BIRDS IN RELATION TO MAN 



577 



may be very useful in one region and injurious in another. 

 The red-tailed hawk feeds on field mice in one region and dis- 

 covers that chickens are good to eat in another. The bobolink 



Cedar vi3xvi\x\g{Ampelis cedrarunt) Yellow-bellied s2iY>sViCker {Sphyrapicits varius) 



Red-headed woodpecker {Melatierpes 

 erythrocephalus) 



Great blue heron, or crane 

 {Ardea herodias) 



Fig. 242. Some suspicious tramps 



During part of its migration the cedar waxwing destroys fruit and disperses weed 



seeds; the yellow-bellied sapsucker injures standing trees; the red-headed woodpecker 



destroys cultivated fruit; the blue heron eats fish and frogs. But on the whole they 



pay for all they consume, and a little more, and are therefore protected by law 



is a serious menace to the rice fields in the South, but is a 

 valuable insect destroyer in the North. The red-winged black- 

 bird ate so much grain in Nebraska a number of years ago that 



