Birds in Relation to Agriculture in New York State iSoi 



about the branches of trees or flutter about the outermost twigs, gleaning 

 insects and their larvae from their nimierous hiding places. Leaves, twigs, 

 branches, bark, the grasses of the 

 fields, and the leaves of the forest 

 floor, are all carefully scrutinized. 

 Where these birds are abundant, 

 insect pests are few. As there are 

 more than one hundred species in- 

 cluded under this head, we must 

 content ourselves with taking up only 

 the major groups. 



First, there are the ground gleaners, 

 including crows, larks, Ijlackbirds, 

 bobolinks, meadow larks, finches, and 

 thrushes, all of which are birds of 



Fig. 30. — The phahe, a flycatcher 



medium size and generalized struc- 

 tvire. In addition to feeding on 

 insects, most species feed also on 

 seeds, especially during spring and 

 fall. Their bills are finely pointed 

 and sharply edged for holding the 

 insects, as well as strong and heavy 

 for cracking seeds. Because of this 

 seed-eating habit, crows and black- 

 birds sometimes gain the enmity of 

 farmers; and, while there are un- 

 doubtedly instances of their doing 

 considerable damage to newly planted 

 com or to ripening grain, such 

 instances are comparatively few and 

 are more than balanced by their 

 beneficial habits of destroying injurious insects and weed seed. 

 Secondly, there are the leaf gleaners, birds that search over branches 



Fig. 31. — Female red-winged blackbird. 

 This bird feeds largely oil the ground 

 and is one of the ground gleaners, an 

 enemy of cutworms, army worms, and 

 locusts 



