LAND BIRDS. 557 



as early as any he has known; his collection, however, included one set 

 of eggs taken in Kalamazoo county May 3, 1877, in an orchard tree twelve 

 feet from the ground. Mr. Swales, of Grosse Isle, is of the opinion that 

 certain individual birds may prefer orchards for nesting and that these 

 breed during June, while others, which prefer uncultivated regions, nest 

 much later, even into September. According to his notes the Cedar-birds 

 arrive in the vicinity of Detroit from March 11 (1890) to April 8 (1895), 

 and leave for the south about the middle of October. 



Apparently they do not nest so abundantly in the southern part of the 

 state as farther north, and about the cedar and tamarack swamps in the 

 northern part of the state they are one of the most abundant and character- 

 istic birds during late summer. Here they may be seen in small flocks 

 perched on the dead branches of isolated trees, from which they make 

 continual sallies for passing insects, of which the bulk of their food seems 

 to consist. They, however, eat large quantities of wild fruits, being 

 particularly fond of raspl^erries, blueberries, service-berries (Amelanchier) 

 and Buffalo berries (Shepherdia canadensis). They also relish all kinds 

 of wild cherries, even eating the choke-cherry freely. The attacks on 

 cultivated cherries are too well known to need extended mention, yet it 

 should be noted that the bird prefers the earliest cherries and even when 

 most abundant and destructive is not nearly so serious an enemy as the 

 common Robin. It also eats cultivated currants, raspberries, blackberries 

 and mulberries, but not, in our experience, to any injurious extent. 



On the other hand, we have no bird which is more valuable to the horti- 

 culturist as an insect eater, for it not only eats insects freely and at all 

 seasons when they are obtainable, but it seems to be partial to many of the 

 forms which are speciall}^ injurious to the farmer and fruit grower. Thus 

 it eats caterpillars of many kinds, and, as Prof. Forbes and others have 

 shown, it sometimes almost confines itself to a diet of canker-worms when 

 these are unusually abundant. In one orchard which Prof. Forbes studied 

 carefully a flock of about thirty apparently took up their residence and fed 

 freely on canker-worms. The number in each stomach, determined by 

 actual count, ranged from 70 to 101, and was usualh^ about 100. These 

 thirty birds were therefore eating the pests at the rate of at least 3,000 a 

 day, or 90,000 in the month during which the caterpillar is exposed to their 

 attacks.* Study of the stomach contents of 152 Cedar-birds by the 

 Ornithological Division of the U. S. Dci)artmcnt of Agriculture, showed 

 tiiat 74 percent of the food consisted of wild fruits, 13 percent of cultivated 

 fruits (only 5 percent being cherries), and the remainder of insects, largely 

 grasshoppers, bugs, bark-lice and beetles, the elm-leaf beetle appearing 

 as an important item.f 



During spring and early summer the Cedar-bird appears to be very fond 

 of blossoms, and especially of the stamens, of many trees, particularly 

 fruit trees. We have seen it frequently eating the stamens of apple, pear, 

 cherry, oak, maple and ash, and it doubtless eats stamens of many other 

 varieties, but there is no i-oason to sujiposc that any damage whatever 

 is done in this way. 



This is one of the birds which for fifty years has suffered continually from 

 the demand for its plumage by milliners, and even today Cedar-birds are 

 common "hat birds" wherever legislation does not prevent their use. 

 Their convenient size, beautiful plumage and gregarious habits, pei-mittiug 



♦Report Mich. State Ilort. Soc, 1881, p. 20}. 

 tF. E. L. Be;il, FaniKTs' Hull. No. r,i, p. 32. 



