SECOND ANNUAL MEETING 27 



^'ell as those that pass through during- their migrations, destroy vast 

 numbers of these insects. They should be protected. 



The Waxwings, both the Cedar Bird and Bohemian Waxwing, feed 

 principally upon berries, etc., which they find throughout the year. 

 Still, in his studies of the food contents of the stomachs of a variety 

 of birds taken in a certain orchard that was overrun with canker- 

 worms, Professor Forbes found that the seven specimens of the Cedar 

 Waxwing had eaten nothing but canker-worms and a few dung beetles, 

 the latter in such small numbers as to scai'cely count. The number of 

 caterpillars eaten by each bird ranged from 70 to 101. 



The Shrikes or "Butcher Birds" are known as veritable "brigands" 

 or "pirates" w^hen it comes to the destruction of other forms of life. 

 They are true to their name, and "butcher" for pastime large num- 

 bers of insects, mice, lizards, small snakes, and even a few birds. 

 They then fly to some thorn bush or barbed-wire fence and impale the 

 luckless victim and leave it for future use, or to dry up and finally 

 blow away. The good they do will outweigh the harm. 



The food of the various Greenlets or Vireos is made up almost en- 

 tirely of insects, of which a large per cent are caterpillars, such as 

 infest shade trees and the larger shrubs. They should be protected 

 and encouraged, about the orchard in particular. 



In the words of that pleasing writer. Dr. Elliott Coues,* "The War- 

 blers have we always with us, all in their own good time; they come 

 out of the south, pass on, return, and are away again, their appear- 

 ance and withdrawal scarcely less than a mystery; many stay with 

 Tis all summer long, and some brave the winters in our midst. Some 

 of these slight creatures, guided by unerring instinct, travel true to 

 the meridian in the hours of darkness, slipping past like a 'thief in 

 the night.' stopping at daybreak from their lofty flights to rest and 

 recruit for the next stage of the journey. Others pass more leisurely 

 from tree to tree, in a ceaseless tide of migration, gleaning as they go; 

 the hardier males, in full song and plumage, lead the way for the 

 "weaker females and yearlings. With tireless industry do the warblers 

 befriend the human race; their unconscious zeal plays due part in the 

 nice adjustment of nature's forces, helinng to bring about the bal- 

 ance of vegetable and insect life without which agriculture would be 

 in vain. They visit the orchard when the apple and pear, the iieach, 

 plum, and cherry are in bloom, seeming' to revel carelessly amid the 

 SAveet-scented and delicately-tinted blossoms, but never faltering in 

 their good work. They i^eer into the crevices of the bark, scrutinize 

 ■each leaf, and explore the very heart of the buds, to detect, drag forth, 

 and destroy those tiny creatures, singly insignificant, collectively a 

 scourge, which prey upon the hopes of the fruit-grower, and which, 

 if undisturbed, would bring his care to naiight. Some warblers flit in- 



*Key to North American Birds, p. 288. 



