1883.] UTILITY OF BIRDS IN AGRICULTURE. 91 



well as diseased grain, and seeds wherein are laid the eggs of pests 

 or wherein are contained the grubs of the same. In the same 

 way all our thrushes, though in much more limited numbers, raid 

 upon the pests of the hedgerow and the woods in which they 

 dwell. In the same way the bluebird congregates in large flocks, 

 before final departure for its southern home ; though a few remain 

 with us all winter, and do the same for the fields and outskirts 

 of the wood that the robin does for the shrubbery and interior of 

 the forests. The titmice, though they hardly extensively migrate, 

 cluster, and produce the same good locally, destroying everywhere 

 as they go to and fro. In the fields on the sea-coast, the shore- 

 lark herds, one might almost say ; but unfortunately it probably 

 destroys more winter rye in one week than it can pay for all the 

 I'est of the year. 



The ground warblers seeking the shrubbery, and the tree war- 

 blers the treetops, unite in scouring the blossomy foliage, and 

 allowing the plant or tree to bud, blossom, and leaf or fruit, as 

 the case may be, in the spring, while in the fall they eat the eggs 

 and grub that would make sad havoc in the next year's foliage if 

 allowed to remain and mature. 



The vireos, ever busy among the foliage of our shade and 

 ornamental trees at home, as also contributing their share in our 

 forests, migrate in spring and fall, while they range from Nova 

 Scotia to Texas, and return as they went. While the flycatchers 

 confine themselves to the guardianship of the outside of the trees, 

 these busy, working vireos, concealed among the foliage, are just 

 as busy as they; the injurious insect and grub fails a prey to both. 



Strangely does the golden-winged woodpecker, about the only 

 bird of its kind in its tribe, look out after the limbs and branches 

 of the trees in field, on edge of forest, and even in its interior; or 

 search for insects and larvae among their propagating ground, the 

 rich moss of the damp, half-submerged meadow adjoining the 

 woods; thus becoming, what many do not suspect, a most useful 

 friend in keeping down the enemy. 



Thus the good work goes on. Night-hawks and chimney-swal- 

 lows cluster in immense flocks, and keep the upper air in constant 

 agitation, as they chase their prey hither and thither. Our 

 delicate little humming-bird, ranging, in its varieties, from the 

 Pacific to the Atlantic, and a single species from Texas to even 



