old birds pay considerable attention to them after they leave 

 the nest. If nothing hapens to separate the family, the parents 

 continue to feed the young for two or even three weeks after 

 they leave the nest; and this food is largely insects, changing, 

 however, gradually to a seed diet. Three young of this bird 

 were found by the writer on June 3d, having evidently left the 

 nest not more than a day before. The smallest of the three was 

 captured and taken home, while the other two were watched 

 daily, and notes kept of their development. The locality in 

 which they were found consisted of a small group of low trees, 

 covering an area of about 200 by 50 yards, and was separated 

 by some considerable distance from any other trees. Althaugh 

 searched for, no other birds of that species were found in that 

 vicinity, and since two young birds answering to the description 

 of the first two, were seen nearly every day, it seems fairly cer- 

 tain that the birds watched were the same. On June 17 one of 

 the birds had evidently started life alone, as on that date it was 

 watched for nearly two hours and neither parent came near it. 

 The other one continued to be fed up to June 20, or three weeks, 

 lacking two days, from the time it had left the nest. The one 

 taken to the house was fed for a week after being taken, although 

 it would eat some of its own accord three or four days after it 

 had been gotten. Beginning with June 10, it was fed on crushed 

 bird seed, which it ate eagerly, and which was kept up for five 

 days, by which time it was able to get at the kernel of the softer 

 kinds by itself. In this ease, caring for itself was forced on the 

 young bird, and so does not represent a natural state of affairs, 

 yet it shows that if necessary young birds will adopt the habits 

 of maturity before they would ordinarily do so. 



The purpose of these observations was to get some idea of the 

 period during which the young birds are fed, and this means 

 the time during which insects are consumed to a greater or less 

 extent. Some idea, therefore, of their value as insect destroyers 

 may be gotten when it is taken into account that each young 

 bird consumes daily, during the first three or four weeks of its 

 life at least its own weight, probably more, of insects, and that 

 both the parents, while feeding the young, eat many of these in- 

 jurious pests. Furthermore, since two, or even three broods are 

 raised every summer, and the number per brood averaging four, 

 it naturally follows that as insect destroyers these birds are of at 



