UTILITY OF BIRDS TO AGRICULTURE. Ill 



hawks, its habits being very different. It rarely utters a cry 

 like the other hawks, but silently skims over the meadows 

 in search of its prey. The nest is built upon a knoll in a 

 meadow, and is formed of dry grass woven together, and 

 slightly hollowed and lined with soft grasses. Eggs four in 

 number, dirty-white in color, generally laid by first week of 

 May. 



Picus pubescens — Linrueus. 



Downy Woodpecker. — This woodpecker is the smallest we 

 have, and is well known among farmers as a valuable agent in 

 destroying the larvee of insects which infest the orchard. At 

 all seasons of the year, but more particularly during September 

 and October, it may be observed busily at work destroying the 

 eggs deposited on the apple-trees by the " countless swarm of 

 summer insects." This bird excavates a hole about twelve or 

 fifteen inches deep, in a decayed stump or limb of a tree, in 

 which the eggs are placed on a few soft chips left in making the 

 hole. They are five in number, of a beautiful creamy-white 

 color ; they are usually laid by the 10th of May. 



Colaptes auratus — Swainson. 



Golden-winged Woodpecker. — This is the most common of 

 all our woodpeckers, and any description of its habits seems 

 almost superfluous. Both birds assist in excavating the hole 

 which is to receive the eggs. This is often from fifteen to 

 twenty inches deep. No nest is built, but on the bottom of the 

 hole the female lays eight pure-white eggs, which are about as 

 large at one end as the other. If the eggs be taken from her, 

 leaving one for a " nest-egg," she will continue to lay more. An 

 instance came to my knowledge where twenty-four eggs were 

 laid in this manner before the bird could be induced to leave 

 the hole which had been excavated with so much trouble. This 

 bird is very beneficial to the farmer, as its food consists almost 

 entirely of insects destructive to vegetation. 



Trochilus colubris — LinncBus. 

 Ruby-throated Humming- bird. — How often do we see this 

 beautiful little visitor in the flower-garden, at one instant paus- 

 ing and thrusting its tiny bill into some flower, and then flashing 

 out of sight like a meteor, and as suddenly reappearing ! This 



