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OFFICE OF

STATE ENTOMOLOGIST

ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINN.

CIRCULAR No. 35
JAN. 15, 1916

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA
BIRDS: THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS
TO THE AGRICULTURIST.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

Minnesota Experiment Station,
St. Anthony Park, |

January 12, 1916.
His Excellency,

J. A. A. BURNQUIST.

Dear Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manu-
script entitled “Further Observations on Minnesota Birds: Their
Economic Relations to the Agriculturist,” and respectfully recom-
mend its publication as Circular No. 35, of the State Entomologist’s
Department, which, by law, is under your supervision.

Respectfully yours,
F L. WASHBURN,
Approved: State Entomologist.
J. A.A. BURNQUIST,
Governor of Minnesota.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS;
THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO
THE AGRICULTURIST.

F. L. WASHBURN.

The increasing interest in our birds prompts the Entomologist
to add to the information published with colored plates in Circular
32, from this office, by issuing the present leaflet. It is manifestly
out of the question to discuss all of our bird residents or visitors,
or even to list and figure them in a circular. It has been our aim,
therefore, rather, to describe, briefly, different types representing
certain groups common in Minnesota. There has been a great
demand for Circular 32 on the part of schools and it is hoped that
these brief accounts of Minnesota bird life may also be of service.

We are particularly fortunate, through the kindness of the
artist, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, of Mabel Osgood Wright, the living
author, and the Macmillan Company, publishers of “Citizen Bird,”
to be able to present here a few of the excellent and accurate
illustrations with which that publication is adorned. It is with
the greatest pleasure that we acknowledge our appreciation of
the courtesy extended by the above.

THE WOOD THRUSH AND WILSON THRUSH.

:
/ N

The distinct, sharply-outlined, large, round, black spots on the
white breast and under parts of the Wood Thrush, together with

Wilson Thrush

4 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

its larger size, will at once distinguish it from the following
species—the Wilson Thrush or Veery, with which it vies in the
matter of song. In the latter species, the white breast is more or
less tinged with cream and dotted with small, somewhat indistinct
brownish, wedge-shaped spots. Its upper parts are brownish but
not as bright as in the Wood Thrush.

The first-named bird is 814 inches long; the latter (Veery) a little
over 7 inches. Both lay greenish-blue eggs in a coarse nest mod-
elled somewhat after the nest of the robin, but the nest of the
Veery is on or close to the ground. The beautiful song of both of
these birds, coming from the dense woods, if once heard, is never
forgotten and they are both important insect-eaters; in fact, the
entire thrush family, tho occasional members may be attracted to
berries and fruit, notably in the case of the robin, must be credited
with being benefactors of the farmer and fruit raiser. Forbes,
after a somewhat exhaustive examination of their food habits,
states that 61% of the food of thrushes consists of insects.

THE BROWN THRUSH OR BROWN THRASHER.

The excellent illustration here given is sufficient to enable us
to recognize this very common bird of our thickets and fields.
Rufus brown above, with black spots on a white ground below, its

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 5

colors and conspicuously long tail make it a notable object when
it seeks a prominent position on a lofty branch, preparatory to
singing. Its song, while striking, will not compare, we believe,
with those of the two preceding nor with that of the cat bird.
One of its chief charms, perhaps, lies in the fact that it is an
accompaniment of the welcome spring weather. We have been
so struck by the little rhyme credited to “Olive” in “Citizen Bird,”
which certainly is very descriptive of its habits and song, that we
venture to repeat it here:

“My creamy breast is speckled
(Perhaps you'd call it freckled)
Black and brown.

“My pliant russet tail
Beats like a frantic flail,
Up and down.

“In the top branch of a tree
You may chance to glance at me,
When I sing.

“But I’m very, very shy,
When I silently float by,
On the wing.

“Whew there! Hithere! Such a clatter.
What’s the matter—what’s the matter?
Really, really?

“Digging, delving, raking, sowing,
Corn is sprouting, corn is growing.
Plant it, plant it!
Gather it, gather it!
Thresh it, thresh it!
Hide it, hide it, do!
(I see it—and you.)
Oh! I’m that famous scratcher,
H-a-r-p-o-r-h-y-n-c-h-u-s_r-u-f-u-s—Thrasher

Cloaked in brown.”

6 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

While the brown thrush may take a little fruit or grain, it is
a good insect-eater and, as a ground feeder, scratching amongst
fallen leaves, it picks up many injurious insects, and it must be
admitted, some useful forms as well, the ground bettles, for
example.

THE CAT BIRD.

Discussed in Circular 32 of this Department, but the writer
has been so forcibly reminded of the beautiful song of this bird
by the extremely natural appearance of the drawing, that he
is led to include it here as a plea for the bird, upon the ground
of its qualities as a songster.

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 7

THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER OR SAPSUCKER.

The illustration will prove so helpful in enabling one to
distinguish between this injurious form and other woodpeckers
which are useful that we add these few words, although the species
is briefly discussed in Circular 32. In striking contrast to other
birds whose tongues are extensile for extracting borers from
infested trees, the tongue of this species has a somewhat “brush-
like” tip. It cannot be protruded to any extent, and is thus
modified for an entirely different diet from that of other members
of the same family. That it seriously injures birches, maples,
mountain ash, apple, evergreen, and other trees by girdling them
with holes in its seeking for sap and cambium goes without say-
ing. It may and probably does consume a few insects which are
attracted to the bleeding holes, but not in sufficient numbers or of

3 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

the right kind to compensate for the injury inflicted upon the
trees. The bird is about 8% inches long. The adult male has
crown and throat red, breast black, and belly a shade of yellow.
The female has no red on throat and the red color of the crown
is sometimes replaced by black. The downy woodpecker, which
is one of our most useful birds, is under 7 inches in length and
has a scarlet band on the back of the head in the male—not on
the crown. On account of its small size and difference of colora-
tion, it need not be confused with the species under discussion.

THE BELTED KINGFISHER.

The above virile picture gives an excellent idea of the appear-
ance of this vivacious, noisy, and, it must be confessed, at times in-
jurious bird. Naturally a lover of good-bordered streams and ponds,
its noisy rattle is a fit accompaniment to the sound of running water
and it is here that it takes frequent toll of fish which might other-
wise have lived to fill the angler’s creel. Fish in ponds and
streams, therefore, suffer as a result of its rapacious appetite, but

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 9

its depredations become of marked importance when it habitually
takes its food from ponds or streams of those who raise trout on
a commercial scale. Frequently, the shot gun is used by the fish-
breeder in self-defense; or taking advantage of the bird’s habit of
frequenting a perch over the water, whence it can see its prey be-
low the surface, a steel trap is placed on the top of an upright
pole planted in the pond and the marauder captured therein. Its
white eggs are placed at the end of a long burrow in some bank
near the water.

THE AMERICAN REDSTART.

Fuertes’ fine drawing illustrates the male (1) and female (2}
of this beautiful bird. One of a large group of wood-warblers, ex-
amples of which (Blackburnian, Maryland yellow-throat, Chest-
nut-sided, and Yellow-rumped) were shown in color in Circular
32. The male is striking, not only on account of his brilliant
coloring, but also on account of his conspicuousness, since he is
extremely active and this activity coupled with the above-men-
tioned brilliancy of coloring, makes him an object to catch the eye
of even an indifferent observer. As if conscious of his beauty

10 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

(breast, head, and back a deep, lustrous black; long wing-feathers
at base a rich, salmon; about half of the outer tail feathers,
sides of breast, and body beneath wings deep salmon) he is con-
tinually spreading and flirting his tail, extending his wings, and
making short flights from the trees seeking insects, much after
the manner of our common fly-catchers. The female is much dull-
er-colored, greenish-gray on head and back and yellowish where
the male is salmon.

THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE; BUTCHER BIRD.

uertos.

fi
(ae

A misconception regarding this bird prevails among many, a
mistake which is encouraged by its name and perhaps added to,
unfortunately, by the illustrations frequently seen, showing the
bird with a captured sparrow. It is true, however, that he kills
sparrows and other small birds, a fact evidently fully appreciated
by his intended victims, since a panic among them is caused by his
appearance, but he atones for this by killing and devouring field
mice, shrews, and injurious insects. It is to his credit, also, that
he is a persistent enemy of the English sparrow—a bird respon-
sible for many ills and now recognized as one means of dispersal
of the much-dreaded San Jose scale. The great northern shrike
is common in our fields until late fall, sometimes as late as De-
cember in the latitude of Minneapolis, and even later in the south-

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST ll

ern part of the state, and recognized by his peculiar flight, close
to the ground, by his size and coloration. He is about 10% inches
long, black, gray, and white. At times, he is something of a song-
ster. Amongst injurious insects captured, we might mention
grasshoppers and various caterpillars.

AMERICAN CROSSBILL.

A frequent visitor from the North in the fall and during the
winter. More common in the timber and wooded country than in
open sections, though occasionally seen on some high tree in the
middle of a large city. Wherever observed in this latitude, they
are always tame and easily approached. The writer has found
them in July in the upper Red River Valley, feeding upon the in-
sect contents of poplar galls. These were probably young birds
and their occurrence here at that date would indicate the birds
breeding at no very great distance.

12 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS?

THE BOBOLINK.

This dandy amongst birds—a favorite of bird lovers and sub-
ject of many a song and poem—is a common and welcome summer
resident here, filling the fields with drunken melody, while his
more modestly-colored mate is sitting quietly on her nest, well
hidden in grass or clover. So familiar to all is this songster that
with the above excellent illustration before us, no verbal descrip-
tion is necessary.

The beauty and song of the male bird are but transient qual-
ities, for after the breeding season, he loses his fine clothes, be-
comes dull olive-colored, streaked with black, like the female and
young, and, in the fall, flocks southward to wild rice marshes and
cultivated rice fields, wintering in South America. At night one
frequently realizes flocks of these birds are passing, by hearing
their metallic “Chink” in the darkened sky above. As “reed bird”
and “rice bird,” they find their way into the markets of the East
and South, fattened by voracious feeding in the rice fields. While
with us in the North, they eat large numbers of injurious insects.

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 13

THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

However injurious the group of blackbirds become in late
summer and fall, in the spring and early summer they almost or
quite pay for their depredations by consuming large numbers of
injurious insects. Ihe Red-wing is a welcome arrival in the early
spring. Its really melodious note at that time is tuneful comfort
to bird lovers, after a long winter devoid of feathered singers.
At that time, the position taken by the bird in uttering its char-
acteristic note or notes discloses to advantage its scarlet shoulders
well set off by glossy black of wings, body, and tail. The gray-
ish-brown female, streaked with black, we may not notice, but
the male compels attention.

The Department of Agriculture has made an exhaustive study
of this bird’s food habits and finds about 7 of its diet consists of
harmful insects and weed seeds. Locally when in large flocks, as
above intimated, it—with others of its tribe—may be very harm-
ful and a resort, on the part of the farmer, to extreme measures
is justified.

14 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

THE WHIPPOORWILL AND NIGHT HAWK.

‘These two birds, sometimes confused by the uninitiated, yet
periectly distinct species, are both insect-eaters and one of them—
the Whippoorwill—not often seen and not very well known. It
is a bird of the woods, unless disturbed flying only by night,
characterized by its peculiar note, oft-repeated: ‘“Whip-poor-
will!” “Whip-poor-will!” “Whip-poor-will!” with a “cluck” or
“chuck” before each call, audible to one close at hand. This song,
quite forceful and penetrating, is heard in the first part of the
night and just before dawn. In coloration, the bird harmonizes
closely with the wood colors. When flushed, it disappears with
absolutely noiseless flight.

The Night Hawk, on the other hand, is markedly a bird of
the open, frequently in flight in the afternoon and early in the
evening, high in the air, uttering at frequent intervals his rather
harsh cry and occasionally, on half-closed wings, darting down to
the earth with a booming sound, made, it is claimed, by the rush
of air through his primary wing feathers. The two eggs of the
Night Hawk are laid on the ground or in the fields, or even on a
flat rock, with no semblance of a nest; occasionally, they are found
on flat roofs of buildings in cities. The Whippoorwill’s eggs, also
two in number, are laid on the ground or on a log or stump in the
woods, likewise protected by no nest. The coloring and mark-
ings of the two birds also serve to distinguish them. The Whip-
poorwill’s colors partake of the browns while the Night Hawk is
grayish. The tail of the former has the three outer feathers white
for about 2% their length. Further, the end of the tail is rounding.

on

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 1

Night Hawk

The latter-named bird has a conspicuous white patch on each
wing; its tail is forked. The Whippoorwill feeds largely on moths
and beetles; the Night Hawk on May flies, gnats, dragon flies,
grasshoppers, etc.

THE QUAIL.

The Virginia Quail or Bob White is holding its own fairly
well in Minnesota in spite of our severe winters, pushing its way

16 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

farther north when conditions are favorable. This bird is such a
good friend of the agriculturist that it deserves protection al-
though its fine qualities as a table bird make it an object of pur-
suit on the part of hunters. Potato bugs and even chinch bugs
have been found in its crop and grasshoppers as well as many
other varieties of injurious insects compose a large proportion of
its bill of fare.

THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK.

A somewhat rare bird in Minnesota, frequenting the low,
wooded, water-courses and generally resorting to the higher lands
only during the night. This beautiful game bird is pre-eminently
a night-flier and a night-feeder. Its large eyes, placed well toward
the top of its head, are not only enabled to gain impressions from
above, when the bird’s soft beak is buried in the mud, but also
are in a position to receive all available light. When flushed, the
bird rises softly, directly upward until clear of the brush and then
pauses an instant before starting away from the intruder. Their
four buff-colored eggs spotted and blotched with brown, are laid
on leaves on the ground in an excuse for a nest. This bird has no
economic bearing upon agriculture. It is protected in Minnesota
until 1918.

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 17

THE HERRING GULL AND COMMON TERN.

The gull family was mentioned in Circular 32 as a group bene-
ficial to farmers living in a prairie country. At the time, we re-
ferred particularly to the Black Tern so abundant in many of our
prairie sloughs, as a catcher of grasshoppers and, while no illus- —
tration of this bird is available, we are pleased to be able to pre-
sent an excellent drawing of the Common Tern in this publica-
tion which will serve to illustrate the group.

The Herring Gull—a good scavenger upon the shore of lake
or ocean, typifies the larger members of the family and the species
itself, while not as abundant perhaps as other gulls which breed in
some of our lakes—is, nevertheless, a Minnesota summer resi-
dent, arriving in the southern part of the state early in April,
shortly after that working its way north, where some at least
nest in our larger lakes, notably Lake Mille Lacs. I have ob-
served them at Devils Lake, Otter Tail County, in October and
also find the following observations amongst my notes taken some
years ago: “At Lake Mille Lacs, after the wind has been blow-
ing from the East a day or more, these gulls and the two follow-
ing species, namely L. delewarensis and L. philadelphia, are plenty
along the west shore, flying up and down the beach and occa-
sionally alighting to pick up small lacustrine mollusks washed
ashore with the weed matter. About two miles from the south
shore of the lake lie three barren, rocky islands, which are fre-
quented by the gulls in the breeding season. The larger of the
three. called Stone Island—or Spirit Island by the Indians—con-

18 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

taining about three-quarters of an acre and with its top about 20
feet above the surface of the water, affords on its rocky surface a
nesting place for hundreds of gulls.”

The Common Tern. :

Stomachs of the Herring Gull are found to contain grass-
hoppers, fish, mollusks, and, in one instance, the remains of a
marsh hare, possibly consumed as carrion. Professor Aughey re-
ported finding in the stomachs of each of four Black Terns from

47 to 84 grasshoppers or locusts, and in two stomachs examined,
from 28 to 59 other insects.

THE MOURNING DOVE.

Discussed quite fully in Cir-
cular 32, but at the time, we
were not able to present an il-
lustration. The drawing is
included here for comparison
with that of the Passenger
Pigeon or Wild Pigeon with
which the species is sometimes
confused. This dove was for-
merly included amongst the
Minnesota game birds, with a
regular open season, but it is
now protected until 1918. In
some localities in Minnesota re-
ferred to as “Ground Dove.”

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 19

THE WILD PIGEON.

A vanished bird. Several reports from various localities in
Minnesota have reached the University of the occurrence of this
beautiful bird so common years ago, within the confines of the
state, but these rumors appear to have arisen either from con-
fusing the Mourning Dove with this species, or to have been
fakes, pure and simple. So far, the reward of $1,000 for a pair of
these birds nesting has not been claimed. The writer has been, in
the past, familiar with the appearance of the Passenger Pigeon
at the time when it was extremely abundant in Minnesota and
must confess to having been startled a few years ago in traveling
‘by train from Crookston to Bemidji, at catching a momentary
glimpse from the car window of two birds in flight amongst the
trees, wonderfully resembling in size, color, and shape, the Pas-
senger Pigeon of yesterday. No opportunity was afforded, how-
ever, to prove this and he dismissed the idea as absurd.* The

*In this connection it may be noted that Francis L. Palmer of Stillwater,
Minn., a student of birds, claims quite empnatically to have observed one of
these birds on May 31, 1915, near the above named town, which is in the south-
eastern part of the state. His observations were published in “Bird Lore” for
July-August, 1915, page 289.

20 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

glory of discovering the existence (if it does exist) of this former
summer resident still remains for some aspiring ornithologist.
There is no need of confusing these two birds. The wild
pigeon is 16% inches long; the ground dove only 1134 inches,
approximately. The upper part of the former are dove-colored or
bluish-slate with metallic reflections on the sides of the neck of
the male, while the upper parts of the dove are grayish-brown.
The nests of both consist of small twigs loosely put together and

containing in each case two white eggs.

THE WOOD DUCK.

a rete alc

A bird like the woodeock and some others, rapidly growing
more scarce in Minnesota and included here with the Golden
Plover as representing our “vanishing birds.” Strikingly tropical-
looking is the male bird. In the above excellent illustration imag-
ine the sides of the face and soft crested crown, green with

purplish reflections, contrasting sharply with the white of the up-
per throat, the breast a rich, purplish chestnut, finety spotted with
white; sides yellowish, delicately pencilled with black, with ends
of flank feathers sharply barred with black and white. Back
blackish or brownish, with green reflections, and long wing-
feathers, bluish with green reflections. The eye (iris) bright red.
A veritable prince amongst ducks, capable of domestication and

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 21

worthy of most careful protection. What fisherman, wading a
wooded stream, or Nature-lover idling on the bank of a secluded
pond, has not been delighted by the flashing colors of these beau-
tiful birds as they leave the water, startled at the approach of an
alien, or entranced as they disport themselves in sylvan pool, quite
unconscious of the admiring glances they invite!

Dr. P. L. Hatch, in his notes on the birds of Minnesota, 1892.
voicing his enthusiasm over this duck, breaks into song as fol-
lows: “The most truthful and esthetic description of the mature
male could reach no nearer the limning reality than the coldest
prose could paint the rainbow. Science, after all her most impos-
ing assumptions, would sit down and weep before the task in
black despair. The impotence of all attempts has smirched the
skirts of hope by what has been essayed in its systematic, as well
as its vernacular nomenclature. Aix sponsa! Shades of Linnaeus,
weep cold, clammy tears for thine irremedial dereliction! Wood
Duck! Summer Duck!”

Unlike the majority of ducks, these birds breed in hollow
trees overhanging the water. They are typically North Ameri-
can, ranging from Florida to Hudson Bay, but wintering far to
the south of our most southern borders. Protected in Minnesota
until 1918.

THE GOLDEN PLOVER.

A bird also uncommon, in that it is here irregularly during
the migrations remaining with us only a short time, and now, we
believe, rapidly disappearing. The illustration is given here as
representing the type, one of which—the Ring-Neck—was dis-

22 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

cussed in Circular 32. While with us, the food of the Golden
Plover consists chiefly of grasshoppers and .other insects. To-
gether with the Upland Plover or Field Plover, another vanishing
bird, it is protected in Minnesota until 1918.

THE BLUE HERON.

Another of our wading birds, wrongly referred to frequently
as “Crane.” The cranes, be it said, are rather birds of the plains
and prairies—not of wooded sections, where we find these fisher-
men abundantly represented. Its food consists of frogs and fish,
but grasshoppers and field mice are not scorned. Like the king-
fisher, it may become destructive when frequenting the ponds of
the fish-breeder.

THEIR ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURIST 23

THE SNOWY OWL AND GREAT HORNED OWL.

As supplementing a plea made in Circular 32, in behalf of
birds of prey as a class, we introduce here figures and brief notes
of two of our owls not mentioned in the earlier publication. The
first-named, to be sure, is not a common bird in Minnesota. When
seen, it is generally in the winter season, at which time we have
occasionally observed it in the bare fields. Our field notes, how-
ever, show that this bird was met with occasionally in Otter Tail
County in October and November, some years ago. It is, how-
ever, distinctly a boreal bird, pushing its migrations southerly
only in its search for food.

The Great Horned Owl, however, arriving here sometimes as
early as February is a common bird within our state borders.

24 FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON MINNESOTA BIRDS:

Rabbits, gophers, muskrats, field mice, and other night-prowling
animals represent a large share of the diet of this owl; poultry,
too, if farmers allow their turkeys and chickens to roost in tops
of trees, on sheds, or on exposed farm wagons. Even skunks
(note the illustration) are highly prized by them for food; in fact.

Great Horned Owl

when captured, they are frequently strongly scented with skunk
odor. With the exception of the skunk, which is ordinarily a use-
ful citizen, the other mammals mentioned must be regarded ‘as
injurious—most of them decidediy so; hence this owl is, to a
large degree, a benefactor.