations of man. They perform an economic
service similar to that rendered by the Warblers, except that
during summer they feed to a greater extent upon wild fruits.
They live mainly among the foliage, and in action much re-
semble Warblers, except that, being heavier in build, their
motions are usually more deliberate. The Solitary Vireo
and the White-eyed Vireo breed here, but only uncommonly
or locally. The latter is common in some places near the
coast, but I have found it in only a few favored localities in
the interior. The Solitary Vireo is regarded as rare in the
breeding season, but it probably breeds in nearly all the
counties in most seasons. It may be present in a certain
piece of woods during one breeding season and absent the
next, and is sometimes fairly common in considerable areas
in some counties.
204. USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Red-eyed Vireo.

Vireo olivaceus.

Length. — About six inches.

Adult. — Upper parts grayish olive-green, changing to gray on the crown; a dark
stripe on either side of the crown; a light stripe over the eye, and dark
streak from bill through eye; under parts grayish-white, deepening to pale
olive-yellow on the flanks; iris ruby-red.

Nest.— A pensile cup; usually hung by its upper edge from a fork, five to
twenty-five feet from the ground.

Eggs.— White, spotted with dark brown at the larger end.

Season. — May to September.

The Red-eyed Vireo, although not so abundant as the
Robin, is one of the most common and widely distributed
summer birds. It breeds throughout the State. It is very
devoted to its eggs and
young, and sits very closely
on the nest. The mother
bird will often allow a per-
son to walk by within arm’s
length while she remains
quietly sitting. The par-
ent birds feed and protect
their young for a long time
after they leave the nest.
This Vireo sleeps very
soundly ; soon after sunset and before the shades of night
have fallen the mother bird on her nest tucks her head under
her wing, and is sometimes so oblivious to the world that
she may be approached and taken in the hand. The Red-
eye is found wherever there are groups of deciduous trees,
or woodlands and thickets. Its movements as it slips about
among the branches are rather deliberate. It sings continu-
ally, but the song is intermittent, as though the bird were
singing incidentally as a pastime, like a boy whistling at his
work, The song is composed of phrases of a few syllables
each, and the manner of its delivery, with many rising and
some falling inflections and frequent pauses, led Wilson Flagg
to name the bird the “preacher.” Many years ago I learned
that the preacher had other business than his preaching, and
that he practised as he preached ; for it was through watching

 

Fig. '71.— Red-eyed Vireo, natural size.
‘ SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 205

 

this species that I first became aware of the usefulness of birds
toman. One sunny day in early boyhood I watched a Vireo
singing in a swampy thicket. He sang a few notes, his head
turning meanwhile from side to side, his eyes scanning closely
the near-by foliage. Suddenly the song ceased; he leaned
forward, sprang to another twig, snatched a green caterpillar
from the under side of a leaf, swallowed it, and resumed the
song. Every important pause in his dissertation signalized
the capture of a larva. As the discourse was punctuated, a
worm was punctured. It seems as if the preaching were a
serious business with the bird ; but this seeming is deceptive,
for the song merely masks the constant vigilance and the
sleepless eye of this premium caterpillar hunter. In the
discovery of this kind of game the bird has few superiors.
He goes about it in the right way. Minot says: “They have
never struck Ine as very active insect hunters, since they
devote so much of their time to their music.” This is true,
but the Vireo does not hunt active game so much as it seeks
those defenceless larvee that must depend upon their protec-
tive shape and coloring to conceal them from their enemies.
These devices may insure them against some of their insect
foes, but not against the Vireo. It is most astonishing to
see him pick up caterpillar after caterpillar from twigs and
foliage, where with the best glasses our untrained eyes can
discern “nothing but leaves.” And so the bird sings the
livelong day, to while away the time as it searches over the
foliage. This habit of song becomes so strong that the male
bird sings while sitting on the nest to relieve his faithful
mate. He sings all summer, and even into the fall. When
his hunger is temporarily satisfied, he will sit on a twig and
sing for minutes ata time. His common notes are an alarmed
chatter and a querulous cry.

The Red-eyed Vireo is now becoming well recognized as
a great insect eater. Mr. Arthur G. Gilbert informed me
that he fed a young bird of this species a hundred grass-
hoppers ina day. When the last grasshopper had been swal-
lowed the bird was well filled, for the tips of the insects’
wings projected from the bird’s bill. This Vireo is one of the
most effective enemies of the gipsy moth and brown-tail moth.
206 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Moths and butterflies of many kinds are eaten ; also assassin
bugs, tree hoppers, and bugs that eat plants and fruit. Many
beetles, among them boring beetles, bark beetles, and weevils,
grasshoppers, katydids, locusts, —allare eaten. This bird at
times becomes an expert flycatcher, taking horseflies, mos-
quitoes, and other gnats, and many gall flies. It appears to
take a larger proportion of fruit than the other Vireos. In
summer I have found many seeds of berries in the stomachs
of these birds,.and sometimes a stomach will be found nearly
filled with blueberries. Raspberries, blackberries, and mul-
berries are commonly eaten. Professor King has found dog-
wood berries, berries of the prickly ash, and sheep berries in
their stomachs; Dr. Fisher says they are fond of the fruits
of the benzoin bush, the sassafras, and magnolia; and Dr.
Warren asserts that they feed on poke berries and wild
grapes. =
Warbling Vireo.
Vireo gtlvus.

Length. — About five and three-fourths inches.

Adult. — Upper parts generally brownish-gray, tinged more or less with olive-
green; sides of head lighter, with a rather light line above the eye, but no
dark line through it; below, dull white, passing into yellowish on the belly
and pale buff or olive on sides.

Nest and Eggs.— Much like those of the preceding species, but a trifle smaller;
usually in a shade tree, from fifteen to fifty feet up.-

Season. — May to September.

In appearance the Warbling Vireo is much like the Red-
eye, but it is smaller and less distinctly marked. In the
breeding season it is usually seen
at no great distance from the
large elms and other great shade
trees that line country roads and
village streets. It was found com-
monly in city shade trees until the intro-
duced House Sparrow drove it out. The
Warbling Vireo, like its closely related
Fig. 72.—Warblng congeners, moves about amid the branches

Vireo, natural size. . .
of trees, flying only occasionally to the
ground, or moving from tree to tree in short flights. Its
ordinary notes are similar to those of the Red-eye, but are

   
 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 207

 

less vigorous. Its song is a rather low, weak, but pleasing
and continuous warble, resembling somewhat in quality the
song of the Purple Finch, but not nearly so loud and bold.
It has not the abrupt and intermittent phrasing of the song
of the preceding species, but is sweeter, more tender, and
less monotonous.

This bird is of immense service to man in the destruction
of vast numbers of injurious insects that infest the trees
about the house, garden, and orchard, as well as those of
the woods. As it is quite a flycatcher, both crawling larvee
and winged imagoes suffer from its depredations. Horseflies
and other dipterous insects, crane flies and mosquitoes, are
all taken. Its food, however, consists largely of caterpillars
and other leaf-eating insects ; among these are the imported
elm-leaf beetle (Galerucella luteola) and the twelve-spotted
cucumber beetle. Grasshoppers are not neglected. Occa-
sionally useful flies, ladybirds, or bees are killed, but the
great majority of insects eaten are injurious. The fruit taken
seems to be mainly wild and worthless berries.

Yellow-throated Vireo.

Vireo flavifrons.

Length. — Nearly six inches.

Adult. — Above, yellowish olive-green, shading into bluish-ash on rump; mark-
ings about eye yellow; white wing bars; wing and tail feathers dark,
edged with whitish ; below, yellow from throat to belly, which is white;
sides olive, shading into gray.

Nest.— A rather large pensile cup, hung from forking twigs, three to twenty feet
from the ground.

Eggs. — White, with black and brown or purplish spots about larger end.

Season. — May to September.

The Yellow-throated Vireo was once evidently an inhabitant
of open forests of great deciduous trees, although it is some-
times found in pines; but since the destruction of the original
timber growth in this Commonwealth it has learned to seek
the great shade trees that have grown up along streets and
about residences or in pastures. The groves of large oaks
and other deciduous trees that are found on well-cared-for
estates are among its favorite breeding places. It often
dwells in old orchards. Thus it has come to live about the
habitations of man, and in eastern Massachusetts is more
208 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

commonly seen there in the breeding season than in deep
woods.

The nest of this bird, which is about a week in the build-
ing, is outwardly one of the handsomest specimens of bird
architecture to be found anywhere. It is difficult to see how

it is possible for a bird to con-

struct such a nest, and cover

it so tastefully with lichens
and plantdown. Undoubtedly
the skillful use of caterpillars’ web

serves in attaching these ornamen-
tal materials.

The bird is comparatively deliber-
ate in both song and movement, and,

. 2 though naturally shy when it was con-
Fig. '73.— Yellow-throated

Vireo, two-thirds natural fined to the open woods, it has now

ne become rather fearless, and may be
readily watched with a glass as it moves among the tall trees.
The song is a little louder than that of most Vireos, and may
be easily distinguished from all others. It usually consists
of two or three rich and virile notes, uttered interrogatively
or tentatively, followed immediately by a few similar tones
uttered decisively. The bird appears to ask a question, and
then answer it. Its alarm notes are as harsh as those of an
Oriole, and somewhat similar in quality.

This Vireo should be most carefully protected and encour-
aged to breed about the homes of man, for it feeds upon pests
of the household, forest, and orchard. Common house flies
and mosquitoes are eaten. In the orchard it attacks the
apple plant lice, the hairy tent, gipsy, and tussock cater-
pillars, as well as moths of many species. It is quite de-
structive to the larve of butterflies also, while weevils and
other beetles, grasshoppers, and leaf hoppers are eaten to a
less extent. This species eats a few unimportant wild ber-
ries, such as the fruit of the red cedar; but so far as I have
observed it is not so fond of fruit as the Red-eyed Vireo,
and its only possible harmful habits seem to be the occa-
sional destruction of a bee, a syrphus fly, or some hyme-
nopterous parasite.

  
  
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 209

 

WAXWINGS.

These beautiful but inconspicuous birds are noted for the
peculiar appendage which in many specimens adorns the tip
of each secondary quill, and is sometimes found on the tip
of each tail feather also. These waxy appendages seem to
be ornamental rather than useful. They resemble sealing
wax, hence the name Waxwing. The Bohemian Waxwing,
a northern species, is a rare winter visitor to Massachusetts.
The Cedar Waxwing is the only other species found in
America.

‘Cedar Waxwing. Cedar Bird. Cherry Bird.

Ampelis cedrorum.

Length. — About seven and a quarter inches.

Adult. — Head long-crested; chin, forehead, space around eye, and line above it
black; general color rich grayish or pinkish brown, with tints of reddish-
olive and purplish-cinnamon, changing on the after parts into ashy above
and yellow and white below; wings and tail gray; tail tipped with yellow.

Nest.— Bulky ; from six to fifteen feet up in an orchard or shade tree; composed
of weeds, grass, roots, bark, leaves and twigs.

Eggs.— Light bluish, marked with black and indistinct bluish spots.

Season. — Resident.

This common bird, so richly endowed with beauty and
grace, isno songster. Its charm consists in its elegant shape
and its softness of plumage, with its
insensible changes from one lovely
tint to another. It moves about in
silence, save as it utters a lisping,
“heady” note ora “ hushed whistle.”
Mr. Nehrling says that both male
and female sing. I cannot doubt
that he has heard this song, but
from my own experience I am
led to believe that it is rare in
Massachusetts. .

The Cedar Bird gets its name Fig. 74.—Cedar Bird, one-half
from its habit of feeding on cedar open e e
berries in fall and winter. It often may be found on some
parts of Cape Cod during the colder months. It is some-
times seen in other parts of the State in winter, and is at-.

 
210 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

tracted by the berries of the mountain ash. The northward
migration is usually under way in March, but comparatively
few birds are ordinarily seen in central Massachusetts until
late in May. In spring and early summer they seem to feed
almost entirely on insects. They are always plentiful at this
season in a cankerworm year, and they deserve at such
times the local name of “cankerworm birds,” for they fre-
quent infested orchards in large flocks, and fill themselves
with the worms until they can eat no more. There is no
doubt that the countless thousands of caterpillars that they
destroy more than compensate for the cherries they eat,
although in some seasons they are very destructive to cherries.
Such little gluttons rarely can be found among birds. The
Cedar Bird seems to have the most rapid digestion of any
bird with which experiments have been made. Audubon
said that Cedar Birds would gorge themselves with fruit
until they could be taken by hand; and that he had seen
wounded birds, confined in a cage, eat of apples until suffo-
cated. They will stuff themselves to the very throat. So,
wherever they feed, their appetites produce a visible effect.
Professor Forbes estimates that thirty Cedar Birds will
destroy ninety thousand cankerworms in a month. This
calculation seems to be far within bounds.

Cedar Birds are devoted to each other and to their young.
Sometimes a row of six or eight may be seen, sitting close
together on a limb, passing
and repassing from beak to
beak a fat caterpillar or juicy
cherry. I have seen this
touching courtesy but once,
and believe it was done not
so much from politeness as
from the fact that most of
the birds were so full that they had no room for more, —a
condition in which they can afford to be generous. Never-
theless, the manner in which itis done, and the simulation
of tender regard and consideration for each other exhibited,
render it a sight well worth seeing. They also have a habit
of “ billing,” or saluting one another with the bill.

 

Fig. '75.— Passing the cherry.
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 211

 

The food of these birds has been much discussed, and it
has been clearly shown that they eat a larger proportion of
fruit and a smaller proportion of insects than most birds.
Here in Massachusetts they often merit the name of Cherry
Birds, for they descend on the cherry trees in considerable
flocks, and destroy a large quantity of fruit. Professor Beal,
however, in examining one hundred and fifty-two stomachs,
found that only nine birds had eaten cultivated cherries, and
that more than half the food consisted of wild fruit.

Mrs. Mary Treat writes of a town in which the elms had
been defoliated for several years by the elm-leaf beetle, but
the Cedar Birds came, and

  
 
    

 

the trees were afterwards wg ~ S
comparatively free from the w ew
beetles. During the time gy

when the adult birds feed on
cherries, the young are fed
very largely upon insects,
although fruit is given them
as they grow older. These
birds feed so much on wild ee
fruit as it ripens, that it con- i. Mette
stitutes nearly seventy-five
per cent. of their food; but
later, after the young are reared, they turn flycatchers, and
taking a high perch on some tree near a lake or river or
on the borders of the woods, they sally out after flying
insects. Grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, ichneumon flies,
crane flies, and lacewings are all devoured by them. Bugs
and bark lice are also on the bill of fare. While these birds .
are sometimes a pest to the fruit grower, they are, on the
whole, beneficial to agriculture, and deserve protection.

Fig. '76. — Good work in the orchard.

TANAGERS.

This group of brilliant woodland birds is represented here
by but two species; one of these, the Summer Tanager, i8
very rarely seen; the common Scarlet Tanager is one of
the most valuable birds of orchard and woodland.
212 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Scarlet Tanager.

Piranga erythromelas.

Length. — About seven inches.

Adult Male. — Entire body bright scarlet; wings and tail black ; in autumn much
like female, but retaining the black on wings and tail.

Adult Female.— Greenish above; yellowish below; wings and tail darker and
brown-tinged.

Nest.— Of fine twigs and straws; usually in lower branches of some large tree,
put sometimes fully twenty feet up; occasionally in the orchard.

Eggys.— Light greenish-blue, with brown and purplish markings.

Season. — May to October.

This most gorgeous of New England birds flashes through
the trees like a brand plucked from tropical flame ; but it
is a distinctly North American species, going south only in

  
 

ee
SS

SS Ayat
Iu

 
   
    

iN

  

Fig. '7'7.—Scarlet Tanagers (male and female) and gipsy moth caterpillars.

\

its fall migration, and returning to its chosen northern home
in the spring. The Tanager is a bird of large deciduous
woods, and is less common among great tracts of pines,
hemlocks, and other coniferous trees, although it is often
seen in small groves of these trees, and sometimes nests
there. The oaks are its first favorites, and wherever there
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 213

 

are large groves of white oaks Tanagers are sure to come.
They also frequent the detached oaks that are found in pas-
tures near woodland. The chestnut is another favorite tree.

This bird seems to have increased somewhat in numbers
within the last forty years, and for at least twenty years has
been common and sometimes abundant in the greater part
of Massachusetts. It is somewhat local, however, and is
rarely as common anywhere as the Robin or Song Sparrow.
It is distinctly an arboreal bird, and seeks its food mainly
among the foliage of trees, where from the higher branches
its song may be most often heard. The lay resembles
somewhat that of a Robin, but is shorter and less varied,
with a little apparent hoarseness or harshness in the tone.
Gentry’s rendering of the song as chi-chi-cht-char-éé, char-
éé-cht, represents it fairly well. At times it seems ventri-
loquial, and the bird is difficult to find, for its brilliant
plumage is not so conspicuous among the shadows of the
foliage as one would naturally expect to find it. It sings at
intervals all through the day, but more often at early morning
and at night. A sudden noise, like a shout or the rumbling
of a carriage along the road, sometimes startles the Tanager
into song, or brings out the alarm note, chip, churr, or the
sharp chip uttered by this bird.

After the leaves have attained their full size, the Tanager,
which feeds mostly in the trees, is hidden much of the time
by the foliage of the tree tops, and so is seldom seen except
by those who know its notes and are looking for it. For this
reason it is commonly considered rare.

In its food preferences the Tanager is the appointed guard-
ian of the oaks. It is drawn to these trees as if they were
magnets, but the chief attraction seems to be the vast num-
ber of insects that feed upon them. It is safe to say that
of all the many hundreds of insects that feed upon the oaks
few escape paying tribute to the Tanager at some period
of their existence. We are much indebted to this beautiful
bird for its share in the preservation of these noble and
valuable trees. It is not particularly active, but, like the
Vireos, it is remarkably observant, and slowly moves about
among the branches, continually finding and persistently de-
214 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

stroying those concealed insects which so well escape all but
the sharpest eyes. Nocturnal moths, such as the Catocalas,
which remain motionless on the tree trunks by day, almost
invisible because of their protective coloring, are captured
by the Tanager. Even the largest moths, like cecropia and
luna, are killed and eaten by this indefatigable insect hunter.
Mr. C. E. Bailey once told me that he saw a male Tanager
swallow a luna moth nearly entire, removing only one of the
insect’s wings in the process; but this haste may have been
caused by the attempts of several other birds to take his prey
from him. Mr. Bailey brought me the wing of the moth that
was dropped, lest its identity should be questioned. I once
saw a male Tanager swallow what appeared to be a hellgra-
mite or dobson (Corydalus cornutus) head first and appar-
ently entire, though not without much effort. No one who
will examine the plate of the luna moth, opposite this page,
can fail to appreciate the capacity of the Tanager. It is
difficult to see how the bird can accomplish such feats of deg-
lutition. Asa caterpillar hunter the bird has few superiors.
It is often very destructive to the gipsy moth, taking all
stages but the eggs, and undoubtedly will prove equally
useful against the brown-tail moth. Leaf-rolling caterpillars
it skillfully takes from the rolled leaves, and it also digs out
the larve of gall insects from their hiding places. Many
other injurious larve are taken. Wood-boring beetles, bark-
boring beetles, and weevils form a considerable portion of
its food during the months when these insects can be found.
Click beetles, leaf-eating beetles, and crane flies are greedily
eaten. These beneficial habits are not only of service in
woodlands, but they are exercised in orchards, which are
often frequented by Tanagers. Nor is this bird confined to
trees, for during the cooler weather of early spring it goes
to the ground, and on plowed lands follows the plow like the
Blackbird or Robin, picking up earthworms, grubs, ants, and
ground beetles. Grasshoppers, locusts, and a few bugs are
taken, largely from the ground, grass, or shrubbery.

Some useful ichneumon flies are destroyed, and a few
spiders and their eggs. Nuttall says that Tanagers eat
whortleberries and seeds, but so far as my observations and
Spaiq poom «atT}0
pus sioseney, Aq yoyo uy ploy] st sajoods snojowtoa supI, ‘wow eun —‘ITIAX ALVI1d

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 215

 

dissections go the bird seems to be almost entirely insectiv-

orous, and in every way one of the most desirable species
of woodland, orchard, and field.

FINCHES, GROSBEAKS, AND TOWHEES.

The Finch and Sparrow family is larger in numbers of
both species and individuals than any other family of North
American birds ; but comparatively few of the species dwell
and feed in orchard or woodland. The Pine Grosbeaks,
Pine Finches, Redpolls, and Crossbills are forest birds; but
they come here from the north mainly during the colder
months of the year, when they feed largely on the seeds
- of trees, and are not particularly useful. There are only
three common species belonging to the Sparrow family that
habitually live in or near woods, and even these are often
found in orchards and small groves. Most of the Sparrows
find a large part of their food on the ground or near it. They
all have strong, rigid, conical beaks, and muscular gizzards ;
all are seed eaters, and, as the family feeds to a great extent
on the seeds of weeds and grasses, they live mainly in or
near open fields. A few, such as the Chipping Sparrow, the
Purple Finch, and the Goldfinch, build their nests in trees.
But these get a large part of their food in pastures, fields, or
gardens. The Goldfinch and Purple Finch, however, live so
much in trees that they may well be included among the
birds of woodland and orchard; while the Rose-breasted
Grosbeak and the Towhee are entitled to be known as wood-
land birds, although often seen in orchard or garden.

The Goldfinch and the Purple Finch are more in the
orchard and less in woodland than the Grosbeak and the
Towhee. In spring and summer these finches feed on many
orchard caterpillars. The Towhee is found mostly in young
coppice growth, in thickets on the borders of woodland, and
in briery tangles, but seldom in deep, dark woods. These
four species of this family perform essential service for trees.
The Towhee works on the ground and among the smaller
sprouts, and the others work more among trees of larger
growth.
216 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Zamelodia ludovictana.

Length. — Seven and three-fourths to eight and one-half inches.

Adult Male. — Above, mainly black; the black of head extending around under
throat; wings and tail white-marked; rump white; upper tail coverts
black and white; below, mainly white; middle breast and under wing
coverts rose-red ; the large bill appears white from below.

Adult Female.— The black of the male largely replaced by brown, except on
throat, which is white; line over eye and space in front of eye white or
whitish; a streak on crown also whitish, mixed with brown; no white on
rump or tail; no rose on breast, and that under wings replaced by yellow.

Nest. — Built of twigs, fibers, and grasses; loosely made in bush or sapling, from
five to twenty feet or more from ground.

Eggs.— Varying in color from pale greenish-blue to dull green; thickly marked
with coarse spots of various shades of brown and purplish.

Season. — Early May to September.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak should be accorded the most
cordial welcome wherever it appears; for not many birds
have such beauty of plumage and song, and at the same
time such useful habits.

This is one of the few birds that has increased in numbers
within the past forty years to
such an extent that it is now
found commonly in woods and
thickets where many years ago
it was considered rare. It is
common, too, about the fields and
gardens. Its sweet warbling may be
heard from the tall shade trees of the
Fig. 78.—Rose-breastea Village street. The introduction and

ela ie spread of the Colorado potato beetle,

which reached Massachusetts about
thirty years ago, may have had something to do with this
increase in the number of Grosbeaks, for they are among the
few birds that will eat this beetle. They seek the beetles
so assiduously everywhere that they are often locally known
as “ potato bug birds.” This Grosbeak has now become com-
mon throughout most of Massachusetts, except on Cape Cod.
The common note of this bird is a thin, sharp eek, quite dif-
ferent from that of any other eastern bird. The song is a
strong, rolling carol, somewhat like that of the Robin in

   
 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 217

 

tone, but much purer and of far finer quality. It seems to
convey to the listener not so much the bright good cheer of
the Robin, as a sort of pure joy, expressed in most exqui-
sitely liquid tones.

In May, when the Grosbeaks are mating, two or more of
the males sometimes engage in fierce and even bloody battles
for the favors of some coveted female. At such times the
males join in a general melee, warbling meanwhile their
choicest strains, until the weaker come to the ground ex-
hausted, while the strong and favored bird leads his chosen
bride away in triumph.

I well recall the day when, as a boy, I first found the nest
of this bird, built high in an alder bush by a little run, on
the edge of some great chest-
nut woods. <A black-and-white
bird of striking appearance sat
on the nest, covering the eggs,
and manifesting no alarm at my
presence. I thought it a new
species, for there was certainly
no female Grosbeak of that color
in the books. The mystery
was solved when the bird left Fig. 79.— Rose-breasted Grosbeak,
the nest. It was the first time nore
I had discovered a male bird incubating. The Grosbeak is
a gallant fellow, and relieves his mate of a large part of her
duties. He is very affectionate and attentive. He sings
while sitting on the nest, perhaps to while away the time, or
to let. his mate know that he is at his post. When danger
is near he subdues his tone, until the song, pure and clear
as ever, seems to come from faraway. It dies down almost
to a whisper, and then, as the danger passes, rises again to
its full power. He is a model husband and a good father.

The Grosbeak gets its food largely among the trees, seek-
ing it from the ground upward to the tallest tree top. Had
this bird acquired the habit of feeding on any of the products
of the farm or orchard, it might easily become a pest, as its
large size, robust appetite, and strong beak would make it
a formidable enemy to growing vegetables, grain, or fruit.

 
218 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Its bill seems well fitted to wrench out the seeds of coniferous
trees from their cones, but a large part of its summer food
consists of insects, among them many of the greatest pests
of woodland, orchard, and garden. Mairless caterpillars are
continually sought. Much skill is evinced in extracting leaf-
rollers. The bird has been seen feeding to some extent on
the caterpillars of the gipsy moth and the tussock moth. It
is fond of beetles and their larve, particularly those of leaf-
eating and wood-boring species. Dr. Warren found a few
wasps and flies among the food of this bird. In early spring
the eggs and hibernating pupe of insects are taken from
crevices in the bark. On the ground the Grosbeak finds
large caterpillars like the army worm, and some grasshoppers
and locusts. Here also it eats the seeds of weeds. Professor
Beal says that he cxamined the stomachs of a few birds that
were shot while eating green peas, but that the stomachs
contained enough potato beetles, old and young, as well as
other harmful insects, to pay for all the peas the birds would
be likely to eat in a whole season.

The Grosbeak cats wild berries, and the seeds of the
alder and birch. The fact that it takes buds and the ovaries
of the blossoms of fruit trees leads Minot to regard it as an
enemy to agriculture ; but Mr. Brewster says truly that such
pruning is seldom more severe than that practised by a thrifty
horticulturist. The office performed by the Grosbeak, with
its strong, cutting beak, is, as has been hereinbefore stated,
merely a part of nature’s pruning, which, though sometimes
drastic, still in the long run benefits rather than injures the

trees.
Towhee. Chewink. Ground Robin.

Piptto erythrophthalmus.

Length. — From about eight to eight and three-fourths inches.

Adult Male.— Head, all round, neck and chest, wings and tail black; the two
latter white-marked ; sides and flanks chestnut; breast and belly white.

Adult Female.— Brown replacing the black of the male.

Nest.— On ground; usually sunken and often roofed over.

Eggs. — White, rather finely and evenly spotted with light ashy and brown.

Season. — The latter part of April to October, rarely remaining all winter in
southeastern Massachusetts.

This common and well-known bird always may be found
in its season in sprout lands and thickets, where it scratches
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 219

 

among the dry leaves on the ground. Like many other
Sparrows, it scratches with both feet at once, jumping into
the air and digging away the leaves with a quick motion of
the feet, then brings its feet deftly under its body and lands
on them. When disturbed it darts into a bush, with a whir

   

OY, (Forbush,

Fig. 80. — Towhee, male, about one-half natural size.

of wings, a flash of black, white, and chestnut, a quick flirt
of its long tail, and, with crest slightly erected, sends back its
call towhee’, or the more nasal cheewink’, or kriink’. Its song
as commonly sung may be rendered dick’ you, fiddle-iddle,
iddle, iddle, iddie. The first two notes are sometimes com-
bined in a de’ak, but whether dick or the deacon is addressed,
he is adjured to fiddle. The last notes run into a trill.

The Chewink rarely goes into the tree tops, though it
often perches on the top of some small sapling while singing.
Its food is obtained mainly from the ground, the shrubbery,
and as high up the tree trunks as it can reach or jump.
While scratching and digging among the leaves in early
spring it unearths many dormant insects, and disposes of
them ere they have an opportunity to propagate their kind.
220 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Many beetle larve are thus found, among them the white
grub of the May beetle. The bird finds many ground beetles
and ants; it picks up the mature forms of Arctians, many
of the smaller nocturnal moths, and many hairy caterpillars.
When it lives near gardens or cultivated fields it is said to feed
on such pests as potato beetles and cabbage worms. Grass-
hoppers and cockroaches are eaten, also flies and earthworms.
The vegetable food of this bird consists largely of fruit and
weed seeds. It has been accused of pulling corn in some
localities ; but this habit probably occurs rarely, though its
strong bill enables it to crack and devour hard corn. Wild
berries are much eaten in summer. The only cultivated fruit
I ever knew this bird to take was the gooseberry, a few
of which it picked up from the ground where they had
dropped.

Purple Finch. Crimson Finch. Red Linnet. Gray Linnet.
Carpodacus purpureus.

Length. — About six inches.

Adult Male.— Entire body suffused with tints varying from reddish-brown to
rose-red or wine-purple, ‘‘like a brown bird dipped in diluted pokeberry
juice,” as Burroughs says.

Adult Female. — Olive-grayish; streaked above and below with dusky. The
young male is much like the female.

Nest.— Usually at no great height, on coniferous trees; made of grass, twigs, and
fibers, lined with horsehair.

Eygs.— Pale greenish, spotted and scratched with purplish-brown and black.

Season. — Resident; but irregular in winter.

The Purple Finch is naturally a bird of the woods, but it
has learned to love the vicinage of human habitations, and
lives about orchards or in groves or shade trees on well-kept
estates, and is more commonly seen in such situations than
in the woods.

The species is gregarious, and sometimes during the mi-
grations or in winter they may be seen, in flocks of twenty
to fifty individuals, roaming the country in search of the
berries and seeds of which they are fond. The ordinary
note is a sharp, hard chip, and they call to each other with
a uote which resembles the syllables pé-wee’. The song of
the male is a sudden, joyous burst of melody, vigorous, but
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 221

 

clear and pure, to which no mere words can do justice.
When, filled with ecstasy, he mounts in air and hangs with
fluttering wings above the tree where sits the one who holds
his affections, his efforts far transcend his ordinary tones,
and a continuous melody flows forth, until, exhausted with
his vocal effort, he sinks to the level of his spouse in the
tree top. This isa musical species,
for some females sing, though not
so well as the males.

This Finch appears at first sight
to be destructive, for it devours buds
and the blossoms of apple, cherry,
peach, and plum trees, feeding on
the stamens and pistils. Often I
have seen a party of these birds
thus destroying the blossoms of
apple trees, and scattering the
snowy petals about in a shower.
They feed also upon the blossoms
of the red maple, the seeds of such
trees as the white ash, and the ber-
ries of the red cedar, mountain ash,
and other trees. But, as with the |
Grosbeak, the pruning or cutting of Fig. 81.—Purple Finch, male,
buds, blossoms, and seeds of trees EEE eee et
is not ordinarily excessive. On the other hand, this bird
eats many of the seeds of the most destructive weeds, rag-
weed being a favorite. The Purple Kinch also destroys
many orchard and woodland caterpillars. It is particularly
destructive to plant lice and cankerworms. Its quest of
weed seeds is sometimes rewarded by some insects which it
finds on the ground, among them ground beetles and perhaps
‘a few cutworms.

If a bird of this species is confined in a trap cage in spring,
and exposed in a conspicuous place, most of the Purple
Finches in the neighborhood may be trapped. The greater
part of the “Linnets” in many localities have been taken in
this way, despite the law and its officers, who are on the look-

 
222 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

out for the lawbreakers. The birds have been sold in the bird
stores or sent to Europe as red or gray Linnets. This may
account for a local scarcity of this Finch in some places where
it was formerly common.

American Goldfinch. Yellow Bird. Wild Canary. Thistle Bird.

Astralaginus tristis.

Length. — About five inches.

Adult Male.— Bright, rich canary-yellow; crown black; wings and tail black,
white-marked.

Adult Female.— Above, brownish-olive; below, grayish-white, tinged with
yellow; wings and tail much like those of male, but more brownish.

Young. — Much like female.

Male in Winter. — Like female, but retaining his black-and white wings and tail.

Nest.— A cup of grass and moss, down-lined; built in a fork or branch-crotch
from six to forty feet up.

Eggs.— Bluish-white.

Season. — Resident, but local and wandering in winter.

The Goldfinch is almost as well known as the Bluebird,
and is even more brilliant in coloring. Its common call,
per-chic'-o-ree, given repeatedly, as it bounds through the
air in graceful undula-
tions, will be recognized
by all who are at all
familiar with bird life.
This bright bird wan-
ders among orchards and
groves, and flits about
the fields, pastures, and
gardens long after other
birds have begun their
family cares ; for it is not
until July that the Gold-
finch usually undertakes
to build its nest. Its
brood once reared, all the
Fig. 82.— American Goldfinch, male, about members of the family

one-half natural size. :
may be seen wandering
about once more. In the garden they are sometimes known
as “salad birds,” for they are particularly attentive to nice,
crisp lettuce, from which at early morning they drink the dew,
and perhaps eat a few tender morsels, no doubt paying for

 
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 223

 

them by destroying some of the insects that infest the garden.
The Goldfinches are almost always in company, and commu-
nicate with each other often with the most delightful cries ; a
common sweet call is whew-ee’, whew-ee’, and there are many
Canary-like tones. The song of the male is sweet, and he
more nearly merits the name of Wild Canary than does the
Yellow Warbler. At times of unusual transport the singer
rises in air and flutters in circles, singing a sweeter and more
varied melody than that usually uttered from a perch.

The food of the Goldfinch is largely that of a typical
Sparrow, as it feeds much on the seeds of weeds. Those
seeds that are furnished with down, like the seed of the
dandelion and thistle, are much sought after by this bird.
Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright says that if you desire the pres-
ence of Goldfinches in the garden you must plant sunflowers,
zinnias, and coreopsis. The seeds of wild clematis, wild
sunflowers, and ragweed are much sought by them. Gold-
finches feed their young largely on plant lice, caterpillars,
small grasshoppers, and beetles. During the spring, when
unhampered by family cares, and wandering through fields
and orchards, they feed considerably on cankerworms. They
sometimes frequent grain fields, where they are said to de-
vour noxious insects, including the Hessian fly. Goldfinches
often feed very largely in winter on the eggs of plant lice ;
this has been observed many times. Mr. Kirkland exam-
ined the stomach of one of these birds, and found it con-
tained two thousand, two hundred and ten eggs of the white
birch aphid. Chermes larcifolia is a plant louse that is
common on larches. It deposits great numbers of stalked
eggs in April and May, which produce the young lice that
feed on the trees in summer. Mr. Kirkland saw a flock of
over forty Goldfinches going systematically over some in-
fested larch trees, beginning at the top of a tree and work-
ing gradually down to the lower branches, then repeating
the performance on the next tree. They subsist largely in
winter on the seeds of birches and those of the button bush,
as well as on weed seeds. I have never heard of their trou-
bling cultivated fruit or doing any injury except by pilfer-
ing sunflower seeds.
224 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES, ETC.

Only two (Orioles) of the eight Massachusetts members
of this family are distinctly arboreal. Although all the
Blackbirds feed from trees, and Grackles nest there, they
ordinarily obtain most of their food from the ground, and
so must be considered among the birds of garden, field, or
swamp. While all the Blackbirds congregate in large flocks
in their migrations, the Orioles are never seen in such flocks.
The Orchard Oriole is so rare in Massachusetts as to be of
no economic importance. This leaves but one species to be
considered among the birds of woodland and orchard.

Baltimore Oriole. Golden Robin. Fire Hang Bird. Hang Nest.

Icterus galbula.

Length. — Seven and one-haif to eight inches.

Adult Male. —WHead and neck all round, upper back, wings, and tail black;
wings marked with white; terminal portions of three outer tail feathers
yellow; all other parts yellow to intense orange.

Adult Female. — Much duller, the black largely replaced by brownish and the
orange mainly by yellowish-olive ; throat sometimes marked with blackish.

Immature Males. — Resemble the female.

Nest.— A deep pouch (sometimes covered, with the entrance on the side), com-
posed of tough fibers and long hairs interwoven; usually hung from the
terminal twigs of elms, but often in small fruit trees.

Eggs.— Bluish-white, with irregular or zigzag lines of brown or black.

Season. — May to September.

This abundant and familiar species may be found wherever
tall elms rear their heads along the village street. Even in
the smaller cities this bird manages still to dwell, despite
the obtrusive Sparrow and prowling cat. Its brilliant plum-
age and wild, free notes have always been characteristic
sounds of the New England farmstead; for, although it
prefers the elms, it frequents other shade and orchard trees,
and even goes to the woods for food, though it seldom breeds
there. Orioles increase in numbers with the advance of
settlement and civilization.

The clear, wild calls of this bird are as well known as its
musical song. The song, however, varies so much in tone.
and rhythm that no pen can ever adequately describe its many
variations. Nearly every male has a distinctive song of his
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 225

 

own. When we have once learned to recognize the song
of a certain individual bird, we are able to note his arrival
annually. An Oriole with a peculiar song nested near my
home in Worcester for four consecutive years. Only last
year I heard a new bird-note in Andover, and found that the
bird was a Baltimore Oriole,
singing a song unlike that of
any bird of any species that I
had ever heard before.

Its pendulous nest is usually
suspended in such a manner
that its natural enemies find it
difficult of access, and the bird,
a valiant fighter, does not hesi- ig. 83.— Baltimore Oriole, about
tate to attack its enemies with Se HOE Dalaran BI
its sharp beak, — a weapon not to be despised. It does the
fiercest battle with the Kingbird, and may be seen some-
times struggling in mid air with this doughty adversary,
until both birds fall to the ground breathless and exhausted.
It sometimes succumbs, however, to the swarming numbers
and extreme pugnacity of the “ English ” Sparrow, and where
the Sparrows become most numerous they often drive out
the Orioles. The Oriole itself, however, is not always guilt-
less in respect to other birds. Occasionally it destroys other
nests, either to get material for building its own, or out of
pure mischief. Mr. Mosher observed a male Oriole attempt-
ing to-drive another away from its nest. The stranger would
make a rush at the nest, and then the owner would grapple
with him. This running fight was kept up for fully three
hours. In the mean time the rogue Oriole went to-a Red-
start’s nest, threw out the eggs, and threw down the nest.
The next day an Oriole, probably the same bird, was seen
to throw out an egg from a Red-eyed Vireo’s nest, when he
was set upon and driven away by the owners. Three other
instances have been reported to me by trustworthy observers
who have seen Orioles in the act of destroying the nests or
eggs of other birds ; but, so far as I know, few writers have
recorded such habits, and they are probably exceptional.
Indeed, the Oriole’s bad habits seem to be few. It occa-

 
226

USEFUL BIRDS.

 

sionally helps itself to green peas; but Dr. Harris tells us,
in his work on insects injurious to vegetation, that this
Oriole splits open the green pods for the sake of the weevil

 

Fig. 84.—Pea

grubs contained in the peas, thereby greatly
helping to prevent the spread of these noxious
insects.
charine nectar from fruit blossoms. It eats
cherries, but seems to prefer Juneberries and

Nuttall says that it takes the sac-

weevil, much Mulberries. Professor Beal says that several
si as Orioles that were shot in cherry trees had
no cherries in their stomachs, but some seeds of Rubus and
Juneberries. John Burroughs told me years ago that it was
very destructive to ripe grapes at his place on the Hudson

River, but I have
never heard of its in-
juring grapes in Mas-
sachusetts ; it usually
leaves us before most
grapes are ripe.
Having catalogued
the sins of this bird,
let us see what its
good qualities are.
Professor Beal finds
that eighty-three and
four-tenths per cent.
of the Oriole’s food
consists of animal
matter, caterpillars
forming thirty-four
per cent. of the
whole. Evidently
the Oriole is one of
the first among the
birds known to de-

  
 
 

A
iN Achy
iN \\\ iy

 
 

va
NY
MN

   

Fig. 85.—a, b, tent caterpillars; c, eggs; d, cocoon.
The caterpillars are eaten by Orioles.

stroy hairy caterpillars, and for this alone it may be ranked
as one of the chief friends of the orchardist and forester.
The tussock, gipsy, brown-tail, tent, and forest caterpillars,
SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 227

 

the fall webworm, and even the spiny caterpillar of the
mourning cloak butterfly, —all are greedily eaten by the
Baltimore; and it does not usually swallow many, but
merely kills them and eats a small portion of the inner
parts. It thus destroys many more than would be needed
to satisfy its appetite were they swallowed whole, while at
the same time no recognizable portion of the
caterpillar can be found in the bird’s stomach.
This is a habit about which, like many others,
we can learn only by observation. Mr. Nash
received a number of reports from correspond-
ents in 1900 regarding the clearance of tent
caterpillars from trees by these birds. They Fig. 86.—Click
were watched day after day, and in the end eens
cleared the orchards of the pests. An Oriole was seen to
finish one nest df small caterpillars and begin on another

 

 

while the observer.was eating his breakfast. Young Ori-
oles are fed very largely on injurious moths and caterpillars.
The Baltimore Oriole is worth its weight in gold for its ser-
vices in destroying both gipsy and brown-tail moths. The
bird is particularly fond of snap

beetles or click beetles, the par-

ents of the destructive wireworms.

Ae Professor Beal says that more than
: five hundred species of these

beetles are found in North Amer-

Fig. 87.—Cucumber beetle, nat- ica, and their larve are exceed-
urn soe and corouls, much inoty injurious to a great variety
Orioles. of plants, particularly to corn,
grass, and garden crops. As they attack the roots or work
within the stalks, they are very difficult to control. Many
birds eat either the beetles or larve. The very injurious
May beetles and other leaf-eating beetles are taken by the
Oriole, among them the striped squash beetle or cucumber
beetle, one of the most destructive pests of the garden.
Bagworms, curculios, wasps, bugs, plant lice, scale insects,
March flies, and crane flies are among the insects eaten by
this bird.
228 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The following, from Mr. Kirkland’s notes, made at Mal-
den in 1896, shows that this bird is of value in woodlands, for
the observations were made in the woods : —

A sawfly (probably Selandria) is at present one of the insects most
commonly devoured by the Baltimore Oriole. These birds are very
abundant around the experiment station, and I have repeatedly seen them
feeding upon these sawflies, even as early as 4.30 one bright morning.
By 6 or 7 o'clock these birds are well at work, feeding around the build-
* ing. Ihave seen them eat cankerworms, and, what was more interesting,
devour a large Tortricid larva, which rolls the leaves of the white oak.
This larva rolls the leaf around itself, thus forming a kind of cylinder,
within which it feeds. The Orioles put their bills into one end of the
cylinder without tearing the leaf, and pull out the larva.
 

PLATE XIX.— Least Flycatcher on Nest. (Photograph, from life,
by J. Chauncey Lyford.)
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 229

 

CHAPTER VI.

SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND.

FLYCATCHERS,

This family consists of crested songless birds, that watch
from dead limbs, posts, or other exposed perches, and take
their prey mainly on the wing. They usually sit rather
upright, with tail drooping, and wings in readiness for
instant flight. The structure of the Flycatcher’s bill and
mouth is admirably adapted for the capture of winged insects.
The bill is wide at the base, and the gape is deep and sur-
rounded by so-called “ bristles,” which are of service in en-
trapping flying insects. While some species take nearly all
their food on the wing, most of them also pick up insects
from trees, shrubbery, ahd even from the ground.

Nine species are found in Massachusetts, but only four of
these are generally common summer residents ; the others
are either migrants, rare, or casual or local residents.

Least Flycatcher. Chebec.

Empidonax minimus.

Length. — Between five and five and one-half inches.

Adult.— Above, usually dark olive-gray, often with a tinge of brown; under
parts nearly white, shaded on the sides like the back; yellowish on belly;
a broad eye ring and two wing bars yellowish-white or grayish-white.

Nest. — A soft cup; usually in a crotch of bush or tree, from five to forty feet
from the ground.

Egys.— White.

Season. ~— May to August.

This is the common little Flycatcher of the orchard, vil-
lage, and roadside. Its usual note, chebec’, one of the char-
acteristic sounds of May, comes before the apple blossoms,
as a promise of summer. Few of these birds are seen early
in May, while the weather is cool; but the first warm, south
wind usually brings a multitude, and nearly every orchard
harbors a pair or more. The bird sits quite upright, occa-
sionally throwing up its head as if to sing, as it utters its
230 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

quick, emphatic note. At intervals it flits out after its fly-

ing victims, and, returning again to its perch on some old’
apple tree, awaits, with quivering wings, another opportunity.

It prefers open woods and orchards, or shade trees growing
on dry land, rather than dense forests or swamps. It is

rather pugnacious, and, though it rarely molests other small

birds unless they encroach on its domain, it is yery brave

in defence of its nest and young. The following, from Mr.

Mosher’s notes, shows how it will defend its rights : —

May 15, 1899.— A pair of Least Flycatchers had just begun their
nest in an apple tree by placing some bunches of cottony material and
a few strings and straws. A female Oriole, happening along, appro-
priated the string for her own use, and carried it away. The Fly-
catchers came soon after, and were very much disturbed on finding the
nest materials scattered, and had quite a talk overit. In afew moments
the Oriole came back for more string, when both Flycatchers flew at her
and snapped their bills savagely in her face. The Oriole did not seem
to mind them much, and kept on going toward the nest. When the
Flycatchers found they could not scare her in this way, they both attacked
her fiercely, and pulled out quite a number of feathers, keeping up a
steady scold. The Oriole attempted to retaliate, but when she attacked
one of the Flycatchers the other struck her from the other side, and
several times she was knocked completely off the branch. Finally she
beat a precipitate retreat, one of the Flycatchers ‘chasing her out of
sight.

The call note of the Chebec is a wt, and the bird has a
more subdued note, a pew, or wheu, often several times re-
peated. In the mating season the male sometimes utters a

series of twittering notes while
hovering over the tree in which
his mate is sitting.
Like all Flycatchers, this spe-
cies catches flies, among them
‘the common house fly, and also
some useful parasitic flies. It

 

Fig. 88.—Gipsy moth, male, natural ‘
size. Otten caught by the Least 18s by no means confined to

her. ‘
ree such food, however, but is par-

ticularly destructive to small beetles in flight, and in this
respect it is most useful. It captures many moths, partic-
ularly those species that fly by day, as the gipsy moth; but
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 231

 

it also picks up many which are stirring only very early in
the morning or at evening. The bird watches for cater-
pillars, and when it sees one stir, flies from its perch and
snaps up theluckless creature. This bird, in common with
other Flycatchers, picks up many caterpillars
that, to escape Warblers and other enemies,
spin down on their webs or drop from the

 

‘ : Fig. 89.—Can-
trees. The greatest service our little Fly- — kerworm, nat-

a ural size.
catcher renders to man consists of the destruc-

tion of such orchard pests as boring beetles, bark beetles,
the fly of the railroad worm, codling moths, gipsy moths,
cankerworms, and other caterpillars.

Nuttall says that when the young are out of the nest they
move about in company with the old birds, eating whortle-
berries and cornel berries.

Wood Pewee.

Contopus virens.

Length. — Six to about six and one-half inches. _

Adult. — Tail notched; bill black above, light below ; upper parts dark brownish-
gray; two whitish wing bars; under parts whitish, the sides washed with
dark gray, showing a light line down the centre of the breast.

Nest. — Rather flat, and usually saddled on a nearly horizontal limb, from ten to
forty feet up, beautifully decorated externally with lichens.

Eggs.— Creamy white ; handsomely marked, with a ring of dark spots around the
larger end.

Season. — May to September.

The Wood Pewee is, as its name implies, a bird of either
coniferous or deciduous woodland ; but it seems to prefer
the more open, deciduous woods, particularly the oaks, on
which its nest is often placed. It usually perches on dead
branches at some height from the ground, and flies out to
some distance, taking one or many insects at each sally.

The note of this bird is one of the characteristic sounds of
the forest shades, and is heard throughout the day in those
cool retreats where the heat of the summer sun is softened
by the interposition of umbrageous foliage. Here, where
sunshine and shadow fleck the leafy ground, the Pewee’s call
sounds ever pensive, sweet, and clear. The bird is thought
by some to be of a sad disposition; but the sadness of its
call, which harmonizes so well with its forest environment,
232 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

is deceptive, for the Pewee is evidently happy, and delights
in its plaintive tones. Its common call is pee’-d-aee’, fol-
lowed frequently by pe’e’-er , uttered in a drawling manner,
and with considerable intervals
between the phrases. Bendire
says that the male has a low,
twittering warble in the mating
season. The bird also twits and
twitters from time to time.
The nest merits more than the usual
brief description. It is usually saddled
on a dead limb, the outside adorned,
like that of the Hummingbird’s nest,
with crustaceous lichens, so that when
seen from below it looks like a knot on
the branch. It is largely made of fine
grasses and fibers, and often lined with
them. As the nest is not deep, and
Fig. 90.—Wood Pewee, Yests on the top of the branch, the
one-half natural size- —-hottom is usually so thin that it would
fall out were it not supported by the bark.

The food of the Pewee consists very largely of flying
insects, but it often flutters about the
foliage, picking off caterpillars and plant
lice. Daily in the early morning and
in the dusk of evening, even in the un-
certain gloom of the deep woods, this

   
 

 

. . <i Fig. 91.— Tortricid or
bird pursues its prey unerringly. Fly-  ~ jeat-rolling moth, natu.

ing beetles and ants, butterflies and  ™! size.

moths, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, —all are

( | taken. The Pewee is useful in the de-

| struction of small moths and their larve.

| | The male cankerworm moths, tussock

moths, Tortricid moths, and gipsy moths

Bi, are commonly eaten, while the young birds

Met fi are fed largely at times on cankerworms.

pee aciaaes This bird takes some parasitic flies, and

or vaporer moth, Bendire records an instance where it pil-
Re fered young trout from a hatchery.

Hf
i
a
}

1
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 2338

 

Phebe. Phebe Bird. Pewee. Bridge Pewee.

Sayornis phebe.

Length. — About seven inches.

Adult Male. — Above, dull olive-brown; head dark, almost blackish; sides, and
often the breast, shaded with same; tail notched; bill entirely dark.
Nest.— Built of mud, mossed over; grass or feather lined; placed on some beam

of building or bridge, under the edge of a high bank or rock, or in a cave.
Eggs.— White.
Season. — April to October.

The common Phebe is known throughout the State. It
is as familiar and homelike as the Swallows, and deserves
all the regard accorded it asa friend to man. This bird feeds
almost entirely upon insects; hence its pref-
erence for the vicinity of water and its ap-
parent fondness for streams, for in such
locations its source of food supply is
augmented by the many insects that,
like mosquitoes, pass the earlier part
of their lives in water, and emerge
later to fly about within range of
the Pheebe’s quick and accurate
eye. Perched on
a dead twig, a
mullein stalk, a
post, or some
similar vantage
point, Phebe
scans the sur-
rounding space with eager eye, marking each insect that
comes within her field of vision; and when her eye rests on
one she covets, be it beetle, moth, or fly, she quickly leaves
her perch and immolates the victim.

This Flycatcher, unlike the Wood Pewee, hawks about
habitually near the ground, though it often takes a higher
perch and flight. While sitting it often jets the tail, throw-
ing it up even higher than it is represented in the cut; but
usually the tail is held low. The Phebe utters a loud chip,
and it has a variety of softer tones ; but the note most com-
monly heard may be given phee’be, phee'brizey, —the first

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

Pig. 93.— Phebe, one-half natural size.
234 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

wiry note of each phrase longest, and heavily accented ; the
last short, and with a falling inflection. In the early spring
this bird occasionally flutters about in a circle or rises high
in air, repeating its notes very rapidly, with variations, as
if attempting a flight-song. The Phebe, like the Wood
Pewee, is able, because
of some peculiarity of
its sight, to pursue and
catch insects in the dusk
of morning or evening.

Its note is among the

Fig. 94.— Moth of the spring cankerworm; c, first to be heard on a
male; 0, female; c, d, e, structura) details.

 

summer’s morning, and
may even mingle with the last notes of the Owl or those of
the Whip-poor-will. I have heard it shortly after 3.30 a.m.
This characteristic makes the Phcebe extremely useful, as it
is thus able to catch such nocturnal moths and other insects
as ordinarily remain hidden in daylight, and seldom venture
to fly except in dusk or darkness. It feeds

on a variety of pests. Among them are the

imported elm-leaf beetle, the striped cucum-

ber beetle, the cankerworm moth, the cut-

worm moths, the brown-tail and the gipsy

moths. :

Professor Beal, who has examined a large ee
number of Phcebes’ stomachs, finds the bird  ?eet!e enlarged.
to be almost exclusively insectivorous. The insects eaten
belong mainly to noxious species
of beetles, including May beetles,
click beetles, and weevils, grass-
hoppers, wasps, and many of the
flies that trouble cattle. The
vegetable food is unimportant,
consisting mainly of a few seeds,
wild cherries, elderberries, and
Juniper berries. Now and then a raspberry or blackberry
is taken. In the spring of 1868 Mr. C. J. Maynard found
that some of these birds had their stomachs filled with haw-
thorn berries. Gentry says that they feed on horseflies,

 

Fig. 96.— Brown-tail moth.
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 235

 

house flies, mosquitoes, and vast numbers of moths and but-
terflies in both larval and adult stages. Bendire asserts that
Dr. Ralph told him that in Florida the Phcebe alights on the
backs of cattle and follows them around, catching the flies
on the animals, and fluttering above them in search of in-
sects. The only harmful habit of this bird that I have heard
of is also mentioned by Bendire, who says that it is said to-
eat trout fry.

As the young of the Phcebe are fed enormous numbers of
insects, as two broods are raised each year, and as in settled
districts the bird has largely forsaken its natural nesting
places for the habitations of man, it is now one of the most
beneficial species. From year to year, as has been proven
repeatedly, the bird returns to its favorite haunts; and the
young birds, though driven away in the fall by the ‘parents,
like to find, when possible, a nesting site near their old home.
This gives us a hint which may be utilized to increase the
numbers of. these birds about our farms.

Kingbird. Bee Martin.

Tyrannus tyrannus.

Length. — About eight inches.

Aduilt.— Above, very dark gray, crown and tail nearly black; tail feathers
broadly tipped with white; a concealed orange or vermillion patch on
crown; wing feathers and outer tail feathers white-edged; below, white,
darkening on sides of breast.

Nest.— A bulky structure of straw, rootlets, strings, feathers, etc.; usually from
ten to twenty feet up in an orchard tree in field or pasture; sometimes in
a bush on the marshy shore of a pond or river; rarely on a post, bridge, or
building. f

Eggs. — Creamy white, heavily marked mainly toward the larger end with brown
and lilac.

Season. — May to September.

The Kingbird is almost as well known as the Robin or
Bluebird. It is common throughout most of the State,
except in heavily wooded regions. Bold and fearless, yct
confident of man’s protection, it seems to prefer the neigh-
borhood of human habitations. It seeks its winged victims
by taking its stand on some orchard tree, a fence’ wire, a
post, or even a telegraph wire, where it sits turning its head
from side to side, always on the watch. The perfection of
this bird’s sight is illustrated by a statement made by Miss
236 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Florence Merriam. She said that a Kingbird was seen to
start from a telegraph pole one hundred and twenty-five feet
from the observer, and fly to within twenty-five feet of him,
for an insect that was invisible to the man at that distance.
If a Crow or Hawk comes in sight, the Kingbird at once
launches into the air with cries of fury, and chases the enemy

Nw, YY OSS we
e <
=

   

aS

Mi
Ae SS
riot Ngee ygi

Fig. 9'7.— Kingbird, one-half natura] size.

of its young beyond the confines of its chosen domain. Pro-
fessor Beal relates an instance where a Hawk that had stooped
to some young Turkeys was driven away by a pair of King-
birds, and forced to give upits prey. The Kingbird possesses
such remarkable powers of flight, and is so quick in turning,
that under favorable conditions it can with impunity strike
the swiftest Hawk and get away. The Kingbird’s endeavor
is to rise above its enemy and beat it toward the earth. This
is its only feasible plan. I once saw a Kingbird attack a
Cooper’s Hawk that was flying low over a field. The small
fighter overtook the Hawk at once and landed on its back,
but after a time the Hawk managed to rise to some height and
then shot off diagonally downward, leaving the Kingbird so
fast that it appeared as if stationary in the air. This suggests
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 237

 

what might possibly happen were the Hawk to rise quickly
above its adversary. Nevertheless, the Kingbird fears him
not. If an Eagle appears near the Kingbird’s nest he is
immediately assailed by all the warrior tribe and driven in-
gloriously from the field. The Kingbird thus acts as pro-
tector and friend to its weaker neighbors and to the farmer’s
poultry and Pigeons.

The brave bird sometimes does not hesitate to attack
even man himself in defence of its nest. It used to be a
favorite pastime with the boys on one farm to throw up a
hat near a Kingbird’s nest and see the birds attack it. I
have seen a boy repeatedly struck on the head by the parent
birds when he was climbing toward their nestful of young.
Nevertheless, the Kingbird, in harrying his neighbors, some-
times meets his match in the Catbird, Oriole, Martin, or
little Hummingbird. The following interesting account of
the nesting of a Kingbird in a rather unusual situation is
taken from Mr. Kirkland’s notes : —

June 29, 1896.— Near the Shady Hill station, Bedford, Mass., a
Kingbird has built its nest directly on the top of a fence post, and in a
location where there is no shade whatever on the nest during the middle
of the day. The fence stands beside a roadway, where in early sum-
mer teams pass a hundred times a day. The fence is made of old rail-
road ties or posts, with barbed wire running between them. The nest
is on the corner post, and from this corner a board fence extends at
right angles down to the railroad track. The top of the post on which
the nest is located is about six by eight inches, with a depression in the
center where the wood has decayed. The nest occupies this depression,
and is made of grass, string, and cotton waste. At the time of my visit
to’ Bedford there were four partly fledged young in the nest, and these
the old birds were constantly feeding. From their vantage ground on
the telegraph wires near by they would swoop down, catch an insect
or two, and then fly to the nest. I could approach within six feet of
the birds. I was told by Mr. Beard, owner of Shady Hill nursery, that
during the hottest weather one of the parent birds would stand over the
young ones, and, with wings outstretched and vibrating, would shade
them and keep them cool.

In this large nursery there were many small trees, but
scarcely a tree large enough for the Kingbird’s nest. The
insects on the young trees probably proved so attractive as

.
238 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

a food supply that the birds placed their nest on the post,
as the most accessible nesting place in the midst of plenty.
Qther similar instances have been recorded.

The notes of this bird consist of a series of shrill and
varied twitters, somewhat resembling those of a Swallow.
In spring it often mounts into the air, and, rising high, fre-
quently falls for a distance and then recovers itself, twit-
tering fiercely all the time, as if engaged with an imaginary
antagonist. - It appears to be pursuing insects, which it some-
times follows to considerable heights, and having a frolic at
the same time. In warm weather it will sometimes plunge
into the water, and, rising again, shake its plumage like a
Fish Hawk.

The Kingbird, although primarily a feeder on flying insects,
can adapt itself to the pursuit of other food. In flying about
it often takes insects by skimming and fluttering
over water, or by picking them from the grass
or trees. After the severe rainstorm of June,
1903, when the air was swept clear of all flying

s insects by torrents of rain, Mr. Outram Bangs
Fig. 98.—Ce- = 5 eave

tonia, natural SAW Kingbirds picking up from the ground dead

alee or dying insects.

They sometimes alight on plowed lands, and pick up grubs
and myriapods; they will also eat wild berries and seeds.
Very large beetles are taken, such as May beetles and
Cetonias, as well as some of the beneficial tiger
beetles and ground beetles. Weevils of both
grain and fruit, click beetles, grasshoppers and
crickets, wasps, wild bees, ants, and flies are
prominent among the food materials of this
bird. Among the flies taken are house flies
and several species that trouble cattle; but _—  —

* ‘ Fig. 99.— May
smaller insects, like mosquitoes, gnats, and  deetle, natural
midgets, are not ignored. Leaf hoppers and *”*
many other bugs are taken; and a great variety of cater-
pillars, mostly of the hairless species, are eaten or fed to the
young. This bird is destructive to moths of many kinds,
among them the gipsy moth. In two and one-half hours
seven of these birds were seen to take seventy-nine male and

 

 
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 239

 

twenty-four female gipsy moths, and they killed in that time
a great many more that could not be positively identified.

The Kingbird, therefore, is particularly beneficial about
the garden and orchard, for it eats very little, if any, culti-
vated fruit. The only bad habit attributed to this bird is
that of killing honey bees, and even while catching bees it
seems about as likely to do good as harm. Professor Beal
states that a bee raiser in Iowa, having good reason to believe
that the Kingbirds were feeding upon his bees, shot a number
near his hives, but an expert entomologist could find no trace
of bees in their stomachs. The investigations of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture seem to indicate that the Kingbird does
not ordinarily reduce the aggregate number of working bees.
Only fourteen out of two hundred and eighty-one stomachs
examined contained any remains of honey bees. There were
but fifty bees found, forty of which were drones, only four
were positively identified as workers, and six were so much
broken as to render the distinguishing of sex impossible.
Professor Beal finds that the Kingbird feeds on robber flies, -
— insects which prey largely on other insects, especially
honey bees. He considered nineteen robber flies contained
in the Kingbirds’ stomachs to be more than an equivalent for
the working bees found; and the destruction of drones by
Kingbirds is a benefit. On the whole, it seems probable
that, while the Kingbirds eat some bees, they confine their
bee-eating mainly to the drones, and also protect the bees
by killing the moths and flies that prey upon them.

Dragon flies, which are believed to be useful insects, are
killed by Kingbirds, but apparently more from necessity
than choice, as the bird seems to pay little attention to them
when insects more to its taste are plentiful. In studying
the insect enemies of the gipsy moth, it was noticed that
Kingbirds occasionally caught ichneumon flies. It was seen,
however, that at the time when most of the beneficial ich-
neumon flies were depositing their eggs in the caterpillars,
the Kingbirds were absent ; but when these flies had done
their work, when the moths had begun to emerge, and when
an injurious or secondary parasite, Theronia melanocephala,
was depositing its eggs in the living bodies of the beneficial

+
240 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

primary parasites, then numbers of Kingbirds were attracted
by the flying moths. Itseems quite probable, therefore, that
the destruction of parasitic insects by Kingbirds is as likely
to be beneficial in such cases as injurious.1 As about ninety
per cent. of the Kingbird’s food consists of insects mostly
injurious; as it has never yet been shown to be positively
harmful in any respect ; and as it acts as a protector to small
birds and poultry on the farm, — there need be nothing further
said to commend the bird to the farmer.

HUMMINGBIRDS.

The Hummingbirds are popularly believed to feed solely
upon the nectar of flowers; but they are probably of con-
siderable economic importance, for the reason that, because
of their small size and long, slender beaks, they capture
many tiny insects that conceal themselves among the blos-
soms and foliage. Only one species of this distinctively
American family has been found in Massachusetts.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Trochilus colubris.

Length. — About three and three-fourths inches.

Adult Male. — Above, bright, glossy green ; throat metallic ruby-red ; lower parts
white.

Female and Young. — Similar, but without red on throat.

Nest. — A shallow little cup of soft, downy materials, covered externally with
lichens, looking like a ‘‘ moss-covered’’ knot on a branch; from five to
sixty feet up.

Eggs. — White.

Season. — May to September.

This dainty, feathered gem, the smallest of all native birds,
comes to us from the tropics when the south wind blows in
May, and when bursting buds and flowers first afford it the
honey, nectar, and tiny insects on which it lives. Often
when the cherry trees are in bloom many of these little sprites

 

1 It would seem from the above that the Kingbird was doubly useful: first, in
killing the gipsy moth; second, in protecting the parasites of the gipsy moth from
secondary parasites. But there may be some doubt regarding the habits of this
Theronia. It is named by Professor Fernald (Monograph of the Gipsy Moth,
Forbush-Fernald, 1896, p. 376) as one of the most useful primary parasites of the
gipsy moth, although he states that Mr. C. E. Bailey captured a specimen in the
act of stinging a gipsy pupa that was already parasitized by a dipterous insect.
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 241

 

may be seen buzzing about among the petals, with a sound
like that of huge bees. In power of flight the Hummer
surpasses all other birds. The.little body, divested of its
feathers, is no larger than the end of one’s finger, but the
breast muscles which move the wings are enormous in pro-
portion to the size of the bird. They form a large part of the
entire trunk, and their power is such that they can vibrate
the inch-long feathers of those little wings with such rapidity
that the human eye can scarcely follow the bird when it is
moved to rapid flight by fear or passion.

The Ruby-throat is exceedingly pugnacious in the nesting
season. The males fight with one another, and, secure in
their unequalled powers of flight, they attack other and larger
birds. When the Hummingbird says “Go !” other birds stand
not upon the order of their going, but go at once ; while the
little warrior sometimes accelerates their flight, for his sharp
beak is a weapon not to be despised. Even the Kingbird
goes when the warlike Hummer comes; the “English” Spar-
row flees in terror ; only the Woodpeckers stand their ground.
When a person approaches the nest, the sharp squeaking or
chirping of the angry Hummer is sometimes followed by the
bird itself, for it has been known to dart at its human visitors.
It seems to have an aversion for the diurnal sphinx moths, or
“Hummingbird moths,” as they are called, and frequently
drives them away from its favorite flowers. Audubon says it
is sometimes chased by “ bumble” bees, but easily avoids them.
Miss Florence Merriam, quoting Mrs. Bagg, described a fierce
battle between Hummers and these large bees, in which the
combatants on both sides fought until exhausted, tearing to
pieces, in the mean time, the flowers among which they fought.
The bee, with its poisoned lance, must be a dangerous antag-
onist for so small a bird.

The Hummingbird’s nest, when newly built, with its two

 

Later, Mr. Bailey found that the Theronias which he watched invariably stung
pup that were dead, and contained parasitic pup. Mr. F. H. Mosher has since
made observations which confirm those of Mr. Bailey. This may either indicate
that some one is in error, or it may be considered good ground for the hypothesis
that this Theronia may be at one time or place a primary parasite, and at another
a secondary parasite. If this is possible, it further complicates the relations be-
tween the Kingbird and the gipsy moth.
242 'SEFUL BIRDS.

 

tiny eggs, about the size and color of pea beans, lying on
their soft, downy bed, is the prettiest bird home to be found
in our orchards or woodlands. The nest is often built in an
apple or pear tree in the orchard, sometimes in a rose bush
in the garden, not quite as often in the woods; but I once
found two nests, with eggs, in high trees on the face of a
precipitous cliff overlooking a lake. Although the nest in
such situations is usually covered with lichens taken from
the surrounding rocks or trees, the birds sometimes use other
material. Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright avers that she found a
nest in the top of a spruce, some sixty feet from the ground,
and that the nest was covered with flakes of spruce bark,
instead of lichens. The nest is begun in June, and is about
five or six days in the building. The eggs are incubated
about eight or ten days, and the young remain in the nest
usually, I think, about three weeks, although Audubon’s
observations do not agree with this. They are very tiny
when first hatched, and grow at first rather slowly, for birds ;
but later they grow so rapidly that the nest, which is at first
a neat cup, is extended by their swelling bodies until its
interior more nearly resembles a saucer than a cup.

The nest represented in the accompanying illustrations
was built in an apple tree in Concord. On July 3, when
the young were probably
about two weeks old, the first
sketch was made. As will
be seen (Fig. 100), the birds
were still very small, and cov-
ered with down and pinfeathers.

Their bills were quite short, and the
quills of the wings were not developed.
nf he The sketch taken just a week later (Fig.
Fig. 100.-Hum. 102) shows them with their bills fully
mingbirds about developed, their bodies well-feathered and
two weeks old, ;
one-half natural full-winged, nearly ready for flight. As the
ae young Hummers are fed mainly on minute in-
sects and small or young spiders, a large number of the tiny
creatures must be sacrificed to supply the aliment necessary
for the astounding growth of a week. Some authors assert

    
   
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 248

 

that the male bird assists the female in the care of the young;
but in my experience the male is always absent, and the
female alone provides for the young family. The feeding of
such a family is a most inter-
esting proceeding, as the birds
are fed by regurgitation until
the very day before they leave
the nest. The following re-
marks on the appearance of
the young birds and their
feeding are taken from my
notes of July, 1905 : —

How perfect are these little
fledgeling wanderers, in their tiny,
moss-covered cup, shaded from the
southern sun rays by the green
leaves which overhang and sur-
round the nest. Their dainty new feathers, of but a few days’ growth,
have been touched by the tender mother’s breast alone or the gentle dew
of heaven. Their inscrutable, brilliant dark eyes flash quick glances
all around; no motion escapes them. One leans forward from the
nest and attempts to pick a moving aphis from the limb. Their whole
bodies throb quickly with the fast-surging tide of hot life pulsing
through their veins. Now, with a boom like a great bee, the mother
suddenly appears out of the air as she darts almost in my face. JI am
standing within two feet of the nest, and she hangs on buzzing wing,
inspecting me, then perches on a limb just above my head, then on
another a few feet away, her head raised and neck craned to its fullest
extent. Buzzing about from place to place, she inspects me, until,
satisfied, she finally alights on the edge of the nest at the usual place,
where her constant coming has detached a piece of lichen and trodden
down the fabric of the edge. The little birds raise themselves with flut-
tering wings, and the parent, rising to her full height, turns her bill
almost directly downward, pushes it into the open beak of the young,
and by working her gullet and throat discharges the food through the
long, hollow bill as from a squirt gun. ,

 

Fig. 101.— Mother bird feeding young,
one-half natural size. ©

Two days later, on the morning of the 11th, when Mr.
Brewster. went to the nest, one young bird had gone, but the
other sat on the edge. As he came up, it “flew like a bullet”
up to the roof of the barn, a few rods away. —

Undoubtedly the Hummingbirds live to some extent on
244 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the nectar of flowers. They are fond of sweetened waters
and the sweet sap of maple trees, yet the greater part of
their food is probably insects. They are so active in the
pursuit of insects and feed on such small species that it is
difficult to observe their fly-catching habits ; but they have

 

Fig. 102.— Young Hummingbirds nearly fledged, about two-thirds natural size.

been detected, as Wilson says, darting by the hour among
the swarms of little insects that dance in the air on fine
summer evenings. I have watched individuals hovering
about the branches of trees and picking off small insects,
apparently plant lice, or very small spiders. When kept for
a time in confinement they have shown a liking for such flies
and gnats as could be found in their limited quarters ; and
almost invariably when stomachs have been examined they
have contained small winged insects or spiders, or both.
Wilson, who opened “ great numbers” of these birds, found
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 245

 

them filled with insects about three times out of four. Dr.
Warren records the examination of sixty-two Humming-
bird stomachs. The food contents were mainly small spiders,
beetles, or other insects; small worms and flies were also
noted, but none was specifically identified.

WOODPECKERS.

This family comprises a highly specialized group of birds,
the more typical of which are peculiarly fitted to secure their
food by digging into the trunks or’ limbs of trees, in search
of ants and other wood-boring insects which cut channels
under the bark and into the wood. The feet of most Wood-
peckers are four-toed, two toes being disposed in front and
two behind. Some species, however, have but three toes.
The tail is composed of stiff, hard feathers, with strong shafts.
These modifications of the foot and tail assist the bird in
climbing perpendicularly and in clinging to the bark of trees.
While climbing or feeding, the two pairs of toes with their
strong, sharp claws enable the bird to grip the bark and hold
on, while the strong, sharp-pointed quills of the tail serve
as a brace or support. The bird is thus more fully equipped
for climbing than a telegraph lineman. The claws and tail
take the place of the man’s hands and spurs. But the Wood-
pecker’s tools for drilling into the wood and extracting its
living food are more wonderful than its climbing apparatus.

If any one who had never heard of a Woodpecker were to
be told that the bird drilled holes into the solid wood by
beating its head against a tree, he would be likely to regard
the story as fiction. Nevertheless, that is very nearly what
the Woodpecker actually does. The highly specialized appa-
ratus that will permit of such constant hammering of beak
and head against the trees without producing concussion of
the brain, or the least inconvenience or injury to the bird,
is certainly among the most wonderful features of bird
anatomy.

A moment’s reflection will convince any one that, unless
the Woodpecker’s skull were built on an unusual plan, it
could not withstand such hard and continuous hammering.
If we watch a Woodpecker drilling, we shall see that he
246 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

draws back his head and body to the greatest possible dis-
tance from the tree, and then strikes with all his force, send-
ing his strong beak powerfully into the wood. The skull of
the typical Woodpecker is very thick and hard. Its connec-
tion with the beak is strong, but at the same time springy,
and somewhat jar-deadening. The membrane which sur-
rounds the brain is very thick and strong.

Maurice Thompson says that no person can doubt, after
an examination of Woodpecker habits, that the birds are
hard of hearing. He apparently believes that the continual
concussion has deadened this sense. However this may be,
it has not interfered with the bird’s sight, which seems pre-
ternaturally keen.

The bill is shaped somewhat like a stout chisel, and is used
as one. It strikes out small chips, and so drills its way, if
necessary, even to the
heart of the tree; but
the most highly spe-
cialized organ of the
Woodpecker is its
tongue, which serves
as an accessory to the
bill in bringing to

Fig. 103.—Skull and tongue of Woodpecker. light the deep-lurkin g
(From Samuels.) Z
enemies of the tree.
The subjoined cut of the Woodpecker’s skull (Fig. 103)
shows the tongue slightly protruding from the open beak.
Ordinarily the tongue lies in the depression of the lower
mandible. It is slender, nearly round, and its upper sur-
face is covered with very minute
spines, directed backward ; its tip
is as hard as horn, with many
strong barbs, which make of it a Wigs 104, —Spastine wanuetp
weapon more effective in its way of Downy Woodpecker, much
than a fish spear. The machinery oe
for thrusting it forth is most perfect. The bone of the
tongue, called the hyoid, has two branches which pass down-
ward and backward from the lower jaw, up and around the
back of the head, and over the top of the skull, where they

 

|
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 247

 

either pass into the nostrils and so on in channels down
toward the end of the upper mandible of the beak, or, turn-
ing to one side, coil themselves about the bony part of the
eyeball. These branches of the hyoid are enclosed in
sheaths which fit into a groove on the top of the skull. By
means of this apparatus the tongue may be extended so
that, in the Hairy Woodpecker, it may reach an inch and
a half beyond the end of the bill. The tongue is propelled
forward at need by powerful muscles, so that when the bird
has drilled to the burrow of a boring beetle it can open the
beak slightly, protrude the tongue, spear the insect and
draw it out and into the mouth. Birds which possess such
implements for the destruction of boring insects must be
immensely serviceable to man, for borers are difficult for
man to control.

The utility of Woodpeckers is now quite generally recog-
nized by foresters, and by entomologists who study forest in-
sects. Dr. A. D. Hopkins, the most active and experienced
forest entomologist in the United States, is quoted by Dr.
E. P. Felt as asserting that Woodpeckers are the most im-
portant enemies of spruce bark beetles, and appear to be of
inestimable value to the spruce timber interests of the north-
east. Dr. Hopkins also states that Woodpeckers are the
principal enemies of the destructive sap-wood borers.

It is sometimes argued that Woodpeckers are of little use
as protectors of trees, since they never dig into living wood.
This reasoning is based on an error, due to
lack of careful observation. Nuttall speaks
of a Flicker that dug a nest hole eighteen
inches deep in a green sassafras. Dr. Hop-
kins figures a section of a living tree in which
a hole four inches long, two wide, and five
deep had been made by Woodpeckers in their
search for boring larve. According to the Fig.105.—a pine
annual wood rings around the entrance of the sis
cavity, the tree recovered and lived at least fifteen years after
the bird captured the borers. The work of Woodpeckers on
living trees does not ordinarily attract much notice. They
seldom need to dig far into live trees for borers, for most

 
248 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

species that infest live trees are found during a part or all of
their lives just under the bark or in the sap-wood not very
far from the surface; and the Woodpecker can drill a small
hole into the burrow, insert its open beak, and
with its tongue spear and extract the insect.
The wound soon heals, leaving no noticeable
trace. A Woodpecker may thus reach insects
at a depth of from one to four inches, accord-
ing to the size of the bird. Dead trees, how-
ever, are riddled with borers in all their parts,
Fig. 106.—Pates 20d the birds are obliged to delve deeply to
weevil,adestruc- find them; therefore, the work of the birds
tive pine insect, , a .
eaten by Wood. in dead trees is most noticeable.
packers: The chief value of the Woodpeckers con-
sists in the fact that when they find a tree infested with bor-
ers they are likely to keep at work upon it until no more
larvee can be found. Thus they often save the tree, and
check an incipient outbreak of borers. Woodpeckers so en-
gaged sometimes destroy parasites of boring insects. Such
destruction of useful insects by these birds is of little conse-
quence; for when the birds destroy the grubs, the parasites
are not needed. When the birds are too few in numbers to
prevent an increase of boring insects, the parasites also have
‘a similar immunity from the attacks of birds, and so are free
to exert their influence in restraining the borers. If Wood-
peckers should eat an undue number of parasites, they might
then be doing harm; but such cases probably seldom occur.
The Woodpeckers are also useful in providing homes for
other birds. Most Woodpeckers each year hollow out from
the wood a home for their young, and rarely, if ever, use it
more than one season. Some species, of which the Downy
and the Hairy Woodpeckers are familiar examples, also
excavate holes to which they retire for shelter during winter
nights. The larger Woodpeckers often make deep holes in
dead trees while digging out large borers or colonies of ants.
When the carpenter birds are through with these cavities
they are sometimes used as nesting places by other birds
that are unable to excavate for themselves. The deserted
nests of the Downy Woodpecker are used by the Wren, the

 
 

 

 

 

 

PLATE XX.— Downy Woodpecker at Nest Hole. (Photograph,
from life, by C. A. Reed.) (From American Ornithology.)
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 249

 

Chickadee, or even the Tree Swallow; those of the Hairy
Woodpecker may be used by Bluebirds, Martins, or Swal-
lows ; those of the Flicker by the Screech Owl and the Wood
Duck. The excavations made by Woodpeckers in securing
insects are often used by the Chickadee or the Wren.

Notwithstanding their usefulness, however, the Wood-
peckers have been subject to the most senseless and unjust
persecution for many years, merely because a single species,
which rarely breeds in Massachusetts, feeds largely on the
sap and cambium layer of both fruit trees and forest trees.
This species (the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker) has not the
strong, barbed tongue of the typical Woodpeckers.

Eight species of Woodpecker occur in Massachusetts, but
only two, the Downy Woodpecker and the Flicker, are com-
mon residents throughout the State. The Hairy Wood-
pecker is also common, though less so than the others, and
more local. All other species are usually rare migrants,
except the Sapsucker, which is seen regularly in spring and
fall, and the Pileated Woodpecker, which is local.

It is a popular error to speak of all Woodpeckers as either
Sapsuckers or Red-headed Woodpeckers. ‘The males of all
our Woodpeckers have red on the back of the head or nape ;
but the Red-headed Woodpecker has the head, throat, and
neck red all round. Although once common locally in Mas-
sachusetts, it is now rare ordinarily, and seldom breeds in
the State. The birds now generally known in Massachu-
setts as “Red-headed Woodpeckers ” are the species herein~
after described under their proper names.

Downy Woodpecker.
Dryobates pubescens medianus.

Length. — About six and one-half inches.

Adult Male.—- Upper parts black, striped, and barred with white; a small scarlet
patch at the back of the head. ‘

Adult Female. — Similar, but without the scarlet on head.

Young. — The scarlet patch in the male gives place to reddish-brown.

Nest.—In a hole made by the birds in a dead stump or limb.

Eggs.— White.

Season. — Resident.

This sprightly little bird, the smallest of the Woodpeckers,
is also the most useful. It is found commonly throughout
250 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

most of the State wherever trees grow. Its sharp, clear, in-
cisive notes are aptly compared by Chapman to the ring of
a marble quarrier’s chisel. Its only approach to a musical
performance is its resonant drumming on a sounding hollow
‘limb or bird box. This habit, which it has in common with
other Woodpeckers, seems to be resorted to out of pure
exuberance of joy and vigorous life ; it is, with this carpenter
bird, a fitting substitute for song.

The nesting cavity is wrought out with happy labor in some
dead limb. ‘The entrance is just large enough to admit the
owner by tight squeezing, and the interior is trimmed into
graceful curves, rounding at the bottom into a receptacle for
the snowy eggs. The birds sometimes carry the chips away,
but are often careless of concealment, and let them fall about
the foot of the tree.

Downy is a bird of the old orchard in summer. He prefers
to inhabit trees that are neglected by their owners, and
assumes the self-appointed guardianship of such trees in the
happiest frame of mind imaginable. He does this for the
reason that these neglected orchards harbor a host of insects
and vermin, in the destruction of which he revels. Under
those scales of bark there lurk in early spring the larve of
the codling moth, which pass the winter in their loosely spun
cocoons. Downy knows just where to findthem. He circles
the trunk and limbs, climbs up or comes down backward,
and ever and anon he taps and sounds the bark, until the
tell-tale vibration given back by the scale above the cocoon
corroborates the evidence of his eyes. Every stroke with
which he knocks on the door of an insect’s retreat sounds
the crack of doom. He pierces the bark with his beak,
then with his barbed tongue drags forth the insect, and
moves on to tap the last summons on the door of the next
in line. Now and then an intelligent bird carries the warfare
against the apple worm still farther, and pecks the fruit upon
the tree; but, so far as my experience goes, he attacks only
wormy fruit, and when he has the worm he leaves the apple.

Dr. Trimble, in his book entitled “Insects Injurious to
Fruits,” asserts that he found numerous instances where the
bird had penetrated the cocoons of the codling moth.
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 251

 

Dr. Rufus H. Petit, entomologist of the Michigan Experi-
ment Station, says that in almost every case where cocoons
of this insect were concealed under flakes of bark the birds
had found them. “Such pierced cocoons,” he says, “are the
common thing in our orchards, especially where they have
been above the snow line.” Fig. 107,
which is drawn from a reproduction of
his photograph, shows the inner surface
of a flake of bark, the remains of a
cocoon attached, and the hole made by
the bill of the bird.

A large part of the food of this Wood-
pecker, while in the orchard, consists
of wood-boring beetles, their larve, pig, 107.—cocoonot cod-
and various bark beetles and weevils. ling moth, pierced by
Hardly another bird, excepting the suc- oer
ceeding species, can compete with this in destroying borers,
such as the round-headed apple borer, that infest fruit trees.
In securing these insects it never does the trees any percep-
tible harm. In many cases it perforates the bark of apple
trees with small, roundish holes, less than an inch apart,
~ disposed in parallel horizontal rings. Nuttall says that these
holes are made for the purpose of drink-
ing sap from the trees. But this work is
not done for the sake of the sap, if, as
Fig. 108.—Apple tree Wilson says, it is always performed in

oe the fall, at a time when the sap is not flow-
ing; possibly the bird takes out bits of the cambium layer ;
Wilson believed it was delving for insects ; but whatever the
reason, the trees so perforated seem to be invigorated rather
than injured by the process, which is not the case with trees
similarly attacked by the true Sapsucker. The Holes made
by the Sapsucker are different in shape, being square rather
than round.

Townend Glover, formerly entomologist to the United
States Department of Agriculture, stated that he observed
the Downy making a number of small, rough-edged perfora-
tions in the bark of an ash tree, and found that wherever the
bark had been thus injured the young larva of a wood-eating

 

 
252 , USEFUL BIRDS.

 

beetle had been snugly coiled underneath, and had been de-
stroyed by the bird, thus proving conclusively to his mind
that these holes are made for the purpose of finding insect
food.

But Downy does not confine his attacks to the hidden
enemies of trees; he takes caterpillars and weevils from
twigs, buds, and branches. His young are largely fed on
caterpillars of various sorts. Ants and plant lice — those
ill-assorted masters and servants—are slaughtered in im-
mense numbers.

The following, from Mr. Kirkland’s notes, exhibits this
bird as a destroyer of the woolly aphis : —

While in Amherst, Oct. 20, 1895, I was able to approach to within
six to eight feet of a Downy Woodpecker which was feeding on a small
apple tree. The bird was busy hunting the twigs overfor food. Isaw
it eat a number of leaf miners’ (Tineid) cocoons, which were attached
to the smalltwigs. Some of these were undoubtedly Bucculatriz pomi-
foliella. Other cocoons were not oblong, but elliptical; nearly all
cocoons contained a small green larva. A subsequent examination of
twigs which the bird had searched showed that the cocoons it had left
were parasitized. On the tree were many bark lice (Mytilaspis pomo-
rum), but I did not see the bird feed on them. The fact of greatest in-
terest to me was that the bird apparently sought out the small cavities
(made by pruning) on the branches, and fed upon the woolly aphis
(Schizoneura lanigera), which had clustered in masses in the cavities.
This apbis sometimes does considerable damage to apple trees. Mr.
Frost*is of the opinion that the aphis also prevents the healing over of
wounds made by pruning. It is a well-known fact that clusters of this
aphis commonly occur on the callus which develops around wounds,
apparently making it their feeding ground.

The imagoes of nocturnal moths that rest on trees during
the day are taken by this bird, and he eats the eggs of many
insects. He may well be regarded as one of the best of the
feathered friends of the orchardist. But it is in the woods
and among the shade trees that the good qualities of the
Downy come out strongest.

When the Metropolitan Park Commission first began to
set out young trees along the parkways near Boston, some
species of trees were attacked by numerous borers; but the
Downy Woodpeckers found them out and extracted the grubs,
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 253

 

saving most of the trees. The cut (Fig. 109) shows a por-
tion of the top of one of these trees, riddled by the borer.
The knife-cut at the bottom exposes their galleries. The
small perforations along the stem were made by
the Woodpecker in extracting the grubs.

The untiring industry of this bird and the per-
fection of its perceptive powers may be shown
by the experience of Mr. Bailey. On March 28,
1899, a Downy Woodpecker that he watched
climbed over and inspected one hundred and
eighty-one woodland trees between 9.40 a.m.
and 12.15 p.m., and made twenty-six excava-
tions for food. Most of these holes exposed gal-
leries in the trunks or in high branches where
wood-boring ants were hiding. The openings
that the bird drilled in piercing one of these
tunnels in a branch some thirty-five feet from
the ground are shown in Fig. 110. It had un-
covered dormant black ants, and in each case had
pierced their

burrow at
the exact spot
where they were
gathered. These
wood-boring ants
often gain an entrance
at some unprotected
spot on a living tree, and
so excavate the wood of the
trunk that the tree is blown
down by the wind. This Wood- i
pecker acts as a continual check Fie. 109.
on the increase of such ants.
mest The delicacy of that sense of touch or

Woodpecker ana audition by which the bird was enabled to

a locate those motionless insects in their hid-
den burrow must ever command our admiration, unendowed
as we are with such delicate perceptive powers.

Another Downy Woodpecker was seen on March 31 taking

  
   
  
  
  
 

 
254 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the larve of boring beetles from beneath the bark of oak trees.
The bird seemed to know the exact spot at which to drill for
each larva, for it always cut a small hole directly over the
insect. The cut (Fig. 111) gives a view of the outer surface
of a section of bark taken from a small oak. From this small
piece of bark the
bird probably se-
cured at least six
of the larve that
were found in its
stomach. The
holes at a, 0, ¢,
d, e, f, indicate
those from which
the larve were
taken. Fig. 112
gives a view of
the inner surface
of the same piece
of bark, showing
how true was the
stroke of the
bird, for its beak,
piercing from the
outside, went di-
rectly to the cen-
ter of the burrow
where the dormant insects lay, entirely hidden from view.
The letters a, 6, c, d, e, f, indicate the holes where the
bird’s beak came through to the inner surface. Twelve
ants and seventeen larve of boring beetles were found in
its stomach.

The Downy Woodpecker is one of the most useful of all
birds to the lumberman, for it feeds on such destructive
insects as the bronze birch borer, the maple borer, and the
pine weevil, —an insect of such importance that its habits
merit some description here. This little insect (Péssodes
strobi) deposits its eggs on the topmost shoots of the finest
and most vigorous young white pines, and the young larve

 

Fig. 111. Pig. 112.
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 255

 

eat away the wood, and thus destroy the leading shoot or
main stem of the tree. As the side shoots grow upward
they also are attacked, and the tree is ruined for timber.
Instead of growing a tall, straight trunk, it grows straggling
branches. Quite often the leading shoot of a tree is attacked

 

Fig. 118.— Pine top killed by pine Fig. 114.— Tree crooked and ruined for
weevil. timber by pine weevil.

in this way year after year. Each attack results in a crook
in the trunk, and the tree when grown is fit only for kindling
wood. Perhaps no insect isa greater pest to the lumberman
than this. While examining the work of this insect in a
fine grove of young white pines I saw that many of the bur-
rows had been perforated by birds, and the grubs extracted.
It appears that Dr. Fitch also noticed this, for he says that
small birds are very efficient in ferreting out and devouring
256 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

the larve and pupe of this weevil. He does not, however,
name the birds.!

I have seen many shoots from which this insect had been
removed by birds, and most of them showed the character-
istic work of this Woodpecker. Some other Woodpeckers
and the Chickadee are probably useful in this respect. The
Downy Woodpecker hunts borers to the very twigs. Mr.
Kirkland saw a mother bird pecking away at twigs infested
by the oak pruner, taking out the larve and feeding them
to her young.

There is some reason for calling the Downy a sapsucker.
Occasionally he is accused of tapping the smaller limbs and
twigs of maples and other trees for their sap. Nuttall says
he has seen the bird drinking sap from the trees, and that it
bores into the wax myrtle for that purpose. I have never
been able to observe this, and ornithologists generally deny
‘that it is a fact. But Mr. Bailey’s observations seem to
prove that the farmer is not altogether wrong in his appella-
tion of the bird. The habit, however, seems to be not a
common one. Mr. Bailey’s experience has been spoken of
in a paper read before the American Ornithologists’ Union,
and in another published in the annual report of the secretary
of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture for 1900 ;
but I am now able to present cuts from drawings of two
stems tapped by the Downy, which show the ingenious
method employed by the bird, also how its perforations
differ from those made by the Sapsucker. The quotation
from Mr. Bailey’s field notes follows : —

At 12.30 I found a Downy Woodpecker, and watched him till 2.45;
he took three larvee from a maple stub, just under the bark. He next
tapped two small swamp maples, four and six feet from the ground,
and spent most of the time taking sap. He tapped the tree by pecking
it a few times very lightly; it looked like a slight cut, slanting a little.
The bird would sit and peck the sap out of the lower part of the cut.
The cut was so small the sap did not collect very fast. The bird would
go and sit for a long time in a large tree, then it would come back and
take more sap. It did this three times while I was watching it. It did

 

1 Insects Injurious to Forest and Shade Trees, by A. S. Packard. Fifth
Report of the United States Entomological Commission, quotation from Fitch,
p. 740.
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORUHARD AND WOODLAND. 257

 

not care to take any food but the sap. I could get within six feet of
the bird without any trouble while it was taking sap. It then left and
went into a large tree, and I lost it; but if I had stayed by the tree I
think it would have come back before night, as it had done when I was
watching it, for it was gone half an hour at one time.

The two young trees that were tapped were red maples
(Acer rubrum). The incisions in each case were similar,
and from their appearance we may as-
sume that the bird first struck its bill
into the bark from the right upward,
and then from
the left down-
ward, leaving a
small bridge of
bark to cover
the opening.
It then took
the sap by in-
serting its bill
at the lower
orifice, a, the
upper one, 8,
allowing the
free entrance of
air to facilitate
the flow of the
sap out of the
lower at a.

The vegetable
food of this
Woodpecker
is varied and
rather small in
quantity. In
spring it eats a
few buds and petals of flowers; some berries, such as June-
berries and wild strawberries, in summer; and in fall and
winter it eats pokeberries, poison ivy, sumac, mullein, and
other seeds. Frozen apples are eaten in winter. According

 

Fig. 115. Fig 116.
258 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

to Professor Beal, Dr. Merriam found the stomachs of four
birds filled with beechnuts, and has seen this species eat the
berries of the mountain ash. It eats bayberries also.

Hairy Woodpecker.

Dryobates villosus.

Length. — About nine and one-half inches,

Adult. — Quite similar to the Downy Woodpecker, but much larger; the bill pro-
portionately longer.

Nest.— A hole cut in a tree by the bird.

Eggs. — White.

Season. — Resident.

The Hairy Woodpecker, like the preceding species, lives
to such an extent on the grubs of boring beetles and on
wood-boring ants that it can find food at all times of the
year. In very cold winters,
however, when the trees are
solidly frozen for months, both
these species find it difficult to
dig out borers from living trees.
In the winter of 1903-04, which
was exceedingly cold, the
Woodpeckers were compelled
to work on dry limbs and fence
rails, wood piles, and any dry
Fig. 117.—Hairy Woodpecker, male, timber they could find. They

about one-half natural size. da set aiedata ke help ‘heme
selves to waste meat, fat, or suet in winter.

The Hairy Woodpecker is less common than the Downy,
but individually is about as useful. Its sharp, clicking notes
much resemble those of its smaller congener, but they are
stronger, and have a wilder sound. The bird may be easily
recognized by its large size and its vigorous, rapid move-
ments. Like all Woodpeckers, its flight is rather undulat-
ing, as though, by reason of its excess of vigor, it could not
help leaping and bounding through the air.” It is usually
shyer than the Downy, and is found more in timber lands
than in orchards ; but becomes tamer where it is not molested
by man, and sometimes breeds in the orchard.

Maurice Thompson says that this bird strikes its bill into

 
SONGLESS BIRDS OF -ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 259

 

the wood and then for an instant holds the point of one
mandible in the dent thus made, while it listens for the
movements of the borer. He contends that the vibrations
produced by the insect in the wood are conveyed through
the bill of the bird to its brain.

This bird eats less animal food in proportion to its vege-
table food than does the Downy Woodpecker; and accord-
ing to Professor Beal it eats more beetles, more caterpillars,
and less ants, than does its smaller relative. Beetles and
their larve form fully one-third of its insect food, and a large
part of these consists of the larger wood-boring insects. Its
special usefulness inheres in its large size, its long beak and
tongue, and its power of drilling deep into the trees and
extracting from trunks and branches the larger pernicious
borers. In this respect the bird is more nearly indispensa-
ble to the forester and orchardist than any other bird of the
State, except perhaps the Pileated Woodpecker, which is so
local as to be of much less value generally. Mr. J. M.
Baskett tells of some Siberian crab trees in his yard that were
attacked by borers. One of the trees died; but a Hairy
Woodpecker came, worked diligently, and cleaned out all the
grubs, thus saving the remaining trees.

This Woodpecker is often quite destructive to hairy cat-
erpillars, and feeds its young on noxious larve of many
species. It also attacks the pupe or chrysalids of many in-
jurious moths, among them those of the gipsy moth. Moths
that hibernate in cocoons during the winter are particularly
exposed to the attacks of this Woodpecker. Dr. F. M.
Webster states that he saw one of these birds peck through
the cocoon of the cecropia moth, and devour the contents.
On examining more than a score of these cocoons, he found
only two uninjured by the bird. Ants, grasshoppers, and
spiders are eaten.

Its vegetable food is much like that of the Downy, but is
consumed in much larger quantity. It sometimes takes a
little corn; in summer it feeds much on wild cherries, and
in the fall on wild grapes to some extent. Like the Downy,
it eats a little of the inner bark or cambium from the tree
trunks, and possibly may take some sap.
260 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

—

While this bird often excavates a hole for a winter shelter,
it sometimes sleeps exposed on a tree trunk. Mr. Bailey
and I once watched one that slept for many winter nights on
the north side of a tree trunk in a thick grove. It attached
its claws to the bark and went to sleep in much the same
position in which it ordinarily climbed the tree. It inva-
riably went to the same tree at night, and was found in the
same place at daylight each morning.

Northern Flicker. Golden-winged Woodpecker. Pigeon Woodpecker.
Yellow Hammer. Partridge Woodpecker. Wake-up. Gaffer Wood-
pecker. High-hole, High-holder, etc.

Colaptes auratus luteus.

Length. — About twelve inches.

Adult Male.— Brown above; a scarlet crescent across the nape of the neck; top
and back of head gray; back and wings barred with black; rump white;
quill feathers of wings and tail black above, golden-yellow below; shafts
of both wing and tail feathers yellow; throat pinkish-brown, running to
buff on the breast, sides, and belly, which are marked with round black
dots; a black crescent on breast, and a black patch on each side of head
just below gape.

Adult Female.— Similar, but without the black ‘‘ mustache.”

Nest.— A hole in a tree, from four to forty feet from the ground.

Eggs. — Glossy white. ;

Season. — Resident; not very common in winter except in southeastern Massa-
chusetts.

The Flicker, our largest and most common Woodpecker, is
well known, in some one or more of its various forms, over
the greater part of temperate America. It has over thirty
vernacular names, a few of the most common of which are
given above. A loud wick, wick, is the Flicker’s announce-
ment that spring has come. Its amorous wick!-er, wick’-er,
wick'-er, sounds from the orchards in early spring, as the male
birds play about in curious antics, each trying in friendly
rivalry to outdo the other in the display of his golden beauty,
that he may thus attract and hold the admiration of the
female. There is no fighting, but in its place an exhibition
of all the airs and graces that the rival dandies can muster.
Their extravagant, comical gestures, rapidly changing atti-
tudes, and exuberant cries, all seem laughable to the onlooker,
but evidently give pleasure to the birds. Their notes on
such occasions have considerable variety, and are all pleasing.

 
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 261

 

This bird often beats a long roll on a resonant branch.
When flying away it is easily identified by the showy white
patch on the rump, and when it flies overhead its golden
wings and tail are plainly shown.

It is rather a shy bird, and it has reason to be, for, in
spite of the law protecting it, the Flicker is hunted in most
parts of its range. It is not a typical Woodpecker. Its
bill is slightly curved,
and its tongue has fewer
terminal barbs than any
other North American
species. But the tongue
is one of the longest, it
is studded on the upper
surface with fine points
directed backward, and
the salivary glands are
large; in fact, this bird
is more of an ant-eater
than a Woodpecker. It Fig. 118.— Flicker, male, about one-half natural
frequents fields, or- et
chards, and open spaces in the woods, where it strikes its
long bill into anthills, and then thrusts out its still longer
tongue, coated with sticky saliva, and licks up the out-
rushing ants by the dozen. Ants constitute about forty-five
per cent. of its food. Though useful in some ways, ants are
often great pests. Many kinds are decidedly harmful, as
they attend, protect, and help to spread many aphids that
are known as plant, root, or bark lice, which are among
the greatest enemies of certain garden plants, shrubs, and
trees. Ants infest houses, destroy timber, and have other
harmful habits. They are eaten by many birds, of which
the Flicker heads the list. It also takes beetles, grasshop-
pers, crickets, caterpillars, and other harmful insects. It is
fond of wild cherries and wild berries, but takes very little
cultivated fruit. Grass seed and weed seed are eaten to
some extent. Occasionally it has been known to eat a little
corn on the ear. Its most harmful habit is exhibited in
southeastern Massachusetts, where, especially on Cape Cod,

 
262 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

it winters in considerable numbers, and there bores holes
into the summer cottages and finds winter shelter in the
rooms, where it sometimes does some damage by pecking
at the window sashes and curtains and in other ways. If
the owners of these cottages had put up a few cheap bird-
boxes on their buildings or trees, with entrances large
enough for the Flicker, the birds might have used the
boxes, and never have contracted the criminal habit of
breaking and entering.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Sphyrapicus varius.

Length. — About eight and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Above, brownish or yellowish, marked with black and white;
below, yellowish ; sides black-streaked ; a broad white stripe from shoulder
along the black wing; crown and throat patch crimson; border of both
patches and line through eye black; a black breast patch; belly yellowish.

Adult Female.— Similar, except that the throat patch is whitish, instead of
scarlet.

Nest and Eggs.— Much like those of other Woodpeckers.

Season. — Migrates north through the State in April, and south in September and
October; breeds rarely in Berkshire County.

There would be no justification for including this hand-
somely marked bird among the useful species of Massachu-
setts, except for the fact that in thirty years no instance
has come to my knowledge of its doing any appreciable
harm here. There can be no doubt that it has killed trees
in northern New England, where it breeds; but, as it does
some good while here by destroying insects, citizens of the
State can have no shadow of an excuse for destroying any
Woodpecker, for all the other species that visit this State
are more useful than this. The red crown and throat, and
the broad white stripe or patch on the black wing, will dis-
tinguish it from more useful species.

CUCKOOS, KINGFISHERS, ETC.

Kingfishers feed mainly on fish, but occasionally subsist
very largely on such insects as grasshoppers: ‘These birds
are no doubt necessary to help maintain the balance of
nature whenever animals on which they feed tend to in-
crease beyond normal numbers. They are not of sufficient
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 263

 

economic importance, however, to receive more than this
brief mention here. The Cuckoos, on the other hand, are
particularly useful. They have the reputation of laying their
eggs in other birds’ nests. This is true of the European
Cuckoo, which seems to be unable to complete her clutch
of eggs rapidly enough to incubate them in one batch;
therefore she leaves them to be hatched in the nests of other
birds. This is rarely true, however, of the American spe-
cies, which ordinarily build their own nests and hatch their
own eggs. Audubon and Nuttall accused Cuckoos of rob-
bing the nests of other birds, but there is little recent evi-
dence of this habit. Like Woodpeckers, Cuckoos have the
fourth toe reversed; but apparently the reversion of this toe
does not now assist them in climbing, even if it ever did,
for they do not climb like the Woodpeckers. They are
long, slender, rather shy, modestly colored, and sedentary
birds, which sit secluded among the leaves, and are heard
more than they are seen.

Black-billed Cuckoo. Rain Crow.

Coccyzus erythrophthalmus.

Length. — Nearly twelve inches.

Adult. — Above, olive-brown and gray, with lustrous bronzy reflections; below,
white; bill black ; small white tips to all but the two central tail feathers.

Nest. — Sticks loosely put together in a bush, vine, or low tree.

Eggs. — Greenish-blue.

Season. — May to September.

The Black-billed Cuckoo is common throughout most of
the State. It seeks the bushy borders of streams, ponds,
low woodlands, and swamps. It inhabits the glades of de-
ciduous woods, and sometimes nests in thickets, but often
visits orchards and fruit gardens. It isa bird of the trees
and shrubbery, rarely leaving the leafy shades except to feed
where caterpillars have defoliated the trees. Although some-
what sedentary, it flies rapidly and gracefully, but usually
at no great height. Upon alighting in a bush or a tree it
generally chooses a sheltered or hidden position, and, relying
perhaps upon its close resemblance to the color of the foliage,
it often may be closely approached.

Its notes vary much, but consist commonly of the syllable
264 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

cow, cow, repeated monotonously many times, and sometimes
preceded by a short chuckle. The bird often calls at night,
and toward autumn its notes may sometimes be heard in the
air as it passes overhead, probably in migration. Usually
when the bird is heard at
night in the spring and early
summer it appears to be
stationary. There is some
mystery in the wakefulness and
night flight of Cuckoos, for they are

certainly as wide-awake at times as the

: Owl or Whip-poor-will at night, and often
Fig. 119.—Black-

billed Cuckoo, one. Seem slow and sleepy by day.

epee The Cuckoos are of the greatest service
to the farmer, by reason of their well-known fondness for
caterpillars, particularly the hairy species. No caterpillars
are safe from the Cuckoo. It does not matter how hairy or
spiny they are, or how well they
may be protected by webs. Often
the stomach of the Cuckoo will be
found lined with a felted mass of
caterpillar hairs, and sometimes Fig. 120.—Caterpillar of the Io
its intestines are pierced by the wens
spines of the noxious caterpillars that it has swallowed.
Wherever caterpillar outbreaks occur we hear the calls of
the Cuckoos. There they stay; there they bring their
newly fledged young; and the number of caterpillars they
eat is incredible. Professor Beal states that two thousand,
seven hundred and seventy-one
caterpillars were found in the
stomachs of one hundred and
twenty-one Cuckoos, —an aver-
Fig. 121.—Spiny elm caterpillar. aoe of more than twenty-one each.
Dr. Otto Lugger found several hundred small hairy cater-
pillars in the stomach of a single bird. The poisonous,
spined caterpillars of the Io moth, the almost equally dis-
agreeable caterpillars of the brown-tail moth, and the spiny
elm caterpillar, are eaten with avidity.

While the above statements may apply to either of our

   
  

 

 
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 265

 

Cuckoos, the Black-billed Cuckoo is the more common in
Massachusetts, and is therefore probably the more useful.
Grasshoppers, locusts, and other insects are often eaten, but
practically no cultivated fruit and no grain.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Coceyzus americanus.

Length. — About twelve inches.

Adult.— Bill black above, yellow beneath; upper parts olive-brown, with gray
tints and metallic lusters; under parts white; a bright cinnamon tint on
wings; two inner tail feathers olive; outer tail feathers blackish, two with
white outer edge; all but two inner tail feathers broadly tipped with white.

Nest. — A loose mass of sticks, in a bush or tree.

Eggs.— Usually larger and lighter colored than those of the preceding species.

Season. — May to September.

This bird is long and slender, but it is a little larger and
more robust in appearance than the Black-billed Cuckoo. A
near view will show the yellow of the under mandible and

 

Fig. 122.—The fall web worm, The caterpillars (a, b, c) are eaten by Cuckoos.

the characteristic markings of the tail, which serve to distin-
guish the bird in the field. Moreover, the notes of this
species are heavier and coarser than those of the Black-billed
Cuckoo. Schuyler Mathews well describes a characteristic
ery of this bird as Gr-r-r-olp, cowlp, cowlp-olp-olp. All this
is delivered with little if any variation in tone, and ina voice
seemingly as deep as that of a Heron.
266 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is common in eastern Massa-
chusetts, although it is rather more local than the preced-
ing species; but it is rare in the highlands of the northern
and western counties. Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright states
that this bird “seemed to follow an epidemic of tent worms”
into Connecticut, and that it was abundant for two years in
orchards and gardens containing fruit trees. She asserts that
it did its work so thoroughly that orchards which were cov-
ered with caterpillar webs yielded a good crop later. She says
also that the Cuckoos destroy many more than they can eat,
by tearing the webs apart and squeezing the worms with
their beaks. This is corroborated by the statements of
gentlemen from Medford, who have told me that they have
often observed this habit of the Cuckoo as practised on cater-
pillars of the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth. It is
said that these Cuckoos, which were formerly decreasing in
numbers around Boston, are now increasing. They are no
doubt attracted by the abundant caterpillars. This species
is apparently the greatest enemy to these pests.

GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, ETC.

This family of gallinaceous birds is represented in Mas-
sachusetts by four species. Of these, the Spruce Grouse
is merely an accidental visitor; the Heath Hen is nearing
extermination ; and the Bob-white, now rare or wanting in
many parts of the State, is more a bird of the field and
garden than of the orchard or woodland. It is described on
p- 325. This leaves only one species, the Ruffed Grouse,
to be considered here, as the other species, introduced from
time to time from other parts of the country, soon die out
or are killed off by our arms-bearing population. This is
particularly unfortunate, for Massachusetts, with her rocky,
wooded hills, sandy plains, and fertile valleys, her stunted
shrubby growths on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, and
her many fertile fields, is naturally a paradise for Grouse in
summer, and produces an abundant winter food supply for
these hardy birds.
 

 

 

PLATE XXI.— Ruffed Grouse on Nest. (Photograph from life.)
(From American Ornithology.)
SONGLESS BIRDS UF ORCHARD AND WUODLAND. 267

 

Ruffed Grouse. Partridge.

Bonasa umbellus.

Length. — Sixteen to eighteen inches.

Adult Male.— Upper parts reddish or yellowish brown, varying to gray; many
markings; head crested; large ruffs of glossy black feathers on the
sides of the neck; tail long and broad, varying from reddish-brown to
gray, mottled and barred with lighter and darker shades; a broad black-
ish band near the tip; under parts tinged with buff, strongest on throat,
barred and otherwise marked with darker shades, particularly on breast
and sides.

Adult Female.— Similar, but smaller; ruffs also smaller.

Nest.— Lined with leaves, on ground in woods.

Eggs. — Buffy or yellowish white, sometimes speckled with a darker color.

This common bird, the “king of American game birds,”
was abundant in all our woods and was often seen in fields
and orchards until its numbers were decimated by the gunner
and the survivors driven to the cover of the pines. The
characteristic startling roar of its wings, with which it starts
away when flushed from the ground, and its habit of drum-
ming on a log, have been often described. The speed with
which the wings are beaten in drumming makes it impossible
for the human eye to. follow them, and make sure whether
they strike anything or not. Naturalists, after long discus-
sion, had come to believe that the so-called drumming of the
Ruffed Grouse was caused by the bird beating the air with
its wings, as described by Mr. William Brewster; but now
comes Dr. C. F. Hodge, and reopens the controversy by
exhibiting a series of photographs which seem to show that
the bird in drumming strikes the contour feathers of the
body. Strange as it may seem, there are many people who
often take outings in the country, yet have never heard the
drumming of this bird. This tattoo is most common in late
winter and early spring, but may be heard occasionally in
summer and not uncommonly in fall. While sounded oftenest
during the day, it may fall on the ear at any hour of the
night. In making it the bird usually stands very erect on a
hollow log or stump, with head held high and ruffs erected
and spread, and, raising its wings, strikes downward and
forward. The sound produced is a muffled boom or thump.
It begins with a few slow beats, growing gradually quicker,
268 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

and ends in a rolling, accelerated tattoo. It has a ventrilo-
quial property. Sometimes when one is very close to the
bird the drumming seems almost soundless ; at other times
it seems much louder at a distance, as if through some prin-
ciple of acoustics it were most distinctly audible at a certain
radius from the bird. It is the bird’s best expression of its
abounding vigor and virility, and signifies that the drummer
is ready for love or war.

The female alone undertakes the task of incubation and
the care of the young. Once, however, when I came upon
a young brood, the agonized cry of the distressed mother
attracted a fine cock bird. He raised all his feathers, and,
with ruffs and tail spread, strutted up to within a rod of
my position, seemingly almost as much concerned as the
female, but not coming quite so near. The hen sometimes
struts toward the intruder in a similar manner when sur-
prised while with her young. She can raise her ruffs and
strut exactly like the cock.

The Grouse has so many enemies that it seems remarkable
how it can escape them, nesting, as it does, on the ground.
Instances are on record, however, where birds that probably
have been much persecuted have learned to deposit their
eggs in old nests of Hawks or Crows, in tall trees. When-
ever the mother bird leaves the nest the eggs are easily seen,
and while she sits it would seem impossible for her where-
abouts to remain a secret to the keen-scented prowlers of the
woods. But her colors blend so perfectly with those of the
dead leaves on the forest floor, and she sits so closely and
remains so motionless among the shadows, that she escapes
the sharp-eyed Hawk. She gives out so little scent that the
dog, skunk, or fox often passes quite near, unnoticing.

The Grouse does not naturally fear man ; more than once
in the wilderness of the northwest a single bird has walked
up to within a few feet of me. They will sit on limbs
just above one’s head, almost within reach, and regard one
curiously, but without much alarm. Usually in Massachu-
setts when a human being comes near the nest. the mother
bird whirs loudly away. She has well learned the fear of
man ; but ina place where no shooting was permitted, a large
      

PLATE XXII.— Ruffed Grouse, One Day old. (Photograph,
from life, by C. F. Hodge.) (From the annual report of the
Massachusetts Commissioners on Fisheries and Game, 1905.)

   

-e

 

 

PLATE XXIII:— Ruffed Grouse, Four Months old. (Photograph,
from life, by C. F. Hodge.) (From the annual report of the Massa-
chusetts Commissioners on Fisheries and Game, 1905.)
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 269

 

gang of men were cutting underbrush, while a Partridge
sitting there remained quietly on her nest as the men worked
noisily all about her. Another bird that nested beside a
woods road, along which I walked daily, at first would fly
before I had come within a rod of her; but later she became
confiding enough to sit on her nest while six persons passed
close beside her. Evidently the bird’s facility in concealing
her nest consists in sitting close and keeping her eggs well
covered. Her apparent faith in her invisibility is overcome
only by her fear of man or her dread of the fox. When the
fox is seen approaching directly toward her she bristles up
and flies at him, in the attempt to frighten him with the
sudden roar of her wings and the impetuosity of her attack ;
but Reynard, although at first taken aback, cannot always
be deceived by such tricks ; and the poor bird, in her anxiety
to defend her nest, only betrays its whereabouts. Probably,
however, the fox rarely finds her nest unless he happens to
blunder directly into it.

Dr. C. F. Hodge made some interesting experiments with
two trained bird dogs, a pointer and a setter, neither of
which could find a Partridge as she sat quietly on her nest.
The theory often used to explain this is, that the bird, being
frightened, sits with her feathers drawn close to her body,
and so “holds her scent.” This is a matter, however, that
should be investigated with scientific accuracy ; for, in spite
of all theories, the manner in which the bird escapes dis-
covery still remains a mystery. The protection, whatever
it is, is not always infallible, for occasionally a fox or dog
discovers the sitting bird apparently by scent. Mr. William
Brewster tells me that one of his dogs once found a Wood-
cock on her nest. All the young Grouse in a nest hatch at
nearly the same instant, their feathers dry very rapidly, and
they are soon ready to run about. When able to travel,
they leave the nest, and from that moment they become wan-
derers on the face of the earth. It is often asserted that the
Partridge leads her brood about after the manner of a Hen
with her Chickens. This may be true in some cases; but
I think the young birds usually scatter and forage mainly
for themselves. They run about, stealing noiselessly along
270 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

among the dead leaves, under the foliage of ferns and shrub-
bery, continually taking insects from leaf, stem, and frond,
or picking them from the ground. Meanwhile, the mother
marches slowly in their rear, perhaps to guard them against
surprise from any keen-scented animal that may follow on
the trail. She seems to be almost always on the alert, and
a single warning note from her will cause the young birds to
flatten themselves on the ground or to hide under leaves,
where they will often remain motionless until they are
trodden upon, rather than run the risk of betraying them-
selves by attempting to escape. For this reason any one
who disturbs a Partridge with her brood should be very care-
ful not to approach too closely, lest he tread on the young
birds. When, as sometimes happens, the intruder has taken
the mother unawares, and approached close to her tender
brood, she seems nearly distracted in her anxiety, and, scream-
ing, flies directly at her enemy. The sound she makes at
such times has been likened to the whine of a young puppy ;
but to my mind her first cry more nearly resembles the
squeal a rabbit gives when startled in the moonlit woods.
When thus surprised the young may be seen for a brief
moment as they run or fly, seeking a safe hiding-place,
while the mother attempts to lead their pursuer away by
feigning lameness and fluttering along the ground. Should
this transparent ruse succeed, she then flies off as well as
ever, and remains away until she believes all danger has
passed, when she quietly returns and calls her brood. Evi-
dently even the sharp-nosed fox finds it hard to detect the
little birds so long as they lie quiet, and they seem to leave
little or no scent as they run rapidly over the dry leaves.
Some keen-eyed Hawk occasionally gets one, and they some-
times succumb to a disease aggravated by exposure to heavy,
continuous rains. Woodticks and lice together are said to
be fatal to them, and a species of botfly is said to attack
them; but under ordinary conditions about half of each
brood comes to maturity.

The wing quills grow very fast, and before many days
have passed the little chicks can fly short distances. Audu-
bon says he has seen them fly a few feet when but six or
CO6T ‘OUIBE) PUB SOLIOYSI,Y WO SIOMOISSTUIMMOD S}JasSNYOEssBIT VY} FO
qlodar yenuus oy} Wodg) (CespoH A ‘O Aq ‘os Woaz ‘YdeiSojoyg) -Suninns ‘osnoiy payny—‘AIXX FLW Id

 

 
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 271

 

seven days old. I saw a single bird about three weeks old
start from a hilltop with its mother, and, ascending among
the tree tops, fly into a hollow more than a hundred yards
away. Prof. C. F. Hodge told me that a three-weeks chick
which he was rearing became frightened one day, and dis-
appeared over the trees; an hour later it flew back.

During the fall, the Grouse keep together in small flocks.
Sometimes a dozen birds may be found around some favorite
grape vine or apple tree, but they are usually so harried and
scattered by gunners that toward winter the old birds may
sometimes be found alone.

As winter approaches, this hardy bird puts on its “ snow-
shoes,” which consist of a fringe of horny processes or pecti-
nations that grow out along each toe, and help to distribute
the weight of the bird over a larger surface, and so allow it
to walk over snows into which a bird not so provided would
sink deeply. Its digestion must resemble that of the famous
Ostrich, as broken twigs and dry leaves are ground up in its
mill. It is a hard winter that will starve the Grouse. A
pair spent many winter nights in a little cave in the rocky
wall of an old quarry. Sumacs grew there, and many rank
weeds. The birds lived well on sumac berries, weed seeds,
and buds.

‘Sometimes, but perhaps rarely, these birds are imprisoned
under the snow by the icy crust which forms in cold weather
following a rain, but usually they are vigorous enough to
find a way out somewhere. The Grouse is perfectly at home
beneath the snow ; it will dive into it to escape a Hawk, and
can move rapidly about beneath the surface and burst out
again in rapid flight at some unexpected place.

The Ruffed Grouse is a bird of the woodland, and, though
useful in the woods, it sometimes does some injury in the
orchard by removing too many buds from a single tree. In
winter and early spring, when other food is buried by the
snow and hard to obtain, the Grouse lives largely on the buds
and green twigs of trees; but as spring advances, insects
form a considerable part of the food. The young feed very
largely on insects, including many very destructive species.

While I have often observed the young birds feeding on
272 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

insects, it was usually impossible to make out just what those
insects were; but in confinement the young are very fond
of flies, maggots, beetles, slugs, thrips, plant lice of various
kinds, and spiders. Professor Forbes found mostly insects
in the stomachs of three birds about three days old. They
had eaten cutworms, grasshoppers, Lampyrid beetles, ants,
parasitic wasps, buffalo tree hoppers, and spiders. Professor
King found that a Grouse about a week out of the shell had
eaten a white grub, seven spiders, and thirteen caterpillars.
I found in July the remains of a young bird that had been
killed by a Hawk; it must have been at least six weeks old.
Its stomach contained beetles and the seeds of weeds. The
young are often found in grassy fields and pastures near
woods. I have seen them apparently catching grasshoppers,
crickets, and other grass-eating insects in such localities, and
they seem as fond of such food as are young Chickens.
Whenever such insects are plentiful, they form a part of the
summer food of the birds. Young Grouse evidently are very
useful as insect eaters, but as they grow older they depend
more upon vegetable food. Dr. Judd, who has given the
best account of the food of the Grouse, says that at Chocorua,
N. H., in September, 1898, they were feeding very largely
on the red-legged grasshopper or locust (Melanoplus femur-
rubrum), avery destructive insect. Seven adult birds, killed
in the breeding season, had eaten insects to the amount of
thirty per cent. of their food.

The Ruffed Grouse at times eats many caterpillars, par-
ticularly those species which, like the cutworms and army
worms, live largely upon the ground.
It seems probable also that it takes
caterpillars from the trees, as num-
Fig. 123.—Red-humped bers of red-humped apple caterpillars

caterpillar. 5 .

(Schizura concinna) and oak caterpil-
lars (Symmerista albifrons) have been found in its stomach.
Dr. Judd says that the Grouse prefers beetles to other insects.
This seems to be true of the young also, although when first
hatched they appear to relish softer-bodied insects more.
The old birds are persistent scratchers, and unearth many
ground beetles, which they eat greedily. They sometimes

 
SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 273

 

feed on the potato beetle and otlier very injurious leaf-eating
beetles, including flea beetles, grape-vine beetles, and May
beetles: Also, they take wood-boring beetles, which they
find mainly about stumps and fallen trees.

Ants are eaten, and bugs, including leaf
hoppers and tree hoppers. Many birds eat af
gall insects, but the Grouse eats them galls

and all. Besides the insects taken, it eats Fig. 124.—‘Tree
a few spiders and small snails. a

Although Grouse eat largely of insects during spring and
summer, this habit has not been much noticed, chiefly be-
cause most of the birds whose stomachs have been examined
were shot in the late fall or in the winter months, when the
food is almost entirely vegetable. “The Ruffed Grouse,”
says Dr. Judd, “spends most of its feeding time in browsing
and berry picking.” In the fall, winter, and early spring,
seeds, berries, buds, leaves, and even twigs, form its prin-
cipal food. A great deal of this material is eaten through-
out the year wherever it can be obtained. Dr. Judd gives
the percentage of “browse” eaten as forty-eight and eleven
hundredths of its entire food for the season, and the per-
centage of berries as twenty-eight and thirty-two hundredths.
Buds form twenty per cent. of its food for the year. The
seeds eaten are mainly tree seed, and those of such weeds
as grow in clearings, along walls and fences, or on the
borders of woods. Grain is very rarely taken. A partial
list of the vegetable food of the Grouse is given below.
It is largely compiled from the bulletin by Dr. Judd on the
Grouse and Wild Turkeys of the United States, which is
the most complete list yet published.

Nuts or Seeds.

Hazelnuts, beechnuts, chestnuts, acorns. Seeds of tick trefoil, horn-
beam, vetch, hemlock, pitch pine, maple, blackberry lily, beggar’s
ticks, chickweed, sheep sorrel, sedges, violet, witch-hazel, beech drops,
avens, persicaria, frost weed, jewel weed.

Buds, Blossoms, or Foliage.
Of poplar, birch, willow, apple, pear, peach, alder, hazel, beech,
ironwood, hornbeam, blackberry, blueberry, spruce, arbor vite, May-
flower, laurel, maple, spicebush, partridge berry, sheep sorrel, aster,
274 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

green ovary of bloodroot, clover, purslane, wood sorrel, yellow sorrel,
heuchera, chickweed, catnip, cinquefoil, buttercup, speedwell, saxi-
frage, live-forever, meadow rue, smilax, horsetail rush, azalea, false
goat’s beard, dandelion, cudweed.

Fruit.

Rose hips, grapes, smooth sumac, dwarf sumac, staghorn sumac,
scarlet sumac, poison ivy, partridge berry, thorn apple, cockspur
thorn, scarlet thorn, mountain ash, wintergreen, bayberry, blackberry,
huckleberry, blueberry, cranberry, sarsaparilla berries, greenbrier,
hairy Solomon’s seal, smooth Solomon’s seal, black raspberry, rasp-
berry, domestic cherry, cultivated plum, wild black cherry, wild red
cherry, elder, red. elder, black haw, nannyberry, withe rod, maple-
leaved arrow wood, high-bush cranberry, mountain cranberry, snow-
berry, feverwort, black huckleberry, black alder, flowering dogwood,
bunchberry, cornel, silky cornel, pepperidge, mulberry, bittersweet,
manzanita, barberry, Virginia creeper.

By saving or propagating the plants in this list, some-
thing may be done toward increasing the numbers of this
persecuted game bird.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN FIELD AND GARDEN. 275

 

CHAPTER VII.

THE UTILITY OF BIRDS IN FIELD AND GARDEN.

In the grass field or meadow, as in the wood lot, natural
conditions are simulated. Each year until haying time the
grass offers cover and shelter for the nests of such birds
as breed on the ground in natural meadows, savannas, or
prairies. The grass and other plants of the field also pro-
vide food for birds, and for insects on which birds feed. As
in woodlands, there is established a natural interdependence
between the bird and its food and shelter, — the insects and
the grass.

The habits of birds that live in fields have become ad-
justed to those of the native insects which also live there,
so that the abundance of these insects is largely controlled
by these birds, while the abundance of the birds is regulated
chiefly by the rise and fall of the insects on which they feed.
Some of the most useful birds of the farm live and breed in
the fields; others breed along walls and fences. Early cut-
ting of the grass on fields and meadows reduces the num-
ber of birds that breed there, for it destroys their nests or
takes away the shelter of the grass from their young; but
it also checks the grass insects, and exposes them to attacks
from Robins, Crows, and other birds that nest in woodland
or orchard, but prefer to feed in the field.

When, for any reason, the numbers of birds in the field
are insufficient, insects increase; but in such cases the field
birds are assisted in their work by birds of shore, swamp,
orchard, and woodland. A similar service is often recipro-
cated to orchard or woodland by the birds of the fields,
many of which flock to the trees to quell outbreaks of cat-
erpillars or other tree pests.

Grasshoppers, army worms, cutworms, and the grubs of
May beetles are among the most destructive insect enemies
of the grasses of this State. Nearly all field birds feed upon
276 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

such insects. Without birds it is doubtful if crops of grass
could be raised; for the grub of a single species of beetle,
if unchecked, could readily destroy all the grass roots of
our meadows; and any one of several species of cutworms
or army worms might be sufficient to destroy all the crops
above ground. As it is, however, where the birds of the
field are undisturbed they tend to hold the grass insects in
check, so that the farmers are able to get good crops of
grass without using any insecticides whatever. Therefore,
we are largely indebted to birds for our grass crop.

Wherever the numbers of birds are much reduced, there
is danger of a corresponding reduction in the grass yield.
Prof. J. Y. P. Jenks: once told of an experience related to
him regarding an occurrence many years ago in Bridgewater,
Mass. A great hunt was held by the townspeople in the
spring of the year, and so many birds were killed that their
bodies were used to fertilize the soil. The following sum-
mer the trees in that town were stripped of their leaves, and
great patches of grass withered away and died. Such results
must be expected wherever the number of birds in a region
is suddenly and greatly reduced, and the pressure exerted by
them upon the hosts of insects is as suddenly released.

In preparing the garden or cultivated field, natural condi-
tions are overturned. If in making a garden we desire to
use a piece of land covered with trees, we must first clear it.
By cutting trees and uprooting and burning stumps and
underbrush we remove the natural shelter and nesting places
for birds, and to a great extent destroy their food. Some
woodland insects may persist, and later attack the growing
crops; but the birds which formerly lived in the woods are
driven away.

If the land intended for our garden be natural meadow or
prairie, we must dispose of the grass, and so the sod is turned
under. As in the woodland, both the shelter and nesting
places of the birds are destroyed, together with most. of
their food. Such insects as pass part of their lives in the
ground, like the white grubs and cutworms, may survive and
eventually come to live on the fruits of our labors; but the
birds are driven out.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN FIELD AND GARDEN. 277

 

Usually there is no nesting place in the garden for tree-
breeding birds, and the operations of tillage and weeding
make nesting unsafe and impracticable for the ground birds.
Where tillage is not very frequent or strenuous, a few birds
may nest in the garden. There was a time when Sparrows
frequently built their nests in potato hills, and Sandpipers
reared their young in cornfields ; but more intensive cultiva-
tion has driven them out. Birds now rarely breed in culti-
vated fields or gardens, except where trees, bushes, or vines
furnish them nesting places ; but the farmer prefers to have
no trees in the garden, as they interfere with the cultivation
of other plants, and so the birds are kept out. We have,
therefore, practically no garden birds, and the service that
we get from birds in the garden must be rendered by those
which come there from woodland, orchard, swamp, field, or
meadow, or those which, like the Swallows and Swifts, fly
over the garden and take insects in the air.

But if a bird comes into the garden, it is often regarded
with suspicion; and if it takes a few peas, strawberries, or
a little corn, it is fortunate to escape with its life. All
services the bird has rendered or may render are lost sight
of in view of the fact that it has taken some of the fruits of
man’s toil. We can feed our cattle, our hogs, a vagabond
homeless cat, a stray dog, or a tramp; but if a bird claims
any of our bounty, capital punishment is not too severe
for it.

The garden has become a paradise for insects. Here they
find the most succulent food plants, finely developed, and
grown in patches or masses, — often by the acre. Abundant
opportunity is thus offered for the increase and spread of
insects which confine themselves to a few food plants. In-
sects leave the wild plants on which they formerly fed, and
gather to the feast in the garden. They increase in numbers ;
they multiply a thousand fold. The few birds that now ven-
ture into the garden select such insects as they like best, and
the rest run riot among the crops.

Partly for the foregoing reasons, and partly because some
of the most important garden pests have nauseous or poison-
ous secretions and are eaten by few birds, we get much less
A

278 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

assistance from birds in our gardens than in our woodlands
or tields. Nevertheless, the few species that follow the
plow and glean among the various vegetables are of the ut-
most value to the farmer, who in the ordinary course must
depend largely on them to protect his crops from certain
insects that are difficult of control. Cutworms, army worms,
and cabbage worms are a few of the garden pests which are
eaten by birds, and which birds might control if sufficiently
numerous. The squash bug and the Colorado potato beetle
are two insects which are seldom eaten, or by but few birds.

Many of the birds of garden and field may be brought to
assist the farmer in his battle against weeds. A weed is a
useful plant in nature, and fulfils its purpose by filling bar-
ren or unoccupied soil with roots, preventing a waste of that
most valuable fertilizing constituent, nitrogen, and adding,
by its decay, to the amount of humus and plant food in the
soil. In the garden and field, however, these wild plants
are out of place, for the farmer wishes to cultivate the
corn, the bean, the potato, or other useful plants and various
grasses, all of which, if left to themselves, may be dwarfed,
stifled, or replaced by a vigorous growth of weeds, which
spring up unbidden from the soil.

Dr. Judd tells us that a single plant of one species of
weed may mature as many as a hundred thousand seeds in
a season; and if these were unchecked, they might in the
third year produce ten million plants. In competition with
this bewildering multiplication, the corn or the bean, the
wheat or the rye, with their comparatively few seeds, must
soon succumb.

Constant use of the cultivator and hoe will do much to
eradicate weeds from cultivated land, but they are always
present in the grass field; and, as most of the grass is cut
after the seeds have ripened, and fed to farm animals, there
are always weed seeds present in the manure which is used
in garden and field. Thus the farmer annually sows weed
seed in his cultivated land.

Even when the garden is kept clear of weeds, there are
still weeds around the edges of fields and gardens, and along
roadsides, ditches, and hedgerows, which continually seed
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN FIELD AND GARDEN. 279

 

down the near-by land. Most land is full of weed seed,
which retains its vitality for from five to seven years, so that
weeds always spring up at once and spread rapidly in lands
that are uncared for. The life of the gardener is a perpetual
warfare against weeds. In this fight many birds of the field
may be of some assistance against the weeds which annually
spring up, flourish, and die, and therefore are dependent on
seed alone to perpetuate their species. A goodly number of
the birds of the field feed largely on the seeds of such weeds,
and many of them subsist almost entirely on weed seeds
during the fall, winter, and early spring. The quantity of
such seeds annually eaten by birds in Massachusetts is be-
yond computation. Where seed-eating birds are numerous,
they get nearly all the seeds of certain weeds; and if the
farmer takes pains to attract and protect them, they may be
of great assistance to him in the problem of weed destruc-
tion. Their benefits are greatest among hoed crops, for in
such fields the largest number of weeds find opportunity for
growth.

Dr. Judd says that the principal weeds which birds prevent
from seeding are ragweed, pigeon grass, smartweed, bind-
weed, crab grass, lamb’s quarters, and pigweed; but these
are only a few of the seeds eaten by birds, as will be seen
later. During cold weather many of the birds about the
farm gorge themselves with the seeds of weeds, filling stom-
ach and gullet almost to the throat. Some species feed
in weedy gardens and fields; others are found more along
the roadsides and the edges of thickets or woodlands ; while
still others, like the Snowflake and the Meadow Lark, seek
open fields by preference. As a single Snowflake can eat
a thousand seeds of pigweed at a meal, the effect produced
upon a weedy field by a flock of one hundred or two hundred
birds is very marked. They alight among the weeds, and as
fast as each bird exhausts its part of the supply it rises and
flies over the flock to the untouched weeds beyond; and so
the flock rolls along, until perchance the birds have stripped
the seed from practically all the exposed weeds in the field.

The various species of birds have different feeding habits.
Goldfinches, Pine Finches, and Crossbills, for instance, cling
280 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

to the weeds and take the seeds from the stalks; while Song
Sparrows and Chipping Sparrows subsist largely on such
seeds as they can find on, or reach from, the ground. Song
Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, and Tree Sparrows are persistent
scratchers, and dig out seed that -has already fallen, and is
buried by dead leaves, straw, earth, or other litter. Meadow
Larks and Quail are useful in digging out seed from the
ground, which, already buried, would otherwise spring up
and grow. When the snow is deep, a large proportion of
the seed-eaters must of necessity go south; but as soon as
the ground is bare, they return to scratch and dig for their
favorite food. Thus, as various species of differing habits
and different haunts frequent the fields and their borders, and
as the work of one supplements that of another, they exert
together a constant repressive influence against the undue
multiplication of weeds. The birds most actively employed
in consuming weed seed in field and garden are Sparrows
and Finches, Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Meadowlarks, Doves,
and Quail.

Dr. Judd found about five hundred and twenty-five birds
eating weed seed from a single acre of truck land on a Mary-
land farm, and estimated that they destroyed forty-six thou-
sand seeds for their breakfast. About the last of April he
attempted to learn what proportion of the weed seed on the
place had been destroyed by birds during the fall and winter.
In a wheat: field where ragweed was plentiful it was difficult
to find half a dozen seeds in a fifteen-minute search. Ina
growth of pigeon grass the examination of an area where
there had been hundreds of seeds the year before would
sometimes fail to disclose one ; and in some crab grass in the
same field not one seed out of a thousand was left.

The following list of seeds eaten by birds, taken from Dr.
Judd’s interesting account of the “Birds of a Maryland
Farm,” will serve to indicate the habits of the same birds in
Massachusetts. It will be noted that most of the weeds in
this list are common here, and some of them are very abun-
dant, widespread, and troublesome. Chickweed seeds ma-
ture very quickly, and purslane has to be dug up and carried
out of the field, else it will persist in spite of the gardener.
UTILITY OF BIRDS IN FIELD AND GARDEN.

281

 

Noxtous Seeds eaten by Birds.

Bull thistle (Carduus lanceolatus).

Beggar’s ticks (Bidens frondosa).

Sneezeweed (Helenium autum-
nale).

Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisie-
folia).

Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trijida).

Sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus).

Dandelion (Taraxacum taraxa-
cum).

Wild lettuce (Lactuca spicata).

Black bindweed (Polygonum con-
volvulus).

Pennsylvania persicaria (Polygo-
num pennsylvanicum) .

Knotweed (Polygonum aviculare).

Climbing false buckwheat (Polyg-
onum scandens).

Bitter dock (Rumex obtusifolius) .

Curled dock (Rumesx crispus).

Sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella).

Crab grass (Panicum sanguinale) .

Pigeon grass (Chelochloa glauca).

Green foxtail grass (Chetochloa
viridis) .

Broom-sedge (Andropogon virgin-
icus).

 

Sheathed rush-grass (Sporobulus
vagine-florus).

Poverty grass (Aristida sp.).

Yard grass (Hleusine indica).

Bermuda grass (Capriola dacty-
lon).

Paspalum (Paspalum sp.).

Sedge (Cyperus).

Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras).

Blackberry (Rubus villosus).

Pokeberry (Phytolacca decandra).

Partridge pea (Cassia chame-
crisia).

Sweet clover (Melilotus alba).

Tick-trefoil (Meibomia nudiflora).

Snowdrops (Kneifia fruiticosa).

Chickweed (Alsine media).

Amaranth (Amaranthus
Slexus).

Trumpet creeper (Tecoma radi-
cans).

Yellow sorrel (Oxalis stricta).

Rib-grass (Planiago lanceolata).

Spurge (Huphorbia maculata).

Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium
album) .

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea).

Jewel weed (Impatiens).

retro-
282 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

CHAPTER VIIL

BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN.

THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES.

The food of Thrushes is alluded to on p. 155, and the
woodland Thrushes are described on the pages following it.

American Robin.

Merula migratoria.

Length. — Nine to ten inches.

Adult Male.— Above, dark gray, olive tinged, browner on wings; head and tail
blackish, with white marks; breast ruddy, varying to bay; chin and lower
tail coverts white; throat white, with black spots.

Adult Female.— Similar, but duller; head and breast paler.

Young.— Breast spotted with blackish.

Nest.— Of grass and mud, on tree, wall, building, or bank.

Eggs.— Greenish-blue ; rarely spotted.

Season. — Resident, but rarest in late December and early January.

This large Thrush was named the Robin by the early
settlers of Massachusetts, because it resembled somewhat in
color the little Red-breasted Robin of England. Ornithol-
ogists since then have called it
the Migratory Thrush and the Red-
breasted Thrush, but in vain; thus
custom perpetuates error.

The American Robin, as it is
now called, is the most generally
common bird in Massachusetts. Its
Fig. 125.— American Robin, habit of foraging on the ground in

About one-half naturalsize- wardens and fields, its fondness for
fruit, its custom of seeking the vicinity of human dwellings,
lawns, gardens, and cultivated fields, all have resulted in its
increasing in numbers. As the forests were cleared away,
the planting of fruit trees furnished it food and nesting
places ; and so the Robin became part and parcel of our rural
civilization. It nests by preference in an apple tree near
farm buildings, but almost any nesting site will do, from a

 
 

 

 

 

PLATE XXV.— Robin’s Nest in Hollow Tree.
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 283

 

pine tree in the woods to a wall overgrown with ivy, an over-
hanging sand bank, or a shelf over a cottage door. The nest
is usually strengthened with mud, but not always. Last sum-
mer I found in a sand bank a nest that had no mud in its com-
position. It needed none, for it was sunk in the sand and
sheltered overhead by the overhanging turf. Apparently the
birds were wise enough to sce that in this case the mud was
unnecessary. The Robin sometimes utilizes a hollow trunk
for its nesting place, as may be seen by the accompanying
cut, made from a photograph furnished by Mr. J. A. Farley.

The Robin prefers to have a roof over its nest; therefore
it usually places the nest in such a situation that the growing
leaves will shade it from the sun and shelter it from the rain 3
but it often takes refuge under some roof built by human
hands. Last summer I saw a Robin’s nest built under the
projecting roof of a small, open railway station. There the
birds reared young, undisturbed by passengers or trains.

The economic position of the Robin has been discussed
almost as freely as that of the English Sparrow or the Crow.
Many fruit growers have long looked upon the Robin as an
inveterate enemy, and it cannot be denied that this bird is
sometimes a serious pest to the grower of small fruits. It
is often asserted that the Robin and Catbird select the very
choicest fruits. Professor Beal, however, believes that this
is an error, and that the birds rather prefer wild fruit that is
insipid or disagreeable to man.

My experience with birds in the strawberry bed con-
vinced me, nevertheless, that Robin and Catbird picked out
the reddest, ripest, and sweetest varieties in preference to all
others. To test this preference, I set out here and there a
plant of one of these varieties among the beds of more com-
mon fruit. In every case the birds found these plants and
took about all the fruit. But I am led to believe, from what
is known of their habits, that they selected this fruit by its
color rather than by its taste or quality. When the early
cherries are ripening, the birds attack the first point where a
cherry turns red. The choice early fruit is taken because
there is no ripe wild fruit, and at this season the birds have
had no juicy berries for months, and are “ fruit hungry.”
284 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The destruction of small fruits by Robins usually bears
hardest on small growers, or on families who raise only a
little fruit for their own use. Large strawberry growers have
told me that the birds do them no noticeable harm, nor have
I known of any very serious and widespread destruction of
cultivated fruit by Robins in this State. Much harm is said
to have been done by them in other States, however, notably
in New Jersey and California.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Robin is sometimes in-
jurious to the interests of the small-fruit grower, it is one
of the most useful of all birds to the farmer and orchardist,
being probably as indispensable to the farm as any bird that
could be named. The problem that must be solved by the
fruit grower is how to prevent the Robin from destroying
small fruits, for the farmer and orchardist are interested in
seeing the numbers of this bird increased rather than dimin-
ished. The value of the bird to the farmer consists in the
following facts. It remains in Massachusetts a large part
of the year, and during the spring and early summer it lives
almost entirely on insects and worms, while insects form a
considerable portion of its food for the rest of the season. It
forages on fields, lawns, and cultivated grounds for many of
the insects that the farmer finds most difficult to control. It
also destroys many caterpillars, including hairy species, of
orchard, woodland, and shade trees.

Professors Jenks in Massachusetts, King in Wisconsin,
Forbes in IIlinois, and Beal at Washington, and Mr. Wilcox
in Ohio, have each studied the food of this bird. All these
gentlemen regard the Robin as beneficial except Mr. Wilcox,
who, while giving it due credit for a certain amount of the
good that it does, believes that the small-fruit grower should
be allowed to protect his crops by killing Robins where it
seems necessary. It should be noted, however, that a large
proportion of the Robins that Mr. Wilcox examined were
shot about the fruit garden on the experiment station
grounds when the fruit was ripe; and their food for the
time being would not fairly represent the average aliment
of the Robin, any more than would the food of the Robins
shot about Mr. Trouvelot’s insectary correctly represent the
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 285

 

ordinary food of the bird in that region. In the one case
much fruit and few insects were found in the birds’ stom-
achs ; in the other case the birds’ stomachs were filled with
the caterpillars of the American silkworm which Mr. Trou-
velot was breeding, and contained no fruit, although wild
berries were plentiful all about. The Robin might be a pest
in Ohio and a blessing in Massachusetts. It is a great fruit
eater, but it takes none of man’s products except fruit, and
in Massachusetts small fruits alone suffer materially from its
attacks.

Professor Beal, who probably has examined more stomachs
of Robins from different regions than any other investigator,
states that vegetable food formed nearly fifty-eight per cent.
of the contents of three hundred and thirty stomachs ; forty-
seven per cent. of the vegetable matter consisted of wild
fruits, and only a little more than four per cent. of varieties
that were possibly cultivated. This seems to sustain the
contention that, where wild fruit is plentiful, as it is in many
parts of the country, it is preferred by the Robin to culti-
vated fruit. The greatest quantity of cultivated fruit is
eaten in late June and in early July, when early cherries
and strawberries ripen, and before there is much ripe wild
fruit. Thus in Illinois Professor Forbes found that in June
fifty-five per cent. of the food of the Robin consisted of
cherries and raspberries, and fourteen birds that he exam-
ined, killed in July, had revelled in the fruit garden. Rasp-
berries, blackberries, and currants formed seventy-nine per
cent. of their food. Cherries made forty-four parts of the
food eaten in August by fourteen birds, but two-thirds of
these cherries were wild.

Where early wild fruits are plentiful the Robins do far
less injury to cultivated fruits. A list of the wild fruits eaten
by birds is given in another chapter. The Robin eats nearly
all of them; therefore it is unnecessary here to speak fur-
ther of the vegetable food of this bird, except to mention
a few of its favorite fruits. Among these are: wild cher-
ries, wild grapes of several species, the berries of the sour
gum or tupelo, smilax, greenbrier, holly, all species of
sumac, poison ivy, elder, huckleberries, blueberries, black-
286 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

berries, cranberries, and Juneberries. The methods of
protecting cultivated fruit against the Robin are given
elsewhere.

The Robin is the “early bird that catches the worm.”
Who has not seen it hopping over the field or lawn, with
head erect, looking and perhaps listening for
worms and grubs? All know the skill with
which it finds them and drags them forth
to daylight. Robins destroy numbers of
earthworms every spring, and throughout the season they
get as many as they can readily find. Earthworms have been
considered useful creatures since Darwin’s studies showed us
how they help to cultivate the soil; therefore at first sight
we might regard the Robin’s habit of eating them as injurious ;
but worms are remarkably prolific, and were they to increase
without check they might cultivate the fields and lawns so
assiduously as to interfere with the growth of plants. Some
city lawns where birds are not plentiful have been rendered
brown and unsightly by the numerous heaps of castings
thrown up by the too plentiful worms. We may safely set
down the earthworm habit of the Robin to its credit, so long
as it merely assists in destroying the surplus crawlers. Earth-
worms, however, form only a small part of the Robin’s food
for the year. Worms are not found much at the surface in
early spring, and during the dry weather of summer they are
too far down for the Robin to find them; nevertheless, he
is seen apparently “hunting worms” in the meadows and
fields at any time from March to July, and in fact all through
the season. If the ground is-bare in January or February,
Robins may be found now and then searching the fields for
insects; if January and February are snowy, they begin the
search in March or early April. They find dormant cut-
worms and other caterpillars in some numbers even in Feb-
ruary. A very large per cent. of their food in February and
March consists of the larve of March flies (Bibio albipennis).
Every investigator who has studied the food of Robins has
found quantities of these insects in their stomachs. These
larvee live in colonies, and feed mainly on decaying vegetable

 
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 287

 

matter. They are usually harmless, but sometimes eat living
roots, and are believed to be capable of doing serious injury
to grass lands. The fact that Robins feed almost constantly
on March fly larve, thus keeping them under control, may
account for the little injury that these insects ordinarily do.
Professor Forbes took one hundred and seventy-five from the
stomach of a single bird. Our bird is very destructive to
caterpillars, especially the species that live on or near the
ground.

The cutworm is the early worm that the Robin gets. These
cutworms (the larvee of Noctuid moths) are dull-colored, hair-
less caterpillars, that are most often seen on the ground.
They usually hide during the day about the roots of plants,
under matted grass, or under the loose soil along rows of
plants in the garden. They come out of their hiding places
_ at dusk, and feed. Their destructiveness consists in their
manner of feeding. They often eat away the stems of young
plants near the ground, thus destroying many plants for the
sake of a few mouthfuls of food. Young cabbages, tomatoes,
beans, etc., fall victims to these pests. Where cutworms are
numerous, nothing can be successfully grown until they are
killed off. Probably the various species are individually and
collectively the most destructive of all caterpillars.

The Robin is abroad at the first break of day and until the
dusk of evening. He finds the cutworms in the morning
before they have crawled into their holes, and at night when
they first venture out; and he digs them out of the earth at
all hours of the day. Perbaps no other bird is so destructive
to these caterpillars in gardens. Professor Forbes found that
cutworms and other caterpillars formed thirty-seven per cent.
of the food of nine Robins taken in March. Wilson Flagg
watched the Robins about his house during a drought in July,
when earthworms were not to be had. He asserted that the
female bird carried off a cutworm as often as once in five
minutes, and that he saw her take two and even three at a
time. Professor Forbes found that nine May Robins had
eaten cutworms to the extent of twenty per cent. of their
food. These birds were taken in an orchard where canker-
x

288 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

worms and other insects were plentiful. This shows what
an extraordinary number of cutworms Robins will eat, even
when other insect food may easily be had.

They are not at all particular regarding the kind of cater-
pillars they secure, but feed eagerly on most common species ;
even the woolly bear (Jsta isabella) falls a victim. Wher-
ever the gipsy moth, the brown-tail moth, or
the forest tent moth swarm, the Robin eats
their caterpillars. All the spanworms seem
to be favorite morsels. The Robin takes can-
kerworms, tent caterpillars, curculios, leaf-
eating and wood-boring beetles, and ground

beetles. Many wireworms are taken, but

i the Robin renders no greater service on the
Robins. farm than the destruction of the white grubs
of May beetles and so-called “June bugs” of the genus
Lachnosterna. These white grubs, if unchecked, destroy
the roots of grasses to such-an extent that they ruin the
sod of meadows and fields, killing all the grass. In such
cases the top of the dead turf may be peeled off, a mere
worthless mass of dead, straw-like vegetation. The grubs
cut off strawberry plants just below the ground, killing the
plants and sometimes ruining whole beds. Corn and other
grains are destroyed. Potatoes, turnips, carrots, and root
crops of all kinds are eaten and ruined. Where the grubs
are plentiful, hardly a plant is safe from their ravages.
By reason of their subterranean habits, they are so difficult
of control that were they not checked by their natural ene-
mies it might be impossible for the farmer to raise hay, grain,
or vegetables. Careful observation during three years on a
farm convinced me that the Robin ranks first among the
natural enemies of the white grub.. In 1901 my garden was
seriously infested with white grubs ; there was some fear that
it would be difficult to raise either strawberries or roots; but
it was soon seen that something was digging funnel-shaped
holes along the rows, and taking out the grubs. A close
watch was kept, to discover the author of this good work,
and it was invariably found to be the Robin. The birds
seemed to locate the grubs either by sight or hearing, and

 
 

 

 

 

PLATE XXVI.— Robin on Nest. (Photograph from life.) (Copy-
right by C. A. Reed.) (From the annual report of the Massachu-
setts State Board of Agriculture, 1902.)
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 289.

 

dug down to them. The hole was often two to three inches
deep, and they found the grubs unerringly. They might
not have been able to do this had the surface not been kept
well fined and mellow.

The Robin revels in a well-cultivated garden. If he is not
molested, he will follow behind plow, hoe, or cultivator, and
pick up the grubs that are turned up, before they are able to
bury themselves in the soil. The Robins about our place
soon learned to pick up grubs and worms that were thrown
to them. The number that they find in a season is beyond
computation. They were so diligent in our gardens and
fields that the white grubs did no material injury. One
mother bird that was following me one morning picked up
three large grubs, one after another. She laid the first two
down on hard ground, secured the third, and then after two
or three futile attempts gathered them all in her beak and
flew away to her nest near by, where she fed them to her
eager young. The whole proceeding did not occupy over
five minutes.

Wherever these grubs appear in such numbers as to de-
stroy the turf on lawns, the Robin is always the most effi-
cient agency for their destruction. Robins flock to such
places, and find more grubs than does any other bird. In
meadows remote from houses Crows may be equally efficient,
but usually they are too shy to approach very near occupied
dwellings. The efficiency of the Robin lies in its skill in
finding and digging out the grubs (an accomplishment in
which it appears to excel all other birds), and in its num-
bers; for, except in villages and cities, where Sparrows are
more numerous, Robins are the most abundant birds. As
the season advances, Robins are often very destructive to
grasshoppers ; all orders of insects suffer from their attacks.
Even in June and July, when the Robin eats cultivated fruit,
insects comprise over forty per cent. of its*food.

The character of the food of nestling Robins is very im-
portant, for the Robin normally rears two or three broods
each year. Weed and Dearborn found that the largest
single element consumed by the young consisted of cut-
worms and related caterpillars, which formed twenty-seven
290 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

per cent. of their food. In my experience, caterpillars and
grubs form a very large percentage of their food, particu-
larly cutworms. A goodly number of earthworms are fed
in spring, when they are to be had in abundance ; but cut-
worms seem to be a favorite food at all times. Beetles
(including curculios, snap beetles, and wireworms), grass-
hoppers, crickets, Noctuid moths, spiders, snails, katydids,
grass blades (probably picked up with insects), and a few
seeds, are all found in the stomachs of the young.

Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock watched the nest of a pair of
Robins, and in three hours sixty-one earthworms, sixteen
yellow grubs, thirty-eight other insects, four grasshoppers,
and a few dragon flies and moths were carried to the nest-
lings. The last few days that they were in the nest, food
was brought to them every three minutes.

The earliest broods reared get practically no fruit, but the
late broods are fed some fruit while in the nest, and after they
leave the nest they live more largely on fruit than do the par-
ent birds, probably because it is easier to find than insects,
which the young birds are at first not skillful in capturing.

The Robin thrives wherever there are gardens and orchards.
In the prairie States, where there is little native fruit, it has
become very destructive to cultivated small fruits, and even
to apples; but in Massachusetts, where wild fruit is plenti-
ful, its principal depredations may be mostly obviated by
planting early mulberries or shadberries. The Robin de-
serves the protection it now receives from the law.

Bluebird.

Sialia sialis.

Length. — Six and one-half to seven inches.

Adult Male.— Above, bright azure blue; breast and under parts bright chestnut,
except the belly, which is white, or bluish-white.

Adult Female. — Similar, but much duller or paler.

Young.— Mostly brown, with blue on wings and tail; breast speckled with
brownish and white.

Nest.—In a hole in a tree, post, or in a bird house.

Eggs.— Pale blue, rarely white.

Season. — March to November; seen rarely in winter months.

The Bluebird is perhaps first of all birds in the affections
of the rural population of New England. Its gentle note, at
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 291

 

first a mere wandering voice in the skies, comes down to us
a sure augury of returning spring. The Robin, Song Spar-
row, and Blackbird renew the vernal prophecy; but when
the Bluebird warbles gently from the leafiess trees, and flits
from fence to house top, we feel that
the very spirit of the spring has come.

The Bluebird is usually common,
locally at least, in Massachusetts by
the middle of March, and flights may
be seen going south in September and
October. The bird is seldom seen
later than November; but it is quite
possible that occasionally a few winter Fig. 12'7.— Bluebird, about
in southeastern Massachusetts, as they Sr
have been reported there in December and January, and a
few are said to winter in the same latitude in Connecticut.
Wherever dense red cedar and sumac thickets are numerous
and fruitful, there is food enough to carry through the winter
such Bluebirds as may venture to stay. It is quite probable
that some of the early birds which come from the south in
February are starved and frozen during the extreme cold
weather and snowstorms which sometimes follow their ap-
pearance ; most of them, however, contrive to exist until
warm weather appears.

This bird often rears two or three broods. The male bird
takes care of the young after they have learned to fly, while
the female prepares a nest for the next brood.

The Bluebird needs no defence; it has long been regarded
as a harmless species, for it takes practically none of man’s
products, and boards itself. Nevertheless, it is probably not
as useful as the Robin, —a bird which has been widely reviled
asa pest. However, the utility of the Bluebird must be ac-
knowledged, although it perhaps eats more beneficial insects
in proportion to the harmful ones than does the Robin. The
Bluebird comes close to the Robin as a cutworm destroyer,
and at times it is an efficient caterpillar hunter. It is valu-
able in the orchard in repressing outbreaks of cankerworms.
As it eats the furry caterpillars of Arctians and other hairy
species, it is of especial value in Massachusetts. It is a

 
292 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

persistent foe of the Orthoptera. Grasshoppers constitute
nearly twenty-two per cent. of its food for the year, and in
August and September more than sixty per cent. Alto-
gether, seventy-six per cent. of its food for the season con-
sists of insects or allied forms, and the other twenty-four
per cent. is made up of wild fruit
and other vegetable substances, taken
mainly in winter. In selecting its
food, the Bluebird, like the Robin, is
governed as much by abundance as
by choice. The vegetable food of the
Fig. 128.—The Bluebira’s Bluebird proves its harmlessness to

sia crops. It consists almost entirely of
wild berries ; a few blackberries are eaten, and a little grass
and asparagus. Undoubtedly the Bluebird well deserves
the welcome annually accorded it.

 

WRENS.

Five species of Wren are found in Massachusetts, but only
one, the House Wren, was ever of much economic impor-
tance in garden or field.

The Winter Wren is ordinarily seen in woodlands and
thickets. It comes here chiefly in migration, and is not
common enough to be of much service to man.

The Carolina Wren is rare, and the two Marsh Wrens are
seldom if ever seen except in wet lowlands.

House Wren.

Troglodytes aédon.

Length. — About five inches.

Adult.— Upper parts brown; lower parts grayish-brown, sometimes grayish-
white; wings, tail, and flanks faintly barred with blackish ; tail often held
erect.

Nest. — Composed of sticks and rootlets, in a hollow tree or any accessible cavity.

Eggs.— Six to eight; white, thickly speckled with reddish-brown.

A once common and familiar species, but now no longer a
regular summer resident in the greater part of Massachusetts,
the Wren is apparently doomed to give way before the ad-
vance of the House (or “ English”) Sparrow. Attention is
called, however, to the desirable qualities of the Wren, in
 

 

=

PLATE XXVII.— Wren at Nest Hole. (Photograph, from
life, by C. A. Reed.) (From American Ornithology.)
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 293

 

the hope that wherever it still remains people may be induced
to provide tenements for it and protect it from the Sparrow,
and so assist it to increase in numbers.

This sprightly little bird seeks the homes of man partly
because of the nesting places afforded by the hollow trees
of the orchard, and partly because of the number of insects
it finds about house, barn, orchard, and garden. Its pert
appearance, as it dashes about with short, upraised tail ;
its bubbling, ecstatic song; its sharp, scolding notes, as it
creeps about the wood pile or berates the family cat, —
were once familiar sights and sounds, not only about the
farmhouse, but even in city yards and gardens, for, until the
Sparrow came, the Wren was in many localities a common
village and city bird. A valiant little warrior, it is well
able to protect its young against the intrusion of other small
native birds, and has even been known to defend its home
successfully against the dreaded cat; but it has given ground
before the Sparrow mob, and is now rarely seen in the
cities. The few individuals now left nest mainly in remote
orchards.

Its alarm note is a sharp chirp, but its song is an inde-
seribable burst of melody. It bubbles forth as if the bird
were too full of joyous music to express it properly, for the
sweet and pent-up notes seem to crowd each other in the
attempt to escape from longer confinement. In this respect
the music is much like that of the Bobolink, but it is entirely
different in quality. In spring the males sing a large part
of the time.

The Wren is one of the most active of birds, and when its
large and growing family is in the nest it is almost continu-
ally occupied in searching the shrubbery, orchard, wood pile,
fence, or wall, as well as the vegetables in the garden, for
insects. Nest building gives scope to its feverish industry,
and a single pair will sometimes build two or three nests at
almost the same time, if they can find convenient receptacles
for them.

It is almost entirely beneficial in its food habits. Pro-
fessor Beal finds that ninety-eight per cent. of its sustenance
consists of animal matter, composed of insects and their allies,
294 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

and two per cent. of vegetable matter, which is made up of
bits of plants taken accidentally with the insects. Half of
the animal food is grasshoppers and beetles; the remainder
mostly caterpillars, bugs, and spiders.

The Wren does not range far from its nest, and when that
_is near the garden it gets a large part of its food there. In
Medford we succeeded in getting two families of Wrens to
nest in boxes, one on the house, the other in an apple tree.
The entrances to these boxes were round holes a little less
than an inch in diameter. The Sparrows could not get in,
and so the Wrens were unmolested.

The only injurious habit of the Wrens seems to be their
mischievous conduct in breaking and even eating the eggs
in the nests of other birds. This habit seems to be common
to individuals of this and other species of Wren, but it has
been recorded so seldom in Massachusetts that no one need
hesitate to put up boxes for them. Unless something can
be done to provide for their increase, they are likely to
disappear from the State.

SPARROWS.

Some members of this group, particularly the Finches and
Grosbeaks, have been included in previous pages, among the
birds of orchard and woodland (see p. 215); the remaining
common species are mainly birds of the field that nest on
or near the ground, and get most of their food in fields,
gardens, or pastures.

Although they are all seed-eating birds, they live largely
on insects during spring and early summer, and their young
are fed mainly on such food. In fall and winter Sparrows feed
on the seeds of grains, grasses, and weeds, although they
are not then averse to insect food when they can find it.

Dr. Judd, in his important paper, “The Relation of Spar-
rows to Agriculture,” states that the value of these birds to
the agriculturist is greater “than that of any other group
whose economic status has thus far been investigated.” He
says, nevertheless, that the native Sparrows contrast markedly
in this respect with the introduced “ English” Sparrow, which
isa pest. The great bulk 2 the food of Sparrows consists
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 295

 

of seed, fruit, and insects. The native Sparrows destroy
very little grain, great quantities of weed seeds and insects,
and hardly any cultivated fruit ; they are, therefore, almost
entirely harmless. They frequent grass fields, cultivated
fields, and gardens, and in some cases orchards; thus their
good work is done where it is of great benefit to the farmer.

Dr. Judd tells us that the food of Sparrows consists of
from twenty-five to thirty-five per cent. animal matter, and
from sixty-five to seventy-five per cent. veyetable matter ;
this is exclusive of the mineral matter, which is mostly
swallowed as an aid to digestion. Beneficial insects sel-
dom amount to more than two per cent. of the food; this
is a very low average. The Flycatchers and Swallows take a
very much larger per cent. of useful insects. Sparrows may
do some slight harm in distributing the seeds of weeds; but,
as their stomachs grind the food most thoroughly, it is proba-
ble that very few seeds pass through the alimentary canal in
a condition to germinate. ,

On the other side of the account we find that insect pests
make up from ten.to twenty per cent. of the year’s food;
these are mainly grasshoppers and cutworms, army worms
and their allies, and beetles, such as click beetles and weevils.
Bugs are eaten in small quantities. While nearly all the
native Sparrows eat Geometrid caterpillars, like the canker-
worms, only a few have been known to eat the hairy species.
Such weevils as injure clover and strawberries are destroyed
in large numbers; also some flea beetles and leaf-eating
beetles are eaten.

The young of Sparrows are almost entirely insectivorous
until they leave the nest ; and, as many of these birds usually
rear at least two broods in a season, they do great good in
the gardens and fields while rearing their young.

When the good work of destroying insect pests is practi-
cally over for the season, the Sparrows turn at once to the
ripening seeds of weeds. The number of such seeds that a
single bird will eat in a day has never been ascertained ; but
a Tree Sparrow was found to have in its stomach seven hun-
dred seeds of pigeon grass, and a Snowflake had taken at
one meal a thousand seeds of pigweed. The Japanese mil-
296 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

let (Panicum crus-galli), a wild barnyard grass or weed
improved by cultivation, is much sought by birds. The
seed is larger than that of most weeds, and yet a single
Sparrow will eat a large number in a day. During the hard
winter of 1903-04 about thirty Sparrows came to our window
to feed on this seed, which was there supplied to them. Sev-
eral hours of each morning and afternoon were thus spent.
As they were constantly moving and changing positions, it
was difficult to follow any one bird more than a few minutes
at a time; nevertheless, some accurate figures were obtained
regarding the number of seeds eaten in a given time by cer-
tain birds. A Fox Sparrow ate one hundred and three seeds
in two minutes and forty-seven seconds. There were five
Juncos eating at about the same rate all this time. A Song
Sparrow ate thirty-four seeds in one minute, ten seconds ;
a Junco ate twenty-eight in forty-eight seconds; another,
sixty-six in one minute, eleven seconds; another, one hun-
dred and ten in three minutes, forty-five seconds; while a
Song Sparrow ate one hundred and fifty-four in the same
length of time. This Song Sparrow had been eating for about
half an hour before the count began, and continued for some
time after it was finished. A Junco ate ninety-three seeds in
two minutes, fifteen seconds; and another ate seventy-nine
in two minutes, twenty seconds. It is readily seen that
thirty seeds a minute was below the average for these birds ;
and if each bird ate at that rate for but a single hour each
day, he would destroy eighteen hundred seeds each day, or
twelve thousand, six hundred a week. There were many
days, when the ground was covered with snow, that certain
birds spent several hours each day eating seeds at my win-
dow. This we know, for there were but two Fox Sparrows
and two Song Sparrows in the neighborhood, and all four
were often at the window at the same time. Most of the
day the birds, when not at the window, were picking up such
seeds as they could get elsewhere from the weeds about the
place or from the chaff and hayseed provided. They ate
more than a bushel of seed at the window, besides all the weed
seeds they found elsewhere. Moreover, they ate hayseed that
they picked up in the barn and sheds, and fine particles of
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 297

 

grain and small seeds that they found in the poultry yards
and scratching-sheds. When Professor Beal states his belief
that the Tree Sparrows in the State of Iowa eat eight hundred
and seventy-five tons of weed seeds in a winter, it seems, in
view of our experience, a low estimate.

Not far from the house was a patch of Japanese millet about
ten rods long by one wide. This was allowed to stand until
fully ripe, and then reaped and threshed out for the seed.
As it stood a little too long, much seed fell and was left on
the ground for the birds, — probably two bushels or more.
During the winter they cleaned this up so thoroughly that
only about a dozen stalks sprang up the next spring at one
end of the patch.

When Sparrows flock normally about a weed patch, they
gather up nearly ninety per cent. of the seed during a winter ;
but when more are attracted by extra food, they often get
nearly all the seeds, as they did that year about our garden.
Dr. Judd examined a rectangular space of eighteen inches
where Sparrows had been feeding in a smartweed thicket.
He found eleven hundred and thirty mutilated seeds, and
only two whole ones. No smartweed grew there the follow-
ing year. Sparrows were still feeding on these and similar
seeds on May 13, and a diligent search showed only half a
dozen whole seeds in the field. Weed seeds form more than
half the food of mature Sparrows for the year.

This great group of birds comprises species of such varied
habits that it is represented everywhere. Sparrows, Finches,
Grosbeaks, or Buntings are found not only in the woods,
fields, and city streets, but in swamps and marshes, and
among the desert sand hills of Cape Cod and Ipswich. They
range from the mountain top to the sea level, and from the
shores of the sea to the farthest western boundary of the
State; even at sea migrating Sparrows are sometimes seen,

.for they not only cross wide bays and estuaries, but they
visit remote islands, and are sometimes blown out to sea.

In the following pages some of the more common and
useful species will be considered. The “English” Sparrow
will be treated among the enemies of birds.
298 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Indigo Bunting. Indigo Bird.

Cyanospiza cyanea.

Length. — About five and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Bright, lustrous indigo-blue, deepest on head, and often with a
greenish tinge; wings and tail dark brown, with blue marks and tints.

Adult Female and Young. —Upper parts light brown, sometimes faintly, but
never prominently, streaked; under parts brownish-gray; breast and sides
faintly streaked.

Nest. —In low bush.

Eggs.— White.

Season. — May to September.

This bright blue Bunting is one of the most brilliant of
northern birds. The color of the male is so dark that at
a distance it seems almost black. The
male requires three years to attain full
plumage. It frequents bushy pastures,
sprout lands, and old fruit gardens
grown up to weeds. In late August

and September it is seen in sweet-corn
a aoa ae patches or cornfields.

natural eize. Its song is a rather rich and pleas-
ing refrain, with a metallic ring or jingle. A few notes
seem to exhaust its vocabulary and its breath at the same
time, but it is soon ready to try again. Perseverance is its
unfailing virtue, for it sings, intermittently, all through the
long, hot summer day. Its alarm note is a sharp chip.

It feeds more on the caterpillars that infest trees and
bushes than do most Sparrows, and takes many such larve to
its young. It is fond of grasshoppers,
and takes some insects from the garden.
It eats the birch plant louse with avidity.
A few flies, mosquitoes, or gnats are
taken; cankerworms and other measur-
ing worms, the larve of several species of pig. 130 —Inaigo Bunt.
butterflies, and the imagoes of nocturnal ing, female.
and Tineid moths, with small beetles of different species, con-
stitute a portion of its insect food. The larger part of its food
consists of seeds, many of which are those of weeds. During
its short stay with us it is one of the few useful species seen
much about the garden, and is of some service in the orchard.

 

 
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 299

 

Song Sparrow. Ground Sparrow. Ground Bird.

Melospiza cinerea melodia.

Length. — About six and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Above, brown; the back streaked with a darker shade; top of
head reddish-brown, mottled with blackish streaks; a streak of light gray
through center of crown and one over the eye; a dark line through eye
and two on the lower jaw; breast and sides whitish, spotted with dark
brown, the spots usually massed in the center of breast, where they form a
large spot or cluster; tail rounded and rather long.

Nest. — Usually on ground or in bush, rarely in tree.

Eggs.— Whitish, endlessly varied with browns.

Season. — Resident, but not common in winter. +

Few birds are better known than the Song Sparrow, and
few are better friends to man. Those who do not know the
bird will recognize it as the sweet singer of March and
April, witha large blotch in the middle
of its spotted breast. It prefers moist
land near water, and may be found
along the banks of brooks and the
shores of ponds or rivers. The nest
is often sunk in the sloping bank of
some brook or ditch. According to
Thoreau, its song, as expressed by the
country people, runs thus: “Maids!

 

3 : Fig. 131.—Song Sparrow,
maids! maids! hang on your tea- about two-thirds natural

kettle-ettle-ettle.” It has a charac-

teristic chenk, evidently an alarm note, and several other
notes.

The Song Sparrow is at home in rich, moist gardens, and
feeds among crops like cabbage and celery, which are often
raised on lowlands. It is destructive to cabbage plant lice
and cutworms. It eats some caterpillars of the gipsy moth,
the brown-tail moth, and several of the hairless pests among
the Geometrids. Leaf hoppers and spittle insects, grasshop-
pers, locusts, crickets, and click beetles are among the pests
that it destroys. It picks up a few snails and aquatic in-
sects around the water. Flies and their larve are relished.
Earthworms and spiders are frequently taken. Only two
per cent. of the food consists of useful insects; injurious
species make up eighteen per cent. The vegetable food
300 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

consists of small fruit, mostly wild, four per cent. of grain,
mostly waste, picked up in the fields, while fifty per cent.
of the entire food of the year is composed of the seeds of
weeds. Dr. Judd remarks that the chief value of this bird
as a seed-eater lies in its habit of eating the seeds of polyg-
onum; these seeds are not so much eaten by other birds.
But the Song Sparrow eats the seed of chickweed, purslane,
sorrel, dandelion, and dock, all of which are common in
Massachusetts gardens. More than half the grass seed eaten
belongs to such troublesome species as crab grass and pigeon
grass. Witch grass and barnyard grass are among the seeds
that are often freely eaten by this useful bird.

The Song Sparrow sometimes learns to come about the
door for crumbs. A pair built a nest on the ground in our
garden ; buta cat found it. Thena nest was built in a bush ;
this suffered a fate like the first. Then the birds went up
high among the thick sprouts on the trunk of an elm, built
another nest, and reared their young in safety. They were
wiser in their way than men, who, in spite of their superior
intelligence, continue to build their homes on the shores of
rivers which periodically overflow their banks, or on the
slopes of volcanoes that occasionally burn or bury cities. —

The Song Sparrow is a bird to cultivate. Friendly,
cheery, musical, harmless, gentle, useful, — what more can
be desired?

Slate-colored Junco. Black Snowbird.
Junco hyemalis.

Length. — About six and one-fourth inches,

Adult Male.—In winter, all upper parts, and lower parts from chin -to breast,
dark slaty-gray; lower breast and belly white; two outer tail feathers and
part of third white; bill pinkish-white, blackish at tip.

Adult Female.— Similar, but lighter, and usually more rusty.

Young. — Browner, and slightly streaked ; throat and breast paler.

Nest.— On ground.

Eggs.— White, spotted with brown.

Season. — Resident, but most common in spring and fall.

The Snowbird does not often breed in Massachusetts, ex-
cepting on the higher lands of the north-central and western
parts of the State. Pairs are said to nest occasionally in
ice houges, which are certainly cool, if not suitable situa-
tions. It is a bird of the Canadian fauna, and it winters
in Massachusetts wherever conditions are favorable. In the
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 301

 

southeastern portion of the State, where the ground is bare
in sheltered places through much of the winter, or where
weed seed, chaff, and other food can be secured, this bird is
common in the colder months. Its notes at this season are
chiefly Sparrow-like chirps.

It is useful here mainly because of its consumption of
weed seeds in spring, fall, and winter. Juncos come from
the north with the
first hard frost,
and are among the
most abundant of
our fall migrants.
They feed very
largely on the
seeds of amaranth,
lamb’s quarters,
sorrel, wild sun-
flower, and other
pernicious weeds.

A flock of these
dark birds on the
new-fallen snow is an interesting sight on a cold winter's
day, as they come familiarly about the house or barnyard.
Audubon says that in winter they burrow in stacks of corn
or hay for shelter at night during the continuance of inclem-
ent weather. As spring comes they begin to sing much
like the Chipping Sparrow. They: now converse together
with a musical twittering, and about the first of May they
leave for their northern breeding ground.

 

Fig. 132.—Slate-colored Junco, one-half natural size.

Field Sparrow. Bush Sparrow.
Spizella pusilla.

Length. — About five and one-half inches.

Adult. — Crown and back reddish-brown; back feathers showing pale edgings
and lightly streaked with blackish; whitish wing bars; cheeks and sides
of head, to crown, gray; a reddish-brown streak behind the eye; below,
gray; breast washed with pale buff; bill pale reddish.

Nest.— On ground or in low bush.

Eggs.— Small, white, with rather fine brown spots.

Season. — April to October.

The Field Sparrow is a common summer resident of Mas-
sachusetts. It arrives in southeastern Massachusetts some-
302 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

times as early as the latter part of March, but usually delays
its coming until April. It frequents bushy pastures and
worn-out fields, or dry, sandy sprout lands. On its first
appearance it seeks the shelter afforded by a wooded or bushy
southerly slope, and for-
ages from the underbrush
out into the fields.

The song of the Field
Sparrow is one of the
sweetest sounds in na-
ture. It is a fine, clear
strain, opening with a
few modulated notes, and
ending in a pensive di-
minuendo trill, as clear as
the sound of a bell. It
is a characteristic sound
of the dry upland, when
the still, warm June day
sleeps upon the hills, and
shimmering heat waves
rise from the warm turf.
The bird has also a series
Fig. 183.—Field Sparrow, one-half natural of Sparrow-like chirps

sa and twitters, but nothing
to compare with its song, which, though varied, is usually
the same in character in all parts of Massachusetts. Dr.
J. A. Allen says that the song of the males in Florida is
very different from that of the northern birds.

The Field Sparrow is generally shyer than the Song Spar-
row or the Chipping Sparrow, and is usually found more
away from the farm buildings, and in the open field, pastures,
or “scrub.” It quite often alights on trees to sing or feed.
I have found it feeding on cankerworms, tent caterpillars,
and the caterpillars of the brown-tail moth. It is therefore
of some value in woodland and orchard. It is seldom seen in
the garden except when ripe weeds are to be found; but it is
more often found in cornfields and potato fields, and Gentry
says that it eats cabbage worms. It is useful in the fields,

 
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 303

 

as it destroys May beetles, leaf hoppers, and sawflies. It
eats more useful insects than some other Sparrows, and takes
a good many spiders, some ants, and some earthworms. It
also eats the seeds of many weeds, but feeds largely on the
seeds of grasses and a little grain, mostly oats. A dozen of
these Sparrows collected in a wheat field had eaten no wheat,
but were feeding on weed seed.

The Field Sparrow, though less valuable to the farmer than
some other species, is useful, and fills a place of its own.

Chipping Sparrow. Chippy. Chipper. Chip Bird. Hair Bird.

Spizella socialis.

Length.— Five to five and one-half inches.

Adult. — Crown bright reddish-brown ; back brown, dark-streaked ; a light-gray
line over the eye, a blackish line through it; cheeks and under parts light
gray or pale ash; tail slightly notched.

Young. — Breast, sides, and top of head streaked.

Nest. — Lined with hair; in a bush, vine, or tree.

Eggs.— Light bluish, with a ring of dark spots around the larger end.

Season. — April to October.

This is the little dooryard bird that nests in the apple trees
about the house, and picks up crumbs on the old stone door-
step. It is common in village dooryards,
along the roads, in orchards, pastures,
and particularly in gardens and plowed
lands. It holds the distinction of being
the most familiar and useful of all Spar-
rows in the yard and garden. Unlike
some other Sparrows, it is often found ase
far from bushy coverts, in the very cen- Sparrow, about one-half
ter of plowed fields. a a

The song of the Chipping Sparrow is a mere string of dry
chips, sometimes repeated very rapidly and almost running
into a trill, sometimes more slowly. On a spring morning
the sound of the distant birds answering one another in dif-
ferent keys gives an impression like the rising and falling
of the breath of a sleeper in the fields. Occasionally some
talented bird modulates its usual song, giving a somewhat
more musical, varied rendition, which suggests some of the
songs of Warblers. The ordinary notes are a variety of

 
304 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

chips, a sort of squeak, and a series of querulous twitters,
uttered when the bird is angry. The males are sometimes
pugnacious, and have been known to fight to the death.

The Chippy feeds very largely in spring and early summer
on small caterpillars, and is therefore very useful in the
orchard. Mr. Kirkland saw
a single bird eat fifty-four
cankerworms at one sitting.
The Chippy is destructive to
hairy caterpillars. It was
Fig. 135.—Moth of the tent caterpitiar, the Chipping Sparrow that

BRE frequently interfered with
experiments upon gipsy caterpillars, by breaking through
the net that enclosed them and stealing the hairy worms.
This bird is a persistent enemy of the caterpillar of the
brown-tail moth, the tent caterpillar, and that of the tus-
sock moth. Nocturnal moths; particularly Arctians, and
Tineid moths are caught in the air. Currant worms do not
come amiss. It is destructive to the codling moth and the
moths of the tent caterpillar and the forest tent caterpillar.
In all, thirty-eight per cent. of the food of the Chipping
Sparrow consists of animal matter, three-fourths of which is
made up of noxious insects.
In June ninety-three per
cent. of the food consists of
insects, of which thirty-six
per cent. is grasshoppers,
caterpillars form twenty-five
per cent., and leaf-eating
beetles six per cent.

I have been much im-
pressed with the value of this
bird in the garden during the
spring and summer months.
It destroys at least three Fig. 136.—Chipping Sparrows hunting
species of caterpillar on the Beet OTnes
cabbage. It is the mgst destructive of all birds to the
injurious pea louse (Mectarophora destructor), which caused
a loss of three million dollars to the pea crop of a single

 

 
 

PLATE XXVIII. — Chipping Sparrows feeding their Young.
(Photograph, from life, by C. A. Reed.) (From the annual
report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1902.)
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 305

 

State in one year. It is a persistent destroyer of the grubs
that mine the leaves of beets. I watched one bird secure
eleven of these grubs in a few minutes. It feeds on the eggs
of the parsley butterfly (Papilio polyxenes), and also takes
young larve of this species and other insects from the leaves
of celery, lettuce, and other small truck. I have no doubt
that an investigation of the food of this bird in the garden
would show it to be of great value to the market gardener.
It likes to feed on cultivated ground, in the shade of the
green leaves of vegetables. It creeps about noiselessly up
and down the rows, an unseen and unnoticed influence for
good. Injurious beetles, bugs, leaf hoppers, grasshoppers,
and ants are taken freely.

Its vegetable food is of less importance than its animal food.
It eats wild cherries, and Professor Beal says that he has
seen it take a few cultivated cherries. Only four per cent.
of the seeds eaten are grain, principally oats. Chickweed
seed is commonly eaten, and some seeds of clover, ragweed,
amaranth, wood sorrel, lamb’s quarters, purslane, knotweed,
and black bindweed ; forty-eight per cent. of the seed eaten
is grass seed, of which twenty-six per cent. is crab grass
and pigeon grass, —two common weeds. The seeds of crab
grass form the most important part of the vegetable diet
whenever they can be obtained, for then the birds fill them-
selves with those only. Many Sparrows eat seeds whenever
they are obtainable, even in summer, when“insects are plenti-
ful. The seeds of the dandelion are among the earliest that
the Chipping Sparrow finds in summer. It frequently seeks
the seeds of this plant on lawns. It takes them one by one
from the opening heads, and spends so much time in this
manner that it must consume a great deal of this seed. In
August it sometimes visits oat stubble, where it picks up
fallen grain.

Dr. Judd found that, on the one side, only one per cent.
of the food eaten was composed of useful insects, while more
than twenty-five per cent. consisted of insect pests; and, on
the other side, grain composed four per cent. and weed seeds
forty per cent. of the food. These figures clearly show the
good service rendered to man by the Chipping Sparrow.
306 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Tree Sparrow. Winter Chippy.
Spizella monticola.

Length. — About six inches.

Adult. — Crown chestnut; line over eye dull white; line through eye dark (not
black) ; back bay, black-streaked; tail dusky, with light edgings; two
prominent white wing bars; below, whitish; side of head, throat, and
upper breast tinted with ash ; breast with a central dusky spot ; lower breast
and sides tinged with pale brownish.

Season. — October to April.

The Tree Sparrow is a common winter resident of most
parts of the State. The species is almost as regular in ap-
pearance as the Junco, but not so plentiful. Though called
the Tree Sparrow, it is largely a
ground Sparrow while in Massa-
chusetts. Wherever it can find a
plentiful supply of food and good
shelter it remains throughout the
winter, unless driven south by
snows so deep as to cover its food
supply. It frequents thickets on
Fig. 137.—TreeSparrow,about the sheltered side of hills, near

one-half natural size. swamps, meadows, or weedy fields.
In such fields it often feeds far from bushy cover, but flies
quickly to the thicket upon the approach of danger.

This species usually goes in flocks, and individuals are not
commonly seen alone; although a single bird may some-
times be found with a flock of Juncos. It feeds mainly on
the ground, and picks up the seeds of weeds as they fall.
A snowfall merely brings the birds nearer the tops of the
weeds, and so long as there is plenty of seed they are as
happy as the Snowbirds. They can climb about among
the stronger weed stalks, clinging like a Goldfinch. Often
two birds may be seen feeding from a single weed, while
another hops about on the snow below, gleaning the seeds
that fall. This species ‘follows the Juncos into weedy vege-
table gardens, and flocks about farms and haystacks to pick
up seeds. The Tree Sparrows are among the few birds
that can “look our winters in the face and sing.” They
are occasionally heard singing in November and December

 
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 307

 

and late in February, when deep snow covers the ground.
The song is among the sweetest of Sparrow notes, but not
very strong. It slightly resembles that of the Fox Sparrow.
Like other Sparrows, they chirp and twitter from time to
time, but the full chorus of a flock in winter is a sound worth
going far to hear.

Seeds form ninety-eight per cent. of the Tree Sparrow’s
food while it remains in the United States. It feeds very
largely on pigeon grass, crab grass, and other grasses, and
on the seeds of ragweed, amaranth, lamb’s quarters, and
other weeds. Only one per cent. of the food consists of
grain, while fifty per cent. is weed seed. It therefore ren-
ders some service, and does no harm.

White-throated Sparrow. Peabody Bird.
Zonotrichia albicollis.

Length. — About six and three-fourths inches.

Adult Male. — Above, brown, black-streaked ; crown black, with a central white
stripe; a white stripe above the eye, changing to yellow from eye to bill;
below this another black stripe extends along the sides of head behind the
eye; sides of head gray, a paler shade on breast; large throat patch and
belly white; sides brownish ; wings with two inconspicuous white bars.

Adult Female. — Similar, but duller.

Young.— Crown dark brown; line over eye buffy; throat patch dirty white.

Nest.— On ground or in a low bush.

Eggs.— Pale, and heavily spotted,

Season. — Spring and fall; local in summer; very rare in winter.

This large and handsome Sparrow is a migrant through the
State in spring and fall; many breed in the north-central
and western parts of the State, some in northern Worcester
County, and many others in the Berkshire
hills. Occasionally one remains through
the winter in the southeastern portion of
the State; but most of the White-throats
that are seen here are passing south in Sep-
tember and October, or going north late
in April or during the first part of May. ¥ ca ey ee
The great body of the White-throats usually one-half natural
passes through the State within three weeks oe
in spring and fall. They find shelter in brush piles, thickets,
or shrubbery, where they scratch about among dry leaves on
the ground.

 
308 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The alarm note is a metallic chip; and the song, which is
often heard in May, is a sweet whistled strain, which has
been rendered “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody,” and
from this fancied resemblance to these words it is called the
Peabody Bird.

In May, when the White-throat passes north, it is. of some
service in the destruction of beetles. In the fall it feeds to
some extent on berries and berry seeds, but its main useful-
ness at this season lies in the destruction of weed seeds.
It is very fond of the seeds of ragweed and polygonum.
Dr. Judd says that in October (when these birds are com-
mon in Massachusetts) ragweed seed constitutes forty-five
per cent. of their food.

Grasshopper Sparrow. Yellow-winged Sparrow.

Coturniculus savannarum passerinus.

Length. — About five inches.

Adult. — Upper parts generally brown, streaked with black on back, much varie-
gated, quail-like, and mixed with gray on rump; crown very dark, with a
buffy line through it; a buffy-yellow stripe over eye; under parts buff,
fading to whitish on the belly; no noticeable breast streaks; wings below
the bend edged with bright yellow, ordinarily concealed from view ; tail
short.

Young. — Similar, but breast streaked with blackish.

Nest.-——On ground.

Eggs.— White, brown-spotted.

Season. — May to September.

The Grasshopper Sparrow is common locally in eastern
Massachusetts, but rare or wanting in many localities. In the
southeastern part of the State it is hardly locally common,
except in Nantucket. It is found through middle and south-
ern Worcester County and in the Connecticut valley, and is
probably much more common than is generally believed, as
it is never conspicuous, and is largely confinéd to the open
fields, where it readily hides in the grass. Minot says “they
frequent almost exclusively dry fields, particularly such as do
not contain a luxuriant vegetation.” While this appears to
be true of eastern Massachusetts, where many neglected fields
are of that character, it is not altogether true of Worcester
County. Although this Sparrow is never found in swamps,
it is seen occasionally in meadows, and often inhabits fertile
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 309

 

grass lands and cultivated fields. Many years ago, in West-
borough, I found two nests of this species while hoeing in
potato fields, and the birds were then common in a stretch
of fertile rolling fields and meadows east of Worcester.

It is never found habitually in meadows, however, like that
closely related species, Henslow’s Sparrow; for, while the
latter, so far as I have observed, always breeds in wet land,
the Grasshopper Sparrow breeds on the slopes near by. I
have never seen Henslow’s Sparrow on the drier land ex-
cept near Amherst; and the Grasshopper Sparrow is rarely
seen in wet spots, even where the two species occupy the
same fields. While these two Sparrows are locally common,
neither of them is generally so. They resemble each other
so closely that it is rather difficult to distinguish them in the
field except by their notes and their habitat. The streaks
on the breast of the Henslow’s Sparrow will identify it when
they can be seen. The notes, however, are quite different.
The common note of the Henslow’s Sparrow somewhat re-
sembles the syllable kee’ chick. When its nest is approached,
the bird will allow the observer to get within a few feet, as
it moves through the grass like a mouse, reiterating this note.
The ordinary notes of the Grasshopper Sparrow are a chirr,
like the note of an insect, and a sharp chick. The song,
which is often uttered from the top of a wall, a fence, or a
stone in the field, much resembles the stridulation of a long-
horned grasshopper, and gives the bird its name. The lay is
very weak, and often passes unnoticed, or is mistaken for the
song of some insect. Minot gives it as chic’-chic’-a-seé, with
the chief accent on the last and highest syllable, —a very
good description.

The food of this bird while in Massachusetts is probably
about seventy-five per cent. animal matter, largely insects.
This Sparrow is very destructive to cutworms, army worms,
wireworms, click beetles, weevils, and grasshoppers ; spiders,
myriapods, snails, and earthworms are eaten in small quanti-
ties. It eats no cultivated fruit, very little grain, and some
seeds of grasses and weeds. It takes fully forty times as
many injurious as beneficial insects, and is one of the most
useful birds of the fields.
310 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Savanna Sparrow.

Passerculus sandwichensis savanna.

Length. — About five and one-half inches.

Aduit. — Brown above ; feathers generally pale (or gray) edged, and dark-streaked ;
a narrow whitish stripe through crown, and a yellow line above the eye;
white or buffy below, thickly streaked with dusky; a cluster of streaks
on the breast is sometimes gathered into a blotch, as in the Song Sparrow,
but the tail is short and notched, rather than long and rounded, as in the
Song Sparrow, and not noticeably marked.

Young. — Similar; colors more suffused ; no yellow over eye.

Vest. — On ground.

Eggs.— Bluish-white, marked thickly with brown.

Season.— April to November.

The Savanna Sparrow is a common summer resident along
portions of the seacoast, and through the central and western
parts of the State. It is found along river valleys, in upland
meadows, fertile fields, and pastures. In eastern and south-
ern Massachusetts it breeds only locally or near the coast,
but in Worcester County and through the central and western
parts of the State it is common in favorable localities.

Although a bird of the meadow or savanna, it is common
in many open fields and pastures of the hill country. It hasa
Sparrow-like chirp, but its notes and song otherwise much re-
semble those of insects, particularly the chirping of crickets,
although the song is perhaps a trifle more musical than that
of the Grasshopper Sparrow. Myr. Hoffman describes it well
as two or three preliminary chirps, followed by two long,
insect-like trills, the second a little lower in key than the
first, thus: ¢s7p, tsip, tsip, tseeeeeeeee, tse-ee-ee-ee. The song
is often given from a stone, post, or fence. This bird is
rarely seen off the ground, an occasional perch on a stone
heap or fence being usually the only deviation from this rule ;
but it sometimes perches fifteen to twenty-five feet up in a
tree, or flies from tree to tree along the edge of afield. Al-
though it often lives and breeds in the hill country, it may
be seen in fresh-water marshes during migrations, and fre-
quents such spots as are dear to Rails and Swamp Sparrows.
In the south it is an inhabitant of wet fresh-water meadows
or savannas.

Nearly half the food of the Savanna Sparrow while in
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 311

 

Massachusetts consists of insects, mainly injurious species,
such as are eaten by other Sparrows. It is particularly fond
of beetles. It eats more ants than do most Sparrows, many
cutworms, a few spiders, and some snails. The vegetable
food consists largely of the seeds of pigeon grass, panic
grass, wild rice, and marsh grasses.

Vesper Sparrow. Grass Finch. Bay-winged Bunting.

Powcetes gramineus.

Length. — About six inches.

Adult. — Above, grayish-brown, finely streaked with dusky; crown finely
streaked, but with no dividing line; cheeks buffy, with a dark patch;
a narrow white eye ring; below, whitish (buffy where streaked), narrowly
streaked with brown or black on breast and sides; a bay patch near the
bend of the wing; tail dark, moderately long; outer tail feathers white.

Vest. — On ground.

Eggs.— Dull white or buffy, with many spots, usually overlaid by large dark
marks and scrawls.

Season. — April to October.

The Vesper Sparrow is, next to the Song Sparrow, the
most abundant ground Sparrow in Massachusetts. It is gen-

 

Fig. 139.— Vesper Sparrow, one-half natural size.

erally distributed wherever there are open fields and upland
pastures, but it is not a bird of the meadows, and is not as
common in some parts of southeastern Massachusetts as else-
312 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

where. It is not a dooryard bird, like the Chipping Spar-
row or Song Sparrow, but prefers upland fields, hill pastures,
and plowed lands, at some distance from the farm buildings.
It is sometinies seen in vegetable gardens.

It is not so closely confined to the ground as some other
ground Sparrows, but perches on ridgepoles, wires, and
trees. It frequently runs along the ground in pastures or
potato fields, keeping just ahead of the observer as he walks.
When the female is startled from her nest of young, she uses
all her arts to entice the intruder away, fluttering along the
ground with white-bordered tail spread conspicuously, and
dragging her wings as if sorely wounded, —a tempting bait
to lead the disturber away. The white outer feathers in the
tail are not often clearly visible when the bird is standing,
but usually may be seen when it flies.

The song of this bird, while perhaps less cheery than that
of the Song Sparrow, is sweeter, and seems to carry farther
as it floats down from the hills after sunset. The bird some-
times sings to greet the rising moon, and even flutters into
the air, like the Skylark, with an exquisite burst of song.
Mr. Burroughs has well named it the Vesper Sparrow. The
ordinary notes are the usual Sparrow-like chips and calls.

In summer most of the food of this bird consists of in-
sects, of which beetles and grasshoppers form the bulk.
Since it frequents pastures, it picks up many dung beetles ;
weevils, click beetles, ground beetles, and leaf beetles seem
otherwise to be preferred to other kinds. Grasshoppers
form the principal food in midsummer ; cutworms are also
eaten, and the bird does good work as an insect eater in
field and garden. It is also useful as a destroyer of weed
seeds, eating less grass seed than some other Sparrows, but
a great variety of the seeds of weeds which it finds in corn-
fields and other fields, and in gardens.

BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ETC.

This family has been mentioned on p. 224, and one of its
members, the Baltimore Oriole, has been described among
the birds of orchard and woodland (see pp. 224—228).

The Rusty Grackle is a mere migrant through the State
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 313

 

in spring and fall, and is not of much economic value here ;
therefore, its description is omitted. The other species of
the family will be considered here, for they all frequent
meadows, grass fields, or cultivated lands.

The Bronzed Grackle and the Purple Grackle are both
found in the State, but, as they are alike in form, notes, and
habits, they are both known as Crow Blackbirds, and will
not be treated separately.

Purple Grackle. Crow Blackbird.

Quiscalus quiscula.

Length. — Twelve to thirteen and one-half inches.

Adult Male.— Variously purple, green, blue, violet, and bronzy; wings and tail
mainly purplish; dark purplish or steel-blue on neck and breast; back
greenish or bronzy ; iris straw-yellow.

Adult Female. — Similar, but browner.

Nest. — A bulky structure, often built in tall coniferous trees.

Eggs.— Greenish, spotted and streaked with black and brown.

Season.— March to November. (This form intermingles with the succeeding
one.)

Bronzed Grackle. Western Crow Blackbird.

Quiscalus quiscula eneus.

Adult Male. — Similar to above, but body brassy or bronzy; head, neck, and
upper breast mainly steel-blue; wings and tail violet and steel-blue.
Adult Female.— Similar to that of the Purple Grackle. Both the above forms

look black at a distance, and then are not distinguishable from one an-
other; both forms have the tail long.
Nest, Eggs, and Season. — Like those of the Purple Grackle; winters rarely.

These birds, the largest of the family in Massachusetts, find
their normal habitat about meadows or marshes; but they
have taken kindly to civilization, and, where they are not
much persecuted, are common about lawns, fields, and gar-
dens. They may often be seen walking about on Boston
Common or in the Public Garden. They build their nests
in tall shade trees near suburban and city residences or about
cemeteries, and they frequent well-kept lawns. They are
so large and powerful that not even the Sparrow can drive
them out; and if the Sparrows attack their eggs or ydung,
the Blackbirds are not slow to retaliate with effect.

These birds are conspicuous, and when close at hand are
unmistakable. The tail is often held with its outer feathers
upturned like the sides of a boat, particularly when they fly,
314 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

which they do usually at some height, in rather a labored
manner, keeping about the same level. The ordinary note
is a sort of hoarse, loud chuck, and the song sounds much
like the rather musical creaking of arusty hinge. They have
also a metallic, jangling note, and when a number perch ona
favorite tree and sing in chorus,
the clanging and creaking they
produce are indescribable.
When not disturbed, they
breed in companies, often in
groves of white pine ; but where
they are much shot at, they
separate, and each pair finds a
secluded place for its nest. As
Fig. 140.—Crow Blackbird, male, goon as the young are reared,
ere pastes ee the birds gather in flocks of
hundreds or even thousands, and forage together. In mi-
gration they sometimes travel in immense armies. A great
flight of these birds passed over Concord on Oct. 28, 1904.
From my post of observation, on a hilltop,.an army of birds
could be seen extending across the sky from one horizon to
the other. As one of my companions remarked, it was a
great “rainbow of birds;” as they passed overhead, the line
appeared to be about three rods wide and about one hundred
feet above the hilltop. This column of birds appeared as
perfect in form as a platoon. The individual birds were
not flying in the direction in which the column extended, but
diagonally across it ; and when one considers the difficulty of
keeping a platoon of men in line when marching shoulder
to shoulder, the precision with which this host of birds
kept their line across the sky seems marvellous. As the
line passed overhead, it extended nearly east and west. The
birds seemed to be flying in a course considerably west of
south, and thus the whole column was gradually drifting
southwest. As the left of the line passed over the Concord
meadows, its end was seen in the distance, but the other end
of this mighty army extended beyond the western horizon.
The flight was watched until it was nearly out of sight, and
then followed with a glass until it disappeared in the distance.

 
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 315

 

It never faltered, broke, or wavered, but kept straight on into
the gathering gloom of night. The whole array presented
no such appearance as the unformed flocks ordinarily seen
earlier in the season, but was a finer formation than I have
ever seen elsewhere, among either land birds or water-fowl.
It seemed to be a migration of all the Crow Blackbirds in
the region, and there appeared.to be a few Rusty Blackbirds
with them. After that date I saw but one Crow Blackbird.
It was impossible to estimate the number of birds in this
flight. My companions believed there were “millions.”
The character of the food of the Crow Blackbirds is very
wellknown. The large flocks in which they gather in autumn
are very destructive to ripening corn, and some individuals
destroy birds’ eggs or young birds ; otherwise, in Massachu-
setts the birds are largely beneficial. They sometimes pull
up a little sprouting corn, but are not nearly so destructive
in this respect as the Crows. Dr. Warren tells of the dis-
section of thirty-one birds that were shot in a Pennsylvania
cornfield : nineteen showed only cutworms in their stomachs ;
seven had taken some corn, but a very large excess of in-
sects, mainly beetles and cutworms, with earthworms; the
remaining five had eaten chiefly beetles. The Crow Black-
bird industriously follows the plow, and picks up many
beetles, grubs, cutworms, and some earthworms. In spring
and summer its food in Massachusetts is mainly insects.
Nearly twenty-five hundred stomachs of the species have
been examined in Washington. The food for the year was
composed of over thirty per cent. animal and almost seventy
per cent. vegetable matter, which shows that the birds are al-
most as omnivorous as the Crow. Insect food forms twenty-
seven per cent. of the whole. The greater part is taken in
sunmer. Beetles, particularly Scarabeids like the “June
bug” or “rose bug,” Carabids or ground beetles, curculios
or weevils, form a large part of the food. The Grackles
seem to be fond of white grubs, and the stomach is often
packed with these insects. Grackles are not so skillful in
digging them out as is the Robin, but they are sly enough
to snatch the grub away from the Robin when he has secured
one. They are very destructive to grasshoppers and locusts,

/
316 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

which in August make over twenty-three per cent. of their
food, and are found and eaten by them in nearly every month
of the year. A good many caterpillars are eaten, mainly
those species that are found on the ground, such as cutworms
and army worms ; but the birds flock to caterpillar outbreaks,
eating both hairy and hairless species. Crow Blackbirds de-
stroy both gipsy moth and brown-tail moth; bugs, ants, and
spiders are eaten also. Mice, birds and eggs, frogs, lizards,
salamanders, snakes, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and snails
form a portion of the Grackles’ food. The vegetable food,
beside corn and other grains, consists of rather a small quan-
tity of fruit, mainly wild seeds, nuts, acorns, and weed seed.
Seventy per cent. of the food of the young birds consists
of insects similar to those eaten at the same season by their
parents.

To sum up: the Crow Blackbirds, though destructive to
corn and to a less extent to other grain, are indispensable
because of the vast amount of insects they destroy. In the
west they are so numerous that the farmer often must defend
himself against them; but in Massachusetts their destruc-
tion is not often necessary, and they are seldom shot by
husbandmen except when gathered in flocks among the corn.

Meadowlark. Old-field Lark. Marsh Quail.

Sturnella magna.

Length. — Ten to eleven inches.

Adult.— Upper parts brown, with many dark-streaked, pale-edged feathers; tail
short; outer tail feathers largely white; a light line through middle of
crown; a light line over eye, yellow from eye to bill, and dark streak
behind eye; below, chiefly yellow, with a large black crescent on breast.

Adult in Winter. —Redder above; lower parts duller.

Young. — Under parts paler; crescent replaced by a few black markings.

Nest. — On the ground in a field; usually arched over.

Eggs.— White, with brown spots.

Season. — Resident.

This handsome and well-known bird is a common summer
resident of Massachusetts, and often remains all winter in
seasons when there is little snow, or in favored localities.
In the southeastern part of the State, especially in Barnsta-
ble County, it may usually be seen in winter in sheltered
situations on marshes or meadows. During and after snow-

‘
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 317

 

storms it becomes quite domesticated, and seeks food along
roads and about dooryards and poultry houses ; but ordinarily
the Lark is a shy bird, and keeps well out of gunshot in the
open fields. This species has learned caution in the north
because of continual persecution by gunners; but I have
seen Meadowlarks as tame as Sparrows in the pine barrens
of southern Florida.

The Lark is a bird of the meadows, as its name implies;
but it also frequents dry fields, and sometimes may be seen
perched high in a tree on some
hilltop, from which it sings its
clear refrain. Old fields are
favorite nesting places, probably in
part because the dead and uncut
grass offers concealment for the nest,
and in part because in such fields the
nest is undisturbed by the mower.
This bird is an adept at concealing
its nest, which sometimes has a cov-
ered approach. It resorts to strata-
gem to puzzle the searcher. When Fig. 141.—Meadowlark,
the female comes from or goes to See
the nest she often runs through the grass for some distance,
and seldom flies to it directly. Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock,
in recording her attempts to find a nest, states that the male
carried butterflies and dragon flies time after time to a point
one hundred yards from the nest, in an apparent attempt to
befool the searcher.

Its flight is an alternation of fluttering and slow sailing,
and it usually shows its white tail feathers often, especially
on rising and alighting. When on the ground it does not
hop like the Robin, but walks more like the Crow, occasion-
ally opening and closing its tail, showing the white feathers
conspicuously. :

Its common alarm note is a rather sharp chatter, not loud,
but shrill, which often follows or precedes a long, pierc-
ing call. The ordinary song is a rather plaintive but pleas-
ing whistle of a few notes, the last usually held for several
seconds. This song is uttered either from the ground, from

    
318 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

a perch, or while the bird is on the wing. Rarely a talented
individual soars aloft, uttering an ecstatic flight song, which
compares favorably with that of the most celebrated song-
sters. J have heard this in full volume but once, and then
found it difficult to believe that it came from the throat of a
common Meadowlark. It was not at all suggestive of that
bird’s ordinary song, except in some of the last notes, nor
did it in the least resemble that of the Western Meadow-
lark ; it more resembled the music of the Bobolink, but was
louder and not so hurriedly given.

The Meadowlark is now quite generally protected by law
at all times, and no bird more fully deserves such protection.
It is practically harmless, and takes nothing that is of any
use to man except a few small grains and seeds. On the
other hand, it is one of the most useful birds of the fields,
perhaps the most valuable. In summer almost ninety-nine
per cent. of its food consists of insects and allied forms. It
eats about all the principal pests of the fields, and is particu-
larly destructive to cutworms, hairy ground caterpillars, and
grasshoppers. In summer it gets but few seeds, but in fall
and winter it takes many weed seeds. It visits weedy corn-
fields and gardens in search of ragweed and other seeds, of
which it devours enormous quantities, which make up about
one-third of the food for the year. Even in winter it pre-
fers insects when it can get them. Mr. C. W. Nash says,
in his “Birds of Ontario,” that several specimens shot in
winter contained only insects, taken about market gardens.
Professor Beal says that even in December and January the
insect components of the food are thirty-nine and twenty-
four per cent., respectively ; and in March, when insects are
still hard to obtain, the quantity rises to seventy-three per
cent. Professor Beal makes an ingenious and very moderate
estimate, from which he concludes that twenty-five dollars’
worth of hay is saved annually in an ordinary township
by Meadowlarks, through their destruction of grasshoppers,
and he values hay at only ten dollars per ton. When we
consider that grasshoppers, green grasshoppers, locusts, and
crickets all together form twenty-nine per cent. of the food
of this bird for the year, and that it is almost entirely in-
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 319

 

sectivorous by preference, and when we consider also the
additional injury that must occur were the insects and their
progeny allowed to increase through a lack of Meadowlarks,
the value of the bird becomes evident.

Red-winged Blackbird. Marsh Blackbird.

Agelaius pheniceus.

Length.— About nine and one-half inches.

Adult Male. — Black, with a light-edged scarlet patch at bend of wing; often
only the light edges of this patch show when the wings are closed.

Adult Female.— Smaller; grayish-brown, streaked heavily with dark brown or
blackish. :

Young. — Similar to female.

Nest. —In grass or bush; rarely in a tree?

Eggs.— Pale bluish, with spots and scrawls of darker colors and black.

Season. — March to August.

Few birds are better known than the Red-winged Black-
bird. Almost every small bog hole or swamp about the farm
harbors a pair or more of these birds. They are common
about ponds and meadows. The
males arrive in flocks, usually in
March, and sometimes may be
heard singing gaily while the ground
is still deeply covered with snow.
Their song is as characteristic a sign
of spring as is that of the early wood
frog, and their notes have something
of the same quality. They carry

. Fig. 142. — Red-winged Black.
a suggestion of boggy 00ze. The bird, male, one-half natural
common note is a single chuck, and 5!
the ordinary song resembles the syllables guong-ka-rece’, the
first two uttered quickly. Some individuals have a more
musical song, ending with a jingle akin to that of the
Bobolink.

Although the Red-wings almost invariably breed in the
swamp or marsh, they have a partiality for open fields and
plowed lands; and most of the Blackbirds that nest in the
smaller swamps adjacent to farm lands get a large share of
their. food from the farmer’s fields. They forage about the
fields and meadows when they first come north in spring.
Later, they follow the plow, picking up grubs, worms, and

  
 
320 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

caterpillars; and should there be an outbreak of canker-
worms in the orchard, the Blackbirds will fly at least half a
mile to get cankerworms for their young. Wilson estimated
that the Red-wings of the United States would in four months
destroy sixteen thousand, two hundred million larve.

They eat the caterpillars of the gipsy
moth, the forest tent caterpillar, and
other hairy larve. They are among the
most destructive birds to weevils, click
beetles, and wireworms. Grasshoppers,
ants, bugs, and flies form a portion of
Fig. 143.—Red-wingea the Red*wings’ food. They eat com-

Blackbird, female,abeut paratively little grain in Massachusetts,
although they get some from newly sown
fields in spring, as well as from the autumn harvest; but
they feed very largely on the seeds of weeds and wild rice
in the fall. In the south they join with the Bobolink in
devastating the rice fields, and in the west they are often so
numerous as to destroy the grain in the fields; but here the
good they do far outweighs the injury, and for this reason
they are protected by law.

 

Cowbird. Cow Blackbird. Cow Bunting.
Molothrus ater.

Length. — Seven and one-half to about eight inches.

Adult Male. — Lustrous black, with a rich, lustrous brown head and neck.
Adult Female. — Brownish-gray, slightly darker on wings and tail.

Nest. — That of some other bird.

Eyggs.— White, speckled all over with brown.

Season. — April to October.

This much-maligned bird, which builds no home of its
own, and depends on others to hatch and rear its young, is,
nevertheless, an essential part of nature’s plan. Birds that
rear their own young are confined by necessity to a certain
radius about their nests; but the scattered bands of Cowbirds
form a wandering, unattached light squadron of insect de-
stroyers, which all summer long can go wherever their pres-
ence is most needed. In the warmer months of the year they
feed almost entirely on insects, but during the colder months
they live on seeds.
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 321

 

Throughout the season the sexes intermingle promiscu-
ously, from the time the females arrive in the spring. As
usual with other species, the males come first, and may be
seen singly, in small flocks, or with other species of Black-
birds. They perch in the tops of tall trees, and their only
song is a long, thin whistle, high keyed and little varied.
The common note is a chuck.

The females soon arrive from the south, and then flocks
may be seen in which they usually predominate. The eggs
are deposited from April to June, in the nests of other and
usually smaller birds. An egg is dropped slyly when the
owner of the nest is absent, and generally after she has laid
some of her own. Sometimes the little foster mother refuses
to adopt the offspring of another, and abandons the nest,
or builds another nest above the first one; but usually she
good-naturedly settles down upon her nest to incubate.

The Cowbird’s egg is larger than those of the foster mother,
and is commonly deposited in the center of the nest. Per-
haps it gets more heat than the other eggs, for it hatches first.
The young Cowbird grows faster than the other chicks, and
gets about all the food. Itis soon able to dislodge its smaller
and weaker foster brothers and sisters, who perish ; then the
young Cowbird monopolizes the entire time and care of its
foster parents. It is no uncommon thing to see a small War-
bler or a Chipping Sparrow feeding a young Cowbird twice
its own size; but as soon as the stranger is well able to
shift for itself, it joins a flock of its own species.

Grasshoppers seem to be its favorite animal food, but leaf
hoppers, also very destructive to grass, are freely taken.
Undoubtedly. the Cowbird is of great benefit to pastures,
where it follows the cattle about, picking up insects that
start up around them. Weevils and curculios are commonly
eaten ; also caterpillars, but to a less extent than other Black-
birds eat them. Cowbirds take wasps, ants, and flies in small
quantity, and a number of spiders. Vegetable food, however,
forms the main part of the Cowbird’s subsistence in spring
and fall, and, according to Professor Beal, it constitutes
nearly seventy per cent. of all the food for the year. A
large part of this, however, is weed seed, of which the seed
322 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

of ragweed, barn grass, and panic grass form probably the
greatest portion ; but the Cowbird eats more grain than the
Red-winged Blackbird. Undoubtedly its food habits are on
the whole beneficial; but, as every Cowbird is reared at the
expense of the lives of at least two other birds, the reputa-
tion of the species suffers accordingly, and its social habits
are certainly not exemplary, if judged by human standards.

Bobolink. Skunk Blackbird. Reed Bird. Rice Bird.

Dolichonyx oryzivorus.

Length. — About seven and one-fourth inches.

Adult Male.—In spring and early summer, mainly black; nape creamy buff;
streaks on upper back grayish-white ; shoulders and lower back ashy-white ;
in August and September the plumage resembles that of the female.

Adult Female and Young. — Upper parts brown, dark-streaked; lower parts
yellowish-brown, unstreaked.

.Vest. — On ground, in grass.

Eggs.— Gray, spotted with brown and overlaid with dusky streaks, blotches,
and scrawls.

Season. — May to September.

The Bobolink is the harlequin of the spring meadows. He
is a happy-go-lucky fellow, with his suit on wrong side up,
the black below and the white above ; a reckless, rollicking
sort of a fowl, throwing care
to the winds, and always
bent on a lark. His spirits
are of the effervescent kind,
and his music bubbles irre-
pressibly forth at such a rate
that half a dozen notes seem
. to be crowding upon the
Fig. 144.— Bobolink, male, and army heels of every one uttered.

worm, one-half natural size. Indee d, this is about the onl y
bird that completely baftles the latter-day “interpreters” of
bird music. His notes tumble out with such headlong rapid-
ity, in an apparent effort to jump over each other, that it is
next to impossible for the scribe to set them down in the
proper sequence of musical notation. Nevertheless, this
harum-scarum expression of irrepressible joy is of the most
pleasing character, and ranks among the finest music of the
fields.

 
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 323

 

The males chase each other madly, and swiftly pursue the
females over the grass tops; or, sailing with down-bent
wings, pour forth their torrent of music. The alarm note is
a metallic chenk. When the young have been reared, the
males begin to lose their striking dress, the song ceases,
and early in August the Bobolinks are seen flying about
in small flocks, uttering mellow
chinks, as they prepare for their
southern journey.

In May, June, and July insects
form about eighty-five per cent.
of the Bobolink’s food. The bird
is very destructive to grasshop-
pers and caterpillars, particularly to the army worm. It eats
some parasitic Hymenoptera, and this may be looked upon
as a bad habit; but otherwise little fault can be found with
the Bobolink while it remains in the meadows of the north.

In the south, however, the Bobolinks, together with the
Blackbirds, cause an annual loss of fully two million dollars
to the rice growers, and would destroy the whole crop were
not all the hands on every plantation engaged during the
“rice bird” season in shooting or frightening the birds. This
continued shooting undoubtedly has had some effect on the
number of birds breeding in the north, and Bobolinks are
not now so generally common in Massachusetts as they were
forty years ago. They have been reduced some by early
mowing in the nesting fields, but their diminution from year
to year is hardly perceptible.

 

Fig. 145. — Bobolink, female.

PIGEONS AND DOVES.

This group of birds is now represented in Massachusetts
by but one species, the Mourning Dove, as the Passenger
Pigeon appears to have disappeared, and may now be ex-
tinct. The Mourning Dove, which is often mistaken for it,
is now protected by law at all times, and probably will be
saved from the fate of the Pigeon. Presumably all the sup-
posed “wild Pigeons” now reported by different observers
in Massachusetts are Mourning Doves.
324 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Mourning Dove. Carolina Dove. Turtle Dove.

Zenardura macroura.

Length. — Nearly twelve inches.

Adult Male.— Upper parts mainly grayish-blue, shaded with olive-brown; head
and neck brown, with a bluish overcast; sides of neck iridescent, with red-
dish and golden reflections; a black spot below the ear; outer tail feathers
and wing feathers show bluish when spread; all outer tail feathers have
a black bar and « white tip; tail rather elongated and pointed; lower
parts purplish, changing to yellowish on belly, bluish on sides, and whitish
on chin.

Adult Female. — Similar, but duller.

Young.— Grayer than female; many feathers have whitish edgings.

Nest.— A mere platform of sticks, at a moderate height in a tree, near trunk.

Eggys.— Two; white. \

Season. — April to October.

The Mourning Dove was never so abundant in this State
as the Passenger Pigeon, for Massachusetts is near the north-
ern border of its range; still, it was once common where
it is now rare, particularly in western Massachusetts, but it
is now so uncommon generally as to be of little economic
importance. In some parts of Middlesex, Plymouth, and
Barnstable counties it is still common locally in spring
and summer, and its mournful cooing is heard almost daily.
A variety of notes has been attributed to this species,
but I can recall only the “coo,” and a twittering sound that
appears to be made by the wings when it first rises in flight.

This Dove is of no great value as an insect eater, for it
feeds largely on seeds. Wheat, oats, rye, corn, and barley
are all eaten, forming about thirty-two per cent. of the food,
but perhaps three-fourths of this is waste grain picked up
in the fields. Buckwheat is a favorite food. Some grain is
taken from newly sown fields, but the greater part of the
food consists of weed seeds. Nash says that the crops of
these birds are often so full of seeds that, if a bird is shot,
the crop bursts open when it strikes the ground. He says
that bindweed is a favorite food. A Dove that was exam-
ined at the Department of Agriculture was found to contain
ninety-two hundred seeds, mostly those of noxious weeds,
and none of useful plants. This was rather an unusual -num-
ber, but it shows what the bird is capable of doing as a
helper on the farm. .
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 325

GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, ETC.

The Grouse are treated among the birds of orchard and
woodland, on pp. 266-274.

Bob-white. Quail.

Colinus virginianus.

Length. — About ten inches.

Adult Male.— Upper parts mainly reddish-brown, with dark streaks and light
edgings; forehead and broad line over eye white; throat patch white, bor-
dered with black; tail short, gray; crown, upper breast, and neck all round
brownish-red ; breast and belly whitish, narrowly barred and marked with
crescent-shaped black marks; sides reddish-brown.

Adult Female.— Similar, but duller; without the black on the head, and the
white mainly replaced by buff.

Nest.— On ground, among bushes, grass, or grain.

Eygs. — White, often stained with brown.

Season. — Resident.

No bird is more typical of the southern New England farm
than the Quail.! Its clear and mellow call is still a char-
acteristic sound of spring and early summer. The plowman
hears it as he drives his team afield,
and it mingles with the ringing sound
of the whetstone on the scythe.

The Quail is an inhabitant of the
transition zone, and cannot maintain
itself much farther north than Massa-
chusetts except along the coast, where
the winters are less severe than in
the interior. It gets its sustenance
mainly from the ground ; hence, when Fig. 146.—Bob-white, one-
the earth is deeply covered with snow paneer rie
its food is hard to obtain, and many Quail are starved or
frozen under the snow during hard winters, as was the case
during the winter of 1903-04. Such winter killings occur
many times during a century, and the birds have always
partially recovered their lost ground; but unless they can
receive absolute protection for a series of years after such
seasons their recovery will be rendered increasingly difficult,

 

 

1 The name Quail is a misnomer, for the bird is not a Quail, but more nearly a
Partridge, as it iscalled in the south. It resembles the Quail of Europe, hence
the New England name, which will undoubtedly “stick.”
326 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

on account of the great accession to the number of gunners.
The Quail is not easily extirpated, for, unlike the Wood-
cock, it waits until the weather is mild before beginning its
nest; and it is very prolific, and sometimes rears more than
one brood in aseason. From twenty-four to forty-two eggs
are said to have been found in a single nest, but these were
probably the product of more than one bird.

The pure strain of the old race of Massachusetts Quail is
believed to have been practically eliminated by shooting and
winter killing, and most of the birds now existing in the
State are supposed to represent a mongrel race, — an admix-
ture of the blood of Massachusetts birds and those of the
south and west. Some naturalists assert, however, that no
introduced southern birds survive their first winter in Massa-
chusetts ; but Mr. H. H. Kimball, secretary of the Massachu-
setts Fish and Game Protective Association, who has been
instrumental in introducing and “planting” many of these
birds, has trustworthy evidence that in some cases at least
they have wintered well and become established.

The breeding season of the Bob-white extends through May,
June, and July, and the males may be heard calling occasion-
ally as late as the first of October. According to Dr. Judd,
Mr. Robert Ridgway found a clutch of freshly deposited
eggs in a nest in southern Illinois on October 16, and H.C.
Munger found another set in Missouri in January. The
parent bird was found, later, frozen on the nest. This seems
to indicate a latent tendency, like that of the domestic fowl,
to lay eggs at any season of the year, —a trait which might
give added value to the species in domestication. The nest
is usually made in grass land, in some old field, or in a
bushy thicket along its border, and is often well concealed.

Young Quail are said to run about the moment they are
hatched. While this may be an exaggeration, probably all
the eggs in a litter are hatched at about the same time, and
the young birds are able to leave the nest very soon after-
ward. The first downy chicks are usually seen in July.
They are very small, and are streaked somewhat like Bantam
or Brown Leghorn chicks. Their protective coloring is such
as to render them invisible when motionless on the ground,
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 327

 

where they squat with closed eyes at the first danger signal.
The driver of my heavy farm wagon saw a mother bird one
day in the road before him. He stopped the slow team at
once, but too late to save three of the young that, hidden in
the rut, had been run over by the wheels. He found and
picked up a live one squatted there.

All through the breeding season the common call of the
male, “ Bob-white,” or “ Bob-Bob-White,” may be heard,
particularly just before a rain, and the farmers translate the
cry as “ More-wet,” or “Some-more-wet.” At a distance
this call is a clear whistle. Dr. Judd says that when uttered
within ten feet of the hearer it loses its melody and becomes
a mere nasal shriek. At the approach of danger the bird
can reduce the volume of sound at will, so that when it
stands within twenty or twenty-five feet of the listener its
whistle seems to come from a point many rods away, — an
accomplishment which I have heretofore noted as possessed
by other birds. The call when thus subdued is of exactly
the same tone and pitch as usual, quite as clear, and deliv-
ered in exactly the same way. So far as my observations
go, the bird when calling sits or stands
in its usual position, throwing up its
head slightly in enunciating “Bob,”
and then throwing it well back and
pointing the bill skyward when utter-
ing the “white,” as is shown in the

 

. “Bob,” “ white.”
accompanying figures, after sketches pig. 14°7.—The morning

from the wild bird. call,

Dr. Judd watched a Quail that called in a somewhat simi-
lar manner, except that when three notes were given it de-
pressed its bill almost to its breast in uttering the second.
He thus describes the calls of the mated birds : —

Then followed ‘a series of queer, responsive “ caterwaulings,” more
unbirdlike than those of the Yellow-breasted Chat, suggesting now the
call of a cat-to her kittens, now the scolding of a caged gray squirrel,
now the alarm notes of a mother Grouse, blended with the strident cry
of the Guinea Hen. As a finale, sometimes came a loud, rasping noise,
not unlike the effort of a broken-voiced Whip-poor-will.
328 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

When the broods are scattered by the gunner, they are
reassembled again by a whistled call of the old bird, which
has been given, “ka-loi-kee, ka-loi-kee,” and is answered by
the whistled, repeated response, “whodl kee.” The syllables
are almost run together. The first call is uttered with a
rising and the other with a falling inflection. It is plainly
the rallying call and answering cry. When the scattered
covey gets together, musical twitterings are often heard.
At night they repair to some favorite locality, where they
sleep on the ground in a ring, heads out and shoulder to
shoulder. In this formation there are always some birds to
face and discover danger, upon whichever side it approaches.
One spring into the air gives each bird wing room, and off
they fly in all directions, an animated “feathered bombshell,”
exploding in the darkness with a roar of pinions sufficient to
startle and possibly baffle an enemy, as the belated traveller
who has happened to disturb them at night will attest. They
sometimes gather into the same formation in the daytime.

In Massachusetts the birds usually roost in thickets, black-
berry tangles, or woods, and often use the same roosting
place for several nights in succession. They feed largely in
fields, gardens, and cultivated land ; but when pursued they
often take to the swamps or woods, where they perch in trees,
usually on the side farthest from the pursuer, sitting upright
on the branches or crouching close to the trunk. Their
habits during the shooting season are well known. A great
deal of ink has been used in discussing the question whether
the Quail is able to “hold its scent,” as it is a well-known
fact that dogs are frequently at fault in trailing this bird.
When the dog is alone, the bird, even in open ground,
apparently gives itself little uneasiness, but simply settles
quietly down where it stands until it lies flat on its breast,
with head drawn down so close to the shoulders that it
might well pass for a brown clod. It remains thus, allows
the dog to pass within a few yards or even a few feet, and
keeps quiet until all danger is past. But let a human being
appear, and much greater precautions are taken. I have
seen a bird in open ground run and hide in a slight hol-
low, or conceal itself by crouching between two sections of
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 329

 

a stump. If there are trees near by, it runs quickly and
squats upon the ground behind a tree or close to its trunk.
Its resemblance to its surroundings is so close that it seems
to disappear, effacing itself before one’s eyes like a witch in
a fairy tale, as it flattens itself on the ground... Bob-white
naturally “lies to a dog,” for it seems to have a supreme
contempt for the blundering animal. This apparent con-
fidence in its own invisibility is often fatal, however, where
trained bird dogs are entered against it.

There is some reason to believe that the Quail is migratory
at times. Some people relate that Quail have been seen
flying south in large flocks at the approach of winter; others
aver that many have been drowned while crossing large
bodies of water; still others tell us that the birds migrate
long distances by running; but every covey that I have been
able to watch has passed the winter not far from the place
where it was reared. These observations have often been
interrupted by the destruction of the entire brood by farmers,
gunners, or sportsmen. A great many broods “migrate” in
this manner, never to return. Still, probably Grouse and
Quail sometimes become restless in the fall, and move about
the country ; but it is extremely doubtful if there are any
general movements of either species that can be designated
as autumnal or vernal migrations in the ordinary sense in
which these terms are applied.

The feeding habits of the Bob-white are such that it must
be ranked by the farmer as one of the most useful birds of
field and garden. It is very nearly harmless, as it takes
little grain or fruit. Occasionally in the cornfield it pecks
at a broken-down ear of corn, and it picks up a good deal of
waste grain in the stubble of oats and wheat. It sometimes
eats a few strawberries, but these are evidently not a favorite
food, for birds in captivity have refused them when hungry.
On the other hand, Bob-white, during spring and summer,
feeds on many of the most destructive pests of garden and
field, and in fall and winter eats great numbers of the seeds
of many noxious weeds. Dr. Judd makes some interesting
calculations regarding the quantity of insects and weed seeds
consumed by the Bob-white in Virginia and North Carolina.
330 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Estimating that there are four birds to each square mile in
these States, and that each bird consumes half an ounce of
weed seed daily from September 1 to April 1, he concludes
that one thousand, three hundred and forty-one tons are eaten
by Quail annually in the two States; and, as insects form
about one-third of the birds’ food from June 1 to August 1,
he estimates that Quail consume three hundred and forty tons
of insects in these States within those two months.

It is somewhat remarkable that the Quail feeds on most of
the superlatively destructive crop and garden pests of North
America, among them the Rocky Mountain locust, chinch
bug, cotton worm, Mexican cotton boll weevil, army worm,
Colorado potato beetle, striped cucumber beetle, May beetle,
bean leaf beetle, and several species of grasshoppers. More
than one-third of its food for August consists of insects, of
which very few are useful species. The Quail eats many
ground beetles, but mainly those species which feed to some
extent on vegetation, and which become destructive if allowed
to increase unduly. It is probably the most effective enemy
of the Colorado potato beetle. A correspondent wrote me
that he had watched the Quail feeding on potato beetles and
other insects on his farm, and believed that each bird raised
on his place was worth five dollars to him as an insect killer.
He declines to allow any more Quail to be killed on his
farm. Dr. Judd says that Mr. C. E. Romaine of Crockett,
Tex., wrote that Quail were nesting about his fences and
even in his garden, and had kept his potato patch entirely
free from the “Colorado potato bug.” From seventy-five
to over one hundred potato beetles have been found in
Quails’ stomachs. Clover-leaf beetles, corn-hill bugs, wire-
worms, and many other beetles and larve are eaten. Pro-
fessor Aughey found five hundred and thirty-nine locusts in
the stomachs of twenty-one birds, or an average of twenty-
five apiece. The Bob-white not only finds many cutworms,
but picks up the parent moths, as well as ants, flies, and
spiders.

The young are at first fed, almost entirely on insect food.
Mr. Nash says they eat their own weight of insects daily.
As an insect eater the Quail is worth its weight in gold to
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 331

 

the farmer and gardener. If it could be protected and in-
creased in numbers, and if it could be allowed to come con-
fidently about the farmstead, perhaps it would become the
most useful bird of the garden.

In late spring and early summer its vegetable food is
largely confined to such seeds as it can pick up, and to
green grass, chickweed, sorrel, clover and other succulent
leaves, and some buds. In the perennial problem of weed
destruction there is no greater ally of the farmer than this
bird. It eats the seeds of over sixty species of weeds.
Seeds form over one-half its food, and among them the rag-
weed seems to be the favorite. As many as two hundred to
three hundred seeds of smartweed, five hundred of the red
sorrel, seven hundred of the three-seeded mercury, and one
thousand of ragweed have been eaten at a meal. According
to Dr. Judd, five thousand seeds of green foxtail and ten
thousand of pigweed have been found ina single bird. As
the fall advances, Quail find acorns and pine seed in the
woods, and in the thickets they seek wild fruit that nature
provides for winter bird-fare. Although the Quail feed by
preference on the ground in winter, when the snow is deep
they seek shelter in tangles and thickets, where wintering
berries grow. Wherever the ground is swept bare of snow
by the wind the Quail wander about, feeding on dried leaves
of plantain and other plants, with such weed seeds and dried
grasses as they can find. Mr. William Brewster tells me that
the native Quail of New England eked out an existence on
the berries of the red cedar when the snow lay deep on the
ground, but that the introduced Quail apparently have not
acquired the habit, and so succumb more readily to the New
England winter. From all the studies made regarding the
food of the bird, it is clear that the farmer should never
shoot it, or allow it to be shot on his land. If the Massa-
chusetts market must be supplied with Quail, they must be
reared artificially, for the time is coming when no Quail can
be obtained from other States. The laws of most States
now prohibit their shipment to other States, and there are
not birds enough here to supply a tenth of the demand.

s
332 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

PHEASANTS.

Pheasants are closely related to the Pea Fowl and the
Domestic Cock. They are natives of Asia, but several
species have been introduced into England and America.

Ring-necked Pheasant.

Phasianus lorquatus.

Length. — Varying according to length of tail, but reaching three feet.

Adult Male. — Head and neck dark, burnished blue, with reflections of other
shades; a white ring around neck; back orange-brown to reddish, with
black and other variegations; breast coppery-chestnut, with purplish
edgings and some greenish gloss; tail olive-brown, with red-purplish
edgings, and crossed with blackish bars; bare skin of head scarlet.

Adult Female. — Smaller ; tail shorter, and general plumage brown, marked with
blackish.

Young. — Similar to female.

Nest.— On ground.

Eggs. — Similar to those of a small domestic fowl.

Season. — Resident.

The Ring-neck was first imported into Oregon from China,
and was introduced into Massachusetts from the Pacific coast
in 1894 by the Massachusetts Commissioners on Fisheries and
Game, who have since propa-
gated the birds and liberated
them in various parts of the
State. It was brought to
this country under the name
of Mongolian Pheasant, but
is quite distinct from that
species, to which it has only a general likeness. When its
acclimatization here was proposed, I wrote the late John
Fannin, then curator of the Provincial Museum of British
Columbia, inquiring whether the Pheasants which had been
introduced there had proved injurious to native birds or
farm crops. He replied that on Vancouver Island, where
Pheasants were then numerous, they had driven the Grouse
to the woods; but that this did little harm, as Grouse were
naturally wood birds, while the Pheasants were birds of the
open country. They were doing some damage to crops,
but this had not caused any cry for their abatement, and
the people generally considered them a valuable acquisition.

 

Fig. 148.— Ring-necked Pheasant.
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 333

 

In 1897 Mr. F. H. Mosher confined two adult birds at
Malden. They were given some choice of food, and were
fond of grain, weed seeds, vegetables, fruit, and insects.
They ate seventy full-grown gipsy.moth caterpillars in half
a day. Within another half day they ate one hundred and
eight ege-bearing female gipsy moths. No young birds
could be secured for experiment.

In 1903 complaints began to come in that Pheasants were
injuring crops and killing game birds. Circulars sent out
to three hundred correspondents in different parts of the
State brought replies regarding these birds from over two
hundred people. A considerable number of correspondents
had never heard of the species in their vicinity. Forty-two
stated that the bird was not then present in their sections.
Thirty asserted either that it was very rare in their vicinity
or had disappeared. Pheasants were reported as numer-
ous only near Winchester, where the State pheasantry was
located, in a few other places where they were being bred,
and in portions of Essex County, where they had an oppor-
tunity to breed on large estates on which no gunning was
allowed. Forty-five persons stated that Pheasants were
doing no injury to crops or game birds. Three persons com-
plained that Pheasants were killing Bob-whites and Ruffed
Grouse; and nine asserted that Pheasants were injuring
crops, principally corn, tomatoes, peas, beans, cabbages, and
potatoes. Practically all these complaints came from those
few sections where the birds were becoming numerous.
Pheasants have taken more of my sprouting corn than have
either Crows or squirrels. They do not pull it up, as the
Crows do, but dig it up with the beak. In other localities
they are said to “pull more corn than the Crows.” In the
fall they eat what corn they can reach from the ground, and
in Wareham they are said to dig “bushels” of potatoes.

The evidence regarding the killing of game birds was
merely circumstantial. Several reputable persons asserted
that since Pheasants had become common they had found
“both Partridges and Quail with their heads pecked open.”
Other birds of these species were said to have borne evi-
dence of having been slain in combat with a larger bird.
334 USEFUL BIRDS. ~

 

One man is reported to have seen a Pheasant kill a Par-
tridge. JI watched the Quail and Pheasant feeding together
at Wareham, and one day saw a Pheasant strike a Quail
on the head with its beak, exactly as a hen will sometimes
strike and kill a strange chicken. In this case, however, the
Quail escaped, but gave the Pheasant a “wide berth” there-
after. One observer reports that a lady was feeding Quail
in winter, and that a cock Pheasant habitually drove the
Quail away and ate the grain.

Pheasants do much good by destroying insects, and there
need be no fear that these birds will ever become numerous
enough throughout the State to do great harm. Generally
they appear to be unable to hold their own. The common
report is that “Pheasants have been turned loose here, but
have all disappeared.” No eatable bird of the size of a
Pheasant can ever increase much in numbers in Massachusetts
except on land where it can be protected from all shooters.

SNIPE, SANDPIPERS, WOODCOCK, ETC.

Most of the birds of this order, which includes the Plover,
are known as shore birds or marsh birds, and are seen mainly
in migration on the shores of the sea or large bodies of fresh
water. Three species either are, or once were, common
summer residents of this State, and all three go to fields
or cultivated land for a large part of their food. One,
the Spotted Sandpiper, is still quite common; and another,
the well-known Woodcock, may again become so if it can
be protected from excessive shooting. Another still, the
Bartramian Sandpiper or Upland Plover, which was once a
common summer resident of upland fields, has long been on
the road to extermination, and can now be saved only by
enacting and enforcing stringent laws for its protection in
those States where it breeds, as well as in the more southern
States, where the birds find neither rest nor mercy. Most
of the other species of this order, which once migrated along
the coast in countless numbers, are of economic importance
principally as food; but, with few exceptions, the larger
species are so reduced in numbers that they are at present
of little account in any econoniic sense.
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 335

 

Spotted Sandpiper. Tip-up. Teeter.

Actitis macularia.

Length. — About seven and one-half inches. :

Adult.— Above, olive-brown, ash-tinged; below, white, spotted with rounded
blackish marks; a row of white spots on the wing; outer tail feathers
white-barred.

Young.— Breast unspotted, with a slight grayish cast on white of breast.

Nest.— On ground, on the shore of a pond or river, or in a field or pasture.

Eggs. — Buffy, thickly speckled with dark brown and black; very large for the
size of the bird, and quite pointed at small end.

Season. — April to September.

The Spotted Sandpiper, once a common and familiar bird
along all our ponds and streams, is still fairly common in
suitable localities throughout the State. It is not a gre-
garious species, nor does it travel much along the seashore,
and so it has largely escaped the decimation that many
other Sandpipers have suffered at the hands of the gunner.
It is the only Sandpiper commonly found about inland
waters in June and early July. As it walks it repeatedly
raises and lowers the hinder part of its body with a teeter-
ing motion. This is particularly noticeable when the bird
is alarmed, and uttering its cry of peet-weet, peet-weet. This
note is often repeated when the bird is startled, and may be
heard along the sandy margin of ponds or rivers in the dusk
of evening. Here it wades in, at times up to its belly.
On occasion it can swim well, and sometimes when wounded
and hard pressed it will dive deeply, using its wings and
flying swiftly under water, like a Loon. It often builds its
nest and rears its young in or near cultivated lands, at a con-
siderable distance from any water. The young are able to
run about soon after they are hatched, and they wander away
from the nest, brooded and cared for at need by the mother,
who is very solicitous for their welfare. Their safety lies
in their protective coloring. They are fed largely on insects,
and the parents in summer seem to be very fond of similar
food, which they pick up about cultivated fields. Like all
other birds of the field, this Sandpiper catches grasshop-
pers and locusts. Six of these birds dissected by Professor
Aughey in Nebraska contained ninety-one locusts and one
hundred and forty-two other insects.
336 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Bartramian Sandpiper. Upland Plover.
Bartramia longicauda.

Length. — Nearly twelve inches.

Adult.— Upper parts generally light tawny-brown, with dark or blackish mark-
ings; outer tail feathers barred with black and brown, and tipped with
white; inner webs of larger wing feathers barred with black and white;
breast and sides buffy or tawny, marked lightly with blackish; belly
whitish.

Nest.— A mere hollow in the ground.

Eggs.— Buffy or whitish, speckled with dark brown.

Season. — May to September.

This fine, large Sandpiper, commonly called the Upland
Plover, is a bird of the grass-field and pasture. It is not
often seen near the shore, except as it feeds in migration
on the grassy hills of Ipswich and other coast towns, or on
Nantucket, where it breeds. It is a bird of the uplands,
often found breeding in the interior, at long distances from
rivers or ponds, and usually in upland mowing fields. Forty
years ago it bred commonly in considerable areas of the
State, but now it is rare or wanting everywhere in the
breeding season except in a few localities in some counties.
Its note is a melodious, long, rolling whistle, uttered much in
flight. Just after the bird alights it raises its wings high
over its back, stretches them, and then folds them in place.

As the law now protects this bird at all times, it is to be
hoped that its numbers will increase, as it is one of the most
valuable birds of the field. It is an indefatigable insect
hunter, living very largely on such insects as grass-eating
caterpillars and grasshoppers.

American Woodcock.
Philohela minor.

Length. — Ten to twelve inches; bill nearly three inches.

Adult. — Upper parts brown and russet or buff, mixed with gray and marked with
blackish ; back of head black, barred with yellowish; dark line from eye to
bill; under parts pale, warm brown, varying in intensity ; tail black, tipped
with white; eye large, well back and high up.

Nest.— On ground in moist land.

Eygs.— Large, buff-colored, with chocolate and stone-gray spots and markings.

Season. — March to November; rare in winter.

This favorite game bird was once a common summer resi-
dent of this State, but is now becoming rare in the breeding
 

PLATE XXIX.— American Woodcock. (Photograph from life.) (From American Ornithology.)
BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 337

season. It feeds in low, swampy woodland, boring in the
mud for worms, and also in low pastures, where it destroys
many insects. In late summer it often goes to the uplands,
where it feeds in cornfields, asparagus fields, fruit gardens,
and pastures. At such times the bird may be seen among
the currant bushes or vegetables, where in early morning it
feeds with the Robins. When suddenly flushed it sometimes
rises with a tremulous whistling sound, similar to that made
by the wings of the Mourning Dove. Although in summer
it frequents fields, gardens, and pastures, it sometimes for-
sakes them in very dry weather for the wooded shores of
ponds or rivers. The Woodcock evidently feeds much at
night or during the dusk of morning and evening, when
it is almost always active. When startled in the daytime
it is normally sluggish, and rises just over the tops of the
bushes or undergrowth, flutters a short distance, and alights ;
but late in the fall a strong bird that has been hunted and
shot at will start up like a flash and fly wild high and far,
sometimes fanning,the air so rapidly with its wings that they
appear as a mere nebulous haze, like those of the Humming-
bird in flight. Its curious flight song is uttered in the
breeding season, when it rises high in the dusk of evening,
sending back a series of twittering and whistling sounds.

The Woodcock is hunted throughout its range. As it
grows rarer in the north, gunners and sportsmen follow it
south in winter. Great numbers of Woodcock are slaugh-
tered there when all the birds of the species are massed
in a limited area.

Wilson’s Snipe.
Gallinago delicata.

Length. — Ten and one-half to eleven and one-half inches; bill about two and
one-half inches.

Aduilt.— Upper parts brownish-black, varied with bay and tawny; crown black,
with a light central stripe; upper tail coverts tawny, with dark bars; tail
feathers above bright chestnut, with a black bar near the tip, which is
whitish; beneath, white, but breast and sides tinted with brown, speckled
and barred with dusky.

Season. — Spring and fall.

The Snipe is a not uncommon migrant, and may be found
in favorable localities in late March and April, and again in
338 USEFUL BIRDS.

September and October. It is not an upland bird, but
is seen chiefly in fresh-water meadows and lowlands along
streams. It is sometimes met with in low, moist gardens.
Mr. William Brewster says, in his “ Birds of the Cambridge
Region,” that during exceptionally wet autumns great num-
bers of Snipe occasionally visit the truck farms of Arlington
and Belmont, to feed in the water-soaked fields of corn, pota-
toes, and other crops. As they do ‘not injure the crops, but
probe the ground with their lung bills, in search of worms
and larve, it is probable that they do considerable good
at such times. The Snipe when started from the ground
usually goes off in a rather low, erratic course, but when well
up in the air it sometimes makes a long and steady flight.
It may be identified by its long bill. It seems to be some-
what nocturnal, particularly on moonlit nights, when its note
may be heard as it flies about the meadows or runs over
them. Its alarm note is a harsh scacpe, and it utters also a
muffled “bleat.” It feeds mainly on worms, grasshoppers,
and other small forms of animal life. This bird’s chief
economic value lies in the delicacy of its flesh, and as an
object of sport it has few superiors.
BIRDS OF THE AIR. 339

 

CHAPTER IX.

BIRDS OF THE AIR.

There are no birds that so well deserve the designation
“fowls of the air” as those that get their subsistence by pur-
suing flying insects. Eagles and Vultures, Frigate Birds,
Albatrosses, and some other sea birds, are endowed with
great powers of flight, but all must descend to earth or
water for their food ; but Swallows, Swifts, and Nighthawks
win their sustenance from the air. They may be said to
live in the air, as, with few exceptions, they seldom alight
except to rest or to attend to their domestic affairs.

Unfortunately, the precise character of the food that many
of these insect-eating birds procure high in air is not well
known. We see the Swifts and Swallows darting about at
great heights on clear summer days. We know that they
must be catching flying insects ; but what insects are flying
at such a height, and why? They must be winged imagoes.
Have they finished the business of life, and are they then
sporting for a few brief hours in sunlight before death over-
takes them? Are they migrating on the wings of the wind
to fresh fields? Are they useful, or injurious, insects? No
one knows.

When Swallows or Swifts are flying low their food can be
studied, and we have some definite information regarding its
character at such times. They are known to take many
‘parasitic Hymenoptera, but whether these insects are taken
before or after they have propagated, whether most of them
are mainly beneficial, or injurious, parasites, we have little
information. Therefore, the effect produced by this habit
of these birds is not well understood. We know, however,
that many injurious insects, such as flies, gnats, mosquitoes,
moths, beetles, and plant lice, when about to reproduce their
kind, are captured by these feathered skimmers of the air.
We know that the Swallows pursue insects all day, until the
340 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

twilight Bats come out; that Nighthawks “sweep the sky”
through the later hours of daylight; and that Whip-poor-
wills and Swifts are sometimes a-wing throughout the night.
So that whenever insects are flying there are birds to pursue
them. These birds of tireless pinion cover a wide territory,
and form a most potent check on insect life.

SWIFTS.
The spine-tail Swifts are Swallow-like birds that rarely if
ever alight, except upon their nests or on the perpendicular
sides of chimneys, rocks, hollow trees, or buildings.

Chimney Swift.
Chetura pelagica.

Length. — About five and one-fourth inches.

Adult.—Sooty-brown, paling to gray on throat and breast; tail rather short,
spiny, and somewhat cigar-shaped, fan-shaped when spread; wings black-
ish, long, narrow, and slightly curved.

Nest.— Of sticks, glued to the wall of a chimney, hollow tree, or barn.

Eggs. — White.

Season. — April to September.

The Chimney Swallow, as it is commonly called in the
country, is one of the common sights of the summer twilight
as it flies twittering above trees and house tops. When
building its nest it breaks off twigs from the trees as it flies,
and glues them to the chimney with its own saliva. It is a
most expert insect catcher, and while hawking about for food
for its young fills up its mouth and cheeks with insects,
carrying them much as a chipmunk carries corn. It appears
to be of a playful disposition. I saw a Swift one day in
Concord apparently amusing itself by chasing Cedar Birds,
that were fly-catching, over the river. When a Cedar Bird.
flew out over the water the Swift turned and chased it back
into the trees again, often following so closely as to seem
about to attempt to swallow the frightened and fleeing bird.

Swifts catch flies, small beetles of. various kinds, flying
ants, bugs, grasshoppers, and other insects, and spiders.
A notion exists that these birds introduce bedbugs into
houses ; but so far as I know it has never been proven that
there is any parasite common to both human beings and
birds, with perhaps a single exception, — the woodticks.
 

, ’ PLATE XXX.— Nighthawk.

 

PLATE XXXI.— Whip-poor-will.
BIRDS OF THE AIR. 341

 

NIGHTHAWKS, WHIP-POOR-WILLS, ETC.

Birds of this family are especially fitted for the cap-
ture of flying insects. Their beaks are small and weak, but
their mouths are very capacious, their gullets are large, and
their stomachs,enormous. Some species fly high over open
country ; others live mainly in the woods. Together with
the Owls and Bats they form a night police for the control
of nocturnal insects.

Our two common species, the Nighthawk and the Whip-,
poor-will, are frequently confounded; but in appearance,
habits, and color of eggs they are so different that this mistake
could not be made except by the most superficial observer.

Nighthawk. Bull Bat.

Chardeiles virginianus.

Length. — Nine to ten inches. ~

Adult Male.— Above, black, gray, and tawny, mixed and mottled; wings long
and narrow, crossed by a broad white bar which shows best in flight; tail
slightly forked or notched, all except the two middle tail feathers crossed
‘near tip with a white band; throat with a broad band of white; breast
blackish, marked -with gray; other under parts gray (sometimes tinged
with buffy), barred with blackish.

Adult Female. — Similar, but duller; throat band buff; no white on tail.

Eggs.— Laid on bare ledge, rocky ground, or a gravel roof.

Season. — May to September.

The Nighthawk is neither a night bird nor a Hawk, un-
less it may be called a mosquito Hawk. It flies chiefly at
evening, but is seldom heard to cry after dark, and often
may be seen flying about during the greater part of the
day, sometimes at great heights. It has deposited its eggs
on gravel roofs in cities for at least forty years, and prob-
ably longer. It may be seen on summer afternoons hawk-
ing for insects high over the city streets. The usual note
is a s-k-i-r-k or s-c-a-t-p-e, a little like the call of Wilson’s
Snipe, —rather a startling squeak when heard close at hand.

This is the only loud note I have ever heard uttered by
this bird, except the boom which accompanies its sudden de-
scent through the air, and which is supposed to be made by
the wings. The Nighthawk is very devoted to its young,
which, like its eggs, are so protectively colored that they are
342 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

almost invisible when seen from above as they squat on their
natal rock. The mother either tries to drive an intruder away
by approaching him with open mouth, or feigns lameness and
so attempts to entice him into pursuit.

It is probable that the Nighthawk is one of the most useful
of all birds. It ranks next to the Flicker in the destruction
of ants, and it takes them when they are flying and about to
propagate. Professor Beal estimated that the stomachs of
eighty-seven Nighthawks which he examined “contained not
less than twenty thousand ants, and these were not half of
the insect contents.” One Nighthawk’s stomach held remains
of thirty-four May beetles. Great numbers of grasshoppers
are caught by these birds. Potato beetles, cucumber beetles,
leaf hoppers, bugs, and enormous quantities of gnats and mos-
quitoes have been found in their stomachs. Nighthawks are
absolutely harmless, as they never take fruit or grain, grass
or vegetables. They are protected by law at all times, and
should never be shot or molested. Unfortunately, they are
now rare in parts of this Commonwealth where they were
common years ago.

Whip-poor-will.
Antrostomus vociferus.

Length.— About ten inches.

Adult Male.— Above, finely mottled and barred with black, gray, and yellowish-
brown; wings barred with black and brown, in general browner and not so
dark as the Nighthawk; throat and upper breast blackish; other under
parts buff, marked with blackish; a narrow white band just below throat,
and terminal portion of three outer tail feathers white.

Adult Female. — Similar, but band below throat buff, and tail feathers narrowly
tipped with yellowish-white.

Eggs.— On ground in woods; a creamy white, beautifully marked with shades
of purple or lavender.

Season. — May to September.

In moonlit woods, through dark and shady dells, over
wide pastures, and by the lone farmhouse door the Whip-
poor-will flits softly through the silent night. Its flight
is not as noiseless as that of an Owl; but the bird is even
more mysterious than the Owls themselves. Its night
flight and weird but melodious call have aroused supersti-
tious fancies, until the Whip-poor-will has been accredited
with all sorts of uncanny attributes ; nevertheless, it is, like
 

 

 

 

 

PLATE XXXII.—A Swallow Roost.

Tree Swallow.

Barn Swallow.

Cliff Swallow.

Bank Swallow.
BIRDS OF THE AIR. 343

 

the Nighthawk, one of the most friendly and useful of birds.
Its supposedly ill-omened cry is sometimes heard from the
ridgepole or from the orchard trees. Mr. James Buckham,
in an interesting article in “Zion’s Herald,” calls attention
to the fact that the Whip-poor-will is often a doorstep singer.
It sometimes sits on the broad stone step before the farm-
house door and calls whipogill repeatedly. When close at
hand a soft cluck may be heard after each phrase. The bird
may be distinguished from the Nighthawk by its shorter
wings and long, rounded tail. .

The Whip-poor-will is an animated insect trap. Its
enormous mouth is surrounded by long bristles which form
a wide fringe about the yawning cavity, and the bird flies
rather low among the trees and over the undergrowth,
snapping up nocturnal insects in flight. It is perhaps the
greatest enemy of night moths, but is quite as destructive
to May beetles and other leaf-eating beetles. Hairy cater-
pillars, like the tent and tussock caterpillars, as well as span-
worms, grasshoppers, and ants, are sometimes eaten in large
numbers.

SWALLOWS.

This family of daylight air-coursers has four common
representatives in this Commonwealth. The Purple Martin,
common until within a few years, is now generally rare
except in migration. The illustration of the Swallow roost,
although taken from a sketch made on the Musketaquid, was
nevertheless suggested by Ernest Thompson Seton’s beauti-
ful drawing, now reproduced in Chapman’s “ Bird-Life.” It
shows the four common Swallows, and exhibits their habit
of roosting in reeds. Swallows collect in flocks throughout
the season of migration. In July, as soon as the young are
reared, they begin to flock at night near bodies of water, and
prepare to migrate. Swallows gather in winter in the great
swamps of southern Florida in enormous flights, which, after
uniting in one, discharge into the reeds at dusk. The de-
scent of such a multitude resembles in appearance a great
waterspout topped by an enormous black cloud. In the
morning they scatter out over the country to feed.
344 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Bank Swallow.
Riparia riparia.

Length. — A little over five inches.

Adult.— Dull mouse-brown above; white below; a broad brownish band across
the breast; tail slightly forked.

Nest.—In a hole made by the bird in a sand bank.

Eggs.— White. e

Season. — April to August or September.

This bird nests naturally in communities in sand banks
along rivers, where the insects which form its food are plen-
tiful. It early took advantage of man’s habit of digging into
the sand, and probably increased in numbers as roads and
railroads were cut through the country and sandpits opened.
In this State its numbers have now decreased much, owing
partly to the digging away of many banks in which it formerly
bred, but more to incessant persecution by egg collectors, cats,
“English” Sparrows, and other predatory animals. There are
many sand banks in eastern Massachusetts formerly occu-
pied by these birds which now know them no more.

The note is a rather harsh twitter. This bird is almost
entirely insectivorous, feeding on gnats, flies, grasshoppers,
Tortricid moths, and many insects that are injurious to field
and meadow grasses. Plant lice and spiders also form a
portion of its food.

Tree Swallow. White-bellied Swallow. White-breasted Swallow.
House Swallow.

Lridoprocne bicolor.

Length. — Nearly six inches.

Adult Male.— Dark irridescent blue-green above; white below; tail slightly
notched.

Adult Female.— Upper parts usually duller.

Young.— Upper parts brown; a faint dusky collar across the upper breast.

Nest. —In hollow tree or bird house.

Eggs. — White.

Season. — April to October.

When the Tree Swallows left their natural homes in hollow
trees to nest in bird houses they probably increased some-
what in numbers; but since the advent of the “English”

Sparrow the Tree Swallows have been driven away from
many of the bird houses in villages and cities where they
BIRDS OF THE AIR. 345

 

formerly dwelt, and some have gone back to hollow trees.
This bird is still common wherever it can nest unmolested
by the Sparrows, and sometimes, though rarely, it nests in
the same bird house with these impudent foreigners.

Its note is a rather sharp but sometimes musical twitter.
It is probably more useful than the Bank Swallow, for it is
oftener seen about houses and gardens, where it catches flies,
mosquitoes, and gardeninsects. Leaf-eating beetles, canker-
worms, cabbage butterflies, small moths, click beetles, rove
beetles and other beetles, winged ants, and many other flying
insects form part of its food. It usually leaves for the south
in August or September, but sometimes stays much later
where bayberries or sumac berries, upon which it feeds, are
plentiful.

Barn Swallow.
Hirundo erythrogaster.

Length. — Six to seven inches, or a little more.

Adult.— Above, very dark blue; tail deeply forked, showing white markings
when spread; forehead, throat, and upper breast chestnut; lower breast
and belly buff. ;

Nest. — Built of mud, straw, and feathers; usually plastered to a rafter in a barn
or shed.

Eggs.— White, covered with brown spots.

Season. — April to September.

The note of the Barn Swallow brings to mind visions of
fields of waving grass, wide barns, and well-filled mows, for
this Swallow follows the cattle. It is a bird of the pastoral
country, the farm, and the hayfield. Originally it nested
in-caves or on rocky cliffs. The rude barns of the early
settlers offered it abundant safe nesting places, while the
clearing of the land and the increase of cattle augmented the
numbers of its insect prey. Swallows must have multiplied
wonderfully with the settlement of the country, but they
have rather decreased of late years.

The twitter of this Swallow is musical ; its flight is the
poetry and grace of motion; its plumage is attractive to the
eye; and its life is largely spent in destroying the insect
foes of the farmer and his cattle. It is particularly servicea-
ble about grass fields. The moths of the smaller cutworms,
those of Arctians and Crambids, are among the injurious in-
sects that it gleans when flying low over the grass. Every
346 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

one who walks among the tall grass in the fields may
notice how Swallows capture the moths that fly up about
the foot passenger. Prof. C. H. Fernald states that while
he and his friends were walking through the grass at his
home at Mt. Desert several Swallows invariably attended
them and fed on different species of Crambus in abundance.
These observations were continued during several years.1
Codling moths, cankerworm moths, and Tortricid or leaf-
rolling moths are gathered from the orchard by the Swallows.
Horseflies, house flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and crane flies are
commonly caught. The only apparently harmful habit that
I have observed is that of picking up parasitic insects in
flight over fields infested with army worms or cutworms.

Cliff Swallow. Eaves Swallow.

Petrochelidon lunifrons.

Length. — About six inches.

Adult.— Dark bluish above; forehead cream white and rump light chestnut;
throat chestnut; other under parts whitish ; tail ends squarely.

Nest. — Built mainly of mud, under the eaves of barns or out-buildings.

Eggs.— White, spotted with reddish-brown.

Season. — April to August.

When the first explorers reached the Yellowstone and
other western rivers, Swallows were found breeding on the
precipitous banks. As settlers gradually worked their way
westward the Swallows found nesting places under the eaves
of their rough buildings. In these new breeding places they
were better protected from the elements and their enemies
than on their native cliffs, and so the Cliff Swallow became
the “Eaves Swallow,” and, following the settlements, rapidly
increased in numbers and worked eastward. Audubon saw
them first on the Ohio in 1815. They were seen near Lake
Champlain in 1817, at the White Mountains of New Hamp-
shire in 1818, at Cincinnati in 1819, and in 1830 they had
reached Winthrop and Gardiner, Me. They increased and
spread rapidly over the eastern States, and probably reached
their maximum in numbers from 1840 to 1860. They were

 

1 Professor Fernald states that the Crambids feed at the roots of grasses, and
that they undoubtedly destroy a large amount of grass without being discovered.
Professor Webster wrote him that in Ohio hundreds of acres of grass had been
destroyed by these moths.
BIRDS OF THE AIR. 347

 

very numerous in Massachusetts up to about 1865, but since
the introduction of the Sparrow their numbers have been
slowly decreasing here, and now there are large areas where
they do not breed. Apparently they are now more plentiful
than ever in some parts of Maine, and possibly some of the
Massachusetts birds may have migrated there.

Their ordinary note is a rather harsh chirp. Their food
is very similar to that of the Barn Swallow, as they frequent
similar situations. Wherever a colony of these birds is
located they must have a considerable effect on insect life.
They fly much over bogs and meadows, and with the Barn
Swallows are useful in destroying the pests of the grass lands
and cranberry bogs.

Purple Martin. Black Martin.

Progne subis.

Length. — About eight inches.

Adult Male. — Deep, lustrous steel-blue ; wings and tail dark brown; tail slightly
forked.

Adult Female.— Brown above, glossed on head and back with blue or purplish ;
forehead and throat mottled with gray; breast brownish; belly whitish.

Nest. — In a hollow tree or bird house.

Eggs. — White.

Season. — April to August.

Many years ago Dr. Brewer wrote Audubon that an un-
usually cold season had destroyed all the Purple Martins in
the neighborhood of Boston. Since then other occurrences
of this kind have been re-
ported, but there was no per-
manent widespread diminution
in their numbers until the
“English” Sparrows became
numerous. Then the Martins
were gradually driven away,
until they bred only locally, Fig. 149.—Purple Martin, male, about
and had disappeared from a Sa aaa
large part of the State. The June storms of 1903-04
nearly completed their extirpation from the State as breed-
ers, and except in a few favored localities their boxes are
now (1906) all taken by the Sparrows.

The Martin is a southern bird, and caanot long withstand

 
348 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

cold storms in the breeding season. It is also one of the
most purely insectivorous of all birds, and feeds almost en-
tirely on winged insects. Therefore, when the air is cleared
of flying insects by long, cold rains or hard frosts, it must
starve. Its note is a full-toned chirruping carol, musical
and clear, beginning peuo-peuo-
peuo. It feeds largely on some of
the greatest pests of the farm.
Rose beetles and May beetles are
caught in large numbers. John S.
Russell writes that a quart of the
wing cases and other rejecta of that
Fig. 150,—Purple Martin, | Common pest, the striped cucumber
ee ‘beetle, were taken from a hole in a
Martin box; and Dr. Packard makes a similar statement.
House flies and flies that trouble horses and cattle are taken
in considerable numbers from the sides of houses and barns.
Mr. Otto Widmann states, in “Forest and Stream,” that
thirty-two parent Martins made three thousand, two hun-
dred and seventy-seven visits to their young in one day,
—June 27, 1884.
Every effort should be made to induce these birds to again
take up their abode throughout the State.

 
BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE.

349

 

CHAPTER X.

BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE.

The birds of wet, waste lands, fresh-water meadows,
marshes, swamps, and the shores of ponds and rivers seem
at first sight to be of no importance from an economic point

of view. Still, most of
Oy WS WY i Pp the Marsh Wrens, Spar-

   
 
 

rows, Herons,
and water-fowl

that live in

Fig. 151.—Salt-marsh caterpillar. This species such localities
is eaten by marsh birds.

   

NS

undoubtedly
help to prevent uprisings of such field pests as the
army worms, the green grasshoppers, and the salt-
marsh caterpillars, that sometimes multiply so in
lowlands as to overrun and devastate the upland
crops. The Herons are of some further service
to man, for, besides eating insects, they help to
prevent the undue increase of meadow mice, rep-
tiles, and frogs. Space will not permit detailed
descriptions of the marsh birds and water birds,
but a brief mention may be made of some of the
most important species.

PERCHING BIRDS.

Song Sparrows, Savanna Sparrows, Blackbirds,
Grackles, and Bobolinks, all of which spend more
or less time in wet meadows and marshes, have
already been described. Swifts and Swallows
hawk over meadows, marshes, streams, and ponds,
but the Swamp Song Sparrow or Swamp Sparrow
(Melospiza georgiana) is rarely seen far away from
its favorite marshes or swamps. It is a dark spe-
cies, with a chestnut cap, a whitish throat, and a

 

Fig. 152.—
_Army
worm,
350 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

breast unstreaked ; and it sings all summer long about the
bushy margins of grassy swamps and marshes and in the
reeds or bush clumps of river meadows. Its song slightly
resembles that of the Chipping Sparrow, but is more varied
and pretentious. Its sharp chink and busy chirping as it
fusses about its lowly nest greet
the ears of the canoeist as he floats
down the placid stream.
Another bird whose song is
commonly heard along the shores
of marshy rivers is the Long-
DN billed Marsh Wren ( Telmatodytes
Fig.153.—Swamp Sparrow, about P@lustris). It is found com-
SECIS RUMI. monly near streams along the
coast, and up the river valleys of eastern Massachusetts, but
is not so common in the central or western counties except
along the Connecticut River. It sings among the reeds, cat-
tails, and marsh grasses, a voluble, joyous, typical Wren
song, which is kept up all day and may often be heard at
night. It is an unmistakable Wren, with cocked tail and
rapid, nervous motions. The Short-billed Marsh Wren
( Cistothorus stellaris) is one of the smallest of birds. It is
not as common as the other species, and frequents sedgy
meadows and wet lands along brooks. Its song more nearly
resembles that of a Sparrow than that of the typical Wren.
Marsh Wrens build the little globular nests, each with an
opening in the side, that are found among the cat-tails or the
meadow grass.

 

RAILS.

Rails are confined to the shores of ponds and rivers or to
marshes and wet meadows, where they skulk amid the rushes,
cat-tails, grasses, and water plants, and are more often heard
than seen. The old saying, “As thin as a rail,” might have
originally been applied to these birds, for their bodies are so
thin that they readily slip between the stems of the grasses.
Although no longer as plentiful as in the past, they still
breed here, and many pass through the State in migration.

The two common species are the Virginia Rail (Zallus
virginianus) and the Carolina or Sora Rail (Porzana caro-
BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE. 351

 

lina). The Sora is a dark, handsome bird, nearly as large
as a Quail. It has the forehead, chin, and throat black, an
ashy breast, and a short, yellow bill. The Virginia Rail is
about an inch longer, having a long, curved bill and a light-
colored throat. Many strange notes that are heard on the
marsh at morning or evening or during the night may be
attributed to Rails. Both species nest close to the ground
in marsh ormeadow. Thin as the Rails are ordinarily, they
become very fat in autumn, when they are shot in great
numbers for food.
HERONS.

Every pond or stream with shallow waters has its resident
or visiting Herons, and as all species of Herons are now
protected by law, it is hoped that the decrease of the larger
species may be arrested.

Near the seashore and the larger bodies of water a bird
is sometimes seen to rise from the marsh, uttering as it flies
a loud, explosive guock. It is larger than a Crow, has a
blackish back and crown, a short tail, light under parts, and
grayish wings. It folds its long neck, tucks its long legs
up behind, and flies off slowly, its wing tips bending well
downward at every stroke. This is the Black-crowned
Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax nevius), which flies
chiefly at evening, but may often be seen abroad in the day-
time, particularly on cloudy days. Young birds are brown
above, streaked and dotted with white, but all have the same
note. They usually nest in communities on trees in swamps.

There is hardly a shallow pond or large stream in the
State, remote from cities, from which one may not flush a
smaller, dark-green bird, with dark, bluish wings, which
rises either silently or with a sharp peok, takes a reef in its
neck, stows its legs, and flies away steadily, keeping at
about the same level. The downward bend to its wing tips
as it flies seems to be even more pronounced than in the
Night Heron. This is the Green Heron (Butorides vires-
cens). It has several peculiar, startling notes, and an ex-
plosive, weird wowoogh, given as if in a stage whisper, that is
sometimes uttered when it is perched onatree. This species
nests in trees, often singly, but sometimes in companies.
352 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

In early spring, or in August or September, a tall, dark,
lone bird may be seen stalking by some pond, along the sea-
shore, or on tidal flats. It is far larger than other common
Herons, and when it flies sometimes gives utterance to harsh,
loud croaks, and spreads a pair of great wings that seem as
large as those of the Eagle. This unmistakable bird is the
Great Blue Heron or Blue “Crane” (as it is sometimes
wrongly called) (Ardea herodias), which lives largely on
fish, frogs, and meadow mice.

Another species is sometimes started from the grassy
meadow or the marshy fen. This is a large brown bird,
about the size of the Night Heron. The under part of its
neck is distinctly streaked with brown and white, and there
is a black streak on the side of the neck. It is a skulker,
seeking concealment by preference, and flying only when
hard pressed. Its flight is slow and awkward, and it usually
does not fly high or far, but alights again among the grass
or reeds of the marsh. Sometimes on rising it utters sev-
eral harsh, rattling croaks. This is the American Bittern
(Botaurus lentiginosus),—a bird that lives in the bog and |
nests there. It seldom, if ever, alights in trees. Its most
common spring note consists of a series of choking, gurgling
sounds, that resemble the noise made by an old-fashioned
wooden pump, and may be represented by the syllables unk-
a-chunk, repeated several times. This has given the bird
the vernacular name of “plum pud’n.” Sometimes at a
distance only a single note can be heard, which sounds like
the stroke of a mallet on a stake. Hence the name Stake
Driver ; but how it came by the name of Indian Hen I am
unable to say. The Bittern is perhaps the most useful of all
the Herons, for it frequently goes to low fields and pastures,
where it industriously hunts grasshoppers and other Orthop-
tera. A small species, the Least Bittern (Ardetta exilis),
may sometimes be heard cooing in the marshes, but is
seldom seen. The top of the head, back, and tail are black ;
elsewhere the bird is mainly brown, lighter below. It often
sits erect, facing the observer, its bill pointing upward, and
so it is unnoticed among the reeds or flags. Its habits are
little known.
BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE. 353

 

WATER-FOWL.

We have no means of knowing how many species of
water-fowl once bred about the ponds and rivers of the
State, but there are now but two important species that
breed here in any numbers, and one of these, the Wood
Duck (Aix sponsa) (see frontispiece), is now rapidly grow-
ing rare in most of the State. This bird, of exquisite loveli-
ness, was once the most common wild-fow] that nested along
the shores of our wooded streams and ponds. It is now
protected by statute at all times; but only the most rigid
enforcement of the law can save this, the most beautiful of
American wild ducks, from extermination. It is not as shy
as the Black Duck, and it frequents small ponds and wooded
streams that afford cover to the gunner and can be easily shot
across. The young are hatched in a nest in some hollow
tree or stump, and are often carried to the water by the
mother bird. They are fortunate if they are not all killed
by some gunner as soon as they are big enough for the table.
The bird is harmless, and is at times a great insect eater.
It should be saved from the fate of the Passenger Pigeon,
Heath Hen, and Wild Turkey.

The Black Duck (Anas obscura) is more common, and has
of late somewhat increased in numbers, owing, probably, to
improved and better-enforced laws for its protection. It is
not, as its name implies, a black bird, but is dusky, with a
lighter neck and throat. The under sides of its wings are
also lighter in color. It breeds on the ground, mainly in
marshes and bogs, or on islands in ponds, and is well dis-
tributed in suitable localities throughout the State. It is
normally very destructive to grasshoppers, but in this State
it seldom ventures far from its fastnesses in the bog, except
as it goes to the sea or large bodies of water, which give it a
good outlook and some chance of safety.

The other pond and river Ducks and the Geese are mere
migrants through Massachusetts. The sea Ducks are not
known to be of much value to man except through the
recreation their pursuit affords. The service rendered to
man by sea birds is referred to on p. 80.
354 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

CHAPTER XI.

CHECKS UPON THE INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS.

He who has any doubt about the former abundance of the
larger birds in Massachusetts should read the accounts pub-
lished by some of the earlier voyagers and settlers regarding
the great numbers of water birds, shore birds, game birds,
Hawks and Eagles, Great Auks, Cranes, Herons, wild Swans,
Canada Geese, Snow Geese, Brant Geese, and Turkeys, that
were found in the early years of the colony. We read of
a thousand wild Turkeys reported as seen in a day, of forty
Partridges seen in one tree and sixty Quail in another, of
forty or fifty Ducks killed at a shot, of twelve score shore
birds killed at two discharges of a fowling piece, of flocks of
Passenger Pigeons that obscured the sky to the horizon in
all directions, and of nesting places where for miles the
trees were loaded with Pigeons’ nests.

Tt is now well known that the Great Auk and the Labrador
Duck have become extinct; that wild Turkeys, Swans, Pas-
senger Pigeons, Cranes, and Snow Geese have practically
disappeared from the State; and that the shore birds, game
birds, and fresh-water Ducks have decreased tremendously
in numbers. No records regarding the increase or decrease
of the smaller birds have been made until within recent
years, and we know only in a general way that certain spe-
cies, like Swallows, Sparrows, and Robins, increased with
and after the clearing and settling of the country, and that
within the last half century there has been a considerable
local decrease of these and other native birds, particularly
about the centers of population.! Also, it is evident that
small birds are not nearly as plentiful here as they are in

 

1 Director William T. Hornaday of the New York Zodlogical Park estimated,
from reports received by him, that birds had decreased twenty-seven per cent. in
Massachusetts during the fifteen years previous to 1898. The result of my own
inquiries regarding the decrease of birds in Massachusetts was embodied in «
report of one hundred and three pages made to the State Board of Agriculture in
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 3955

 

some States farther west, and that they are not numerous
enough to fully control the insects on which they feed.

It is certainly desirable, then, to take measures to increase
the number of useful birds, and any inexpensive means of
accomplishing this end is worthy the most careful consider-
ation of thoughtful people.

When one is asked what controls the numbers of birds,
he finds himself at a loss for a ready answer. There are
many well-understood checks upon their increase; others
are more obscure. We can understand, for example, why
the larger game birds and shore birds have decreased in
numbers; but it is difficult to see why the Dickcissel or
Black-throated Bunting has disappeared from the Atlantic
seaboard and is now seldom found east of the Alleghanies,
why the Red-headed Woodpecker has so nearly disappeared
from Massachusetts, or why certain resident species as well
as certain migratory species are common one season and
uncommon the next.

To effectually protect birds we must first understand the
chief causes of mortality. among them. Comparatively few
wild birds die from disease or old age. Most of them per-
ish from lack of food, the severity of the elements, or the at-
tacks of their enemies. The destruction of birds by storms,
great and widespread as it is, probably never occurs over
regions extensive enough to utterly exterminate any species.
Their destruction by starvation and cold is usually coextensive
only with the area of severest storm. Under normal condi-
tions the decimated species usually repopulate the country in
a few years. Many young birds are killed by storms in the
nesting season. Many migrating birds are blown into the
sea and drowned. Fortunately for the birds, they are ordi-
narily enabled by migration to avoid the severity of winter ;
but they are unable in this way to escape the destructive
agencies set at work by man along their lines of migration.
In annual, perennial, widespread, and complete bird destruc-
tion, man takes the lead among all other forces of nature.

 

1905; and as copies of this report—The Decrease of Certain Birds and its
Causes; with Suggestions for Bird Protection — can be obtained of the secretary
of the Board at the State House, its conclusions will not be reiterated here.
356 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS BY MAN.

Man is responsible for the extinction of species or for
their disappearance from great tracts of country. He cuts
down the forest and drives out the larger wood birds. He
destroys the birds that injure his crops or flocks. He intro-
duces animals which destroy birds, and he shoots birds for
food, money, or sport. It is only since civilized man reached
this country that the Great Auk has become extinct, and that
the Passenger Pigeon, which roamed in countless millions
over a continent, has been swept away. It is since then that
the Prairie Chicken, once found in the east, and so plentiful
in Kentucky that it was considered fit food for slaves and
swine only, has been pushed toward the far west. The wild
Turkey has been nearly driven out of the Atlantic States by
man. The White Egret and the Carolina Parrot have almost
disappeared. The Bartramian Sandpiper or Upland Plover,
the Wood Duck, and the Woodcock must follow if not fully
protected. Man exterminates birds for money, little recking
that he is killing the “goose that lays the golden egg.”

The greatest enemies of game birds, and, therefore, the
greatest factors in their extermination, are the epicures, —
the people who buy birds to eat. The marketmen merely
supply the existing demand. The call for game birds has
been so insistent and the price paid for them so remunerative
that marketmen have often organized to defeat legislation for
the protection of game. Observing people who have fre-
quented the markets have read from the butcher’s stall the
story of the decrease of game birds. Within thirty years,
tons of Passenger Pigeons have stood in barrels inthe Bos-
ton market, and men now living can remember when the east-
ern markets were glutted with Quail and Prairie Chickens.
The war of extermination waged on game birds is a blot on
the history of American civilization. It is paralleled only
by the destruction of birds for millinery purposes, which has
some shockingly cruel aspects.

Here again the dealers — the milliners — are not so much
to blame as the public, for the former cater to the wants
of women only as fashion dictates. In civilization we still
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 357

 

cling to our rings, beads, and feathers, —the ornaments of
the savage. Within thirty-five years the skins of Bluebirds,
Scarlet Tanagers, and Baltimore Orioles have been in good
demand in Massachusetts for hat ornaments. The brutal
savagery which is characteristic of this phase of bird destruc-
tion has been well illustrated in the extermination of the
Egrets of the United States. Twenty-five years ago these
beautiful birds were abundant in some southern States ;
stragglers occasionally came north as far as New England.
They are shy birds during most of the year, feeding chiefly
in deep swamps and along lonely water courses. In the
breeding season they gather into heronries, commonly called
“rookeries,” where they build their nests. Then much of
their shyness disappears under the stress of providing for
and protecting their young. Unfortunately for them, their
nuptial plumes are perfect in the breeding season. Fashion
demanded the plumes. Nesting time was the plume hunter's
opportunity. There was little difficulty, then, in securing the
birds by shooting them when they were sitting on the nests or
hovering over their helpless young. So the old birds were
shot, the plumes stripped from their backs, and the young
left to starve in the nests or become the prey of Hawks,
Crows, or Vultures. When I was in Florida, in.1878, great
. flights of these birds were seen along the lakes and rivers of
the southern counties. One heronry was estimated to con-
tain three million birds. Ten years later they were rare
everywhere, and now they are practically extirpated. They
have been pursued along the coasts of Mexico and into
Central and South America. The search is extending into
all countries where they may be found. Half-savage Indians
and negroes are enlisted in the slaughter, supplied with guns
and ammunition, and sent wherever they can find the birds.
The misery and suffering entailed can be imagined. Thus
are the “stub” plumes, “aigrettes,” and “ospreys” procured.
They are not manufactured, and, whatever their color when
sold, they were originally stripped from the back, head, or
neck of some white Heron or Egret. The absolute extinc-
tion of these plume-bearing species is assured unless women
will stop wearing the plumes. A similar slaughter took place
358 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

among the sea birds along the Atlantic coasts. The birds
were shot down on their breeding grounds and their wings
cut off. Many human lives have been lost by reason of
this nefarious business. In 1905 a warden employed by the
National Association of Audubon Societies to protect the
birds was murdered by plume hunters. The reader may be
spared further details of this barbarous trade.

The number of birds killed in the United States each year
before the business was checked by law and public sentiment
cannot: be even estimated, but some figures can be given.
A single local taxidermist handled thirty thousand bird skins
in one year. <A collector brought back eleven thousand
skins from a three months’ trip. About seventy thousand
bird skins were sent to New York from a small district on
Long Island in about four months. American bird skins
were shipped to London and Paris. We may judge of the
demand there for birds from the fact that from one auction
room in London there were sold in three months over four
hundred thousand bird skins from America and over three
hundred and fifty thousand from India. One New York
firm had a contract to supply forty thousand skins to a
Paris firm.

‘In Massachusetts this trade bore most heavily upon the
Gulls and Terns, which were driven out from many breeding
places along the coast. From 1870 to 1890 this business
was at its height in this country; and, as the market in
Europe is still brisk, no doubt some birds are still killed
here for millinery purposes, and some are still worn here,
despite the laws which prohibit any one from killing native
birds or selling or wearing their feathers.

The danger to birds multiplies with the increase of popu-
lation. Gunners and sportsmen shoot birds mainly to sup-
ply the markets or for recreation; but many persons shoot
birds, large or small, merely for sport or practice. There
is a class of foreigners who shoot small birds for sport,
and eat them. These people go out in squads, and each
man shoots at every bird within range, whether sitting or
flying. The Italians are tremendously destructive to bird
life. In southern Europe the larger birds are now so scarce
 

 

PLATE XXXIII.— Nest Robbers. A cause of the decrease
of birds in many localities. (Photograph by A. C. Dike.)
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 359

 

that the people have taken to killing the smaller species, and
the killing of small birds is regarded as sport. An Italian
sportsman will secure a small live Owl, fasten it on a pole
to attract the birds, take his station near by, and shvot every
small bird that appears ; poachers stretch great nets in places
where birds come to __ — EES
feed or drink; and thus | ie
the small birds that-are |
reared under protection | :

in northern Europe are |
slaughtered on their |
migrations in the south.
The steady stream of
immigration from Italy
to America constitutes
a great menace to the
smaller birds, as well as
to all birds and all ani-
mals that are eatable.
Unless this element of
population is prohibited
from carrying guns, the

 

effect of their inroads Fig. 154.—The Italian sportsman and his decoy
upon bird life will soon Vols Ano Balers

be manifest here. Trustworthy correspondents state that
the Italian contract laborers kill practically all the birds in
the neighborhood of their camps. Many Italians trap birds
by means of birdlime or trap cages. Boys with shot guns,
“air rifles,” and various destructive weapons, shoot at any-
thing that offers a fair mark. The improvement in firearms
and the reduction in their price go hand in hand with the con-
stant increase in the number of people able to bear arms, the
augmentation of the number of crack shots, and the acces-
sion to the number of dogs trained to hunt birds.

Snares are still much used, even where forbidden by
law. Children, especially boys, destroy the nests and eggs
of birds, thus constituting a considerable check on bird in-
crease. The mania for collecting birds’ eggs is widespread.
Some boys use the nests of birds for targets and their eggs
360 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

for missiles in the same spirit in which such young savages
murder the toads about a pond. Something is wrong with
a system of education under which such wholesale abuses of
useful creatures are possible.

There are many indirect ways in which man reduces the
numbers of birds. Marshes are drained, and the sustenance
of marsh birds destroyed. Reservoirs are made, and the
haunts of land birds overflowed. The building of dams for
manufacturing purposes holds back the waters of rivers, so
that heavy rainfalls in the breeding season flood the nests of
many marsh birds, destroying eggsand young. Thus Rails,
Bitterns, and Marsh Wrens are drowned or driven away.
Thousands of birds and their nests are burned by fires in
the woods. Swifts are sometimes suffocated in numbers by
coal fires built in nesting time. Lighthouses and electric
light towers are the obstacles on which many birds are
dashed to death in their nocturnal migrations. Telegraph,
electric light, trolley car, and telephone wires are all
deadly ; their number is constantly increasing. Thousands
of Woodcocks and many other birds are killed by flying
against them. Wire fences are nearly as fatal to Grouse
and other low-flying birds.

Last but perhaps not least among the causes which de-
crease the number of birds about the centers of population
there must be enumerated the clearing up of underbrush,
shrubbery, vines, and thickets. Many birds of the tangle
are driven out when this cover is destroyed and replaced by
well-kept lawns and fields. The work against the gipsy
moth and the brown-tail moth, necessary as it is, has reduced
the number of birds in many localities because of the clear-
ing up and burning of undergrowth and the thinning out of
trees, which had to be done. Where the caterpillars of
these moths have defoliated large tracts of wooded country
this also has decreased the birds, for it has left their nests
exposed to the sun and to their enemies. Several corre-
spondents have expressed the opinion that birds are killed by
the use of arsenical insecticides, such as Paris green and arse-
nate of lead, in spraying. Dead birds have been picked up in
different localities soon after orchard or shade trees have been
Ce6sT ‘aInqMosy: Jo pleog ayeIg syosnyoessepl oy} JO Moder penuue oy} WHOL)
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CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 3861

 

sprayed. Mr. Robert Ridgway noticed that birds decreased
very much in numbers in a section of Illinois where practi-
cally all the farmers began spraying their orchards ; but in a
recent letter he expresses some doubt as to whether spraying,
or a bounty crusade against the Sparrows, caused the dimi-
nution of birds. The reduction of birds in such cases may
perhaps be explained by the fact that the insects had been
destroyed by spraying, leaving the birds without food. Mr.
William Brewster has observed two instances where the
spraying of shade trees caused a sudden decrease in the
numbers of birds, and in both cases several dead birds were
found. The stomachs of some of these birds are to be ex-
amined for traces of arsenic, and this ought to determine
whether they have been poisoned. Birds usually reject
sickly insects, and would not be likely to eat those which
showed the effects of poison; but gipsy caterpillars will
carry more poison in proportion to their size than would
kill a man, and they will still appear healthy. It has been
noticed in some cases that birds have avoided trees that
have been sprayed with arsenate of lead, but in other cases
they have not. This subject should be further investigated.

THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS.

Under nature, the indigenous natural enemies of birds
cannot be regarded as the cause of any material reduction in
the numbers of the smaller species. Under man’s rule, how-
ever, the conditions may be so changed that certain natural
enemies of birds may become positively harmful. For this
reason, if for no other, the bird protectionist should care-
fully study the effect produced upon birds by their enemies.
Any natural enemy of birds which becomes unduly numer-
ous may prove seriously restrictive to their increase, and
may require severe checking.

Foreign species introduced and liberated in a new country
may constitute a serious danger to bird life. Still, many
people have deliberately introduced mammals and birds from
other countries and liberated them here. Fortunately, per-
haps, few of these attempts to saddle foreign species upon
us have proved successful. There can be but little objection
362 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

to the introduction of domesticated species so long as they
can be kept in subjection ; neither can there be much danger
in introducing game birds, except that they may replace our
native species, which, rather, we should try to foster and
increase in numbers; but there is often a possibility that
any introduced bird or mammal that will bring no money to
the pocket of the hunter or marketman may become a pest.
We have had such an experience with the “ English” Spar-
row, and we may yet regret the more recent importation of
the European Starling. The plague of rabbits in Australia
and that of the mongoose in the Island of Jamaica illustrate
the danger of introducing species.

If the money, time, and thought that have been expended
in this work by acclimatization societies and by individuals
could have been utilized in protecting, domesticating, and
propagating useful native species, it might have given better
results.

INTRODUCED FOUR-FOOTED ENEMIES.
Cats.

We have already introduced into this country a terrible
scourge to birds, — the domestic cat. My statement hereto-
fore published, that the mature cat in good hunting grounds
kills, on the average, fifty birds a year, is certainly within
bounds. Kittens and half-grown cats do not catch many
birds, but the old cat that wanders off into the fields and
woods is terribly destructive. Of course where there are
many cats each one cannot kill so many birds, for there are
not enough birds to furnish each cat its full quota. Mr.
William Brewster tells of an acquaintance in Maine who said
that his cat killed about fifty birds a year. When asked
why he did not get another cat, he said that it would be of
no use, for they were all alike. Mr. A. C. Dike writes that
his family owned a cat which was well cared for and a par-
ticular pet. They watched it through one season, and found
that it killed fifty-eight birds, including the young in five
nests. Nearly a hundred correspondents scattered through
all the counties of the State report the cat as one of the
greatest enemies of birds. The reports that have come in
of the torturing and killing of birds by cats are absolutely
 

 

PLATE XXXV.—Cat with Young Robin. This pet cat killed fifty-eight birds
in one year. (Photograph, from life, by A. C. Dike.)
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USE¥UL BIRDS. 363

 

sickening. The number of birds killed by them in this State
is appalling.

It is quite true, however, that some cats do not kill many
birds, and that some intelligent or high-bred cats may be
taught not to kill any. Some cat lovers believe that each
cat kills on the average not more than ten birds a year;
but I have learned of two instances where more than that
number were killed in a single day, and another where seven
were killed. If we assume, however, that the average cat
on the farm kills but ten birds a year, and that there is one
cat to each farm in Massachusetts, we have, in round num-
bers, seventy thousand cats killing seven hundred thousand
birds annually.

If we add to the cats kept on farms the enormous number

of village and city cats, many of which have good oppor-
tunities for catching birds, we shall see the chief reason for
great mortality to birds and their young about our villages
and cities. If cats are allowed their liberty at night during
the nesting season, they, unnoticed, rob many birds’ nests.
The cat is more dangerous to birds than is any native mam-
mal that roams our woods, for it is nocturnal, a splendid
climber, a good stalker, a strong leaper, and is very quick
and active. Unfortunately, the cat is only half domesti-
cated, and easily goes back to a wild state. If the dog
-loses its master it will soon find another, but the mature
cat is more likely to run wild. Thousands of these wild
or half-wild cats roam the country, destroying game birds,
squirrels, field mice, chickens, and any animal they can
master. The effect produced by cats is convincingly shown
where they have been introduced on islands, and have nearly
exterminated rabbits and greatly decreased the numbers of
birds. John Burroughs says that cats probably destroy more
birds than all other animals combined. William Dutcher,
president of the National Association of Audubon Societies,
considers the wild house cat one of the greatest causes of
bird destruction known. He says that the boy with the air
gun is not in the same class with the cat.

 

1 Probably there are some farms on which no cats are kept, but on one farm
in Worcester County thirteen are quartered and on another sixteen.
364 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Possibly no individual cat can kill as many birds in a
season as a single Cooper’s Hawk, but there are probably a
hundred cats in the State to each bird Hawk. A friend who
was raising Pheasants near a village was obliged to kill more
than two hundred cats in a few years. Another Pheasant
raiser, far from any village, found it necessary to kill about
two hundred wandering cats the first year. He was troubled
by Hawks also, but the number seen and killed was com-
paratively small. Such evidence goes to show that the cat
is particularly attracted by young birds. Dogs are less
destructive than cats, but they kill some birds, and eat
some birds’ eggs.

NATIVE FOUR-FOOTED ENEMIES.

There is something to be said against the fox, raccoon,
mink, skunk, and weasel as enemies of birds, but none of
these animals do much harm unless they are unusually abun-
dant. In that case any one of them may become pernicious.
This is most true of the fox and the weasel and least true
of the skunk, which is a great insect killer. Nevertheless,
the fox and the weasel kill many mice and other small mam-
mals, and so are of some service to the farmer. The relation
of squirrels to birds is more important.

Squirrels. ,

Some individual squirrels are habitual nest robbers. This
includes all species, but the red squirrel is the worst cul-
prit. Where squirrels have the nest-robbing habit they
may do more harm among birds than any other mammal
except the cat. They are active, can climb to almost any
bird’s nest, and can defend themselves when attacked by the
parent birds. Red squirrels and gray squirrels will rob
nests either on the ground or in trees, taking eggs or young
as they find them. The chipmunk usually molests only those
nests that’are on or near the ground.

The squirrels about my home in Wareham have this habit
to some extent. It may have been acquired, but in one
case, at least, it seems to have been inherited or instinc-
tive. Some young red squirrels were taken from the nest
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 365

 

before their eyes were opened, and while they were still
taking their mother’s milk, and could never have tasted
birds or eggs. They were afterwards given to Mr. C. Allan
Lyford, and reared in a cage at Worcester. One day, when
they were well grown, one was given its liberty. The first
thing it did was to climb an apple tree, go to a Robin’s
nest, and begin eating out the brains of a young bird. How-
ever, its eagerness for fresh meat may have been caused by
a lack of animal food in its cage diet. This habit of killing
young birds has been reported from several counties in the
State, and must be widespread. Squirrels are quite car-
nivorous. When meat is put up on trees for birds, squirrels
frequently come and eat it; also, they are destructive to
apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, and sometimes even to
grapes, and they dig up seed corn in planting time; but
they have two good habits, — they plant trees and they eat
insects. Once in summer, when there were no nuts, acorns,
or buds for squirrels to eat, I saw a gray squirrel in the
woods go over a black oak about fifty feet in height, search-
ing systematically, branch by branch, with its nose close to
the bark, and apparently catching about all the insects rest-
ing there. It went toa brown-tail moth web, and spent some
time there. I distinctly saw one caterpillar in its mouth.
The tree had been considerably infested by leaf hoppers and
caterpillars. As it had a small top, and could easily be ex-
amined, I climbed and inspected it after the squirrel had
gone. My search occupied about halfan hour. The smooth,
clean bark formed a dark, glossy background, on which in-
sects could plainly be seen, and the foliage was thin, and
not hard to examine; but I could find only about a dozen
insects, and no brown-tail caterpillars. Since then I have
observed other similar cases. It is not so widely known that
squirrels eat insects as that they rob birds’ nests. Possibly
their virtues may balance their faults ; but we shall never be
able to determine their economic position until a thorough
study of their food habits can be made.
366 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Rats and Mice.

Rats and mice kill some birds. Probably the tree-climbing
white-footed or deer mouse is one of the greatest enemies
that birds have among these smaller rodents, but under
natural conditions it is held in check by Owls.

FEATHERED ENEMIES.

Eagles are growing rare, and the more common Bald
Eagle feeds mainly on fish, hence it need not be reckoned
among the enemies of birds, although it may kill a few crip-

pled Ducks.
Hawks.

A very few species of Hawks are probably the most destruc-
tive native natural enemies of birds. AJl other Hawks kill
comparatively few. The Falcons, which are represented
here by three species, the Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius),
the Pigeon Hawk (Falco columbarius), and the Duck Hawk
(Falco peregrinus anatum), are pernicious. None of these,
however, are very common in the State, and for this reason,
mainly, their depredations are not to be compared with those
of the bird-killing Hawks. The Sparrow Hawk, a great in-
sect killer, kills fewer birds than either of the others, and is
regarded as a friend to the farmer. The other two Falcons
are uncommon or rare, and therefore kill few birds in this
State; but there are three species of pernicious Hawks:
the American Goshawk (Accipiter atricapillus) , the Cooper’s
Hawk or “Partridge Hawk” (Accipiter cooperii), and the
Sharp-shinned Hawk or “Chicken Hawk” (Accipiter velox).
The Goshawk is an uncommon or periodical winter visitant,
but the other two are fairly common, and individually are
probably the most destructive of all the natural enemies of
birds. They are slaty or bluish above, with rather short,
rounded wings, and long tails. When flying at any heignt
they progress by alternate periods of flapping and soaring.
They may be known by their shape and by their manner
of flight.

The Buzzards, or Hen Hawks, so called, get comparatively
few birds, but some individuals kill poultry. The Red-
 

 

 

PLATE XXXVI.— Barred Owl. (Photograph, from life, by C. A.
Reed.) (From American Ornithology.)
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 367

 

shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) is the most common and
also the most useful. This species feeds largely on meadow
mice. All the Buzzards are very destructive to field mice
or other small rodents, and on the whole may be regarded as
useful to the farmer. These are the large Hawks, with long,
broad wings, that are often seen soaring in circles.

The Marsh Hawk or Bog Hawk (Circus hudsonius), a
long, slender bird, the male of which is very light in color,
and the female brown with a white rump, is often seen
flying low over the meadows. This bird also is a great
destroyer of meadow mice, and is in general very useful.

Owls.

“All the Owls kill birds, but most species kill but few,
and live mainly on mammals, particularly rodents like mice,
rabbits, and hares, on the increase of which they constitute
an effectual check. The Snowy Owl (Wyctea nyctea) and
the Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula caparoch) are rather rare
winter visitors; but the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virgini-
anus), our largest resident species, is a great feeder on
skunks, “cotton-tail” rabbits, and mice, although it also
kills some game birds and small birds. This is the Owl
that hoots in the winter woods, Hd‘ hoo hoo, Hos’ hoo hoo,
Whoo’. It is often called the Cat Owl, because of its long
ear tufts; or the Hoot Owl, because of its lugubrious cries.

The Barred Owl (Syrnium varium) is another large Owl
that hoots lugubriously, but its call usually ends with a hol-
low hoo’aw, given with a falling inflection. It has a large,
round head, without ear tufts, and is barred with brown across
its whitish breast. This bird is also a mouse eater, but, like
the Great Horned Owl, it kills some poultry and game.

The Short-eared Owl (As?o accipitrinus) is a medium-sized
Owl, light yellowish-brown in color, streaked with blackish
above and colored plain buff below. It lives much about
meadows and marshes, where it hawks around in the dusk
as the Marsh Hawk does by day, quietly picking up mice.
It seems to be a very silent bird, and its long wings carry
it about in soundless flight, to the undoing of its prey.
At times it kills a good many small Sparrows on the marsh.
368 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The American Long-eared Owl (Asio wilsonianus) is a
bird of similar size and shape, but with a trifle larger head,
and very long ear tufts rising from near the middle of it.
It is dark brown above and light below. This is a long-
winged bird of the woods, a night hunter, hiding in thick
foliage of coniferous trees by day. It is a great killer of
wood mice and nocturnal insects, and kills a few birds.

The Screech Owl (Megascops asio), the smallest of the
eared Owls, is hardly as large as a Quail. It has two color
phases that are not attributable to age or sex, some indi-
viduals being reddish in color, while others are gray. Its
wailing cries are frequently heard about orchards in towns
and villages, as well as in the woods, and it commonly nests
in hollow orchard trees. This is one of the most useful of
all Owls. It is very destructive to moths, caterpillars, and
beetles, as well as wood mice and field mice. In winter it
enters barns and sheds, where it kills mice, and sometimes
when driven by hunger it kills and eats Doves. During
the breeding season it kills some small birds, particularly
if mice are not plentiful enough to furnish an abundance of
food for its young.

The Saw-whet or Acadian Owl (Nyctala acadica) is a
little brown Owl, with no eartufts. It is the smallest of all
the native species of Massachusetts. It is rather uncom-
mon, but very useful, as it feeds mainly on mice and insects
and rather rarely on birds.

The Barn Owl, perhaps the most useful of the family, is
rare here.

On the whole, while Owls must be ranked among the ene-
mies of small birds, they usually do so much more good than
they do harm that only under exceptional conditions can they
be regarded as injurious, although the Horned Owl is com-
monly considered pernicious because of its destruction of
game. .

Crows and Jays.

The Crows, Jays, and Magpies have acquired a world-wide
reputation as nest robbers. The common Crow and the Blue
Jay manage to live up to their reputation. My report on
the Crow and some additional notes on the destructiveness
 

ne ee

PLATE XXXVII.— Blue Jay’s Nest in Author’s Grove. (Photo-
graph, from life, by C. A. Reed.) (From American Ornithology.)
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 369

 

of both Crow and Jay have been published elsewhere.1 The
American Crow (Corvus americanus) is a most deadly enemy
to birds from the size of the Chipping Sparrow to that of the
Night Heron, Ruffed Grouse, and Black Duck, for it contin-
ually steals the eggs and young of such birds and poultry.
The evidence on this point is so con-
vincing and voluminous that it is
impossible to avoid this conclu-
sion, although it is quite prob-
able that only certain
individual Crows are
the criminals. Crows
not only destroy eggs and
young birds, but they have
been known to band together
to hunt down and kill adult birds
as large as the Ruffed Grouse.
The well-known Blue Jay
(Cyanocitta cristata) is destructive
to the eggs of the smaller birds,
whose nests it robs systematically,
and it has frequently been seen to
kill the young. The Robin and other
larger birds will drive the Jay away Pig: 165.— Bine Jay, one-
: alf natural size.
from their nests, but it often succeeds
in robbing them by stealth. Vireos, Warblers, and Spar-
rows it regards very little, and plunders their nests without
noticing their agonized cries. Jays and Crows together
sometimes make it very difficult for other birds to raise any
young. It would not be advisable to exterminate the Crow,
for it has many useful habits; but it should not be allowed
to increase at the expense of the smaller birds. Crows are
valuable as grasshopper killers, and they are destructive to
the gipsy moth. Jays eat the eggs of the tent caterpillar
moth, and the larve of the gipsy moth and other hairy cater-

  
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
  

 

1 See The Crow in Massachusetts, Annual Report of the Massachusetts State
Board of Agriculture, 1896, pp. 285-289; Two Years with the Birds on a Farm,
Ibid., 1902, pp. 147-149; and The Decrease of Certain Birds, [bid., 1904, pp. 498-
502.

a

f
370 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

pillars. Mr. S. Waldo Bailey informs me that Blue Jays
tear open the winter webs of the brown-tail moth and eat

the young larve.
The House Sparrow.

The House or " English” Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is
the only one of the smaller birds that has repeatedly been
seen to destroy the nests of other birds, break their eggs,
kill their young, mob them, and drive them away from
their homes. It occupies the houses of Bluebirds, Martins,
Swallows, and Wrens, and the nests of Barn Swallows,
Cliff Swallows, and Bank Swallows, and, by persistency and
force of numbers, drives the owners away. All careful ob-
servers who have watched the Sparrow ever since its intro-
duction, and have noted the effect produced upon other
birds by its presence, agree that it is pernicious.

Being a small bird, it necessarily eats many insects ; but it
lives more on grain and less on insects than any of the native
birds that it supplants, and is one of the few species that
deserves no consideration at the hands of the farmer.

Shrikes.

The Shrikes or Butcher Birds are regarded as beneficial ;
but our winter visitor, the Northern Shrike (Lanius bore-
alis), kills many small birds. It pursues Tree Sparrows,
Juncos, Song Sparrows, and
Chickadees, overtakes and
strikes them while they are in
flight, sometimes eating them,
but oftener leaving them to hang
on trees, where they furnish food
for other birds. When one sees
the little Butcher killing Chick-
adees and hanging them up, his
Fig. 156.—Northern Shrike, one-halt faith in its usefulness receives a

foe great shock. Shrikes are prob-
ably of less value here than in their northern homes, where
in summer they feed much on insects. Their chief utility
while here consists in their mouse-hunting proclivities.

 
CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 371

 

Other Bird Enemies.

Some Gulls and the larger Grackles or Crow Blackbirds
are accused, with some justice, of nest robbing. There
seems to be little satisfactory evidence against the Cuckoos,
except the general aversion shown toward them by other
birds.

Probably individuals of many species occasionally eat the
eggs of other birds or molest their nests, as do the Wrens.
Since we have acquitted the Catbird of the charge of robbing
birds’ nests, it is only fair to state that John Burroughs writes
that he saw a Catbird in the act. Still, we cannot conclude
that this is a common habit with the Catbird; it is probably
exceptional, as with the Oriole. While all the smaller birds
have their quarrels, it is not probable that many of them
seriously molest other species.

REPTILIAN ENEMIES.

All the common snakes, except, perhaps, the little green
snake, eat birds and eggs. Birds exhibit great dread of
snakes, but the Brown Thrasher or the Catbird will attack
them bravely in defence of their young. Some birds seem
to be incapacitated by terror when a snake appears at the
nest, and are rendered incapable of any effectual defence.
The common black snake is the greatest enemy the birds
have among native Ophidians, for it climbs trees with the
greatest ease, and is so swift that it is able to catch young
birds when they first leave the nest ; and sometimes it strikes
down an anxious parent.

FISH.

Large trout, bass, pickerel, or pike occasionally catch young
birds that fall into the water, and young water birds while
swimming are often in danger from them. Older birds learn
to avoid the rush of the fish. I have seen a Grebe spring
into the air to escape a pickerel that darted at its feet.

With this brief glance at the reasons for the decrease of
birds, and this enumeration of the natural enemies which
serve to regulate the increase in the numbers of birds, we
may now turn to the problem of bird protection.
372 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

CHAPTER XII.

THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS.

The first and most important step in bird protection to
be taken by the individual is to attract the birds about his
home, and endeavor to increase their numbers. The farmer
is especially well situated to do this. His garden, orchard,
and fertile fields lie about his buildings; and birds under
protection naturally gather about the farm home. The
dweller in a village or a city suburb is also well situated
for bird protection, provided he can fence out the cat and
suppress the Sparrow, for there the natural enemies that
live in the woods are absent, and the gunner is shut out.
Some of the most successful bird colonies have been estab-
lished in city gardens. Birds about the home can be readily
watched and protected at all seasons; their habits, their
wants, and their enemies can be observed and studied ; safe
nesting places can be provided, and each colony thus estab-
lished sends out annually many young birds to populate the
surrounding region. This accomplished, with little expense
and trouble, the farmer or gardener is the gainer, for birds
are not now generally numerous enough to keep down the
insects in our orchards, gardens, and fields, or to hold in
check the weeds in our cultivated grounds. If, however, by
furnishing extra food and nesting facilities, we can attract
about our homes more birds than the land normally sup-
ports, and there maintain them, they will form a very effec-
tive check on both weeds and insects.

It may be difficult for the individual to secure a perma-
nent increase of migratory insectivorous birds on his farm-
stead, for most of the young that are reared become victims
of casualties during migration ; but he can increase the num-
ber and size of the broods reared on his place, and thus aug-
ment the summer bird population, and he can double the usual
number of winter visitants found there. He may do much
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 373

 

better than this. Prof. C. F. Hodge has in three years been
able to show an increase of three hundred per cent. in the
native bird population of a city block. Whenever the best
methods of attracting and protecting birds become gener-
ally known and practised, a general increase of birds, and
a consequent great benefit to the farmer, must result.

METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS.

He who is about to purchase a farm or a country place
may, by keeping in mind the natural features which attract
birds, secure a location perfectly adapted to their wants.
Such a place should be so situated as to provide shelter
from cold, northerly winds and storms. It must be well
watered, and should be provided with small patches of
coniferous trees, and windbreaks of trees, shrubs, and vines.
Large groves of pines or other conifers are not particularly
desirable, as they provide nesting places for Crows, Jays,
Hawks, and other enemies of small birds. It should have
a great diversity of vegetation, including a variety of fruit-
bearing plants. A portion of the land should be wooded.
If there are too many trees, they may be cut in much less
timg than it takes to grow them; and those trees, shrubs,
and vines that are especially attractive to birds may be left.
It is well to leave some dead trees or dead limbs in which
the Woodpeckers can breed, for, unless these birds can be
induced to nest about the farm, the trees will suffer from
many insidious insect foes.

He who already owns a farm will usually have little diffi-
culty in making it a paradise for birds, but he may find
it more troublesome to protect them from their enemies.
Those who have groves of large white oaks are fortunate in-
deed, for it takes many years to grow these fine trees. The
acorns are sought by birds and squirrels, and the trees sup-
port thousandg of insects which are eaten by such useful
birds as the Blue Jay, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Gros-
beak, and Baltimore Oriole. The white or gray birch is
another important tree, for many birds feed on insects which
infest it in spring, summer, or autumn, and others feed on
its seeds in winter. The common gray alder has seeds
374 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

which birds eat in winter. The elms ripen their seeds
early, thus providing bird food in June, while their branches
furnish favorite nesting places for Robins, Orioles, and
Vireos. The spanworms which infest these trees are sought
by nearly all small land birds. The maples are favorite
nesting trees, and
their seeds, which
sometimes remain
on the trees, forma
staple article of food
for the Pine Gros-
beak. The seeds
of the ash are eaten
by Grosbeaks and
Purple Finches.
Among the conifer-
ous trees none are
more attractive to
certain birds than
the white pine, the pitch pine, and the larch or hackmatack.
The first two offer insect food to many Warblers; their cones
and shoots are utilized by birds and squirrels in winter. The
spruces and hemlocks also have their following among the
birds. These conifers are valuable for the shelter they pro-
vide in winter to all birds, from Owls to Sparrows.

There are numerous fruit-bearing trees, shrubs, and vines
that are essential to bird welfare. In the present state of
our knowledge of bird food it would not be difficult to name
most of these plants, giving with each a provisional list of
the birds that feed upon it; but it will be sufficient for the
present purpose to give merely a list of the plants, indicat-
ing by an asterisk which are among the most important as
furnishing food for a large number of birds.

 

Fig. 15'7.— Seed catkins of the gray birch.

A List of Fruit-bearing Trees, Shrubs, and Vines furnishing Food for

Birds.
Wild sarsaparilla, . ‘ Aralia nudicaulis.
* American mountain ash, , 5 3 . Sorbus Americana.
* European mountain ash, Z . 6 - Sorbus Aucuparia.
ip

* Staghorn sumac, . . ‘ . : - Rhus hirta.
 

June Berry. Ground Juniper.

PLATE XXXVIII.-- Fruits that are valuable as Bird Food.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 375

 

Smooth sumac,

Poison sumac, poison itepwand,

Poison ivy, 5

Raspberries, diiaulabentiog.
blackberries,

Rhus glabra.
Rhus Verniz.
Rhus radicans.

Rubus.

. (All species are ésten by birds.)

Wild or dwarf rose,

Rosa humilis.

(The hips of other species are probably eaten.)

Red-berried elder, red elder,

American elder, sweet elder, black

elder, .
Sweet gum,

Wild gooseberries and eames:

Sambucus pubens.

Sambucus Canadensis.
Liquidambar Sty eee

Rives.

(All species.)

Moonseed, Canada mioonseed, .
Virginia creeper, — woodbine,
Wild grapes,

Menispermum Canadense.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia.
Vitis.

“(all species.)
Probably all the thorn trees (Crategus), including the English haw-

thorn (Crategus Oxyacanthu),

Sassafras,
Red mulberry,
Russian mulberry, .

Hackberry, nettle tree or sugar heat,

American holly,
Winterberry, black alder,

(Probably other species of hietly
Climbing bittersweet, stafftree, wax-

work,
Bayberry (wax inyetle),.

Barberry, common (European),

Shad bush, June berry,
Red chokeberry,

Sassafras Sassafras.
Morus rubra.

Morus alba, var. Tatarica.
Celtis occidentalis.

Ilex opaca.

Llex verticillata.

(dlex) are also eaten.)

Celastrus scandens. *°
Myrica Carolinensis.
Berberis vulgaris.
Amelanchier Canadensis.
Aronia arbutifolia.

(Probably the lack divkebeny 4 is also eaten.)

Beach plum,

Prunus maritima.

(And polably other plums.)

Wild red cherry, bird cherry, .
Sand cherry,

Black cherry, rum cheney,
Choke cherry, .

Withe-rod,

Sweet viburnum, Nanny plow, ahisen

berry, .
Cranberry tree,

Prunus Pennsylvanica.
Prunus pumila.
Prunus serotina.
Prunus Virginiana.
Viburnum nudum.

Viburnum Lentago.
Viburnum Opulus. ~

 

1 Probably the berries of the arrowwoods of this genus are also eaten by birds.
376 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

* Greenbrier, catbrier, bullbrier, . Smilax rotundifolia.
Spice bush, fever bush, . Pe . Benzoin Benzoin.
* Blueberries and huckleberries, . Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.
(Nearly all species eaten.)
Cranberry, . : ; : . Oxycoccus macrocarpus.
Dwarf cranberry, . : 2 . Oxycoccus Oxycoccus.
Crowberry, . : : ‘ . Corema Conradit.
Bearberry, . . . : . Arctostaphylos Uva-Urst.
* Tupelo, sour gum, pepperidge, . Nyssa sylvatica.
* Flowering dogwood, ; : - Cornus florida.
* Red osier, dogwood, 5 : . Cornus stolonifera.
* Alternate-leaved cornel, green osier,
dogwood, . : Cornus alternifolia.
(The berries of Giibi species of eibersat are probably eaten.)
Partridge berry, . ; : - Mitchella repens.
* Red cedar, savin, . : . Juniperus Virginiana.
Common juniper, seountl juniper, . Juniperus nana.

This list probably does not include all the native trees,
shrubs, and vines that bear a more or less pulpy fruit and
contribute largely to the sustenance of birds, but it is be-
lieved that it comprises those of most importance, with the
addition of a few valuable introduced species.

There are many trees, not named in the above list, that
attract a few birds. The willows, for example, are fre-
quented by certain Warblers. Among the shrubs, the fruit
of the burning bush (Huonymus atropurpureus) is sought
by some birds. The berries of the nightshade (Solanum
nigrum), though believed to be poisonous, are eaten by
birds. The pokeweed (Phytolacca decandra) furnishes a
fruit which, though it is believed to have poisonous prop-
erties, is eaten by very many birds.

Those fruit-bearing plants which retain their fruit in win-
ter are of great importance. Such plants enable many birds
to exist through our winter storms. The bayberry is among
the most valuable of the low-growing shrubs. Nearly all
the winter birds, from the Kinglet to the Crow, eat these
berries. Where the bushes are not covered with snow, the
supply at Wareham usually becomes exhausted in February,
after which the Myrtle Warblers and many of the winter
Sparrows disappear. The bayberry bushes, being low, are
sometimes covered with the drifting snow, and then the
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 377

 

birds must seek their food from larger and higher shrubs,
trees, and vines. The mountain ash, black alder, and red
cedar are favorite fruiting trees in winter; while among
shrubs, barberry and sumac are much sought.

Fortunately, many of the trees or shrubs which furnish
food and shelter for birds are suitable for use in the ornamen-
tation of grounds.
Hedges may be made
of holly or hawthorn.
The red cedar and
other coniferous trees
are highly ornamen-
tal. Elm, maple, and
ash trees are all in
demand for shade.
Some of the shrubs
may be used as bor-
ders for drives or
massed to hide defects Fig. 158.—Fruit of the Virginia juniper or

red cedar.

in the landscape. The
Virginia creeper may be utilized in place of the imported ivy
vines. Many of the plants in our list may be employed in
forming tangles along stone walls, about rocky eminences, or
on the borders of swamps or ponds. Such tangles, overgrown
by smilax or other vines, form safe retreats for small birds
when pursued by Hawks, and furnish secure nesting places.
They also provide sheltered retreats for the winter birds.

 

Feeding and Assembling the Winter Birds.

The results of assembling the winter birds about the
farm and orchard are of the utmost value to the farmer.
Prof. H. A. Surface, State Zodlogist of Pennsylvania, writes
that a Mr. Mann, a well-known pear grower of Rochester,
N. Y., told him that one year the pear tree psylla had de-
stroyed his entire pear crop, and that he thought there were
no prospects of a crop the following year; but Nuthatches
came and worked “in flocks” in his orchard all winter, and
in the spring he could find hardly an insect. Thus these
Nuthatches saved him thousands of dollars in one winter.
378 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

We may properly include under the head of winter feeding
the provision of food for such land birds as migrate through
New England in late fall, winter, or early spring, and those
that are resident in winter. At that season the farmer is
likely to have more time to attend to birds than in summer,
and in the colder months they most need our help. No doubt
thousands of birds, that might have been saved with very
little trouble on the farmer’s part, have been starved in hard
winters.

We may expect to be visited in autumn by Robins and
other migrating Thrushes, some of which, in favorable sea-
sons, may remain through the winter. To keep such birds
in winter we must have sheltering evergreens, and vines,
shrubs, and trees which retain their fruit. The berries of
the Virginia creeper are especially acceptable to Thrushes.

It is very desirable to keep with us as long as possible
the many species of Sparrows which pass through the coun-
try on their way south in fall, and to persuade as many as
we may to remain through the winter. Careless husbandry
tends to bring these birds about in spring and fall, when
they gather to feed on weed seeds in neglected gardens and
fields ; but, if we wish to have them continue this good work
all through the winter and spring, they must be provided
with food, under shelter, to which they can resort during
snowstorms and afterward, while the snow lies deep or when
all vegetation is covered with a coating of ice from the driv-
ing sleet or freezing rain. The Sparrows seem to prefer, as
a place of refuge from their enemies, the shelter afforded by
thickets and tangles of deciduous bushes and vines, such as
may sometimes be found on the south side of a hill near the
edge of a swamp. A few brush piles will give them addi-
tional shelter. A little chaff scattered in the dooryard will
bring them about the house whenever a flurry of snow covers
the ground. Where there are scratching sheds for poultry,
with the south side of each shed open except for its screen
of poultry netting, the birds will find shelter and food on
cold and stormy mornings. Birds readily pass through or-
dinary two-inch mesh poultry netting, and when once in the
shed they are safe from the attacks of catsand Hawks. Where
 

 

 

ii
»
ra

 

 

 

 

PLATE XXXIX.—A Bountiful Repast. Juncos and a Tree Sparrow picking
up seed from the snow beneath author’s window.
 
UT Sp V oS V “IX ALV id
“psus Suryoyer iS = :
IG 1OF esnjel :
= fe
@ ‘TOQULAA |
oyIne 4
“OmOT, S.t

 

  

 
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 379

 

there are no cats, any shed near the house, and opening toward
the south, will be a good feeding place for birds. They will
go there to feed when snow lies deep on the ground. At
other times they will feed mostly in weed thickets, fields,
and gardens.

There are so many kinds of seeds that are relished by
birds that there will be no difficulty in furnishing them a
liberal supply of food when they need it. The farmer will
find on his barn floors chaff mixed with enough seed to feed
a large flock of birds through the entire winter. This should
be gathered from the leavings of the latest cut first crop of
hay, for there will be less matured séed of any kind in the
early cut hay. Those who wish to provide more attractive
food have their choice of the various seeds sold at the bird
stores. Farmers often grow sunflowers for the fowls. These
will attract Goldfinches ; sunflower heads or detached seeds
make a good winter food for birds. It isa good plan to give
one or more of the children a small patch of land near the
house, on which to raise Japanese millet. If sown broad-
cast on rich, moist soil, it will grow from five to seven feet
in height, and the large seed heads will supply an immense
quantity of seed. It takes but three or four square rods of
land to produce all the seed one will need for birds, for a
bushel or two ought to suffice for an ordinary winter.

Winter is the time, if ever, to feed the Jays and Crows.
If they do not molest the smaller birds they can do little
harm, and they may do much good. Hang up a choice bit
of carrion in the orchard or in the edge of the woods. It
should be seven or eight feet from the ground, so as to be
out of the reach of dogs or foxes. The skinned carcass of a
fox or a cat will do very well. It should be so placed that
the Crows can find no convenient roost within easy reach
of it. It will then last the longer, and keep more of them
from starvation. When the snow is deep they can resort to
it one or two at a time, and when patches of ground become
bare they will hunt meadow mice and dormant insects in the
fields and thickets. By feeding them you may prevent their
eating all the bayberries and other berries on which some of
the smaller birds depend for food. Jays are also of great
3880 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

benefit to the orchard, by eating the eggs of the tent cater-
pillar moth.

Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Chickadees are all attracted
by animal food. Juncos and Tree Sparrows acquire a taste
for it during deep snows, when their usual food is buried.
Unsalted bones, with meat, fat, or marrow attached, beef or

 

 

Fig. 159.— Downy Woodpecker ne on ce at the author’s window. (From Bird-
ore,
mutton tallow, fat, or suet may all be used for this purpose.
Beef bones from the market, hung upon or wired to the or-
chard trees, will furnish food for these birds. Some bones
should be split, to expose the contents. Fat or suet will give
the needed animal heat on which birds must rely during cold, .
stormy weather. Pork rind, even, may be used; but salt
meat is believed to be bad food for birds, although some will
eat it, and Crossbills appear to be very fond of it. Ifa bird
can get food enough, it can withstand very cold weather ; but
if it starves, it soon freezes. Bones or suet should be put
 

   

PLATE XLII.—Chickadees on Pork Rind. (Photograph by
A. C. Dike.)
 

 

 

 

PLATE XLIII.—Ernest Harold Baynes taming a
Chickadee.

 

 

 

  

ot
es ’ =
oa . a i . os -

ae

PLATE XLIV.— Chickadee feeding from
the Hand. (Photograph by A. C. Dike.)
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 381

 

out in October or early in November. It is important to
begin early, so that the birds may form a habit of coming
to the food before winter comes on. It should be renewed

or
} poe
t

peg

occasionally until
late in spring.
This will keep
birds about the
orchard all win-
ter, where they
will spend most
of the time in
hunting for the
eggs and other
forms of insects.
Food should be
put up on or near
those trees which
are known to
be infested by
Insects.
Chickadees and
Nuthatches are
remarkably un-
suspicious, and
any one who cares
to spend a little.
time in-the effort
may readily teach
them to eat from | bee vy
the hand. Sev- [simi | Meany
eral other species Fig. 160.—The birds’ Christmas tree at the author’s farm-
may be enticed to house. (From Bird-Lore.)
our windows, where their habits and manners may be studied
in comfort even in the most blustering winter weather. We
accomplished this as follows: small shrubs or branches of
trees were fastened upright on each window sill, extending
over the entire window, and fastened at each side to the
window frame, as shown in Fig. 159. To these branches
pieces of meat were attached, about a foot apart. The suet

 

 
382 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

should be wound on firmly with string or wrapped in wire
netting, so that it cannot be carried off bodily. At first the
birds would come only one at a time, but when they became
accustomed to this method of feeding, four or five birds would
feed together at a window. “ Chickadees usually came first,
Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers next, and Blue Jays
last. .

While these birds were being enticed to the windows, the
Sparrows were fed with seeds and crumbs thrown out upon
the snow. Next, a
shelf or table four and
one-half feet long and
two feet wide was made .
of rough box boards.
This was bound round
with a narrow cleat and
covered with burlap,
to prevent seeds and
crumbs from blowing
off. A little pine tree
was next set up in the
centre of the food table,
the table or shelf was
fastened under a win-
dow sill on the south
side of the house, vari-
ous food materials were
attached to the tree and
spread upon the table, and the “ birds’ Christmas tree” was
ready.

The Chickadees came to it at once, and the first snow-
storm brought the native Sparrows. At first there was quar-
reling among them, as all wanted to feed at once, and both
tree and table were small ; but necessity finally brought about
more amicable relations, and at last many birds of different
species would feed together. At first the Sparrows were
shy, and flew off at the first movement made by any one
inside. Later, one could sit by the window and see perhaps
eight or ten birds of three or four species busily feeding, a

 

 

un)

Fig. 161.—The birds’ tepee. (From Bird-Lore.)
 

PLATE XLV.—Chickadees seen on a Frosty Morning, through Author’s
Window.
 

 

PLATE XLVI.—A Red-breasted Nuthatch at the
Window. (Photograph, from life, by C. Allan
Lyford.)
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 383

 

few feet away. Quick motions on the part of the observer
should be avoided. If the birds are shy, a lace sash curtain
may be put up. They cannot see through this, and may be
watched at leisure.

We have fed the birds in this way for years. A flock of
Juncos and Tree Sparrows and two Fox Sparrows remained
about our house through the hard winter of 1903-04. Many
Jays came to the trees near by, and some to the windows.
Crows came within twenty yards of the house. Myrtle
Warblers occasionally came to the windows. Downy Wood-
peckers, two species of Nuthatches, Flickers, Creepers,
Kinglets, Crossbills,
Robins, Grouse, Quail, [
and Pheasants were seen
about the house from time
to time. A large dry
goods box in which grain
and chaff were scattered window’
was set out on the north se
side of the house. This
box was open only on the
south side. The Quail
and Pheasants soon found / \ Bdord & aft
it. Then it was moved i
daily a little nearer the
house, until the birds had 7#102-—- Pen ee
learned to feed about the
door-yard.1_ The presence of so many birds gave a healthy
stimulus to observation, and served to break the monotony
of winter isolation on the farm. While in the bleaker por-
tions of the State it may not be possible to assemble so
many, some may be attracted anywhere.

Even our city friends who try this plan need not despair
of seeing, now and then, besides the ubiquitous Sparrow,
some of the wild birds of field and woodland. In many lo-

  
  

sLight spring

 

 
 

Board to’long by 6°high

 

1 It is of the utmost importance to provide food and shelter for Quail in winter.
An old box or barrel, a shelter of rails in a fence corner, or a “‘ birds’ tepee” of
bean poles, any one of which is kept supplied with a little grain, may carry
through a severe winter Quail enough to stock a whole township by their increase.
384 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

calities the swarming House Sparrows will come to the feast
and drive the native birdsaway. A hinged shelf (Fig. 162)
supported by a light spring, which has been designed by a
contributor to Bird-Lore, is believed to be Sparrow-proof.

This method of feeding gives an opportunity to see what
foods are selected by wild birds when given their choice.
It is interesting to note that the birds at our windows have
not learned to eat bread except in the shape of fine crumbs.
When birds learn that bread is good, they will eat it from
the loaf. Many kinds of food may be utilized; doughnuts,
frozen milk, pork rind, nuts, and seeds all find favor with
the birds. Jays prefer chestnuts and corn. Sand and coal
cinders give birds the wherewithal to grind their food when
snow covers the usual supply of material on the ground.

Every family living in the country in winter needs the
pleasure and community of interest to be had in thus cater-
ing to the wants of the birds. Each farmhouse should have
at least one window shelf for them. We should teach the
children to feed them and watch for them. Thus we may
benefit both child and bird, and gain pleasure and profit for
ourselves.

Attracting the Summer Birds.

The term “summer birds” may be defined as including
all summer residents, or those birds which remain through
the summer to breed. In winter we have only to offer food
to the birds to attract them; shelter and protection will
retain them; but in summer birds must have food, water,
protection, and a home. Food in quantities they always
need, especially when engaged in rearing their young.
Nature provides this in summer, but we may help them
even then by putting out favorite foods. The supply of
suet should be kept up until hot weather, and it is better
to continue it all summer, for its presence may decide some
of the resident birds to remain and nest near the house or
in the orchard. The male Chickadee will take suet to feed
to his sitting mate, and the parent birds will take it for a
part of their own food while feeding their young mainly on
insects.

If we wish to attract useful birds to the garden, it is well
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 385

 

to begin to feed birds when they are migrating in April,
by scattering a little cracked corn, oats, wheat, barley, or
millet seed in the yard near the garden or along the garden
paths. This may attract Sparrows, Thrashers, and Black-
birds, some of which may decide to remain in the vicinity
for the summer. These birds and the Robins and Catbirds
will make themselves useful by feeding on insects at plowing
time.

Birds will drink and bathe even in winter, when they can
find water; but in summer they must have water for both
purposes. When the streams are frozen, snow takes the
place of water; but in summer, if water is not at hand,
birds must get it by drinking dew and by eating fruits or
succulent green vegetation. Where there is running water
about the house or garden, they may do very well without
further provision for their needs; but it is best in any case
to arrange a place where they can drink and bathe without
being exposed to the attacks of cats and Hawks. A shallow
pan set on the window shelf or on the top of a post on the
shady side of the house, some four or five feet from the
ground, will answer every purpose. A shelving stone may
be put in, to give a varying depth of water in different parts
of the pan. The water should not be more than two inches
deep anywhere, and not more than half an inch deep on one
side of the pan. If this is put out in the spring, and the
birds become accustomed to visiting it, they will require less
fruit than usual. The’ water should be changed every day.
This pan will be a source of enjoyment to the household
during the noontime, when all may watch the birds bathe
and splash the water about. Where there is running water
a drinking fountain may easily be arranged. This may be
placed on the lawn, slightly elevated, and supplied from a
drip; such a fountain should need little attention. Orna-
mental fountains and watering troughs are often so deep
that there is no chance for birds to drink or bathe. There
should always be shallow water somewhere. Most orna-
mental ponds have no provision for birds. The water is too
deep or the coping too high. In such cases a large stone
with a surface shelving into and just beneath the water, or
386 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

a shallow floating basin, provided with a wide wooden rim
to keep it afloat, may be used.

There are usually springs or brooks about the farm, where
birds can drink or bathe; but too often the long grass or
low bushes about these
drinking places conceal
the crafty cat, which lies
in wait to catch birds
when their feathers are
wet from bathing. A
fountain on the closely
cropped lawn, like the
one designed by Mr.
Chapman, is admirable
if cats can be kept from
it.

When the cherry
trees are in blossom
the Hummingbirds
come. There should
be a succession of
nectar-bearing flowers

 

   

Fig. 163.—Mr. Chapman’s bird bath. (From in the garden, to at-

eee ehe tract them. The gla-
diolus, honeysuckle, and bee balm are favorite flowers, but
many others lure the Hummingbirds.

Providing Nesting Places about Buildings.

When the tide of bird life begins to turn northward in the
spring, and before farm work becomes pressing, we should
see that plenty of suitable nesting places are provided about
our buildings for the birds, and that there is an abundant
supply of nesting material with which they can construct
their homes.

Birds, like men, are largely controlled by circumstances.
The presence or absence of a nesting place may decide a pair
of birds for or against the acceptance of a certain locality as
a place of residence.

In the rough buildings of our grandfathers there were
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 387

 

always openings left for the birds to enter. The rafters
were round or rough-hewn timbers, on which they could
find points of attachment for their nests. Most barns now
built are closely boarded and battened, clapboarded or
shingled to the ground. No entrance hole is left for the
birds. The timbers are sawn so smoothly that the birds,
if they get in, can find no safe attachment for their nests.
Even where the eaves project so as to give sufficient shelter
for Swallows, the mud with which they build their nests
will not stick to the planed and painted boards.

Let every farmer having such a barn cut an ornamental
opening at least a foot wide in each gable, leaving it open
all summer, so that the Swallows may fly in; or; better still,
cut an opening three or four feet long over the barn door,
through which Swallows can go at will. Let him nail rough
cleats horizontally on some of the rafters, or put up little
bracket shelves thereon; and let each farmer having a barn
with wide, projecting eaves put up a long shelf, cleat, or
joist on the side of the barn within a foot of the eaves, for
the Eaves Swallows; and we may in time have more Swal-
lows than ever before, provided care is taken to shoot ma-
rauding English Sparrows. If we had more Swallows and
Phcebes we should have fewer flies, mosquitoes, and garden
pests.

The Chimney Swifts have been driven away by the con-
struction of modern chimneys, and destroyed by unseason-
able storms. They still nest in the large chimneys of the
older houses. A box made of boards planed on the out-
side may be built of the size and shape of an old-fashioned
chimney, with similar divisions, and firmly fastened upon
the roof of a building, to attract the Swifts. It is not nec-
essary that it be high, or even that it be upon the top of a
building ; but it should be out of reach of cats. Possibly a
few thin, wooden cleats nailed horizontally inside will assist
the birds. By means of a door in such a structure, and an
arrangement of mirrors, the habits of these interesting birds
may be studied.

The Pheebe prefers a roof over its head, such as is some-
times furnished by the upturned roots of a large tree, a
388 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

bridge, barn, shed, or unoccupied house. It will occupy
almost any shed, barn, or barn cellar near a pond or stream,
but its nest is sometimes broken down for lack of a proper
support. A box like that in Fig. 164 will be acceptable to
the Pheebe if nailed up to the plate or rafters of a low shed.
If the shed is closed, an opening
should always be left for the birds.
An open window, with a few bars
across it to keep out cats and human
intruders, is all that is necessary.
Pheebes sometimes build on a shelf
under projecting eaves. They par-
ticularly like a rough stone build-
ing. Robins will often build in rough boxes or trays, or on
shelves put up under eaves or piazzas, in arbors or even in
buildings. ‘

Having provided nesting places for all the birds that may
be induced to nest within our buildings, we may next turn
our attention to making nesting boxes. .

 

Fig. 164.— Phebe’s nest in box.

Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes.

Since the use of the axe and saw in woodland and orchard
has deprived many birds of their natural nesting places in
hollow trees or limbs, there is no better way of providing for
an increase of the numbers of such birds than by furnishing
them with artificial building sites. Bluebirds found drowned
in cisterns, Owls, Flickers, and Wood Ducks found dead in
the stove pipes of unoccupied buildings, all show the straits
to which birds are now driven in the search for a nesting site.
All apertures that lead to such death-traps should be closed,
and a plentiful supply of artificial breeding places should be
provided.

What more interesting occupation can there be for the
children on the farm than that of preparing nesting boxes
for the birds? This is the surest way of increasing the
summer bird population, for birds do not lack food in sum-
mer so much as safe nesting places in which to rear their
young.

Unfortunately, however, a great obstacle to success with
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 389

 

native birds is found in all cities and most villages of the
State. The introduced House or “English” Sparrow comes
first, and occupies the boxes. The Sparrow will nest in all
boxes except those that are suspended by a wire or rope.
Bluebirds and Tree Swallows will sometimes occupy such
Sparrow-proof boxes; but the farmer
need not use them, for he can keep
his place clear of Sparrows by a
vigorous use of the shotgun, and
by putting up nesting boxes he may
bring back the native birds. There
are many localities where the Spar-
row has never been very troublesome,
and where native birds have contin-
ued to breed practically unmolested.
In such places we may put up fixed
bird houses, with the confident ex-
pectation that Tree Swallows or
Bluebirds will nest in them, which is
more than can be said of the swinging
boxes. Nevertheless, where Spar-
rows are very troublesome, the only Fig. 165.—Sparrow-proof box,
bird box that is practical is one that ee ee

is hung by wire. Sparrows seem to be afraid of any box or
perch that is not firmly fastened. :

Wrens are not generally common, and the Purple Martins
were so decimated by the storms of June, 1903, that people
who can establish Martin colonies will be fortunate indeed ;
but the Flicker, the Chickadee, and the Screech Owl are
among the possibilities, while we may by chance attract the
White-breasted Nuthatch, Crested Flycatcher, or little Saw-
whet Owl.

Let no one neglect to put up bird houses because of the
expense. No money need be expended. Birds are not very
fastidious about their quarters. Old, weather-beaten lumber
seems to be more attractive to them than that which is newly
planed or painted, probably because it resembles in appear-
ance the weathered stumps or limbs in which they naturally
find their homes. Very acceptable nesting boxes may be

 
390 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

made from a hollow limb sawed in sections, with tops and
bottoms made of an old board, and a hole bored in each
section for an entrance.

Artistic imitations of hollow limbs may be made of papier-
maché, but this involves some expense. The best imitations
of a hollow log that I have seen were constructed of the
bark and wood of a sound tree. In Bird-Lore for January—
February, 1905, and in the Youth’s Companion of April 13,
1905, I described the method of making these boxes, but
at that time they were untried. They have since had two
seasons’ trial, with very satisfactory results. To Mr. William
Brewster belongs the credit of their invention, and I have
made a considerable number after his design. White birch
and chestnut were used, as it was believed that the bark of
these trees would be most durable, but Mr. Brewster now
suggests that elm bark is probably best of all. Those por-
tions of the trunks used were from four to eight inches in
diameter. The boxes were made in summer, as the bark
will not usually peel well before about June 20, and then
only for a short time. When the tree had been cut down, the
trunk was sawed into sections from ten to eighteen inches
long, according to the size of the boxes desired. Only straight
sections, free from knots or branches, were used. A branch
of the right size, however, may, when cut off, leave a hole
in the bark that can be utilized as an entrance for the birds.

These domiciles may be made as follows: an incision is
made on the side intended for the back of the box, through
both outer and inner bark, from the top to the bottom of each
section ; then, on the opposite side, some two or three inches
from the top, bore through the bark, with an auger or ex-
tension-bit, a hole of the size desired for the entrance. If
such tools are not at hand, the aperture may be cut with a
gouge, a chisel, or evena knife. Next insert a wedge-shaped
stick into the incision at the back and under the inner bark,
to start it off, and with this implement peel it very carefully.
In peeling birch, be careful not to separate the inner and
outer layers of the bark. Be particularly cautious when
working about knots or rough places. The bark will make
the sides of the box, and two sections, each an inch thick,
   
  

 
  

    

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Fig. 8. ares

PLATE XLVII.— Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes. Fig. 1, hollow limb nest-
ing box; Fig. 2, birch bark bird house; Fig. 8, slab bird box; Fig. 4, cat-proof
box; Fig.5,a use for an old funnel; Fig. 6, chestnut-bark nesting box; Figs. 7
and 9, boxes with slide fronts; Fig. 8, house for Tree Swallow.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 391

 

sawed from the ends of the stick, will make the top and bot-
tom. These must be reduced in size by a shave until the
bark can be lapped fully half an inch at the incision on the
back. Now tack the bark to the bottom and top. Such a
box may be put up by nailing or screwing a short stick or
pole over the Jap on the back, which stick can
in turn be nailed or screwed to the support.
To make the roof watertight, a piece of thin,
green bark from a young pine may be put on
and tacked down over the edges. It will fit
like soft leather, and make a neat appearance ;
but experience has shown that it will not long
resist the effect of sun and rain. A more per-
manent covering may be made by using a piece
- of tin or zinc, as shown in the figure of the
chestnut bark box (Plate XLVI, Fig. 6); or
a roof may be made of birch bark, as shown in
Plate XLVI, Fig. 2. To make the expected ,,., eae
nest accessible to examination, the top of the _ barknesting box,
bark sides might be fastened to a hoop, and Seana
the whole capped by a tin or wooden cover, like that of a
lard pail or a berry box. The best support is a slim pole.

Serviceable dwellings for birds may be made of the shells
of gourds. Seedsmen advertise the seed, and any one can
grow gourds. Squashes, even, may be utilized. The hard-
shelled, old-fashioned winter,crook-neck would make a stout
castle for a Bluebird or a Martin.

Four old shingles and two pieces of old board will make
a box like that shown in Fig. 167. This may be nailed up
in a tall tree near the house, or on a building. It must be
out of reach of cats, or the young are likely to be clawed out
of the hole by these stealthy marauders. To checkmate the
cat, a much deeper box may be made, with a small, high-
placed round hole for the entrance, and a sloping, overhang-
ing roof, which helps to keep out both water and cats. (See
Plate XLVI, Fig. 4.) There is another advantage in a
box of this pattern. The young birds find it rather hard to
get out of such a box at first. They have to make many
attempts, and when they finally escape they are quite strong

 
392 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

and less likely to be caught by cats, Crows, or snakes than
they would be if reared in a box from which they could get
out before they were fully fledged.

For practical utility a nesting box should not only provide
the birds with an acceptable nesting site, but it should also
furnish them perfect protection from the elements and their
larger enemies, and should be so made
that the interior can be quickly examined
and the contents removed, if necessary.
The roof or cover should be hinged or
made to take off, so that if any young
bird fails to get out it may be liber-
ated; while if undesirable tenants, such
as mice, Sparrows, or squirrels, get in,
they may be ousted. The box is much
more satisfactory as a protective device
if made so strong that neither Wood-
peckers nor squirrels can easily enlarge
the entrance sufficiently to allow ene-
mies of the occupants to get in. All
these essentials may be secured without
expense by using worn-out or discarded
utensils or receptacles.

An empty tomato can may in a few
Fig. 167.—Shingle box, minutes be made into a nesting box by

een ee slitting the tin of the opened end twice
and turning down the piece between the slits, thereby mak-
ing a hole not over an inch wide and high. It can be put up
very quickly by placing the bottom of the can against a tree
trunk and nailing it there with two wire nails driven diago-
nally through the edge, or by fastening it to a piece of board
or a pole, which can be attached to a tree or building. The
cover may be kept in place by pinching the mouth of the can
a little. The tomato can box is shown in Plate XLVIII.
This is a practical box for Wrens, and it may be used by
Bluebirds if the entrance is made larger.

When holes are cut through tin, the sharp edges round the
opening should be turned over with a pair of pliers, that the
birds may not injure themselves in going in or out. Rusty

 
 

 

   

PLATE XLVIII.— Inexpensive Nesting Boxes. Tomato can, Bluebird box,
old teakettle, peach can, Owl box, and kerosene can.

at

 

 

ee Xe Mek ee Ss. Welle

ae

PLATE XLIX.— Chickadee about to enter its Nest, in an Old Varnish Can.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 393

 

or painted tin is best, for birds seem suspicious of bright
surfaces. There should be a few nail holes in the lower side,
to allow the escape of any water that may drive in.

A large funnel may be nailed to a piece of board, and the
board fastened on the side of the barn; or the funnel itself
may be fastened to the building. This may be used by a
Wren or a Chickadee. (See Plate XLVII, Fig.5.) Anold
coffee pot may be set upon a post, or fastened to a bracket
which may be set against the side of a building. Milk cans,
lard pails, flower pots, teakettles, and many other utensils
may be utilized, and fastened up in various ways to trees or
buildings; and, although they may not be ornate, the birds
will find them useful. There should be no projection or limb
immediately beneath a nesting box, to give cat or Crow a
foothold from which to reach into the nest ; but it is always
better to have a small limb or stick, as a perch, within a few
feet, to serve as a rest for the parent birds. Small wooden
boxes, such as may be found at the stores, if not over six by
eight by fifteen inches, may be used. Those who have time
and lumber to spare may make bird houses of any shape to
suit their tastes; but a few suggestions as to construction
and situation will not be out of place.

If one wishes to accommodate only a certain species of
bird, the entrance to the nesting box should be made so small
that no larger bird can enter. Boxes made on this principle
for small birds will protect the eggs and young from Crows
and Jays. A round hole one and one-fourth inches in di-
ameter will do for either Wrens or Chickadees ; but a Wren
can use a smaller opening, just the size of a silver twenty-five-
cent piece, and such a doorway is small enough to keep out
“English” Sparrows. The Chickadee can use a one and one-
eighth inch hole, but some will not be content with one less
than one and one-fourth inches in diameter. Bluebirds and
Tree Swallows can pass through a one and one-half inch aper-
ture. This is usually large enough, and will keep out Jays.
The two-inch hole usually recommended is too large, for it
will admit both Martins and squirrels. These entrances may
be round, square, or oblong. If made oblong, the measure-
ments given should be used horizontally, the vertical diame-
394 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

ter being made a little larger. The Flicker will sometimes
enter a knothole, only two and one-half inches in diameter,
in an old apple tree; but if so small an opening is made in
a box put up for this bird, it may not use it. For a Flicker
or a Screech Owl the entrance should be made at least three
or three and one-half inches in diameter.

In making boxes of the form illustrated as the cat-proof
box (Plate XLVI, Fig. 4), the following inside dimensions
are sufficient. Boxes for Wrens or Chickadees may be made
twelve by four by five inches, with the entrance hole close
to the top. They may be placed from six to twenty-five
feet from the ground.! A perch is not necessary. Boxes for
Flickers are best if made from hollow limbs or covered with
bark. These birds do not need perches. If limbs with the
bark on are used, they should be cut in late summer, autumn,
or early winter, when the bark will adhere. A box for a
Flicker may be eight by ten by fifteen inches, and should be
placed from six to twenty-five feet up. A similar box twelve
inches square and fifteen high would be ample for a family
of Sereech Owls.? A box twelve by five by six inches is
ample for Swallows or Bluebirds, and should be placed from
twelve to thirty feet from the ground. Swallows and Blue-
birds like perches. The long diameter of the box should
be from front to back. The sitting bird will then face the
entrance, —a good position for defence. A single tene-
ment will accommodate a family of Martins, but a colony
of these birds should be secured, if possible.

Some writers have recommended putting up boxes with
the entrance facing the east or north. This may be right in

 

1 The distances from the ground as given here are not arbitrary. I have known
the Chickadee, for instance, to nest at different heights, from two to fifty-five
feet from the ground.

2 This size of box is probably none too large for the Screech Owl, as three or
four young birds soon render the edges of the nest very filthy, and on this ac-
count probably requireextraroom. Nevertheless, a pair of Screech Owls at our
home in Wareham reared a brood of four young in the grocery box shown in the
upper figure on Plate XLVIII. Allowing the birds to be the best judges of what
they want, the dimensions of this box, seven by eleven by fifteen inches, and the
size of the entrance, three by four inches, may be useful to those who wish to at-
tract this bird. It was noted that during the daytime, at least, the mother Ow] in
this box always sat with her head away from the entrance, and in the darkest
corner, —an incubating position sometimes assumed by the day birds that nest
in boxes.
 

 

 

 

sae ae A
PLATE L.— Owl Box, at Author’s Home. The front has been removed,

and the mother lifted to show the downy young. (Photograph, from
life, by C. Allan Lyford.)
 

 

PLATE LI.— Owl on Nest. This view, taken later, shows growth of young,
and also feathers of Blue Jays killed by Owl. (Photograph, from life, by
C. Allan Lyford.) 3
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 395

 

Europe or west of the Rocky Mountains, but it is unsafe
here, where our severest rainstorms come from the north-
east. The entrance should face the south or west, wherever
possible. It is also best to have boxes, especially tin ones,
so situated that they will be shaded by trees or buildings

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 168.—Chickadees feeding their young in an observation box at the author’s
window. (From Reed’s American Ornithology.)

during the hotter part of the day. By these precautions
we may guard against the danger of having the young birds
wet and chilled by cold storms or overheated by the sun.
In very hot weather young birds in unshaded boxes some-
times die from excessive heat.

Those who wish to study the domestic affairs of birds may
construct an observation box with a door on one side, back
of which a pane of glass is set. Such a bird house may be
set up on a window sill, so that by opening the door the feed-
ing and care of the young birds may be watched through the

’
396 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

glass. I have often thus watched Bluebirds and Chickadees
feeding their young.

Thus far it has been my intention to show how expense may
be avoided in the construction of nesting boxes. Neverthe-
less, expensive ornamental bird houses add to the attractive-
ness of a country home, and may be displayed where old tin
cans and cheap boxes
would be out of place.
In building such bird
houses the best plan is
to imitate the design
of some dwelling. A
pretty cottage ora
country villa may be
constructed in minia-
ture. The large bird
houses sometimes made
are highly ornamental ;
but most of our native
species are not social in
their nesting habits, and
when a large house is put up it is likely to be occupied either
by a single pair of birds or by Purple Martins or House
Sparrows. Such houses are sometimes occupied by both
Martins and Sparrows, but in such cases the Sparrows usu-
ally in the end drive out the Martins. Ifthe Sparrows can be
driven away, there is no bird that can be so readily increased
in numbers by putting up nesting boxes as can the Purple
Martin. When once a colony of Martins becomes estab-
lished, it will in a few years fill several large bird houses
with its increase. The experience of Mr. J. Warren Jaccbs,
who established a large colony, illustrates this.! A few Mar-
tins are returning to some of their old homes in this State ;
they should be encouraged. The houses should be either
taken down in fall and not put up until the Martins return
in spring, or the entrances to the rooms should be closed up
until spring, that the Sparrows may have no opportunity to
get in before the Martins return. Were the Sparrows de-

 

Fig. 169.— A Martin box.

 

1 The Story of a Martin Colony, by J. Warren Jacobs, Waynesburg, Pa.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 397

 

stroyed and more Martin boxes put up, we might have, in
time, more Martins than ever. A house for a large Martin
colony ordinarily involves the expenditure of a considerable
sum; but a very good house, that will accommodate a colony
of ordinary size, may be made from a flour barrel. The roof
is of zinc,. or of wood covered with painted canvas. The
Martin house should be placed on a pole at least fifteen to
twenty feet high. It should have sev-
eral large rooms, with entrances two to
three inches in diameter, that it may
provide room enough for several pairs
of birds, and that each tenement may be
readily inspected and cleaned when nec-
essary, and the whole house should be
painted in light colors, that: thé young
birds may not suffer too much from the
rays of the hot sun. It should be so
constructed that the young birds may
not be readily crowded out of the nest,
and so become the prey of cats. Sucha Fig. 170.—A Martin
catastrophe may be guarded against by ialiee
having a shelf or piazza extending round the house beneath
each tier of doorways, and constructing a railing at least
three inches high round the platform. Each of these plat-
forms should have a‘slight downward pitch, to carry off the
rain and prevent it from driving into the doorways below.
There should be no brackets beneath the box, for they afford
the cat a foothold. Many other designs will suggest them-
selves. A barrel might be covered and roofed with bark and
the railings made of twigs. In fitting up the roonis, a square
box should first be made, to go up the center of the barrel.

 

 

+ An attempt might be made to establish the Martins by bringing here in the
night from other States bird houses occupied by Martins, young and old, and
setting them up on poles prepared for them in suitable localities here. There is
reason to believe that such introductions would succeed if carefully conducted
when the young had made about half their growth. One successful attempt is
on record. There is a plentiful supply of food here for Swallows and Martins.
The increase of mosquitoes and flies in many localities since the summer of 1903,
when so many of these birds were destroyed, has attracted wide attention. The
reinstatement of the Martins is an important matter, which should engage the
attention of the State Board of Agriculture.
398 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

All the rooms will be backed by this, and the pole will go
into it. The pole may be made to go into a socket in the
ground, and then both pole and house may be taken down
in the fall and kept under shelter until the Martins return in
the spring; or, if the pole is hinged near the bottom, the
box may be still more readily taken indoors. This will
prevent the Sparrows from intrenching themselves within.
If a cedar pole is used, the bottom should be well tarred
wherever it comes in contact with the ground. It should
be set deep in the ground to give it the requisite firmness.
If the nests of Martins are dusted occasionally with fresh
insect powder, it will relieve them of the vermin which
always congregate in large, occupied bird houses.

Furnishing Nesting Material.

An abundance of suitable and easily accessible nesting
material may chiefly influence some birds in choosing a site
for a home.

It is now believed that the Parula Warbler breeds only
where the usnea moss grows luxuriantly, for in this moss she.
usually secretes her nest, constructing it largely of the same
material. Robins, Swallows, and Phcebes must have mud for
nest building. The Chipping Sparrow lines her nest with
hair, usually that of the horse, cow, or deer. Vireos and
Orioles must have hair or strands of some kind to construct
the pendent fabrics which they skillfully weave. If we hang
nesting materials on bushes, trees, or fences, or place them
on the ground in the open, where birds will be in no danger
from cats while securing them, this may prove to be the final
“straw” which will decide several pairs of birds to nest on
our premises. Such supplies, when watched, furnish ready
means of tracing the nest builders to their nests. We can
then take means to protect the nests from marauders. Root-
lets, fibers of birch, cedar or grape vine bark, straw, fine
hay, hair, feathers, thread, twine, rope yarn, jute, sphag-
num moss, —all will serve a purpose. It is important to
furnish twine, hemp, yarn, or some similar material for the
Orioles; otherwise they may get it by tearing to pieces the
nests of other birds which have used such materials.. In
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 399

 

dry weather we may provide mud for Robins, Swallows, and
Pheebes to use. At such a time a Robin has been seen to
wet its feathers and then trail them in the dust to make mud
for its nest. Put a pan of mud or clay on the window shelf,
and see if the birds do not find it. All other nesting mate-
rial should be exposed constantly from April to August.

Feeding the Summer Birds.

The food table or window shelf should be supplied with
food all summer. It may help out some bird when in times
of storm or temporary scarcity it can hardly find sufficient
food for its young. We can make feeding experiments with
grains and seeds, nuts and fruits, cooked foods, cereals, bread,
and cake. There should be some food at hand for insect-
‘eating birds and their young, that we may teach them to
trust us. Taming an old bird in summer is usually up-hill
work; but now and then a Catbird or Robin, more confid-
ing than the rest, may learn to come to be fed or even take
food from the hand. Practically all birds will eat hairless
caterpillars, such as the cankerworms; most of them are
fond of grasshoppers and meal worms. We may now and
then find it necessary to feed some young birds, when cold
storms cut short the natural food supply.

Occasionally a young bird jumps or falls from the nest be-
fore it is full-fledged and strong. Such birds are likely to fall
a prey to cats, snakes, or Crows ; but we may be able to save
them by a little care or a few days’ feeding. It will not do
to return the young fledgeling to the nest, as usually it will
not stay there. If the weather is warm and the parents are
at hand, the youngster may now be put in a cage with an oil
cloth cover over its top, and the cage hung on the branch of
a tree near the nest, where the parents sometimes will feed
the fledgeling through the bars. It can be watched a little,
taken in, and kept very warm for a few nights, when it may
be allowed to go with the rest of the brood. If the parent
birds are dead or have deserted the helpless young, it will be
something of a task to supply by hand the wants of the
young birds, as they need feeding often during daylight,
and should be fed about all they will eat. Grasshoppers and
400 USEFUL BIRDS,

 

hairless caterpillars, with chopped lean meat and a few earth-
worms cut up, will make a good substitute for the natural
food. Those who wish to experiment in this way should
read the chapter on taming and feeding birds in Nature Study
and Life, by Prof. C. F. Hodge. They may thereby avoid
mistakes, save much trouble, and preveut a useless sacrifice
of bird life.

Our experience in attracting Bluebirds, Wrens, and
Chickadees about the house by means of food and nesting
boxes proves conclusively that we may easily domesticate
these birds. Our experiments with the Chickadee will serve
to illustrate how a species may be induced to leave its nest-
ing places in the woods to nest and live about dwellings
and under man’s protection. We first cut down all the de-
caying trees near the house, leaving the birds neither dead
wood in which to make holes, nor natural hollows in which
to find shelter, — but not before we had put up artificial nest-
ing boxes on the house and on the near-by trees. This was
done in the fall, that the birds might become accustomed to
the change before another nesting season, and that they might
find shelter in the boxes during the cold winter nights. It
seems remarkable that Chickadees which naturally breed in
decayed stumps or hollow trees should come to seek the
shelter of old tin cans in winter ; but eventually they did so,
going early to these shelters, and nestling together there in
company for mutual protection from the cold.

In the mean time, food was put out near the house win-
dows, where nesting boxes had been ptt up. In the spring
a single pair of Chickadees nested and reared seven young
in a wooden box fastened to a window sill. The next year
two pairs reared young in boxes within two rods of each
other ; one was on the house, the other in an apple tree near
by. The present year (1906) three pairs have reared young,
and two of them have successfully brought off two broods
each. In 1905 a pair accepted a wad of cotton placed in a
box, dug out a hollow in it, and reared young there. This
nesting box is situated upon a window frame three feet from
an outside kitchen door. The illustration (Plate LIII) shows
the bird and her nest.
 

 

PLATE LII. — Chickadee’s Nest, made of Cotton, in
Box on Author’s Window.
 

 

 

 

PLATE LIII.—Chickadee on Nest.
 

 

PLATE LIV.— Mother Chickadee bringing Food to Young.
 

 

ickadee cleaning Nest.

Mother Ch

PLATE LV
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 401

 

An incident occurred in connection with this box which
shows how easily birds may be induced to occupy a nest-
ing site, and what influence an ample food supply may have
in deciding them. Two Chickadees came to the box in the
spring of 1906, and went in and out of it for several days,
but finally seemed to be dissatisfied, and went away. A few
days later.a piece of suet was fastened to the window sill.
Within twenty-four hours the birds found it. They visited
it frequently, and at once began carrying nesting material
into the box. A supply of suet was kept there, and two
broods were reared in that box. The old birds fed on the
suet often when hard pressed to fill the nine hungry mouths
in the nest ; but even then the young were fed on insects.

The Chickadees did not utilize a tin can for nesting pur-
poses until 1904, when, during a call on a neighbor, I saw
two Chickadees looking his house over in search of a nest-
ing place. I called his attention to them, and he expressed
a wish for a bird house. I took an old two-quart can from
the dump, made a wooden stopper for it, cut a small hole in
the stopper, and nailed the can up in the nearest tree. The
Chickadees examined it, and within twenty minutes began
building. Here they safely reared a brood. Evidently they
preferred a wooden doorway to their castle, but since then
they have learned to dispense with the wood.

The next summer my neighbor, Mr. Lewis E. Carr, wired
up in a pine near his house an old varnish can that the boys
had somewhat distended during their annual Fourth of July
celebration. The Chickadees took up their: quarters in it
at once, and also nested in it in 1906. This can and its
bird occupant are shown in Plate XLIX. Chickadees now
occupy at least three cans of various sizes and descriptions.
They seem to prefer those that are put up on or near houses.
There is every reason to believe that, were it not for the in-
troduction of the House Sparrow, several useful native birds
might easily be induced to breed about our houses, and even
in the cities, as familiarly as the Sparrow now does.
402 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

Attracting Water-fowl.

The water-fowl have been hunted until they have become so
wild that attracting them seems at first sight an utterly hope-
less task. Nevertheless, it can be accomplished if only a place
can be found where they may rest and feed unmolested. Wild
Ducks soon learn where they are safe. Along the water front
at Titusville, Fla., no shooting is allowed, but out on the river
gunning is not prohibited. About the wharves and along
the beach at the hotel wild Scaup Ducks swim, dive, and
dress their plumage as unconcernedly as if there were not a
man in sight. They sometimes come ashore and walk about
on the grass near the hotel. They swim at ease among the
small craft at the wharves, and act much like domesticated
Ducks; but when the same birds get out on the river beyond
the dead line, they can hardly be approached within gunshot
by a fast-sailing boat. Wild-fowl, if undisturbed, will settle
in the most unlikely places. A pair of Wood Ducks came
regularly to a small pool in the grove not far from our house,
until disturbed by workmen passing by. Those who have
large estates containing ponds, where Ducks can be protected,
may attract them by scattering grain in the water and on the
shores. This has been successfully tried. A few “ gray call
Ducks” will prove an additional attraction. If the pond or
stream has wooded shores, an attempt should be made to
induce the Wood Ducks to breed. This may be done by put-
ting up nesting boxes. One reason for the present scarcity
of Wood Ducks in this portion of New England is, that sum-
mer camps are now established on many of the ponds where
these birds formerly bred. Another reason is, that there are
few hollow trees in which they can breed. People having
suitably located woodlands should put up nesting boxes made
in imitation of hollow logs, for the Wood Ducks. A box for
these birds should be at least two feet long. It may be
placed either perpendicularly or at an acute angle, and fastened
not far from the ground ona tree near the water. It should
have an opening at least four inches in diameter. Everything
possible should be done to prevent the extermination of this
beautiful bird, and to secure an increase in its numbers.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 403

 

THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS AGAINST THEIR NATURAL
ENEMIES,

Those who are successful in assembling birds about their
homes are likely soon to find that they have also inadvert-
ently attracted creatures to prey upon them. When our
winter colony of birds was at the height of its numbers, in
January, 1903, it was noticed that the birds were growing
nervous and easily frightened. Soon one was seen to be
minus a tail. ‘Then their numbers began to decrease. An
investigation revealed the cause, — two cats and a Sharp-
shinned Hawk. One day during my absence the Hawk
struck a Blue Jay within twenty feet of the window. If we
expect to conserve our small native land birds and increase
their numbers, something more becomes necessary than
protection from the gunner, the small boy, or the milliner’s
agent; for in woods where all shooting is prohibited the
enemies of birds, particularly Hawks, squirrels, Crows, and
Jays, are likely to increase in numbers, while the smaller
birds decrease. This was the case in the Middlesex Fells
Reservation, soon after the Metropolitan Park Commission
took it. Four years’ experience on my own place in protect-
ing birds from gunners resulted in a very decided increase
in the numbers of squirrels, Crows, and Jays, and a corre-
sponding decrease among the smaller birds. Apparently less
than ten per cent. of the smaller birds raised any young in
1902. During a long stay on the estate of Mr. William
Brewster, at Concord, Mass., in the. breeding season of 1903,
it became evident to me that the numbers of the smaller birds
breeding in his woods had decreased much in the previous
six years. No shooting had been allowed for several years
on this estate of nearly three hundred acres. The owner had
protected the game and birds from destruction by man ; but
the results, so far as some of the smaller wood birds were con-
cerned, were disappointing. The Wood Thrushes nearly all
disappeared. Where there had been five pairs of Redstarts
breeding a few years before, only one pair was seen in 1903,
and they disappeared later. Comparatively few birds were
able to rear their broods that year, except the Robins and
404 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

other birds that nested near the house, the ground-nesting
birds, and those that bred in nesting boxes or hollow trees.
Crows and Jays were common, though not increasing rapidly,
and both Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks were present
(probably only one pair of each). Squirrels of three species
were more numerous than I have ever seen them elsewhere.
Since that year the number of birds about the house seems
to have increased. This may be due in part to the fact that
the Cooper’s Hawk no longer breeds on the place ; also, that
the squirrels about the house do not molest the birds much,
while many birds have been attracted by food plants and
nesting boxes.

When it is found, on prohibiting shooting within certain
limits, that the smaller birds are decreasing, we may infer
that they are preyed upon by creatures that were formerly
held in check by gunners. If this be true, then neither the
gunners nor the sportsmen need be looked upon as the un-
mixed evil that some of us have been inclined to consider
them; and the farmer who has no time to protect birds may
safely allow honorable men to shoot on his land. Evidently
the bird protectionist may be forced to the conclusion that,
in order to protect birds, he must sometimes destroy some
of their natural enemies, even if among these he is obliged
to kill some birds. Hawks, Crows, Jays, and squirrels have
become so accustomed to the persecutions of the gunner
that they are able in a sense to persist in nearly normal
numbers in spite of him; and when we eliminate shooting,
they may increase, to the detriment of the species on which
they prey. In a biographical notice of the late Henry D.
Minot the following appears: “On the home grounds from
seventy-five to a hundred nests were built every spring, and
the broods therein successfully reared, for the birds were
carefully protected. Cats, Hawks, gray squirrels, Crows,
Jays, and snakes were summarily dealt with; every note of
alarm was promptly answered with an efficient rescue, and
all the spring and early summer the air was filled with the
melody of happy birds.” !

 

1 The Land and Game Birds of New England, by Henry D. Minot. Second
edition, edited by William Brewster.
LHE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 405

 

What a great number of young birds must have gone out
into the world from that place. The policy pursued by Mr.
Minot may serve as a model for the protection of a colony
of small birds, and, if followed faithfully elsewhere, it ought
to have the same gratifying results. Having undertaken a
portion of the management of creation by introducing and cul-
tivating strange plants and trees, and destroying the larger
wild animals and the Eagles, Hawks, and Owls which for-
merly helped to keep Crows, Jays, snakes, squirrels, and
other predatory creatures in check, we must not now shirk
the responsibility that rests upon us to protect the timid and
defenceless birds which we have left exposed to their increas-
ing enemies. But, if we accept the burden of protecting
birds, we must exercise our power with wise discretion. It
should not be inferred, for instance, if a gray squirrel de-
stroys the young of a pair of Robins, that this is a habit with
all gray squirrels. Those who have large estates, on which
they can protect birds and game, are particularly fortunate
if they have in their employ keepers who can intelligently
discriminate in such matters; otherwise, serious mistakes
may be made. Millais, in his magnificent work on British
surface-feeding Ducks, relates that in 1884 Brown-headed
Gulls began to increase in the bog at Murthly. The keeper
said that the Gulls were killing young Teal. Another ex-
perienced keeper suggested that this was probably the work
of a single Gull. The Gulls were watched, a pair of birds
were seen together, one of which began to kill ducklings.
Both birds were shot, and no more ducklings were killed that
year. In 1890 another pair of Gulls began killing young
Teal; sixteen were found dead. The two culprits were shot,
and no more young Teal were killed that season. Millais
considers that individual Gulls are as dangerous to young
Ducks as any of their numerous enemies ; and yet probably
only two, or at the most four, of the large number at the bog
were actually doing the killing. Had not the gamekeeper
been an intelligent observer, a hundred innocent Gulls might
have been shot, and the guilty birds might have escaped to

 

1 Nevertheless, observers agree that the habits of bird-killing and egg-eating
are quite general among certain species of Gulls.
406 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

continue their nefarious work elsewhere. Millais confidently
advances the theory that a few individual birds do the mis-
chief for which perhaps the whole race is blamed. He be-
lieves that the individual criminal among birds does his work
stealthily, and so is seldom observed; that his family is fed
on the results of his rapacity ; and that the young acquire
similar tastes and habits, which in time may spread from
family to family and from one community to another. He
states that years ago the Rooks of southern England were
practically innocent of stealing eggs or young birds, though
their cousins in the north were nest-robbers even then. He
says that now there is hardly a community of Rooks in the
south of England that does not contain individuals with the
nest-robbing habit. The view that certain depraved indi-
viduals among birds and mammals are responsible for most
of the unusual depredations on other birds and mammals is
held by many observers. The Marsh Hawk and the Red-
shouldered Hawk are among the most useful of all Hawks ;
but I have known individuals of both these species to be
destructive to birds or young poultry. If such individuals
can be shot, it will be a decided benefit to all concerned.

Where Cooper’s and Sharp- shinned Hawks cannot be shot,
they may be caught by setting steel traps in their nests.

It is quite probable that some Crows do not habitually
steal the eggs and young of other birds. In fall, winter,
and early spring we may welcome Crows about our farm
buildings: They may do much good in the fields in summer,
but, as a measure of safety, they should be kept as far away
from small breeding birds as possible. Poison will kill some
and drive the rest away; but exposing poison in this way is
illegal, and there is great danger of poisoning useful birds.
Egg-eating Crows may be trapped by exposing an egg on
the ground in such a way that the Crow must step into a
concealed trap to get the egg. After two or three have
been caught in this way, the others will avoid the place.
Our laws which deny protection to the Crow are wise, for
it is one of those species which, though at times most useful,
may become a pest if not held severely in check.

Watch the Jays, and shoot every one that is found dis-
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 407

 

turbing the nests of other birds. The actions of the birds
and their manner toward the Jay are usually sufficient indica-
tion of its character. It is not very difficult to surprise the
Jay in its raids on birds’ nests. It may possibly be neces-
sary now and then to kill a Crow Blackbird that has the
nest-robbing habit.

No native bird should be exterminated, for they all serve
some useful purpose ; but if the introduced House (or “ Eng-
lish” ) Sparrow could be exterminated, one of the chief ob-
stacles to the increase of native birds about villages and cities
would be removed. This is now a hopeless task ; but much
has been effected in some localities by feeding the birds on
poisoned wheat. Such work, however, should never be at-
tempted except by skillful and experienced persons, as other-
wise there is much danger of poisoning poultry, Pigeons, and
native birds. A persistent shooting of the birds, together
with the continual removing of their eggs from all nesting
boxes, will eventually drive them out of a locality.

All who desire to harbor and protect birds must eliminate
the bird-killing cat. The cat is of some service in prevent-
ing the increase of rats and mice in dwellings, as well as that
of other small rodents of the fields and woods; but the ver-
min of the house may be controlled by traps and poison,
while those of the field may be restrained by Hawks and
Owls. A ferret will in a short time drive all the rats from
a building. A smart fox terrier or a good “ratter” will
practically exterminate the rats about a farmhouse. As the
cat is not an absolute necessity, and as it is a potent carrier
of contagious diseases, which it spreads, particularly among
children, it would be far better for the community if most of
the bird-killing cats now roaming at large could be painlessly
disposed of. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals has added another to its long list of good works by
chloroforming many thousands of homeless vagrant cats in
the cities. The Animal Rescue League is not far behind in
this good work, which ought to be extended farther into the
country districts. Where the cat is deemed necessary in
farm or village, no family should keep more than one good
mouser, which should never be allowed to have its liberty
408 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

during the breeding season of the birds, unless it has been
taught not to kill them. Cats can be confined during the
day in outdoor cages, as readily as rabbits, and given the
run of the house at night. Massachusetts law does not
give the cat protection, and all cats found running at large
may be treated as wild animals. All wild or “woods” cats
should be shot at sight. Marauding cats may be trapped
by box traps baited with catnip, and held for the owner, or
killed if no owner appears.

Farmers know well how to deal with foxes, weasels, minks,
skunks, and raccoons. They regard squirrels as pests; but
it.is extremely probable that it is only the individual squir-
rel that robs birds’ nests. Mr. A. C. Dike writes me that
one season when he was carefully watching the birds about
his place he saw the eggs and young in eight birds’ nests
destroyed by the red squirrel; but that in each case the
saine squirrel was the culprit, for he was able to identify it,
because it had lost a part of its tail in escaping from the
cat. Squirrels often nest in hollow trees in which birds have
already established themselves, thus driving out the birds.
It is quite possible that in some localities many of the squir-
rels may have acquired the habit of killing birds. When this
is evident the squirrels should be killed. Unfortunately, the
law protects gray squirrels at the only time when this habit
can be observed. Where birds show no alarm when squir-
rels approach their nests, the presumption is that the squir-
rels are innocent. The beauty and grace exhibited in the
forms and motions of squirrels have made them favorites
with many people, who will not wish to kill them. Others
will wish to avoid killing Crows, Jays, Hawks, or even cats.
But all should regard it a duty to protect the nests of birds
from these marauders. Some experiments in this direction
have been made. It is a simple matter, as has been described,
to protect such birds as will build in nesting boxes ; but those
that nest on the ground are peculiarly liable to the attacks
of their enemies, and other means of protecting them may
possibly be devised.

Years ago I secured a translation of a paper published in
France by Xavier Raspail, entitled “The Protection of Use-
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 409

 

ful Birds,” in which he gives a method of protecting their
nests from their enemies. Of sixty-seven nests observed
from April to August, only twenty-six prospered. Of the
forty-one destroyed, fifteen were known to have been robbed
by cats, eight by the garden dormouse, three by Jays, and
two by Magpies. He protected twenty nests either by fur-
nishing the birds vermin-proof bird boxes to build in, or
by surrounding the nests with wire netting. Only two of
these were robbed of eggs or young, and they were pillaged
by animals that got through or under the netting. These
simple methods of protection assured the rearing of one hun-
dred and two young birds from nineteen nests. Comparing
these figures with those from the unprotected nests, we find
that, proportionately, only seven pairs of parents out of the
twenty would have succeeded in rearing their young had
their homes been unprotected. The paper lacks a complete
description of the method of putting up the wire nest pro-
tectors. There is nothing to show whether the enclosure was
without a cover, or whether an opening was left in the top
just large enough to admit the parent birds; but the mesh
used was, in some cases at least, small enough to keep out
mice, or about one-fifth to one-sixth of an inch in diameter.
The language used seems to indicate that the nests on the
ground were merely enclosed by a circular fence of wire
netting. Mons. Raspail says that nests so protected are not
attacked by weasels or mice. There seems to be nothing
to prevent these animals from climbing over the wire, except
that they may stupidly strive to get at the nest from below,
and so walk around the cage without seeking an entrance
above. The sly fox, perceiving the smell of iron, might sus-
pect a trap. Probably Crows and Jays, being also suspicious
of a trap, would not enter these enclosures. The surround-
ing of the nests with netting in no case caused the birds to
desert their home, even when it was done as soon as the nest
was completed and before the eggs were laid. This method
might be worth a trial.

Where nesting trees are isolated, cats and squirrels may
be kept out of them by the use of either of the devices shown
in the cut (Fig. 171), for these animals cannot climb up a per-
410 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

fectly smooth surface. Nesting boxes mounted on poles may
be guarded in this way. Zinc is the best material. A wide
piece of wire netting, shaped like a hat brim, and fastened
around a tree, will prevent cats and squirrels from climb-
ing it. A smooth,
tall, slim pole, made
of a peeled sapling
pine set in the open,
is rarely climbed by
cats or squirrels.
Thick thorn bushes
often serve as safe
nesting places for
birds. Bundles of
thorny sticks tied
around tree trunks
will keep cats out of
the trees. An island

in a small artificial
Fig. 1'771.— Zinc bands to prevent cats or squirrels pond is also a refuge

from climbing trees or poles.

from cats. The best
cat-proof fence for a city garden is that used by Mr. William
Brewster at Cambridge. It is made of wire netting some
six feet in height, surmounted by a fish seine of heavy twine,
which is fastened to the top of the wire. The top of the net is
then looped to the ends of long, flexible garden stakes. This
fabric gives beneath any weight, and offers so unstable a foot-
ing that no cat ever succeeds in scaling it. Mr. Brewster's
garden has become famous for the numbers of birds that breed
there, and the migrants that visit it year by year.

 

THE PROTECTION OF FARM PRODUCTS FROM BIRDS.

Serious losses sometimes occur from injury inflicted on
crops or poultry by birds. It is well to remember, how-
ever, that, while the harm done by birds is conspicuous,
the compensating good that they do is usually unnoticed.
In most cases it is best not to kill them, but to protect both
birds and crops; for by killing too many birds we may dis-
turb the biological equilibrium, and bring about a greater
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 411

 

injury than the one we attempt to prevent. The destruction
of too many corn-pulling Crows, for example, might be fol-
lowed by such an increase of grubs and Death hpoaks that no
grass could be grown; or the extermination of Hawks and
Owls might be succeeded by the destruction of all the young
fruit trees by hordes of mice. Moreover, other evils, far less
simple and easily traceable, might result, for the widening
ripples that man creates by disturbing the balance of nature
are likely to be felt in the most inexpected places.

Most birds earn more of our bounty than they receive,
and that portion of our products which they ordinarily eat
may be justly looked upon as but partial payment for their
services. Nevertheless, the farmer. must protect his prop-
erty from excessive injury, such as sometimes occurs when
the natural food supply of birds is cut short, or when too
many are gathered upon a small area.

To protect Grain from Crows and Other Birds.

The following spring measures are recommended : —

1. Tar the seed corn, as follows: “Put one-fourth to one-
half bushel of corn in a half-barrel tub; pour on a pailful of
hot water, or as much as is necessary to well cover the corn ;
dip a stick in gas tar, and stir this briskly.in the corn; re-
peat until the corn is entirely black ; pour off onto burlap
(bran sacks are excellent) ; spread in the sun and stir two
or three times during the day. If this work is done in the
morning, and the day is sunny, the corn will be ready for
the planter the next day without any other care. The hot
water softens the tar so that just enough will adhere to the
corn, and the corn is completely glazed by the sun. This
is by far the quicker way of tarring corn, is harmless and
effectual, and I have for years planted with a machine corn
treated in this way.”?

2. Scatter soaked corn often about the borders of the field.

3. Plant the seed three or four inches deep. This is said
to prevent corn-pulling by Crows, and must be effectual on
heavy soil. ‘

 

1 Ethan Brooks, in Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agri-
culture, 1896, p. 294.
412 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

4, Surround the field with a line of twine, strung on
upright poles, and suspend rags, streamers, pieces of bright
tin, etc., from the twine.

5. A frequent change in scarecrows is advisable. A
barrel hung on a leaning pole puzzles the Crow.

To drive Blackbirds from a cornfield in autumn, a charge
of fine shot fired from a long distance, so as to rattle among
them, will be effectual without injuring them.

To protect grain from the House (or “ English”) Sparrow
a liberal use of the shotgun is usually successful. Poisoned
wheat has been used in extreme cases.

To protect Small Fruits.

It is not usually good biology to shoot birds for eating
fruit. It is better to provide fruit enough for both birds
and man, especially wild fruit, which birds prefer. The fol-
lowing protective measures are recommended : —

1. To protect strawberries and cherries (May and June),
plant Russian mulberry and June berry or shadberry, or plant
several trees of the soft early cherries, to furnish food for
the birds. The Governor Wood is a type of the kind they
prefer. (G. T. Powell.)

2. To protect. raspberries and blackberries (July and
August), plant mulberry, buckthorn, elder, and chokeberry.
(Florence Merriam [Bailey].) Also, plant some early sweet
berries, and let the fruit remain until dead ripe, to attract
the birds from the others. Strawberries may be thus pro-
tected. (Prof. H. A. Surface.) The larger fruits, such as
apples, pears, and peaches, are not much injured by birds in
Massachusetts.

3. Where it is found impossible to protect small early
cherry trees in any other way, it will pay to cover them
with fine fish net while the fruit is ripening.

4. If Kingbirds nest near cherry trees, they will keep
other birds away. Bees, particularly drones, attract King-
birds,

° To protect Poultry from Hawks and Crows.

1. Rear the young chicks or ducklings on grassland, in
portable brooders or coops to which movable runs are
attached. Poultry reared in this way is much finer for the
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 413

 

table than if allowed to run. The stock intended for laying
may be given free range when four months of age, or when
too large to be attacked by Crows or most Hawks.

2. Kingbirds, Martins, or our largest Hawk, the Osprey
or Fish Hawk (Pandion haliaétus carolinensis), if allowed
to nest near the coops, will protect all poultry from Hawks.
All these birds are confiding wherever they are unmolested.
Where the Osprey is protected it will build its nest in a tree
near the farmyard. It never troubles poultry or small birds,
and should be protected by law at all times.

3. Hawks may be frightened away from the poultry yard
if a general shout is raised whenever one appears.

4, When a Hawk has flown off with a chicken it should
be followed quickly but cautiously, and may be shot while
absorbed in eating its prey.

GENERAL PROTECTIVE MEASURES.

The first and most important step in protecting birds
from their human enemies is to create a public sentiment
in favor of birds, by teaching their value and the necessity
for conserving them. This is a legitimate work for State
boards of agriculture and State boards of education. Free
lectures on this subject, illustrated by stereopticon, should
be given at teachers’ institutes and State normal schools,
at gatherings of school children held for the purpose, at
farmers’ institutes, and before farmers’ clubs and grange
meetings. Some work of this nature has been done by the
Massachusetts State Board of Education and by the orni-
thologist of the State Board of Agriculture, but much more
should be done.

There are ample reasons for introducing economic nature
study in the schools. The utility of birds and the means of
attracting and protecting them should be taught in home
and school as the most important bird study. A feeding
shelf for birds should be put up at a window of every coun-
try school-house, or upon the flag pole. Children should be
induced to plant trees, vines, and shrubs that furnish food
for birds. The making of nesting boxes should be taught
in the schools. This is a good subject for manual training
classes. The boy who learns to feed birds and to furnish
414 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

them with houses will always be their friend. Boys should
be taught to exchange the gun for the camera, the sketch
book, or the note book. Children should be cautioned not
to disturb the nests of birds during the breeding season ; but
the nest census, taken after the leaves have fallen, is instruct-
ive and harmless.

An educational propaganda should be carried on in those
States in which the birds that breed in Massachusetts or
pass through it are killed in their migrations. Every State
should have an official economic ornithologist, among whose
duties should be investigation of the relations of birds to
insect and other pests, and the production of popular leaflets
and newspaper articles on birds and their conservation.
When public sentiment in favor of bird protection is thor-
oughly aroused, then, and not till then, will effective laws
be enacted, respected, and enforced.

Game Protection,

The conservation of fish and game is a vital preliminary
step in bird protection.

It is plain that, having necessarily destroyed the larger
predatory animals, man must hold in check the creatures
on which they formerly fed. This is the task of the angler
and the sportsman, and it is a legitimate one, in so far as
it disposes of only the surplus fish, mammals, and birds ;
but the tendency to go farther than this must be sharply
curbed, for wherever the larger game mammals and game
birds are exterminated, people begin to shoot the smaller
species. So long as the supply of game is kept up, just so
long are the song birds comparatively safe.

A mere glance at the history of game legislation in
Massachusetts or any other eastern State is enough to make
one wonder that any native game now exists. From the
settlement of Massachusetts until the year 1817 there was
practically no limit to the amount of bird shooting that any
one might legally do at any season of the year. Until
that year the only legislation enacted regarding birds pro-
vided bounties for their destruction. Among other species,
the Ruffed Grouse or Partridge was the victim of local
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 415

 

bounty laws. By 1817 most of the larger game mammals
and game birds were nearing extermination, and people
were beginning to shoot Robins, Larks, Snipe, and Wood-
cock, in place of larger birds. A law was then passed pro-
tecting these birds from March 1 to July 4, and Partridges
and Quail were protected from March 1 to September 1;
but this law was nullified locally by town option, for any
town meeting could annually suspend its operation.

» The most stringent game legislation of the middle nine-
teenth century period was a series of acts, not for the
protection of the birds, but for the benefit of people en-
gaged in netting Wild Pigeons. The penalties for disturb-
ing Pigeons about net beds were heavier than those for
merely killing game out of season. They even included a
term in jail.

It would be ludicrous, were it not pathetic, that we with-
hold adequate statutory protection from game birds until
they are practically exterminated. Protective statutes come
too late. It is only within recent years, when the Passenger
Pigeon and Heath Hen have become nearly extinct, that
statutes protecting them at all times have been enacted and
retained on the statute books. We have only just succeeded
(1906) in getting enactments protecting the Wood Duck
and the Bartramian Sandpiper or Upland Plover at all sea-
sons. Unless stringent laws can be passed and enforced in
other States, as well as in Massachusetts, the extinction of
these birds is even now imminent.

The game laws of Massachusetts for 1906 protect all “song
and insectivorous birds,” Doves, Pigeons, Heath Hens, Pin-
nated Grouse, Pheasants, Bartramian Sandpiper or Upland
Plover, Herons, Bitterns, Wood Duck, and most Gulls and
Terns throughout the year. Other game birds and wild-
fowl are protected, but inadequately. Eventually the shoot-
ing season must be shortened.

Measures and Legislation necessary for the Protection of Game and
Birds.

To provide against the extermination of game, there must
be established throughout the country a series of State res-
ervations, maintained as places of refuge for game, where
416 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

it can be absolutely protected at all seasons. Large for-
est reservations have already been acquired by the United
States government and by several States. In January,

1906, New York had reserved nearly a million and a half

acres, and Pennsylvania had purchased, or contracted for,

seven hundred and fifty thousand acres. Connecticut, New

Jersey, and other States have adopted reservation policies;

and, as Alfred Akerman, late State Forester of Massachu-

setts, well says, this Commonwealth ought to extend its”
policy of park reservation to include genuine State forests.

There are about three million acres in Massachusetts that

are of little value except for forestry. Under rational forest

management we might, in time, grow most of the lumber

used here, instead of buying it in the north, west, and south.

This land is the natural stronghold of the Ruffed Grouse,

the red deer, and many other game mammals and birds. A

goodly portion of it should be devoted to the preservation

of the forests and the game."

Some of the great ponds of the State should be set off
as reservations for water-fowl; marshes and sandy shores
should be taken as refuges for sea fowl and shore birds;
and islands should be reserved as breeding places for sea
birds. Undoubtedly the profits from the forest reserves
would, in time, pay the cost of maintaining the entire system.
Prussia owns six million acres of forest land, from which
the government derives a net annual revenue of $9,000,000 ;
and France receives a net yearly income of $1.91 per acre
from its large government forest.

While this policy is being inaugurated, other legislation
is imperative. Laws must be enacted, whenever it becomes
necessary, protecting certain birds at all times for a series
of years, and those laws must be enforced with a strong hand.
Spring shooting destroys the naturally selected breeding stock
which has survived the dangers of fall and winter; it should
be absolutely prohibited. More and more stringent regula-

 

1 A large part of the forested land of the State will probably always remain
in the hands of private owners or corporations. Farmers on adjoining farms may
band together, and, by posting notices on their lands, they may protect the game of
considerable tracts. Farmers in some towns are now trying this plan. Wealthy
owners of large tracts have a still better opportunity to work for the public good.
 

 

 
 

 

PLATE LVI.— Domesticated Canada Goose ori Nest. - (Photograph, from
life, by I. Chester Horton.)
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 417

 

tions will become necessary regarding the marketing and ship-
ment of game. The hunting license, which is now finding
favor in many States, must sooner or later be adopted here.

It is doubtful, however, if all these measures will result in
replenishing our woods with game in its former abundance.
The restocking of covers with birds from other States —
an excellent method, which has long been practised by game
protective associations —is likely to come to an end, for
already most States do not allow shipments of birds to points
outside the State boundaries.

Artificial Propagation of Game Birds.

The greatly increased demand for game birds must be met
by a new source of supply. The only promising method
available for restocking is artificial propagation and feeding.
Pheasants, Quail, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Teal, and other
wild-fowl may be reared in great numbers if the work is
scientifically done. It was interesting to observe the large
number of Pheasants and Mallards successfully reared in
1905 by Mr. Bayard Thayer at Lancaster. This is the work
in which commissioners on fisheries and game, game pro-
tective associations, and wealthy land owners must engage
if we are to have game in its former abundance. A begin-
ning may be made by importing experienced gamekeepers
from England and Scotland, where, notwithstanding the
long settlement of the country and the density of the popu-
lation, people have game for their own use, and export a
great deal to this country to supply our depleted markets.
Artificial propagation is the most important work of the
century concerning game birds. Many thousands must be
reared and liberated annually in every Atlantic coast State,
until the covers are well stocked and the marshes again
swarm with game birds and wild-fowl.

Attempts should be made to domesticate game birds. In
more than three centuries since the discovery of the Ameri-
can continent only one American bird, the Turkey, has
become widely distributed through domestication. There
is no doubt that Quail, Grouse, and Wood Ducks may be
readily tamed, and the Canada Goose has been long known
418 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

to be capable of domestication. More attention to this sub-
ject might add largely to the quantity of our food supply,
and provide a source from which the stock of game could be
replenished. The restocking of the State with a plentiful
supply of game would keep within her borders a part at
least of the more than two million dollars which is annually
spent in other States by her sportsmen, and it would pro-
vide recreation at home for those who cannot afford the
expense of travel.

THE MOVEMENT FOR BIRD PROTECTION.

In setting forth the measures necessary for the protection
of birds, one cannot ignore the fact that a great movement for
bird protection is under way and has already accomplished
great good. The Audubon societies of the country have so
influenced public sentiment as to practically stop the wear-
ing of the feathers of useful American birds. The American
Ornithologists Union was enabled, through moneys raised by
the efforts of Mr. Abbott H. Thayer, to protect the sea birds
on many islands along the coast of the United States for
several years.1_ This work and the general one of protecting
native birds and other animals have been taken up by the
National Association of Audubon Societies, under the leader-
ship of Mr. William Dutcher of New York. The untiring
devotion of his time and means to this cause is bringing forth
fruits in the shape of improved legislation and aroused public
sentiment in many States. Through his earnest efforts this
movement is receiving deserved endowment, which will un-
doubtedly result in its perpetuation. Gaine protection has
been taken up by the Biological Survey of the United States
Department of Agriculture, and a very efficient officer, Dr.
T. S. Palmer, has been placed in charge of the enforcement
of the Lacey act. State governments have been assisted by
the strong hand of the United States in enforcing advanced
legislation. The central government has co-operated with
the Audubon societies and game protective associations of

 

1 The Massachusetts colony of Terns and Gulls at Muskeget Island was saved
from extermination first through the efforts of Mr. William Brewster and others
and later by the continuous work of Mr. George H. Mackay.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 419

 

different States. This co-operation has resulted in a great
general improvement in State laws and their enforcement.
This movement, now so well under way, gives promise of
preserving a large part at least of the wealth of our fauna,
which we may be said to hold as trustees for posterity.

For the benefit of those persons who are interested in
caring for and protecting birds, a list of some officials and
associations who will help to further the work is appended : —

Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., Dr. C. Hart Merriam,
chief, Henry W. Henshaw, administrative assistant. The
Survey distributes a large number of authoritative publi-
cations on the food habits and utility of birds. Dr. T. S.
Palmer of the Survey, assistant in charge of game preserva-
tion, has literature on that subject for distribution, and is
prepared to furnish information that will aid in the enforce-
ment of the game and bird laws.

The National Association of Audubon Societies (offices,
141 Broadway, New York), William Dutcher, president,
T. Gilbert Pearson, secretary, is helping the cause of bird
protection everywhere by every means in its power. It
sends out excellent illustrated leaflets to teachers, and
directly influences legislation.

The Massachusetts Commission on Fisheries and Game
(Room 158, State House, Boston), Dr. George W. Field,
chairman, is the legally constituted authority for the enforce-
ment of the fish, game, and bird laws of Massachusetts. The
commission furnishes, on request, a poster containing an
abstract of these statutes. A copy of this is posted annually
in each post-office in the State. The officers of the com-
mission attend to all complaints of infractions of these laws.
The commission is also engaged in propagating Pheasants,
Quail, and Grouse.

The State Board of Agriculture (room 136, State House,
Boston), J. Lewis Ellsworth, secretary, distributes bulle-
tins, reports, and nature leaflets on birds and bird protection ;
also cloth posters, on which are printed extracts from the
trespass laws.

The Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association
420 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

(216 Washington Street, Boston), William Brewster, presi-
dent, Henry H. Kimball, secretary-treasurer, is the most
influential and effective game protective organization now
actively at work in the State. It furnishes game birds to
restock depleted covers, grain for game birds in winter, and
posters containing abstracts of the game laws. Its officers
also assist in the enforcement of the statutes. Practically
all the game protective associations of Massachusetts are
affiliated with this organization.

The Massachusetts Audubon Society (234 Berkeley Street,
Boston), William Brewster, president, Miss Jessie E. Kim-
ball, secretary, is one of the most powerful forces for bird
protection in the State. Its local secretaries are numerous,
and its influence is widely felt. This association takes no
direct action to enforce the law; its chief function is to
influence public sentiment, and secure protective legislation.
The secretary has literature for distribution, and the associa-
tion publishes charts and provides lectures on birds.

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals (19 Milk Street, Boston), George T. Angell,
president, Hon. Henry B. Hill, vice-president, furnishes
cards for posting in public places, offering rewards for the
conviction of persons killing birds or taking their nests or
eggs. This society, whose good work is well known, also
furnishes free literature advocating kindness to birds and
other animals.

There are other associations that take an interest in the
protection of birds. The Animal Rescue League, the League
of American Sportsmen, the Agassiz Association, and many
minor societies and sportsmen’s organizations, lend their in-
fluence to strengthen this movement. Sportsmen’s periodi-
cals have done much for the protection of birds and game.
The Forest and Stream Company of New York, under the
direction of Mr. J. Bird Grinnel, supported the first Audu-
bon Society for years, both editorially and financially.
Writers like Herbert K. Job, Ernest Harold Baynes, and
A. C. Dike are penning helpful articles for newspapers
or periodicals. Nature books are teaching altruistic ideas
regarding birds.
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 421

 

All these agencies must help to hasten the day when our
woods shall teem with game and birds; when our lakes and
rivers shall be populous with wild-fowl; and when our
people, young and old, shall welcome, protect, and cherish
our feathered friends of orchard, garden, and field. If this
volume shall help in any degree to bring about this con-
summation, it will not have been written in vain.

Papers ON ORNITHOLOGY, PUBLISHED BY’ THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE
Boarp OF AGRICULTURE.

Essays and Lectures.

Utility of Birds. Wilson Flagg. Annual report of the Massachusetts
State Board of Agriculture, 1861 (Part II.), pp. 50-78.

Agricultural Value of Birds. E. A. Samuels. Jbid., 1865 (Part I.),
pp. 94-117.

The Utility of Birds to Agriculture. Frank H. Palmer. Jbid., 1871
(Part II.), pp. 107-120.

Insect-eating Birds. Frank H. Palmer. Jbdiéd., 1872 (Part II.),
pp. 194-210.

Birds of Massachusetts. Dr. B. H. Warren. Jbid., 1890, pp. 34-57.

The Regulative Influence exerted by Birds on the Increase of Insect
Pests. E.H. Forbush. Massachusetts Crop Report, September,
1894.

Birds as Protectors of Orchards. E. H. Forbush. Annual report of
the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1895, pp. 347-362.

The Crow in Massachusetts. E. H. Forbush. Jbid., 1896, pp. 275-
296.

Nature’s Foresters. KE. H. Forbush. Jd7d., 1898, pp. 279-294.

Birds as Destroyers of Hairy Caterpillars. KE. H. Forbush. J0id.,
1899, pp. 316-337.

Birds Useful to Agriculture. E.H. Forbush. Jbid., 1900, pp. 36-61.

Birds as Protectors of Woodlands. E. H. Forbush. Jd7d., 1900,
pp. 800-321.

Two Years with the Birds on a Farm. KE. H. Forbush. /ora., 1902,
pp. 111-161.

Special Reports.

Ornithology of Massachusetts, List of Species. E.A. Samuels. Annual
report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1863
(Part I.), Appendix, pp. xviii—xxix.

Report on the Birds of Massachusetts, by the State Board of Agricul-
ture to the House of Representatives, under the resolution of May
28, 1890. Jbid., 1890, pp. 267-273. .
422 USEFUL BIRDS.

 

The Destruction of Birds by the Elements in 1903-04. E. H. Forbush.
Ibid., 1903, pp. 457-503.

The Decrease of Certain Birds, and its Causes, with Suggestions for
Bird Protection. E.H. Forbush. Jdid., 1904, pp. 429-548.

Nature Leaflets.
No. 12. Winter Birds at the Farm. E.H. Forbush. 1902.
No. 14. Owl Friends. E. H. Forbush. 1903.
No. 15. Bird Houses. E.H. Forbush. 1903.
No. 16. Our Friend the Chickadee. E.H. Forbush. 1903.
No. 22. Hints for Out-door Bird Study. E.H. Forbush. I. How to
identify Birds. 1904.
No. 23. Ilid. II. How to find Birds. 1904.
No. 24. Jbid. III. How to approach Birds. 1904.
No. 25. Ibid. IV. How to attract Birds. 1904.

 
INDEX.
INDEX.

{Heavy-faced type indicates the principal reference to a species. In most instances a
brief description of the bird referred to may be found on the page thus indicated. ]

PAGE

Accipiter atricapillus, . 3 - : 5 : 5 ‘ , ; . 366
cooperii, . * ; ‘ 7 , : i j ¥ ‘i . 366

velox, . ‘ * ‘ w x x ‘ ¥ : 8 . 366

Actias luna, . ‘ ‘i ‘i . i “ : F . : - 108
Agelaius aad ‘ : je ‘ ‘ 4 é ‘ . » 319
Aix sponsa, . . 3 F ‘ i ‘ i ‘ . . 353
Akerman, Alfred, ‘ ‘ & i ‘ 2 Z 5 : . 416

Alabama ar; gillaeea, 7 . 7 ; : . 4 . . - 33
Allen, J. A., . . 7 é ij ‘i ‘ * . A ° * . 302
Altum, Bernhard, . ; F 7 7 ; j 7 a a 7 . 64

Anabrus purpurascens, . F ‘ : ‘ 3 ‘ @ 4 A 66
Anas obscura, . : é ‘ . 7 . . A ‘ ‘ 353
Angell, George T., . ‘ . ; j ‘ "i ‘ ‘ A . 420
Anthonomus grandis, . ‘ . : ‘ . . ‘ 4 fi . 34
Antrostomus vociferus, . . 2 é 3 r 5 ‘ . Z . 342
Aphid, birch, eggs of, . é A ‘ . . i ‘ 5 . 223
Aphis, hop vine, . - ‘ “ ‘ ‘ é ¥ > ‘ ¥ « 29

woolly apple, f 5 P ‘i ‘ ‘ é : i . 208, 252
Aphodius inquinatus, . é : é : é : i i 7 - 61
Ardea herodius, , a ‘ ‘ , ‘ 7 7 . 352

Army worm, . . : : . ; : . 36, 218, 295, 316, 323, 330, 349
Asio accipitrinus, . F . F 5 ‘ ‘ : . 7 < . 367

wilsonianus, . F ‘é ‘ ‘ ‘ 7 ' 3 . 368
Audubon, John J.,. ‘ 5 . ‘ 3 @ ‘ a 194, 263, 346, 347
Aughey, Samuel, . ‘ . a ‘ 4 ¥ i 54, 184, 200, 335

Auk, Great, . ‘ 3 i : ‘ ‘ é i é 5 3, 354, 356

Bailey, Charles E.,.  . 124, 142, 166, 169, 170, 175, 178, 214, 240, 241, 253, 256
S. Waldo, . : a A . . 7 : ‘ . ‘ . 3870
Baird, Spencer F., . é ‘ é a « 4 . a i é . I

Ballou, H. A., . * ; A : < ‘ ‘ : 7 . » 45
Bangs, Outten, ‘ : ri : 7 i 7 : . . . 238
Bark louse, oystersel. 5 é ‘ ‘i , ‘ ‘ ~~ 168, 175
Barton, B. S., . - ‘i 7 ‘i k ‘ ‘ 4 ‘ . . 54
Baskett, J. M., . . z : ‘ : i c z : 3 . 259
Baynes, Ernest Harold, . . » 420
Beal, F. E. L., > 88, 59, 61, 162, 211, 226, "997, 234, 236, 239, 259, 264, 283, 285,

293, 305, 318, 321, 342
Beetles, Colorado potato, ¥ ‘ ; * - 16, 27, 29, 216, 218, 330, 342

elm-leaf, . : 4 ‘i 7 * - 207, 211, 234
May, . A ‘ 7 a ‘6 § 10, 11, 183, 220, 227, 234, 238, 348
rose, . ‘ * ‘ * ‘ 2 * ‘ . 160, 348
striped cucumber, . 7 ‘ i i . 227, 234, 342, 348

Bendire, Charles, . i x . ‘ # ‘ x Fs ‘ » 232, 255
426 INDEX.

 

PAGE

Bibio albipennis, . : * ; ; . * 7 * * . 286
Bird, Myrtle, . ‘ i 5 4 é 3 s ‘ ‘ . 201
Planting, ‘i é : . , fi ‘ _ 7 : : . 179

Teacher, % ‘i ‘ . . ‘ J . 7 . 7 . 188
Birds as tree planters, . . : a . . a i ‘ . 98
pruners, . ‘ 7 : A é i , ‘ » 99

flight of, ‘ # é 4 ‘ ‘ ; ‘ ‘ ¥ s « 2
Bittern, American, ‘ < < : f : e . a i . 352
Least, A i ei , ‘ 5 . : ‘i A ‘ . 352
Blackbird, Cow, . i i . ‘ ‘ F , 0 . 320
Crow, . : a ‘ _ 5 7 114, 130, 135, 313, 371

food of, ‘ A P r i . é . 815

Marsh, . r ‘ ‘ ‘ a * . 319
Red-winged, i: 3 ‘ . 60, ‘114, 122, 125, 198, 180, 131, 319

food of, . . . 7 - 820

Rusty, . . : . 7 ‘i 5 2 a ; . 122, 312
Skunk, . ‘ 5 a - a a 3 é : * « 322
Western Crow, . ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 ‘ - : é . 313
Yellow-headed, . é ‘ : c , a a a . 67
Blackbirds, . r ‘ § ‘i : . . - i - 2, 69, 75, 76

Blissus leucopterus, Z . ; é : . . i ‘ . 83
Bluebird, ‘ . . ‘ : ‘ ‘i q i . 115, 290, 389

food of, . é 7 7 . 4 ; . c i . 291
Bobolink, . ; ‘ ‘ ‘ é i ‘ . ‘ ‘ 125, 127, 322

food of, . 4 7 ‘ i . . . . r « 323
Bob-white, ‘ % ‘ ‘i : : 5 e a 7 . + 60, 325
food of, . e i . ? ‘ ‘i F j _ . 881

Bombyx dispar, % ‘ 7 7 4 ‘ . ‘ Fi ‘ . . 64
Borer, bronze birch, . : i i 7 f ‘ . ‘i ‘i . 254
maple, . Fi F ei Fi 4 a f . : . ‘ . 254
Brewer, Thomas M., 5 A . 847
Brewster, William, i 13, 218, 243, 267, 269, 331, ‘338, 390, 404, 410, 418, 420
estate of, zi : . i * + 403

Bruchus hibisci, . : ‘ : ¥ . i ‘ ‘ x a 178
Bruner, Lawrence, . x i j . . ¥ . * ‘ z . 109
Bubo virginianus, . , ‘ . ‘ « ‘ é a : ‘ - 367
Bucculatrix pomifoliella, ‘ ‘ * . “ * : , ¥ » 252
Buckham, James, . ‘ i é 3 fi 7 a 7 . 343
Bull bat, 4 ¥ ‘ a ‘ ‘ . ¥ 4 ‘ . 341

Bunting, Bopniieed; . . . . . . a ‘ F ; - 311
Black-throated, w ‘ 4 r é « ‘ # ‘ . 306

Cow, ‘ r A - ‘ r ‘ a ‘ , . . 320

Indigo, . ‘ 2 Fi % a ‘ i . 115, 122, 298
Burroughs, John, . . ; é fi é 189, ‘190, 199, 226, 312, 363, 371
Butterfly, mourning-cloak, . . 3 , 3 3 ‘ ‘ 16
caterpillar of, f ‘ oy 2 é « 227

parsley, eggs of, . ‘ ‘ i ‘ ‘ 4 ‘ - - 305

Cabbage worms, . 7 - ‘ ‘ , ‘ ‘i ‘ : ‘ . 802
Canary, Wild, ‘ : , e p é ji jr . ‘ . 194, 222
Cankerworm, fall, . : 7 7 a ‘ z ‘ . ‘ . . 169
spring, + 70, 170
Cankerworms, Fi 125, 127-129, 131-135, 140, 141, 115, 181, 188, 191, 195, 210,

221, 231, 295, 302, 304
Carpocapsa pomonella, . . ‘ . ‘ ‘ . ‘ ‘ . » 151
INDEX. 427

 

PAGE

Carpodacus purpureus, . 3 a . 220
Catbird, . : : : 57, 58, 108, 109, 115, "129, 125-128, 139, 181, 283, 371
food of, . ‘ i - 182
Caterpillars, American tent, . 117, 118, 123, 126, 127, 130-136, 195, 208, 226, 302,
304, 343

brown-tail moth, ; . . 130-140, 184, 302, 304, 370

forest tent, . 6 5 + 69, 120, 125, 127, 138-140, 175

gipsy moth, . 63, 125, 126, 128, 129, 133-136, 138, 141, 144, 145,
157, 160, 175, 181, 184, 188, 195, 205, 208, 218, 226,

333, 369

oak, . r é a . . 7 $ Fi i A . 272
red-humped, r ‘ F ‘ * Fl a ‘ s 272

tussock moth, . é & i a r x 8 7 » 120

Cecidomyia destructor, . 5 7 ‘ 7 ‘ ‘ : : i . 33
Cedar Bird, . ‘ * 7 ‘ : 7 : . 51, 57, 60, 69, 209
Certhia familiaris annerioane, : ‘ 3 . 5 a 5 a . 177
Chetura pelagica, . . . . ; : : ‘ d . 340
Chapman, Frank M., . ‘ % ‘ ‘ a $ ‘81, 91, 197, 250, 386
Chebec, . * ‘ r ‘ . ‘ é . . é , . 229
Chermes lenctfetia,« ‘ : q : i . f é 3 ‘ i . 223
Cherry Bird, . . * : ’ * ‘ * ‘ " - 209
Chewink, .  . bank 126, 107, 139, 218
Chickadee, . . * B8, 115, 122, 124, 129, 130, 136, 140, 143, 145, 146, 163, 400
food of, . , i ; 167-171

Chinch bug, . Z 3 i : i a ‘| » 27, 28, 33
Chip Bird, Chinen, Chippy, ‘ ri , ‘ % . 4 . ‘ . 803
Chordeiles virginianus, ‘ ‘ ‘ F : ‘i : ‘ : . 341
Circus hudsonicus, . ‘ z r : ‘ $ : ‘ P P . 267
Cistothorus stellaris, a . ‘i : . 7 . 7 ‘ ‘ . 850
Clercy, J. O., ‘ : ‘ ” ¥ s 4 ‘ 2 : ‘ . 74
Coccyzus americanus, . : 2 7 : . z 7 : Fi - 265
erythropthalmus, . ¥ : ‘ : ; ‘ é i . 263

Colaptes auratus luteus, 7 . . . . 7 3 3 ; - 260
Coleman, Robert H., . ; ; ‘ s 7 é ‘ ‘ 3 . 186
Colinus virginianus, 3 a . . . ‘ . . ¢ a - 325
ColWWaG.g ee % = ho & & & we «. w 610
Contopus virens, . ‘ : ® r ‘ r ‘ i ‘ ¥ . 231
Corydalus cornutus, zi : ‘ 7 : ; ‘ : ‘ ‘ . 214
Cotton worm, . ‘ : ; é ‘ é ‘ é ~ @8e
Coturniculus savannarum sopesbeinac 4 ‘ ri 7 4 i ‘ . 308
Cowbird, * a 7 ‘ . ; ‘ i ‘ ‘ : - . 320
Crane, Whooping, . i : é é * : ‘ a ‘ a . 67
Creeper, American Brown, . . . : : : s 2 - 177
food of, 7 7 : . z ; ‘ . 178

Black and White, . 2 é 4 ‘ ‘ ‘ ¥ . 144,191
Crickets, western, . . 65, 66
Crow, . 2, 8-11, 26, 45-50, ts, 97, 114, 15, 125, 126, 129, 137, 145, 146, 333, 369
trapping the, . . . 406
Cuckoo, Black-billed, . . 5 114, 115, 125, ‘128, 136, 138, 139, 142, 144, 263
food of, : . 264

Yellow-billed, . j ‘ 60, 61, 114, ‘15, 126, 128, 138, 140, 146, 265

food of, ’ % 266

Curlews, . i ‘ 68, 75
Cutworms, . 11, a1, 34, 44, 157, 160, 181, 183, “987, 291, 295, 315, 316, 318, 330

Cyanospiza cyanea, ‘i . : . 298
 

428 INDEX.
PAGE
Dearborn, Ned, . " . 45, 48, 61
Dendroica estiva, . - ‘ . r . 194
coronata, « 201
pensylvanica, « 192
vigorsii, . - 200
virens, . 198
Diacrisia virginica, . 120
Dickcissel, ‘ » 855
Dike, A. C., ‘ 362, 408, 420
Diomedea immutabilis, . 82
Diplosis tritici, i, 22
Dobson, ‘ 4 4 » 214
Doryphora decemlineata, . 16
Dove, 4 13, 25
Carolina, . 324
Mourning, 60, 324
Turtle, . 324
Duck, Black, . ‘ : : : : : . 353
Wood, . 7 * é ~ ' c a i . 353
Dutcher, William, . . * ‘ . 3863, 418, 419
Eagle, Bald, . 866
Egrets, destruction of, . 3857
Elaphidion villosum, 99
Elliot, D. G., . ‘ ei 84
H. W., e ‘ 7 . 82
Ellsworth, J. Lewis, . 419
Euproctis chrysorrhea, 39
Euvanessa antiopa, 16
Falco columbarius, . 3866
peregrinus anatum, . 3866
sparverius, . 3866
Fannin, J., . 332
Farley, J. A., : » 283
Felt, E. P., ; . 69, 120, 247
Fernald, C. H., . 7 142, 240, 346
H. T., . 37
Field, G. W., . 419
Finch, Crimson, . 220
Grass, . . 311
Purple, 122, 125, 220
food of, - 221
Fire Hang Bird, . 3 + 224
Fisher, A. K., 3 : ¢ A . 66, 79, 80, 206
Fiske, W. F., “ ‘ é é ‘i a ‘ . 55
Fitch, Asa, 28, 255
Flagg, Wilson, 73, 204, 287
Fletcher, James, 4 ‘ ‘ » 85
Flicker, , ‘ 60, 126, 139, 146, 249
Northern, . , F fl . 122, 260
food of, : ; . 261
tongue of, . » 261
Flies, crane, . i ‘ 207, 211

house, . z .

208, 235
INDEX. 429

 

PAGE

Flies, March, . ‘ * 7 : a ‘i Fi z Fi 7 é . 286
May, « ‘ - ¥ ‘i ¥ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ @ ‘ « 130
robber, . é : : 3 P . ‘ . ‘ 239
Flycatcher, Great-crested,  . ‘ - é: ‘ 114, 115, 141, 144
Least, . ‘6 : ‘ : : 114, 115, 122, 180, 133, 141, 143, 229

food of, . P : « 231

Forbes, S. A., : 5 ‘ Z & Ae, 60, 155, 160, 181, 183, 210, 272, 285
First, Herman, . ‘ . ‘ 4 . ‘ a x Ut
Galeoscoptes carolinensis, ‘ ‘ ‘ 4 ‘ “ * # * « 2BL
Galerucella luteola, : i ‘ . 3 ‘ ‘ » 207
Gallinago delicata, . : é F ‘ ‘ . : 5 : . 337
Game birds, destruction of, . ‘s z ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘i ‘ 76, 84, 356
Gentry, T. G., ci 5 i r . ‘ . 192, 213, 234, 302
Geolplypis fechas brachidactya * “ % e 3 % z ‘ - 186
Glover, Townend, . ‘ ‘ x ¥ a ‘ ‘ ‘ . 29, 251
Goldfinch, American, . 4 , r 6 ‘ ‘ 5 . 122, 153, 222
food of, S i * z é a ‘ - 223

Goodell, Henry H., . is . ‘ ‘ 5 ‘ ; . i » 36
Goodmore, 8. E., . i " ¥ . . é é é » 68
Gophers, i z ‘ i ‘ . : ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘* ‘ » 8

Goshawk, 2 j 2 é i ’ é ‘ ‘ r é . 62, 366
Grackle, Bronzed, . r , ri - ‘ ‘ . 3 a . 114, 313

Purple, . x * , 4 5 ‘ a P ‘ . 114, 313

Rusty, . » 312
Grosbeak, Biae brassted, ‘52, 115, 122, 125- 128, 131, ‘133, 140, 142, 14, 145, 216
food of, . ‘ s ; . 218

Ground Bird, . x ‘ ; F ‘ “ a é ” : ‘ » 299

Grouse, . ‘ : : 2 i ‘ i 5 4 ‘ 4 z 13, 43
Ruffed, § % $ ‘ 5 3 3 r ‘ ‘ 61, 99, 267
food of, . : r a ‘ ‘i : ‘ ‘ ‘ . 271

food plants, list of, ‘ é é i : F . 273

Grub, white, . . . = ‘ . . ‘ . "40, 76, 181, 289
Guano, . ‘ A ‘ ‘ ‘ zi . ‘ : ‘ 82
Gull, Tikowiiheaded, . * r : ‘ “ ‘ ‘ ‘ ; « 405
Franklin’s, . r ‘ ‘ ‘ < * s ‘ : x 61, 67
Gulls, utility of, . ‘ % ‘ . ‘ ‘“ ‘* ‘ ‘ 80, 81

Hair Bird, ¥ : i * j < ‘ ; ‘ ; ‘ ‘ . 303
Hang Nest, . é . 7 é : . é ‘ és ‘ 7 - 224
Hares, . 3 a 5 . . ‘ ‘i 5 . ‘ . * . 78
Harris, T. W., 3 ‘ : ‘i ‘ ‘ 7 Z j ‘ ‘: . 226
Harvey, F. L., ; : i ‘i 7 . ‘ 5 ‘i é . 60
Hawk, . é ‘ ‘ i ‘ x 4 . 2 P ‘. ‘ « 6
Bog, . é ‘ a s e 3 : : 3 3 . . 867
Chicken, . ‘ é ‘ . é % 2 é , Z . 366
Coopers, . 7 i 2 . 7 : . . $ ‘ . 366
Duck, . ‘ ‘ F , . . z 3 2 : : . 366
ilies Gia © “% oe. Le Se (eo oe: Ge aa
Marsh, . . ‘ 4 . : ; ‘ . : . 867, 406
Pigeon, é ‘ 7 . . . . . . . . - 3866
Red-shouldered, . : : ’ ‘ é “ 5 ‘ . 366
Sharp-shinned, . 5 é . . : é 3 1 : . 366
Sparrow, . ‘ . . . . . . . . : . 366
Hawks, trapping, . . . : 7 . . . . : ‘ . 406
 

430 INDEX.
PAGE
Heath Hen, . % , ‘ . 26, 266
Heliophila unipuncta, a . 36
Hellgramite, . . . . 214
Helops acreus, " 5 . 178
Henshaw, Henry W., . . 419
Hemerocampa leucostigma, . + 120
Heron, Black-crowned Night, ’ - 351
Great Blue, * : 67, 352
Green, ‘a . . 351
High-hole, Hichtholder, . 260
Hill, Henry B., i . . . 420
Hirundo erythrogaster, J ‘ . 345
Hodge, C. F., . 3 . 267, 269, 211, 373
Hoffman, Ralph, . 7 191, 199, 310
Hopkins, A.D., . 247
Hornaday, William T., . 354
Howard, L. O., 153, 154, 162
Hummingbird, Biwhy-throated; ‘ , . . 122, 240
food of, . ‘ . 242, 244
Hylocichla fuscescens, . . 156
mustelina, . 158
Indian Hen, é ‘ F . 852
Indigo Bird, ; i a : . 187,139, 298
Insects, parasitic, ‘ * a “ , a ‘ 18-20, 240
predaceous, . » 17
transformations of, 13-15
To caterpillar, + 264
Iridoprocne bicolor, ‘ . 344
Isia Isabella, . . 120
Jay, ‘ 12, 94, 404, 409
Blue, : 11, 114, 115, 126, 129, "139, ‘136, 138, 189, 144-146, 369
Jenks, J. Y. P., . 276, 284
Job, Herbert K., . ‘ . 420

Judd, Sylvester D.,

Junco hyemailis,
Junco, Slate-colored,

Kaltenbach, J. H.,

Keyser, Leander S., é 4

Kimball, H. H.,
King, F. H.,
Kingbird, “
food of, .
Western,
Kingfisher, ‘
Kinglet, Goldenerawned,

ee .

Kinglets, .
Kirby and Spence, .
Kirkland, A. H., .

food of, .

121, 178, 181-183, 186, 272, 273, 278-280, 294, 300, 305,

326, 327, 329-331

122,

.

.

- 300
296, 300
. 301

- 32
173, 185
. 326

115, 206, 272

‘114, “115, 127, 136, 141, 143,

145, 235
. 238
. 57
- 262
- 161
. 161
- 160
" 30, 64, 73

. 29, 37, 45, 61, 136, ‘175, 208, 237, 252, 256, 304
 

INDEX. 431

PAGE

Lachnus strobi, : : - a 4 . . s # « 162
Lanius borealis, . ‘ ‘ 4 5 ¥ ¥ . 3870

Lark, Old-field, . ‘ 3 >
Larus franklinii, . * 4

Minot, H. D., . . 5 . . j . ‘164, 208, 218, 308, 309, 404

Mniotilta varia,

2 oh oe . 316
he He. Sk. CRS oe SETS

‘Lawrence, Samuel C., . i, ‘ ‘ A 4 é . . 39
Leopard moth, . A , 4 ‘i é 5 . 107
Leucarctia acrea, » 112
Lilford, Lord, : : : 2 A : 7 . é ~ 49
Linnet, Gray, é ‘ . " ‘ ‘ : ‘ . ‘ ‘ . 220
Red, & 7 . : $ . 220
Lintner, J. A., ; é ‘ ; : ¥ “ « 28-31, 33, 34
Liparis monacha, . ‘ ‘ i 7 4 ‘ : ‘ 4 4 17
Locust, Rocky mountain, 2 ‘ ‘ i ‘ ‘ ‘ , 28, 34
ravages of, ‘i . . . . . 7 . Fl « 67-69, 74
Lyford, C. Allan, : , . 118
Mackay, George H., f ‘ a : ‘i a . 418
Malacosoma disstria, a 7 . . " c 2 . ‘ 69
Marlatt, C. L., ‘ r , ‘ ‘ ‘i ‘ ‘ “ r 33, 55, 36, 39
Martin, Bee, . : c 4 ‘ ‘ ‘ é , 7 i « 235
Black, . 3 2 - a a . . . 347
Purple, ‘ ; ‘ ‘ % ‘ . 347

food of, ‘i i A ‘ é . 348

Martins, . 7 . 55
Mathews, Semuslor, é ‘“ r é i » 265
Mavis, Red, . a 7 . . . 179
Maynard, C.J., . C ‘ . 51
Meadowlark, é i 7 f ? ‘ . . ‘ é “ . 316
food of, . , . é . 5 5 é . 318

Megascops asio, is . 368
Melanoplus fois Grappa) ‘ . . 4 « 272
Spretus, 3 s < . Fi , é . . 384

Melospiza cineria melodia, . 299
georgiana, . j z é . * ‘ * . ‘ . 349

Merriam, C. Hart, . a ; i ‘ ‘ 7 é ¥ . 59, 419
Florence, ‘ ‘ x a 2 - 7 : . » 236, 241

Merula migratoria, ‘ ‘ # ‘ . ‘ . . . 282
Mice, field, . ‘ . . ‘ , é a ‘ ‘ ' « 17, 78, 80
meadow, é f . 367
Midge, wheat, ‘ 3 ‘ ‘ . iy 7 . 32
Millais, J. G., ‘ ‘ , 3 é . ees 7 f . 405
Millinery trade, - “ ‘i - é 3 . 85, 357

. 191

Mosher, F.H., . F . 51, ‘59, 62, 124, 14, 184, 193, 195, 295, 230, 241, 333

Moth, brown-tail, . . 3 ‘ : . 39, 124, 130, 147, 148, 205, 234
cecropia, F q ‘ js . . e . - 109
codling, : : 3 : 5 : ; 35, 151, 231, 250
fall cankerworm, pews ot ‘ . » 175
gipsy, . . 38, 39, 128, 142-144, 147, 148, ‘192, 205, 214, 231, 232, 234, 238,

259, 333
leopard, 4 ‘ ’ $ ‘ a 1" . 107
luna, . st > es 25 wet. “les. cae. 4a . 214
nun, . : . . 2 ‘ . c c a s 5 . 17
polyphemus, 4 . # » 109
432 INDEX.

 

PAGE

Moth, tent caterpillar, eggs of, . ‘ . . . . . + 167, 369
tussock, a é Z . . a . . a « 232
Munger, H. C., A : 7 ci . : a : . . . - 326
Musselman, C.C., . , 7 * ‘ ‘ - i . ‘ . 55

Nash, C. W.,. . : : $ ‘i * . . 44, 45, 227, 318, 330
Nectarophora destructor, . : : . “ 2 a ‘ . 304
Nighthawk, . ‘ . fi é ‘ . ‘ i . . - 60, 341
food of, : i é . z ‘ - - $ - 342

Nuthatch, Canada, é é ‘ ¢ ‘ ‘i ‘ ‘ i . 176
Red-breasted, ‘i ‘ ‘ ‘ 4 . * ‘ . 115, 176

food of, . ‘ , i 5 % 3 é . 176

White-breasted, . . 7 e p é . . 115, 122, 171

food of, < ‘ ‘ : 7 i a . 174

Nuthatches, . 5 ’ ‘ “ ‘ ¥ “ a . 163
Nuttall, Thomas, . i 2 ; ‘ z % : i 296, 231, 251, 263
Nyctala acadica, . ‘ a ‘ , ‘ ‘ 4 . ‘ a . 368
Nyctea nivea, 7 w : 7 i : . . 367
Nycticorax nycticorax ceawitie, ‘ x ‘ $ ‘ é ‘ 4 . 351
Oak pruner, . ¥ » 99, 256
Oriole, Baltimore, . 70, “14, 115, 122, 125-198, 131-133, 136, 137, 140, 143, 224, 230
food of, . 7 . F . - 226

Orchard, . 4 * é s x , r e ‘ . 224
Orioles, . s , * i és ‘: x ‘ z r 4 » 69, 108
Osborn, Herbert, . 3 x @ : ‘é a ‘ ‘ 5 . 187
Osprey, American, ‘ ‘ $ “ ‘ é ‘ ‘ ‘ . 413
Otus brachyotus, . 5 . . < . . : 7 . : .
Oven-bird, . , é é j » 115, 122, 124, 127, 134, 141, 144, 146, 188

food of, . ; ; i ‘ . 2 4 ‘ ‘ ‘ . 190
Owen, Daniel E., . ‘ * ‘ ¥ “ x . i : . 42, 45, 51
Owl, Acadian, * 4 ‘ ‘ ‘ < é . 368

American Hawk, . 7 ‘ fj . ‘ 3 : a i . 367
American Long-eared, . . ‘ 7 a 7 ‘ a A . 368
Barn, . : < : : 7 7 7 Pi . - «79, 368
Barred, . . ‘ ‘ r ze ; ‘ ‘ a , . 367
Great Horned, é 5 . ° ‘ ‘ ‘ : . 367
Hoot, . ¥ x * * % ‘ z 7 : - * . 367

‘ Saw-whet, . x a ‘ é ‘ ‘ ; ‘ 3 . 368
Screech, ’ 2 z 3 , % Fi 2 ‘ + . 368
Short-eared, . ‘ i P ¥ ¥ 4 ? a - 78, 367
Snowy, . : . . . . ‘ : ‘ . : 5 . 367
Owls, . 7 F i f ‘ ‘i ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ é 3 . 7
Packard, A.S., ‘ ‘ ‘ : 5 F . 82-36, 111, 112, 256, 348
Paleacrita vernata, 7 4 i * . ; ‘ ‘ y 70
Palmer, T. §., a ‘ F . . : i : r F 418, 419
Pandion hilizetus carolinensis, ‘ i . A ‘ 3 ri : . 413
Papilio polyxenes, . ‘ ‘ ' ‘ “ a é ‘ . i » 305
Partridge, * ‘ ‘ : x ‘ 3 i C § . 267
Parusatricapillus, . “ r - ¥ é ‘ ’ : ‘ ‘ . 163
Pea louse, a . 5 . ‘ ‘ * ‘ 2 . . x . 304
Peabody Bird, ‘ ‘ i ‘ “ ‘ a é é z : - 307
Pear tree psylla, . P . ‘ ‘ ¥ ‘ . ‘ » 158, 377

Pélicot, P., . : ; ; : ; - 5 3 ‘ . . 56
INDEX. 433

 

PAGE

Pewee, Ste HR Ga. cone oR ch on ere ote 0 62 cratl233
Bridge, . . 233
Wood, 14, 115, 122, 128, 141, 143, 231

food of, . 232

Phasianus torquatus, . 332
Pheasant, Ring-necked, . ‘ " 4 x ‘ ‘ ‘ + 332
food of, . ‘i i - ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ » 333

Philohela minor, . 336
Pheebe, A F 114, 115, 145, 233, 388
Pheebe Bird, . i 2 « 233
food of, . 234

Phorodon humuli, . » 2
Piesma cinerea, . ¥ . 174
Pigeon, Passenger, . 3, 328, 354, 356
Pigeons, domestic, 13, 25
Piranger erythromelas, . 212
Pissodes strobi, ‘ s 168, 254
Plant lice, 7 ‘ 28, 62, 11, 122, 124-128, 175, 196, 203, 221, 223, 339, 344
eggs of, . 162, 223
Platysamia cecropia, 108, 259
Plover, , . : E S 5 26, 48, 67, 68
Upland, oe een 15, 834, 836
Pooecetes gramineus, » 311
Porthetria dispar, . 38
Porzana carolina, . 350
Poultry, . ¥ é » 85
Prairie Chickens, 3 é 67, 68, 75, 76, 84
Proctor, Thomas M., ‘ ‘ 7 , ‘ 93
Psylla pyri, . 153
Quail, 4 ‘ é s * 26, 67, 68, 75, 76, 325
Marsh, . ‘ B é ‘ é ‘ 316

Rail, Sora, . 350
Virginia, . 350
Railroad worm, ri . 7 ‘ - k : ‘ . 231
Rallus virginianus, @ 7 ‘ . A . ‘ : . 350
Raspail, Xavier, ¥ 4 ‘ , ‘ x a 6 . 408
Redstart, American, . 3 . 115, 122, 129, 131, 135, 138, 140, 143, 196
food of, . ‘ r < ‘ ‘ . ‘ - x ASE

Reed Bird, ‘ . . * , ‘ ‘ + 322
Reed, C. A., ‘ P ‘ é 2 ‘ . 199
Regulus satrapa, . . a . . ‘i . , i . 161
Rice Bird, ‘ 5 ; . 322
Ridgway, Robert, . 57, 157, 326
Riley,C.V.,. . 29, 84, 35
Riley and Howard, 5 , . , . . . ‘ 65, 75
Riley, Packard, and Thomas, * “ x x ‘ . 34, 69, 75
Riparia riparia, ‘ . ‘ . ei ‘ - fs . 344

Robin,

American, .

Golden,
Ground, ‘ 3
Wood, . y

food of,

. 9, 10, 16, 44, 45, 115
115, 122, 129, 131-133, 136, 138-140, 147, 282, 315

. . . . . . 285

. . . . ‘ . . - 224
. . . . . . ‘ . ‘ . 218
. - . . . . . . . - 158
434 INDEX.

 

PAGE
Romaine, C.E., . % a ‘ ‘ . ‘ ‘ x x a « 330
Russell, John S., .  .  . eee a Me 848

Sanderson, E. D., . « » ‘ . ‘ F ’ ‘ ‘ : . 174
Sandpiper, Bartramian, . ‘ i . < 7 i < ‘ . 3834, 336
Spotted, Fi é é . P ‘ a , 2 . 335

Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied, . ‘ i - ‘ . . 114, 115, 262
Sayornis Phebe, . é ‘ ‘ é ; i ; " _ ci . 233
Scale, San José, . i é ‘6 i ‘ 3 « dak
Schizoneura lanigera, . . 7 . i le F ‘ . + 208, 252
Schizura concinna, é ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ x é ‘ ¥ . 272

Seeds eaten by birds, . " ‘ é ‘ ‘ e 3 " . 281, 296
Seton, Ernest Thompson, a é é z ‘ 3 ‘ - * . 343

Setophaga ruticilla, < ‘ 7 ‘ : 2 ‘ ‘ ‘ . 196
Shaw, Henry, . a : : g x . i i r . . . 142
Shrike, Northern, . . . : 7 7 ‘ 5 . 4 . 370
Shrubs, fruit-bearing, . . é ‘ * ‘ 2 . ‘ ‘ » 874
Sialia sialis, . a . , é i r ‘ é . ‘i 4 » 290
Silkworm, American, . 4 ‘i a ‘ 5 " < . 380, 108
Sitta canadensis, . ‘ , i ‘ « “ ‘ z ‘ i . 176
carolinensis, . ‘ ‘ . * * 4 4 . - a at
Smith, John B., . ‘ ‘ 2 7 ‘ zi c ‘ : . 107
Snipe, . ‘ ‘ ‘* é ‘ ‘ , . é i . 43
Wilson’s, . : : ‘ é . é i‘ , . F . 337
Snowbird, 4 “i , i ‘ : 4 " . i ‘ ‘ 2 oo
Black, . ; ‘ ; : ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 3 i . 300
Spanworm, currant, i 4 , ‘ i . 112
Sparrow, Chipping, ‘ ‘ 55, 114, 115, 122, 126, 136, 143, 303, 398
food of, . . 304

English, . 21, 56, 114, 134, 136-138, 140, 141, ‘292, 294, 344, 310, 389, 407

Field, : . . ‘ 114, 122, 127, 131, 140, 301

food of, i . ‘ 3 i ea é . 302

Fox, ‘ , 7 i . i " ‘ ‘ ‘ . 296
Grasshopper, . é x . s r . : ‘ 4 . 308

food of, ‘4 5 “ ‘ ‘ F ‘ . 809

Ground, . x ‘ 3 5 ‘ ‘ ‘ f . 299
Henslow’s, ‘ , “ ; 3 f < ‘ 5 f . 309

House, . : : d ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 56, 206, 225, 292, 370
Savanna, . . r . a ‘ 4 ‘ “i ‘ . 310

food of, . . ; : F . Bll

Song, ‘ ‘ P ‘é $ ‘ ‘42, 114, 128, 134, 141, 296, 299

Swamp, . * ‘ x “ , ‘ ‘ ‘ . 349

Tree, , é é ‘ ‘ ‘a ‘ ¥ ‘ 5 ‘ . 306

Vesper, . ‘ ‘ , a ‘ ‘ i 5 " ‘ » 311

food of, ; 7 : ‘ i é 4 » 312

White-throated, . ‘ "i 5 ‘ ‘ . 114, 122, 131, 307

food of, . . . . x ‘i < - 308

Yellow-winged, a . : S i 3 ‘ : : . 308
Sparrows, food of, . P P é 4 ‘ ‘ : ‘ 5 . 295
Sphyrapicus varius, 3 é ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 7 ‘ ‘- ‘ . 262
Spizella monticola, ‘ . ‘ ‘ j A 5 4 $ ‘ . 806
pusilla, . . ‘ . . . . . A . : . 301
socialis, . i 3 ‘ : ‘i fs ‘ A i f . 303
Spoonbills, . 7 . . . . ‘ é . . . . 65

Squirrels, . ‘ ‘ < ‘ . : i : i ‘ 94, 364, 408
INDEX. 435

 

PAGE

Stake-driver, . , . i . i ‘i o js ei ‘ ‘ - 352
Starlings, ‘i ‘ ‘ i ‘ é ‘ ‘ . 7 F : 17, 65
Stockwell, J. W., . o ‘ @ ‘ ‘ a ‘ i . 36, 37
Sturnella magna, . i ‘ : ‘ é ‘ . ‘ ‘ i . 316
Swallow, Bank, . ‘ ‘ : = ‘ ‘ > r . 60, 344
food of, . s . ¢ : a . ‘ ‘ . » 344

Barn, ‘ 3 ‘ i ‘ Ci . . : " . B45

food of, . : : . " é é ‘ fs 3 . 345

Chimney, . ‘ ‘ ‘ ’ * 2 ‘ é - 340

Cliff, i m 5 . ‘ 7 s é 7 . . 61, 346

food of, . : 7 ‘ 3 7 5 ‘ F i . 347

Eaves, . 3 : . . s 3 «: . x . 346, 387

House, . , . 7 : 7 a . 5 : . 344

Tree, ‘ 5 ‘ . ‘ i % é . . 844, 389

food of, . . ‘ * : ‘ : F F é . 345

White-bellied, ‘ ; ‘ " a 4 4 . 344
White-breasted, fi i s . : 3 : p . 344

Swift, Chimney, . : 3 a Zi i 7 " : . 128, 340, 387
food of, é i ‘ i ‘ i . 4 . 3840

Tanager, Scarlet, . i 7 . 68, 115, 122, 125, 127, 135, 137, 144, 146, 212
food of, 4 ‘ ‘ 5 i i ‘ ‘ , « 213

sa é . ‘ i é : . ‘ ¢ fi . 211
Teeter, . : 5 e ‘ z “ , , * . 335
Tegetmeier, w. B., . F i ‘ ‘ ; = ‘ é R . 9

Telea polyphemus, : : é . % i ‘ ‘ ‘ . 380, 108
Telematodytes palustris, . f ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 7 ‘ . 350
Terns, . : . E - f : e : 2 - . : . 80
eggs of, . 2 z . . . < ‘ ‘ a - 82
Thayer, Abbott H., 7 5 * ‘i ; fi i i és . 418
Bayard, . ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ; 7 ‘ a . 417
Theronia melanocephala, ‘ qj ‘ a 7 ; ‘ s ‘ » 239
Thistle Bird, . 7 : : a . ‘ si F ‘ ‘i : . 222°
Thompson, Maurice, f r ‘ ‘ “ ‘ * * ‘ . 246, 258

Thoreau, Henry D., . ‘ é Fi ‘ é : * . 96, 299
Thrasher, Brown, . ° ‘ 4 . A . : ‘ . 115, 134, 179
food of, i fi é ‘ “ . . 180

Thrush, Brown, . “ : ‘ ‘ a ‘ 126, 127, 131, 179
Goldah-vnawnied, : fi f 5 * fd i A ‘ . 188
Hermit, . ‘ ¥ x ‘ * i ‘ ‘ dé . 45, 156

Song, ‘ . . . ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘i . . ’ . 158

Tawny, - A ‘ fi . és c ‘ , . . 156
Wilson’s, . F ‘ 7 j , 4 i i 115, 136, 137, 156

food of, . : 3 ’ . Y . 157

Wood, ; . . . ¥ . 98, 115, 126, 127, 133, 134, 139, 158

food of, . : “ ‘ 5 . . i 7 : . 159

Thrushes, é : : F - 5 : A é 3 : : - 108
food of, . * a “ 4 ¢ ¥ “ ‘ ‘ ; » 155

Tip-up, . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘ » 335
Titmice, . . . . D ° 7 ' 7 . 17
Titmouse, Hisckravpail, Fi . . . . . . . . . 163
Torrey, Bradford, . . qi 7 : ‘ . . 7 7 : » 199
Towhee, . . F . . : ‘3 : . a 114, 115, 122, 143, 218
food of, . . a , « “ ‘ ; ‘ ‘ « 220
Toxostoma rufum, . ‘ ; i ‘ i 3 i a @ a . 179
 

436 INDEX.
PAGE
Treadwell, D., ‘ . y ‘ . . ‘ . . 44
Treat, Mary, . f ‘ S ‘ : . e « Wi
Tree hoppers, buffalo, » 212
Trees, fruit-bearing, . 374
Troglodytes aédon, z : ‘ . 3 5 3 . 292
Trouvelot, Leopold, » 30, 31, 38, 108
Turner, R. E., . . ‘74
Tyrannus tyrannus, . + 235
verticalis, 57
Veery, . 156
Vines, fnditdbeaning, . 374
Vireo, Red-eyed, 3 51, 115, 122, 125, 127, 129, ‘136-138, 140-142, 146, 204
food of, . 205
Solitary, . . 203
Warbling, ‘ ‘ 3 ‘ . ' » 115, 206
food of, a _ ‘ - ji * . 207
White-eyed, 115, 203
Yellow-throated, 115, “429, 125, 134, 138, 140-142, 207
food of, . 208
Vireo flavifrons, . 2 ‘ ‘ ‘ - 207
gilvus, . . . 206
olivaceus, . 204
Vulture, . : 7 - ‘ ‘ ‘ . 84
Wake-up, i ‘ * * * . ® ‘ « ‘ , » 260
Walsh, D. B., 34
Warbler, Black and White, 115, 123, 124, 125, "197, 130, 132, 135, 140, 141, 191
food of, « 192
Blackburnian, « 102
Black-poll, Gly kao
Black-throated Blue, 5 ‘ - 122
Green, . 3 : . 115, 122, 198
food of, i ‘ . 200
Blue-eyed Yellow, . 194
Chestnut-sided, 115, 122, 126, 127, 132, 134, 136, 139-141, 192
food of, » 194
Golden-winged, ‘115, 131, 132, 134, 137, 141
Hooded, Fi 185
Magnolia, « 122
Myrtle, 11, 122, 153, 201
food of, . 202
Nashville, 115, 131-133, 139
Palm, ; ‘ é . 186
Parula, . . : ‘ : 115, 122, 126, 132, 398
Pine, é “ * - 200
food of, . 201
Pine-creeping, ‘ ‘ ‘ : F 3 : a i . 200
Yellow, ‘i 115, 122, 127, 182-136, 140, 141, 143, 194
food of, < : - ; A ; . ~ Ans
Yellow-rumped, . . - 201
Warblers, ; : 4 : a : . : » 185
Warren, B. H., : ‘ : 4 . GO, 191, 206, 218, 245, 315
 

INDEX. 437

PAGE

Waxwing, Bohemian, ‘ , a . 209
Cedar, . : . 115, 131, 140, 209

food of, . 210

Webster, F. M., 259, 346
‘Weed, Clarence M., 45, 48, 55, 168, 183, 202
Weed and Dearborn, A 51, 57, 289
Weevil, Mexican cotton boll, 34, 330
pea, ‘ . 226

white ‘hae. 168, 254

Wells, D. A., - 56, 78
Wheelock, Irene G., . 290
Whip-poor-will, » 342
food of, . 3843

Widmann, Otto, . 348
Wilson, Alexander, 244, 320
Wilson and Bonaparte, . 4
Wood, E. W., : . ‘ - . , 70
Woodpecker, Downy, ‘ . 114, 115, 122, 129, 144, 146, 248, 249
. food of, & 3 5 < ‘ . 250

Gaffer, é . 260
Golden-winged, . 260

Hairy, . . 114, 115, 146, 247, 24s, 258

food of, . . 7 ' js . 259

Partridge, * . 260

Pigeon, . 260

Red-headed, 249, 355

Wren, House, . 54, 115, 292
food of, . 293

Long-billed Marsh, 54, 350

Rock, . . 54
Short-billed asks . 350
Wright, Mabel Osgood, . 223, 242
Yellow Bird, c . 194, 222
Summer, ‘ ‘ . 194
Yellow-hammer, . 260

Yellow-throat, Marytend,
Northern,

_ food of,

Zamelodia ludoviciana, .
Zonotrichia albicollis,

. : ‘ 127, 135, 188, 186
62, 115, 122, 186
187

‘i ‘ . 216
. ‘ . . . 307
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