in OOle4a7 yyy & wn TT Gass SBaos _ ONE ih a Ea OFFICIAL DONATION. aay vo) Gon tt | RN a Nia: <5 aah s P th i Wi Nt th Mt i} Hi ‘ i I fi au ! \ AWA RUIN H Rv tt Mh Hf th Keri iy Wik a fi i Ml uit Wh Nal i iH ti ) t Ri OD IRE HN RHE hu nuk i th ii it al Osi DAtra phen } mith Ky Nay Wi ae i i} NOILYNIWHSLXS 30 YSONVWG Ni (S061) MON WING AOOM SIMON ZISsseay oT Ay ‘So6r “yy sAdoD Peetu BRIS 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. PUBLISHED UNDER DIRECTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD’ OF AGRICULTURE, \\ - x BY AUTHORITY OF THE LEGISLATURE. APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD OF PUBLICATION, MAY '7 1907 D. OF D. PRINTED BY WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING COMPANY, STATE PRINTERS, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Commonwealth of Hassachusetts. Resolves of 1905, Chapter 51. A RESOLVE TO PROVIDE FOR PREPARING AND PRINTING A SPECIAL 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 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 committee 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 ; twocopies 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. 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 II. is based largely on observations made during that period by two faithful, capable workers, — Messrs. C. E. Bailey and F. H. Mosher. Owing vl 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. vil 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 vill 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. 8. Packard while serving as ento- mologist to the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. PREFACE. 1x 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. IntTRODUCTORY.— THE UTiILity oF BIRDS IN NATURE, CHAPTER I[.—THE VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN, . ‘ ; 4 Primitive Man’s Relations to Nature, Changed Relations produced by Agriculture, . Man at War with Nature in the New World, . The Increase of Insect Pests, The Number of Insects, . 3 : : 5 ; ‘ : The Reproductive Capacity of Insects, - ; 4 The Voracity of Insects, The Great Loss to American Agriculture by Insect Ravages, . Losses by Insect Ravages in Massachusetts, The Capacity of Birds for destroying Pests, . = The Digestion of Birds, . ‘ ? 5 : A The Growth of Young Birds, . : - 2 a : - 6 The Amount of Food required by Young Birds, ; : : - The Time required for Assimilation of Food, . : : : The Number of Insects eaten by Young Birds in the Nest, The Amount of Food eaten by Adult Birds, . : 5 : - Birds save Trees and Crops from Destruction, The Increase of Injurious Insects following the Destruction of Birds, The Destruction of Injurious Mammals by Birds, . ‘ : : ; The Value of Water-birds and Shore Birds, The Commercial Value of Birds, . The MHsthetic, Sentimental, and Educational Value of Birds, CuHaAaptTer II].— THe Uriniry oF Brrps IN WOODLANDS, The Relations of the Bird to the Tree, The Forest Planters, 3 i - A 3 F The Influence exerted by Birds and Squirrels on the Succession of Forest Trees, The Tree Pruners, The Guardians of the Trees, . E : - : 4 : Cuarrer IIIT.—Brrps as DESTROYERS OF HAIRY CATERPILLARS AND PLANT LICE, CHAPTER IV.— THE Economic SERVICE OF BIRDS IN THE ORCHARD, CHAPTER V.—SonG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND, Woodland Thrushes, : . . - Kinglets, . é Nuthatches and Tits, : 5 : : . = Xi CONTENTS. CHAPTER V.—SoNG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND — Con. PAGE Creepers, . : - : - : ; : : : : a LEE Thrashers and Mockingbirds, . ; : . - “ : : a drs} Warblers, . 5 4 . . 3 : é F 5 A A 7 LOD Vireos, : ; : : : : A = ; : : « 203 Waxwings, 0 : 3 ; : : : 2 c 2 C 7 209 Tanagers, . : 2 a : : : : . - c . Bee alta Finches, Grosbeaks, and Towhees, . : : é 5 5 : « 2d Blackbirds, Grackles, Orioles, ete., . ; . : ; : : . 224 CHAPTER VI.—SoONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND, . + 1229 Flycatchers, . ; 6 : ; : - : ; F : . 229 Humnmingbirds, . : a - : : ‘ 2 3 240 Woodpeckers, . : 2 { ; : é : c ; : , 285 Cuckoos, Kingfishers, etc., : : : 5 A 2 2 : . 262 Grouse, Partridges, ete., . 0 : : : ; 4 , : . 266 CHAPTER VII.—THE UTILITY OF Brrps IN FIELD AND GARDEN, . - 275 CHAPTER VIII.— Brrps oF FIELD AND GARDEN, . ; } ; - 282 Thrushes and their Allies, , ; : 4 5 : : : « 202 Wrens, . , . : : 6 : 4 c . : ‘ « 292 Sparrows, . : : : : é 3 : : : : ‘ . 294 Blackbirds, Grackles, ete., 5 . 5 5 A : : : 6 ode Pigeons and Doves, . , F 3 ; é . ; : : eee Grouse, Partridges, ete., . 5 : ' é j 2 5 : > 020 Pheasants, - : ; : n ; 5 : F 7 5 ~ Bey Snipe, Sandpipers, Woodcock, etc., - - é : ; ; . 304 CHAPTER IX.— BIRDS OF THE AIR, . S 3 3 3 3 = BBY) Swifts, . ; : ; . ; ; : ‘ ; . a . 340 Nighthawks, Whip-poor-wills, ete., : ; c i ; : . 341 Swallows, é : A 0 af er be : 7 F F 5 a BES CHAPTER X.— BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE, . : é - » o49 Perching Birds, 5 ‘ : : é 3 : ‘ - , . 349 Rails, 6 : 4 5 . 5 5 : : , f 5 5 aha!) Herons, . : 5 : ; ; : A 5 ; - : a. onl Water-fowl, 3 ‘ 5 : : 5 5 2 : . 5 5 Bhs} CHAPTER XI.— CHECKS UPON THE INCREASE OF USEFUL BiRDs, . . oo4 The Destruction of Birds by Man, . : 3 ¢ : 4 : . 856 The Natural Enemies of Birds, 5 ; ; : : : ; = Bia Introduced Four-footed Enemies, . : 4 ‘ ‘ a : . 362 Cats, . : . P F é A 5 5 . : ; . 362 Native Four-footed Enemies, . : E : 4 ; : : . 364 Squirrels, . ‘ ; : i é . : - : . 364 Rats and Mice, . é : : i 2 : : : c > 306 Feathered Enemies, : 4 : F a : é A 5 . 366 Hawks, : A ; 5 : - 2 : - : 5 . 3866 Owls, . 5 ; : : 2 4 A : 5 rs 7 5 Oy Crows and Jays, : : a : . ° ° : : . 368 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER XI.— CHECKS UPON THE INCREASE OF USEFUL Brirps — Con. PAGE Feathered Enemies — Con. The House Sparrow, . : ¢ ; : : é < : . 370 Shrikes, . 6 ; : c : : opeirs c : . 370 Other Bird Enemies, . ; : , = - : - ; . dtl Reptilian Enemies, . : : : ; : : : A “ ay ey Al Fish, i f 5 é J 5 5 - 5 A - : & afl CHAPTER XIT.— THE PROTECTION OF Birps, . . 2 ‘ : Alte Methods of attracting Birds, . : : : 5 3 : 2 BIS Feeding and Assembling the Winter Birds, —. : : : Py WA Attracting the Summer Birds, . : c : : : ; . 384 Providing Nesting Places about Buildings, ; ; . : . 386 Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes, ; : : 3 ; . 388 Furnishing Nesting Material, . : - : - é - . 398 Feeding the Summer Birds, : : ‘ : C : c ex FON, Attracting Water-fowl, . : : : : q : P . 402 The Protection of Birds against their Natural Enemies, . 5 : . 403 The Protection of Farm Products from Birds, . : : 5 A + 4:10 To protect Grain from Crows and Other Birds, . . A ; 2 Ald To protect Small Fruits, . : f P : ‘ 3 é a oe To protect Chickens from Hawks and Crows, . 0 : ; . 412 General Protective Measures, . 5 : - E 5 é . 413 Game Protection, 3 A é ; 2 ‘ A f 3 . 414 Measures and Legislation necessary for the Protection of Game and LAL Droid ha oo RA Renee naa cee ab fa eal Peay EMCO RC 7 Artificial Propagation of Game Birds, : F ‘ : . » 417 The Movement for Bird Protection, : c 3 3 : : . 418 Papers on Ornithology, published by the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 5 : ; : c ; ; : . 421 INDEX, ~~ 3 A : j : c : : , 2 : : . 423 _ - oe ike eae ahs! to re 7 7 , ee, 7 4 j i A er a ' ' a z a i ; P ts a — i ‘ \ hat ; - : 5 i - FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE G “ FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 1.— The Archeopteryx, . - : ; : : 2.— Ground Beetle, . : : : : : 5.—Cutworm, . 4 - : < < A 4.—Noctuid Moth, . . 5 6 Fi 6 5.—Fly and its Larva, . : . c 2 - ; 6. — Chestnut Beetle or Weevil, ‘ é : 5 . 7.— Caterpillars, the Larve of Butterflies, . i 5 8. — Pup or Chrysalids, . - . é . : ; : 9.— Predaceous Beetle, the Lion Beetle or Caterpillar Hunter, 10. — Predaceous Beetle, a Tiger among Insects, . 11. — Hymenopterous Parasite, ; : : : - 12. — Host Caterpillar with Cocoons of a Parasite upon its 15.— Tiger Beetle, . : ; . : : : : 14.—Chinch Bug, . : é . . : é 15. — Colorado Potato Beetle, . : 5 ‘ : : 16.— Hessian Fly, . : ; : : : : 17. — Alimentary Canal of Bluebird, : : : : 18. — Young Cedar Bird on its First Day, c ; 19. — Young Cedar Birds less than Three Weeks old, 20. — Young Grouse, P ; F : é 21.— Young Woodcock, . * : : : : 4 22. — Young Robins, 23.— Young Crows, . - 24. — Passenger Pigeon feeding by Regurgitation, 25.— Chipping Sparrow feeding Young, . : c 26. — Yellow-throat catching Birch Aphids, . . : 27.— Western Cricket, . ‘ : ‘ 28. — Gulls saving Crops by killing Crickets, . : 5 29. — Warblers destroying Plant Lice, 30. — The Winged Seed of White Pine, . : : ; 31.— A Forest Planter, . - ; - : F ; 32. — Ruffed Grouse, ‘‘ budding,” . : ; ‘ 4 33.— The Diligent Titmouse, . : - : c > 34.— Winter Tree Guards, é : : ‘ 5 ; 35.— Destructive Bark Beetle, : ‘ 6 6 : 36. — Woodpecker hunting Borers, .- : : - : 37. — Larva of the Cecropia Moth, . ¢ : : . Back, Xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE ! FIGURE ! FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE : FIGURE FIGURE FIGuRE ! FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE 6 FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGuRE FIGuRE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE 38 39 40 41 42 43. 44 45 46 47 52. — Fall Cankerworm Moth, . . ; 53.— Apple Twig with Eggs of the Cankerworm Moth, . 54. — White-breasted Nuthateh, 55. — Nuthatches, . 56. — Wood-boring Beetle, : - : 59 65 66. .— Black-throated Green Warbler, 79 80. 82 .— Woolly Bear Caterpillar, .— Yellow Bear Caterpillar, . .— Caterpillar of the White-marked Tussock Moth, .— Web of the Brown-tail Moth Caterpillar, .— Nashville Warbler, . — Caterpillar of the Brown-tail Moth, .— Warblers feeding on Young Caterpillars of the Gipsy Moth, . .— Egg Cluster of the Gipsy Moth, .— Wilson’s Thrush, .— Wood Thrush, 3. — Golden-crowned Kineglet, 9. — Chickadee, : ). — Eggs of the Tent Caterpillar Moth, .—Codling Moth, Parent of the Apple Worm, .— Red-breasted Nuthatch, 3. — Brown Creeper, .— Brown Thrasher, .—Catbird, . .— Northern Yellow-throat, .— Oven-bird and Nest, 3.— Black and White Warbler, .— Chestnut-sided Warbler, . .— Yellow Warbler, — American Redstart, .— Pine Warbler, . .— Myrtle Warbler, .— Woolly Apple Tree Aphis, .— Red-eyed Vireo, 2.— Warbling Vireo, 3.— Yellow-throated Vireo, .— Cedar Bird, 2 ; .— Passing the Cherry, . 3. — Good Work in the Orchard, .—Searlet Tanagers and Gipsy Moth Caterpillars, . .— Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Male, .— Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Female, — Towhee, .— Purple Finch, . .— American Goldfinch, . PAGE 120 120 121 130 135 133 135 148 157 158 161 164 167 168 169 169 172 173 175 176 GG 180 182 187 189 191 193 195 197 199 201 202 202 204 206 208 209 210 211 212 216 217 219 221 999 FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 83.— Baltimore Oriole, . - : : < A . 84.— Pea Weevil, . % P : , 3 : 85. — Tent Caterpillars, Eggs, and Cocoon, . : : 86.— Click Beetle, 87.— Cucumber Beetle and Curculios, . A 5 : 88.— Gipsy Moth, Male, . 89.— Cankerworm, . ; : . 90. — Wood Pewee, 91. — Tortricid Moth, 92. — Tussock Moth, 93. — Phoebe, 94.— Moth of Spring Cankerworm, . 95.— Wood-boring Click Beetle, . c : 3 5 96.— Brown-tail Moth, . : 97. — Kingbird, : 5 : A : 5 . 98.— Cetonia Beetle, ; ; ; : 5 99.— May Beetle, . 5 : 0 : : : : 100. — Hummingbirds about Two Weeks old, . 101. — Hummingbird feeding Young, : ‘ 5 c : 102.— Young Hummingbirds nearly fledged, . 103.— Skull and Tongue of Woodpecker, : 104.— Spearlike Tongue-tip of Downy Woodpecker, 105.— Pine Borer, . : 5 5 106. — Pales Weevil, 107. — Cocoon of Codling Moth pierced by Woodpecker, . 108. — Apple Tree Borer, . é 5 : 109. — Section of Young Tree saved by Downy Woodpecker, . 110.— Downy Woodpecker and his Work, 111.— Bark pierced by Downy Woodpecker, : 5 112.— The Same, showing the Channels made by Bark Beetles, 113. — Pine Top killed by Pine Weevil, 114.— Tree ruined for Timber by Pine Weevil, 115.— Section of Red Maple tapped for Sap, . : 116.— A Similar Section, A i A 117. — Hairy Woodpecker, : A : ; : : 5 118.— Flicker, . : : . ae ens 119. — Black-billed Cuckoo, . é - - - : 120. — Caterpillar of the lo Moth, 121.—Spiny Elm Caterpillar, . 6 : : : ° : 122.— Fall Web Worm, . 4 ; ; 5 : 123. — Red-humped Caterpillar, 2 124.— Tree Hoppers, 125.— American Robin, 126.— White Grub, . : : : : é - = 127. — Bluebird, Z ; 2 - : - ; - eee XVII1 FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGURE FIGuRE 128. — The Bluebird’s Bread, 129.— Indigo Bunting, Male, 130.— Indigo Bunting, Female, : : j 131. —Song Sparrow, . : 132. — Slate-colored Junco, ° 133. — Field Sparrow, 134. — Chipping Sparrow, . . 155. — Moth of the Tent Caterpillar, 136.— Chipping Sparrows hunting Beet Worms, 137. — Tree Sparrow, F A ‘ 5 138. — White-throated Sparrow, 5 : ‘ 139. — Vesper Sparrow, 140. — Crow Blackbird, 141.— Meadowlark, . A 142. — Red-winged Blackbird, Male, 145. — Red-winged Blackbird, Female, 144. — Bobolink, Male, and Army Worm, 145. — Bobolink, Female, . 146. — Bob-white, 5 5 147. — The Morning Call, . 2 5 148. — Ring-necked Pheasant, . 5 149. — Purple Martin, Male, 150. — Purple Martin, Female, 151.—Salt-marsh Caterpillar, . 152. — Army Worm, 153. — Swamp Sparrow, 154. — Italian Sportsman and his Decoy Owl, . 155.— Blue Jay, a 156. — Northern Shrike, 157. — Seed Catkins of Gray Birch, . 158. — Fruit of Virginia Juniper or Red Cedar, 159. — Downy Woodpecker feeding on Suet, 160.— The Birds’ Christmas Tree, 161.— The Birds’ Tepee, . : 162. — Design for a Sparrow-proof Shelf, . 163. — Mr. Chapman’s Bird Bath, 164.— Phoebe’s Nest in Box, 165. — Sparrow-proof Box, 166.— Birch-bark Nesting Box for Chickadees, 167. 168 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. . — Chickadees feeding Young in Observation Box, 169. 170. 171.— Zine Bands to prevent Cats or Squirrels from climbing Trees —A Martin Box, —A Martin Barrel, or Poles, — Shingle Box for Bluebirds, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xis Woop Duck (Colored Plate), - , ; : - ‘ . Frontispiece PLate I.— The American Silkworm Moth, - : . faces page 31 _ Pyare II.— The Destructiveness of the Gipsy Moth, between pages 38 and 39 © Puiate III.— Expensive Work of destroying the Eggs of the Gipsy Moth in Woodland Parks, . : - . between pages 38 and 39 PLATE IV.—Red-eyed Vireo feeding Young, . E : . faces page 51 “ PLATE V.— Chickadee, with Insects in its Beak, : : . faces page 547 Puiate VI.— Field or Meadow Mouse, - : : - . faces page 76 PuLatE VII. — White-footed or Deer Mouse, - : : . faces page 76 PuatTe VIII.— A Useful Mouse-eating Owl, ; : . faces page 78 ° PLATE IX.— Regurgitated Owl Pellets, . : “ : . faces page 80 PLATE X.— The Same Pellets, dissected, . : : é . faces page 80 PLATE XI.— Albatrosses on Laysan Island, H.I., . - . faces page 82 : . . faces page 343 ~ PLATE XXXIII.— Nest Robbers, - - - . faces page 359 ° PLaTE XXXIV.— Work which drives out the Birds, - . faces page 360 PLaTE XXXV.—Cat with Young Robin, . : : - . faces page 362 PLATE XXXVI.— Barred Owl, . < : : : . faces page 367 PLATE XXXVII.— Blue Jay’s Nest in Author’s Grove, . . faces page 369 PLATE XXXVIII. — Fruits that are valuable as Bird Food, . faces page 375 PLiaTE XXXIX.—A Bountiful Repast, . : : - . faces page 378 PLATE XL.— A Scratching Shed, : : : - ; . faces page 378 PLATE XLI.— Chickadee seen through Window, at Author’s Home, . - . - F . - - - 4 . faces page 380 XxX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Puare XLII. — Chickadees on Pork Rind, : c : . faces page 380 PuLatE XLIII.— Ernest Harold Baynes taming a Chickadee, . faces page 381 Pirate XLIV. —Chickadee feeding from the Hand, . : . faces page 381 PLaTrE XLV.—Chickadees seen on a Frosty Morning, through Author’s Window : 5 A . faces page 382 - ’ D> PLATE XLVI.—A Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Window, . faces page 382 PLratE XLVII.— Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes, . : . faces page 391 PLratrE XLVIII.— Inexpensive Nesting Boxes, . ; 5 . faces page 392 PLatTE XLIX.—Chickadee about to enter its Nest, in an Old Varnish Can, . : . : : ; : - 2 . faces page 392 PuatE L.—Owl Box, at Author’s Home, . ; between pages 394 and 395 PLAtE LI.— Owl on Nest, . - 5 : : between pages 394 and 395 PuiatE LII.—Chickadee’s Nest, made of Cotton, in Box on Author's Window, 5 . : c 2 between pages 400 and 401 Puatr LIII.— Chickadee on Nest, . 3 ‘ between pages 400 and 401 Puare LIV.— Mother Chickadee bringing Food to Young, between pages 400 and 401 PuatE LYV.— Mother Chickadee cleaning Nest, between pages 400 and 401 PLATE LVI.— Domesticated Canada Goose on Nest, ; . faces page 417 ~ USEFUL BIRDS AND THEIR PROTECTION. INTRODUCTORY. THE UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE, There is no subject in the tield 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, CTE TT NS OF BIE D'S, IN INA OLE. 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 fly, 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 land 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 USHFUL 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. i) 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 Archie- opteryx, had teeth, two fingers on each wing, anda long rep- tilian tail adorned with feathers. Still, notwithstanding the comparatively low place which is given by the systematists TOF pends... Giveir 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- ° r ity. The tempera- Fig. 1.—The Archopteryx, a bird with teeth. Re- ture of the blood is stored from the Jurassic epoch. About one-fifth natural P a 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- or) 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- out it. 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 year, 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 organisins, 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. 3 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 foed 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? pis 9 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 * 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. : * 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 larve 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. 17 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 eutworms, 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 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. Fig. 4.— Noctuid moth. 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 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 or 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. and ground beetles, goes to the woods to feed 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 e UTILITY OF BIRDS IN NATURE. LT 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 now 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 (Ziparis 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, pupe, and moths. Enormous flights of Titmice and Finches were similarly engaged. The attraction of Starlings to such centers be- caine 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 8. A. Forbes. Bulletin No. 6, Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, 1883, p. 21. * 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 rest to be devoured by ants Fig! 9. Predaccous beetle: the lion OF -ouher scavengers. While eee ey mc pray 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- 4 “4 aa 5 daceous beetle; them have the habit of depositing their eggs a tiger among on, or in, the bodies of other living insects. pe ee K \ Sa Each ichneumon fly is armed with a long [ / . . . : A ) Ovipositor, which operates somewhat like a ly 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 Fig. 11.—Hymenop- puncture, depositing them in the body tis- Tee ahdeat on sues beneath the skin. These eggs soon eae io o larve, emerging from c hatch, and the youn 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 _. Fig. 12.— Host caterpillar, with host until it has sought some place cocoons of the parasite upon its 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 form, eaten se by very few are beneath the notice of most birds. The birds. : ° 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 larvee 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 insufticient 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 1s 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 no agriculture. 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 USHFUL 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 aninals. 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. In 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 Kurope, 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 the 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.—cninen to farm. Such are the chinch bug and the ae one en- arged. 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 ona 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. 1 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 Fis: 15.—Cel orado potato 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 ali 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.! This voracity and rapid growth may be shown by the statement of a few facts. » great “rainbow of birds ; appeared to be about three rods wide and about one hundred as they passed overhead, the line 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. oe 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 summer. Beetles, particularly Scarabeeids 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 Sa ee yes ee 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. I 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 ° . r Fig. 142.— Red-winged Black- a suggestion of bogey OO0ZE. The bird, male, one-half natural common note is a single chuck, and *i%-: the ordinary song resembles the syllables quong-ka-reee’, 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, aPout 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. Eggs. — 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 ege 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 allthe food. It is 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, anda 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. : ; tae Antrostomus vociferus, . - 5 . : : 3 ; : : . 342 Aphid, birch, eggs of, . ¢ - é - é - 223 Aphis, hop vine, . : : : A c : é x 28) woolly apple, ‘ , : : - : : : j > = BIBS Bape Aphodius inquinatus, . 5 3 : : : ; : : - sy (ou! Ardea herodius, A 2 : . ‘ ; ; é : i E “ope Army worm, . : ; : : é z . 36, 218, 295, 316, 323, 330, 349 Asio accipitrinus, . : : : : : : : : : . 367 wilsonianus, . 2 ; : : é F : C : 5 . 368 Audubon, John J.,. ; 5 ; 5 : 5 é . 4, 194, 263, 346, 347 Aughey, Samuel, . A : : 3 : ; ; : 54, 184, 200, 335 Auk, Great, . : - ; : é é 6 : : : 3, 354, 356 Bailey, Charles E.,. . ~—-124, 142, 166, 169, 170, 175, 178, 214, 240, 241, 253, 256 S. Waldo, . A : : , : : : : : . 370 Baird, Spencer F., . 2 - : 7 : : : A - eels Ballou, H. A.., ; : ; j 5 4 ‘ 5 . 5 45 Bangs, Outram, ‘ A z ‘ ‘ 5 ; é . A : . 238 Bark louse, oyster-shell, . - : : A : A : o 168S175 Barton, B.S., . 5 ‘ . f : é é A 7 . se Age! Baskett, J. M., ; ; ; : c : A ‘ : ; ; . 259 Baynes, Ernest Harold, . : - : ° : - : - ; . 420 Beal, F. E. L., - 98, 59, 61, 162, 211, 226, 227, 234, 236, 239, 259, 264, 283, 285, 293, 305,318, 321, 342 Beetles, Colorado potato, 5 ? : . A 16, 27, 29; 216, 218, 330, 342 elm-leaf, . P és F 5 , : : : Fe PAU fa pala Fate tL May, . : , : ‘ : - 10, 11, 183, 220, 227, 234, 238, 348 rose, . PF 3 3 : ; 3 - : . 160, 348 striped cucumber, : p : : : : : 297, 234, 342. 348 Bendire, Charles, . , A . : - = = ee2omeon 426 INDEX. PAGE Bibio albipennis, 4 5 A : f < 286 Bird, Myrtle, . ; 5 5 : 201 Planting, 2 - ¢ . 5 : - 179 Teacher, : é 5 185 Birds as tree planters, - ° - 5 93 pruners, . < 99 flight of, : 5 2 Bittern, American, ‘ , ‘i 0 352 Least, 5 : - . 352 Blackbird, Cow, ; : : 5 : : - : : o20 Crow, F . : A A ; : 114 130) Wb sta ork food of, pols: Marsh, : : é : é ~ BLS) Red-winged, 4 : 60, 114, 122, 125, 128, 1380, 181, 319 food of, . 3 F 4 : ‘ ; 320 Rusty, . 5 122, 312 Skunk, . 4 5 : . 322 Western Crow, : 5 OS) Yellow-headed, : 67 Blackbirds, : 2, 69, 75, 76 Blissus leucopterus, i 5 aS Bluebird, : 4 5 115, 290, 389 food of, 5 a . 291 Bobolink, : . é 125, 127, 322 food of, . Oo Bob-white, i 60, 325 food of, . . 5 ail 3ombyx dispar, 64 Borer, bronze birch, : 254 maple, . c : 254 Brewer, Thomas M., : ; 5 4 5 5 : ; : sy aL Brewster, William, 3, 218, 245, 267, 269, 331, 338, 390, 404, 410, 418, 420 estate of, » 405 Bruchus hibisci, 5 178 Bruner, Lawrence, . 109 Bubo virginianus, : 5 367 3ucewlatrix pomifoliella, 252 Buckhamn, James, 343 sull bat, & C 341 Bunting, Bay-winged, 311 Black-throated, : 3D0 Cow, “ 5 5 : . 320 Indigo, “ . 3 : 5 115, 122, 298 Burroughs, John, : 4 5 189, 190, 199, 226, 312, 363, 371 Butterfly, mourning-cloak, ‘ : 5 16 caterpillar of, : 0 5 : a 6 » 227 parsley, eggs of, 6 6 305 Cabbage worms, . 302 Canary, Wild, a 5 194, 222 Cankerworm, fall, : ; , ‘ 0 - : 169 spring, : ; . - : : : : . 70, 170 Cankerworms, ; 125, 127-129, 131-135, 140, 141, 175, 181, 188, 191, 195, 210, Carpocapsa pomonella, 221), 231), 295, 302, 504 151 INDEX. Carpodacus purpureus, PAGE . 220 Catbird, . : é 57, 58, 108, 109, 115, “122, 125-128, 139, 181, 283, 371 food of, Caterpillars, American tent, brown-tail moth, forest tent, . gipsy moth, 117, 118, 12: : - 182 23, 126, 27 130- 136, 195, 208, 226, 302, 304, 343 130-140, 184, 302, 304, 370 69, 120, 125, 127, 138-140, 175 63, 125, 126, 128, 129, 183-136, 138, 141, 144, 145, 157, 160, 175, 181, 184, 188, 195, 205, 208, 218, 226, oak, : red-humped, tussock moth, . 5 Cecidomyia destructor, : Cedar Bird, . : : 6 6 Certhia familiaris americana, Cheetura pelagica, . 5 ‘ Fi Chapman, Frank M., Chebec, 5 Chermes larcifolia, . . c Cherry. Bird, . : ‘ Chewink, 5 5 : Chickadee, » 5d, 115, 122, food of, . Chinch bug, A , Chip Bird, Chipper, Chippy 50 Chordeiles virginianus, Circus hudsonicus, . Cistothorus stellaris, Clercy, J. O., 6 . 0 Coceyzus americanus, . 6 erythropthalmus, Colaptes auratus luteus, . Coleman, Robert H., ; c : Colinus virginianus, Colt, W. C Contopus virens, Corydalus cornutus, Cotton worm, P 3 3 Coturniculus savannarum passerinus, Cowbird, Crane, Whooping, . AO Creeper, American Brown, 5 food of, Black and White, Crickets, western, 333, 369 . 272 : : . : - . 252 7 ; : c : . 120 . . . . . . DO 3 - J EL, BY, 60, 69, 209 EL ee eta aT pty to Eh cee Stee AO AG Sahel e. Sis OIL efor OnNe SRG oot SSS all Ci aes Bea . 223 . 209 126, 127, 1 139, 218 124, 129, 130, 136, 140, 143, 145, 146, 163, 400 167-171 . 22onoo 5 ai0R: . 341 - a67 ‘ ; é : : - 300 ; c : : : «tA. - ; “ : : + 265 Sipe eth Weer oGs EN A Re a AR OG a8 213) De cal eg st Fay Ss gish See a Pe PEEL ee a aa eam i NN 1 PS Ui oo Sy aa a ae (0 tN ORR A ok Set ee EEE | snitch, ole a8 Gide aR MM SOc oR P88 . 308 hl tes teen) Re SPN eee ely ie AY BP ae tn Gl She aR ear Me eee sl 7 178 aoe 144, 191 Mea ALS ot orGiGt GO Crow, . 2, 8-11, 26, 45-50, 75, 97, 114, 115, 125, 126, 129, 137, 145, 146, 333, 369 trapping the, A 4 Cuckoo, Black-billed, . : : food of, Yellow-billed, . food of, Curlews, . 5 Cutworms, si ile Cyanospiza cyanea, : ; 406 THES alate alsy 1: 28, 136, I: 38, 13 39, 142, 144, 263 : 264 60, 61, 114, ‘15, 126, 128, 138, 140, 146, 265 : c 68, 7 27, 34, 44, 157, 160, 181, 183, 287, 291, 295, 315, 316, 318, es 5 . 298 428 INDEX. Dearborn, Ned, : : Dendroica wstiva, . é coronata, . pensylvanica, vigorsli, . S virens, Diacrisia virginica, : Dickcissel, é , ; Dike,cAG Cie, Diomedea immutabilis, Diplosis tritici, Dobson, . . 6 é Doryphora decemlineata, Dove, 3 : Carolina, ; 4 Mourning, Turtle, Duck, Black, . Wood, . ‘ i Dutcher, William, . : Eagle, Bald, Egrets, destruction of, . Elaphidion villosum, . ISIAH, 1D, (Cray c : : ES W.:, ¢ : Ellsworth, J. Lewis, Euproctis chrysorrhea, Euvanessa antiopa, Faleo columbarius, : peregrinus anatum, sparverius, jueyaaniah digg 6 5 Farley, J. A., LeVine Oe) eee eG 3 5 Fernald, C. H., . F late, Ie : é Field, G. W., Finch, Crimson, . 5 Grass, . 3 . Purple, 3 ° food of, Fire Hang Bird, Fisher, A. K., Fiske, W. F., Fitch, Asa, Flage, Wilson, Fletcher, James, Flicker, : ¢ Northern, . : food of, tongue of, . Flies, crane, house, . : . PAGE ; : ; C . 45, 48, 61 . . . . . . . . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 -.. 201 192 . 200 198 120 305 Se eels . 4 862, 408, 420 sath en int kere ea eee : ; Twas eae ae ie : é 5 tek : " EE SEEDS ACS ives (iis Peek pianos iP, cet nice Menon ‘ : ; : LN Senter 3 She tar Sere ; : ; Ps : . i : Fen hoes ; ¢ { é Sa anak os : Gs: 5% mp ole ere eee ees POO 5 . 6 : 2 a2; Seo, 29 . OL . 214 BANG 13, 25 . 324 60, 324 . 324 4 BiB! . 303 418, 419 . 366 . oof 5 SE 54 82 419 39 16 366 . 366 366 332 283 120, 247 240, 346 6 é : ‘ f 4 C ao 6 - * : - ' - 419 C 0 c . 220 : 3 = c c c 5 aylil 5 A 5 . : 2 IPD 220 : : : , : : . 221 é 5 5 5 : : é . 224 c . ; 7 : . 66, 79, 80, 206 : ; c 3 28, 255 : é A “ 73, 204, 287 é 4 < : ° 2 mel 55)9) : : ; 60, 126, 139, 146, 249 5 : C ; ; 122, 260 ( : 261 c : 3 ‘ 0 » 261 a 5 6 207, ZL . - : 208, 235 IN Dit X. 429 PAGE Flies, March, : : . ‘ é c : . 286 May, . = 5 als) robber, - 239 Flycatcher, Great- oasieas 5 : 14, 115, 141, 144 Least, A 114, 115, 122, 150, 153, 141, 143, 229 food of, Forbes, 8. A., Fiirst, Herman, Galeoscoptes carolinensis, ‘ - 5 5 = 3 ae Bil 17, 60, 155, 160, 181, 183, 210, 272, 285 17 . - . 181 Galerucella luteola, 207 Gallinago delicata, - : 5 . 337 Game birds, destruction of, : 76, 84, 356 Gentry, T. G., 192, 213, 234, 302 Geolplypis aShes brae tidaaty la, - 186 Glover, Townend, ; A F F f 295251 Goldfinch, American, : c é é : ~ 122, 153, 222 food of, 223 Goodell, Henry H., - : peop Goodmore, 8. E., : i ~ 1 68. Gophers, J elf) Goshawk, : : F 5 62, 366 Grackle, Bronzed, ‘ ; ‘ 114, 313 Purple, 114, 313 Rusty, . A : , : ; : : : 0 5 ly Grosbeak, Rose-breasted, 52, 115, 122, 125-128, 131, 133, 140, 142, 144, 145, 216 food of, » 218 Ground Bird, : 5 PARIS) Grouse, . H A Z : J : : , 13, 43 Ruffed, hee 3 : . ; 61, 99, 267 food of, : 271 food plants, list of, 4 : 273 Grub, white, . 3 10, 76, 181, 289 Guano, 5 . 5 9 pee ete) Gull, Brown- headed, ; 5 F ; . 405 Franklin’s, . 3 : 5 4 61, 67 Gulls, utility of, Hair Bird, 5 : 2 5 Hang Nest, . : : : Hares, Harris, T. W., Harvey, F. ioe : Hawk, . ‘ : 2 Bog, Chicken, Coopers, . - c Duck, . : Ms Fish, A Marsh, 4 Pigeon, F , Red-shouldered, . “ Sharp-shinned, . Sparrow, . ; Hawks, trapping, . . = 80, 81 : E : . : 2 - . 303 < , : : : 2 : . 224 : A : : ‘ : ato : z = 4 5 5 . 226 2 ‘ : ; 5 - 60 ° «96 5 : 2 = oon < F ; : 5 “ = (306 - : a ¢ ° ' . 3866 F ' . 366 aS ain hoi nthe el) Gon Gee Mi 1 doit SRI eee es . . . ° ° ° . 366 d . ° . ° ° . - 366 ° . ° ° ° . . . 306 ° 2 B 2 . . . . 366 ° . . . . . 2 - 406 430 Heath Hen, . A 5 Heliophila unipuncta, . Hellgramite, . Helops acreus, Henshaw, Henry W.., Hemerocampa leucostigma, Heron, Great Blue, Green, High-hole, Higncholdery Hill, Henry B., Hirundo erythrogaster, Hodge, C. F., Hoffman, Ralph, Hopkinss2A] De 9: Hornaday, William T., Howard, L. O., Hummingbird, Ruby-throated, Hylocichla fusecescens, . mustelina, Indian Hen, Indigo Bird, Insects, parasitic, predaceous, transformations of, To caterpillar, Iridoprocne bicolor, Isia Isabella, Jay, : C c Blue, Jenks, J. Y. P., Job, Herbert K., Judd, Sylvester D., Junco hyemalis, Junco, Slate-colored, Kaltenbach, J. H., é Keyser, Leander S. Kimball, Jats Jalee VeGmayeg, Wehr Isle Kingbird, food of, Western, Kingfisher, Kinglet, Gaitie ereaaed tuby-crowned, Kinglets, : Kirby and Spence, . Keirkland: An hive Black-crowned Night, INDEX. food of, 11, 114, 115, 126, 121, 178, 181-183 food of, . 29, 37 ola alii; ,H i) ° 5 é : . 345 5 * ° 5 : yo eea. PAGE Pe rae SOU eee ey es ; 2 36 : . 24 Niemen | eater eet 419 . 120 . 351 ' 67, 352 3 Mae Sg ane . 260 420 267, 269, 271, 373 191, 199, 310 247 354 154, 162 122, 240 244 5 . 156 . 158 153, f . 352 . 187, 139, 298 18-20, 240 17 13-15 : 4 pa RP 1! Bae me Be 11510) 12, 94, 404, 409 129 “139, 156, 138, 159, 144-146, 569 979 186, , 51, 136, 175, als, 3 . 276, 284 : : O . 420 273, 278-280, 294, 300, 305, 326, 327, 329-331 5 t 300 122, 296, 300 301 os aD 173, 185 326 Sie 175, 206, 272 127, 136, 141, 148, 145, 235 . 208 57 262 5 alfsul « 16% 160 30, 64, 73 252, 256, 304 . . . . 298, » OF aie INDEX. Lachnus strobi, Lanius borealis, ; Lark, Old-tield, ° 5 Larus franklinii, . Lawrence, Samuel C., Leopard moth, : c Leucarctia acrea, : Lilford, Lord, . ; Linnet, Gray, : : Red, . Lintner, J. A., Liparis monacha, Locust, Rocky mountain, ravages of, Lyford, C. Allan, Mackay, George H., Malacosoma disstria, Marlatt, C. L., : ; Martin, Bee, . 5 ; Black, Purple, : . food of, Martins, . : Z : Mathews, Schuyler, ‘ Mavis, Red, . a 5 Maynard, C. J., 2 Meadowlark, . 4 45 food of, Megascops asio, : Melanoplus femur-rubrum, spretus, . Melospiza cineria melodia, georgiana, Merriam, €. Hart, . Florence, 5 Merula migratoria, Mice, field, . 5 meadow, ‘ : Midge, wheat, . Millais, J. G., Millinery trade, Minot, esp, Mniotilta varia, Mosher, F. H., Moth, brown-tail, . a cecropia, codling, ; ; fall cankerworm, eggs of, 38, 39, 128, 142-144, gipsy, leopard, A luna, . A ralvoaly © Me 5 - polyphemus, d é O A 6 : 5 : : 5 ° . : : . : c . : : ° : - “ ; : : . 164, 51, 52, 62, 124, 144, 184, 193, DU Ok Ne . . ° . . 2 . . . . . 147, 148, 192, 205, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3g rae Lory 112 5 te) 220 98-31, 33, 3 At aly 28, 34 67-69, 74 ceelalics 418 69 . 88, 35, 36, 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 . 347 . 348 Db 265 179 Him . 316 318 368 272 2 . oO . 299 . 349 59, 419 236, 241 282 77, 78, 80 367 32 . 405 85, 357 205, 218, 308, 309, 404 . 5 alu 195, 225, 230, 241, 333 130, 147, 148, 205, 234 14, 231, 232 , 231, 232, 5 Os) , 231, 250 175 234, 238, 959, 333 SLOT: 214 17 109 INDEX. Moth, tent caterpillar, eggs of, tussock, Munger, H. C., Musselman, C. C., . Nash, Gi Wi. 6 c Nectarophora destructor, Nighthawk, . : food of, Nuthatch, Canada, Red-breasted, food of, White-breasted, . 5 food of, Nuthatches, § Nuttall, Thomas, Nyctala acadica, Nyctea nivea, : 6 Nycticorax nycticorax nevius, 299 aa, Oak pruner, ‘5 A ; a Oriole, Baltimore, 70, 114, 115, 122, 125-128 food of, Orchard, Orioles, : Osborn, Herbert, Osprey, American, Otus brachyotus, Oven-bird, 5 food of, . Owen, Daniel E., Owl, Acadian, American Hawk, American Long-eared, Barn, Barred, ; Great Horned, Hoot, Saw-whet, Sereech, Short-eared, Snowy, Owls, . Packard, A. S., Paleacrita vernata, Palmer, T.S., : Pandion hiliztus carolinensis, Papilio polyxenes, . Partridge, Parusatricapillus, Pea louse, Peabody Bird, Pear tree psylla, Pélicot, P., PAGE 167, 369 929 232 326 i) 330 . 304 60, 341 342 176 176 176 171 174 163 263 368 367 . 351 . 44, 45, 227, 318, allay, 99 wn, 115, 1 226, 231, 251), ety 224, 2565 230 2% 294 108 187 413 Pp ce giao CaN Sa Lr aren 122, 124, 127, 134, 141, 144, 146, 188 . 190 . 42, 45, 51 . 368 . 367 . 368 79, 368 . 367 , 131-133, 136, 137, 140, 143, 69, . . . 367 12, 25 32-36, 111, 112, 256, 348 70 418, 419 413 305 . 267 INDEX. 433 PAGE : 5 : : : : ; 2 : : : : . 233 Bridge, : 6 ; - c : : > : . 233 Wood, et Vip RIE oe RS 114, 115, 122, 126, 141, 143, 231 Pewee, food of, . 5 ; F : ; j : : A 29232, Phasianus torquatus, . : : : : - : c : 5 BBY Pheasant, Ring-necked, . : : é . > : : - 332 food"of, 7: : 0 c : 6 c ; « ooo Philohela minor, . . 3 F 6 “ : 0 = BRIS Pheebe, . : 5 5 - : é : : : 114, 115, 145, 233, 388 Phoebe Bird, . 5 i 5 - : a é 3 a : 5 + 283) food of, j A 5 5 , F : F 3 . . 234 Phorodon humuli, . 2 : : : 4 : : ; 3 ; ee) Piesma cinerea, z A 2 : é ; ; : * G eek: Pigeon, Passenger, . : : 3 : - : s ; 3, 323, 354, 356 Pigeons, domestic, . 4 ’ . Ss 4 : f ‘ . 15, 25 Piranger erythromelas, . : 5 ; : O 5 5 d a ae, Pissodes strobi, < : : : 3 ¢ ‘ c ‘ : - 168, 254 Plant lice, 6 ~ . 28, 62, 71, 122, 124-128, 175, 196, 203, 221, 223, 339, 344 eggs of, . : 2 5 3 3 6 - C c « 162,:2238 Platysamia cecropia, : : : A p ‘ 5 : 5 . 108, 259 Plover, ae r ; ‘A , ; F : . : pelos OnnOS Upland, . ; 5 ; : - zl ‘ 5 ; 75, 3384, 336 Pooecetes gramineus, . : c - - ; ; : fil Porthetria dispar, . : = ; 5 ; 5 J ; : . . 38 Porzana carolina, . ; ; 6 Q 5 ; - : ; 5 = 8150) Poultry, . . - 5 : ; - : : . : : yet) Prairie Chickens, . : F : 4 - “i : , 67, 68, 75, 76, 84 Proctor, Thomas M., . ‘ é é 5 ; : : 3 ; Se) Psylla pyri, . ; : . : 5 5 : : c 3 : lo Quail, c 6 . : : é 2 “ ° 2 26, 67, 68, 75, 76, 325 Marsh, . j vee ‘ : : ‘ ‘ ‘ : . 316 ails Sora. ; ; : : 5 J : 5 é : : . 350 Virginia, 5 ; . : - c : - : 2 - . 350 Railroad worm, : . : : ‘ : : : : ; F weal Rallus virginianus, : 7 ; : . : : : 5 : . 350 Raspail, Xavier, . : A : ; 408 , ; . 115, 122, 129, 1381, 135, 138, 140, 143, 196 food of, . 5 2 : - : : : : 5 ADT Reed Bird, . ‘ - 2 ; c ; . ; : - A . 322 Need. Cc Ax) ; : c . : . c - ‘ ; 3 99 Redstart, American, Regulus satrapa, . - : - - a é : 5 ; . 161 Rice Bird, : 0 . ; A : < ; é ; é : . o22 Ridgway, Robert, . . : : : : : : : : 57, 157, 326 tiley, C. V., *. 2 5 : c : : : : : : . 29, 34, 35 Riley and Howard, ‘ : ; 5 . : 5 : é 3 65, 75 Riley, Packard, and Thomas, ci 4 5 A é : ‘ . 34, 69, 75 Riparia riparia, : : : : : c : 2 é : . 344 . 9, 10, 16, 44, 45, 115 Robin, ; : : : : : : : American, . . . 115, 122, 129, 131-133, 136, 138-140, 147, 282, 315 food of, . é A 5 5 : - : : peoae Golden, : : : : ; 2 : : . 224 Ground, . 5 ‘ : . : c > 3 4 5 5 PAS} Wood, A . c - . A P : 5 A . 158 434 INDEX. tomaine, C. E., . 5 Russell, John S., Sanderson, E. D., Sandpiper, Bartramian, . Spotted, Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied, Sayornis Phoebe, Seale, San José, Schizoneura lanigera, Schizura concinna, Seeds eaten by birds, Seton, Ernest Thompson, Setophaga ruticilla, Shaw, Henry, . Shrike, Northern, Shrubs, fruit-bearing, Sialia sialis, Silkworm, American, Sitta canadensis, carolinensis, Smith, John B., Snipe, 5 Wilson's, Snowbird, Black, Spanworm, currant, Sparrow, Chipping, food of, English, . 21, 56, 1 PAGE . : . . . 5 5 5 . 330 . ° . 2 6 c 6 5 . 348 Se cold PEAS ee pace pee Se eT 2 SWS aba 2 eed Gee aaa po!) eee Et ie cee Sey eee a eee pe hat. Aa eee en Paar eee a ea yee entree é : : 3 - 203, 252 : : : : ° ; 272 : . ° : ° . 281, 296 S . 345 . 196 . 142 : . 370 . 2 ore: : : ° : ° - . 290 ° : . . ee OO LOS . 176 . 300 0 : : : ° 5 112 55, 114, 115, 122, 126, 136, 143, 303, 398 ‘ : : . : . = . 304 14, 134, 1386-138, 140, 141, 292, 294, 344, 370, 389, 407 Field, 114, 122, 127, 181, 140, 301 food of, é a. BUY Fox, 296 Grasshopper, ; : : : : : : : : . 308 food of, é ‘ A 5 : 5 4 . . 309 Ground, ‘ c : . , P : . 299 Henslow’s, - a 5 - : : : : - 309 House, 56, 206, 225, 292, 37 Savanna, . : cars) food of, 311 Song, Swamp, Tree, Vesper, : food of, W hite-throated, Yellow-winged, Sparrows, food of, Sphyrapicus varius, Spizella monticola, pusilla, socialis, Spoonbills, Squirrels, - ¢ . 42, 114, 128, 134, 141, 296, 299 ° : : : 5 : c . 349 : E : . : . 306 peeulil é 2 312 114, 122, 131, 307 food of, . ; = é 5 : : ‘ . 308 . : : : : : : : . 308 295 . 262 ; 5 . . 306 . . - 4 . ° 301 . “ . - : : . 303 . : . . : = GD . : : A A 94, 364, 408 INDEX. Stake-driver, . Starlings, : Stockwell, J. W., Sturnella magna, . Swallow, Bank, food of, . Barn, ‘ food of, . Chimney, Cliff, food of, Eaves, House, Tree, é food of, . White-bellied, W hite-breasted, Swift, Chimney, . : food of, Tanager, Scarlet, food of, Summer, Teeter, . : c Tegetmeier, W. B., Telea polyphemus, Telematodytes palustris, erns.> c > ; eggs of, Thayer, Abbott H., Bayard 5 Theronia melanocephala, Thistle Bird, . Thompson, Maurice, Thoreau, Henry D., Thrasher, Brown, food of, Thrush, Brown, . ; Golden-crowned, Hermit, . : Song, Tawny, Wilson’s, . ‘ food of, Wood, 5 = food of, . Thrushes, food of, Tip-up, Titmice, . - é Titmouse, Black-capped, Torrey, Bradford, Towhee, . food of, Toxostoma rufum, .- . PAGE . 352 17, 65 36, 37 = SiG GO, 344 344 . 345 345 . 340 61, 346 347 346, 587 . 344 344, 389 5 oes . 344 . . 344 128, 340, 387 340 63, 115, 122, 125, 127, 135, 137, 144, 146, 212 93, 115, 126, 127, 153, 154, 159, 158 213 PAL . 335 i) 30, 108 . 350 417 239 . 223 246, 258 96, 299 115, 134, 179 : 180 126, 127, 131, 179 : - . 188 45, 156 . 158 eee he ers 115, 136, 137, 156 157 159 108 - 155 . 335 be el . 163 199 114, 115, 122, 143, 218 220 crentr() INDEX. Treadwell, D., Treat, Mary, Tree hoppers, buffalo, Trees, fruit-bearing, Troglodytes aédon, Trouvelot, Leopold, Turner, R. E., Tyrannus tyrannus, verticalis, Veery, : Vines, fruit-bearing, Vireo, Red-eyed, ‘ food of, Solitary, Warbling, 3 food of, White-eyed, Yellow-throated, food of, Vireo flavifrons, gilvus, olivaceus, Vulture, . Wake-up, : . Walsh, D. B., : : Warbler, Black and White, food of, Blackburnian, 4 6 Black-poll, Black-throated Blue, Green, : food of, Blue-eyed Yellow, Chestnut-sided, food of, Golden-winged, Hooded, . Magnolia, . 5 Myrtle, food of, Nashville, Paln, Parula, Pine, : food of, . Pine-creeping, Yellow, j food of, Yellow-rumped, Warblers, Warren, B. H., 115, 122, 124, 125, 127, 130, 132, 135, 140, 141, 191 115, 122, 126, 127, 132, 134, 136, 139-141, . c ; 3 - 156 . d04 51, 115, 122, 125, 127, 129, 136-138, 140-142, 146, 204 « 1155206 ye ne re per 115, 203 . 115, 122, 125, 134, 188, 140-142, 207 : . - 260 T1, 122 on SS Miiipaieoeter 115, 151, 152, 154, 157, 141 71, 122, 153, 201 115, 131-133, 139 115, 122, 126, 132, 398 - 200 194 + 195 . 201 : : 5 p . 185 . 60, 191, 206, 218, 245, 315 115, 122, 127, 132-136, 140, 141, 143, Waxwing, Bohemian, Cedar; *. ; ° food of, Webster, F. M., Weed, Clarence M., Weed and Dearborn, 3 Weevil, Mexican cotton boll, pea, . : white pine, Wells, D. A., ‘ Wheelock, Irene G., Whip-poor-will, food of, Widmann, Otto, Wilson, Alexander, Wilson and Bonaparte, . Wood, E. W., Woodpecker, Downy, : food of, Gaffer, Golden-winged, Hairy, . - food of, . Partridge, Pigeon, Red-headed, Wren, House, . : food of, Long-billed Marsh, Rock, . 2 : Short-billed Marsh, Wright, Mabel Osgood, . Yellow Bird, . Summer, Yellow-hammer, . F Yellow-throat, Maryland, Northern, Zamelodia ludoviciana, . Zonotrichia albicollis, food of, . PAGE cai Tap pee 0.) ; 115, 131, 140, 209 aD eet ho Pala b coe es SIG Bet eso garg SO a4 45, 48, 55, 168, 183, 202 Bl, 57, 289 34, 330 - 226 168, 254 56, 75 . A > ° . 290 . 342 . 043 3/848 244, 320 4 5 : : 3 é a . 114, 115, 122, 129, 144, 146, 248, 249 5 ; = 7 200) - ; : . 260 : : : ‘ . 260 114, 115, 146, 247, 248, 258 259 260 . 260 249, 355 127, 135, 138, 186 62, 115, 122, 186 ce aian oe oe ee ee x re ny CRN ty’ . | ve Rs i, Y ae ee Se STRUT A aA PiL PTPETEPeTb ayy TTTHTT TTT TREE hid TTT 7 TETCELEPSETERUDT ERLE CML i PTTEDTTETTTETTIA TT ETE \ ,