April, 1892.J 



AND OOLOGIST. 



59 



tribution of seeds of various noxious weeds, as 

 sumac, poison ivy, dogwood, etc., upon wliose 

 berries they feed; it being a well-known fact 

 that tlie germination of many kinds of seeds is 

 haslened by their passage through the diges- 

 tive organs ot birds. 



Next on the list comes the Bobolink. They 

 do an immense amount of damage among the 

 rice fields of the South, which they visit both 

 in the spring at planting and again in the fall, 

 before the harvest, and the planters have to 

 go to considerable expense to hire people to 

 frighten these birds oft', in order to secure any 

 of the crop. 



In the West great damage is done to the 

 fields of corn, oats, flax and wheat by the 

 Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds 

 and tlie Puriale and Rusty Grackles, botli at 

 time of planting and also just before harvf^st- 

 ing, when tiie grain is in the milk. Then large 

 flocks of these birds visit the grain fields and 

 devour and Ineak down an immense amount 

 of the grain. 



Last of all comes tlie English Sparrow who, 

 everyone knows, has a great liking for all sorts 

 of smfiU grain, and tliey manage to get, at 

 least, their share of everything going. They 

 are a so reported as doing considerable damage 

 to fruit, principally the grape and apple, in 

 some parts of the countiy. 



Class II. Birds injurious to poultrj'. Here, 

 again, we find the Crow: this time he is feed- 

 ing upon eggs, when he can find them, and 

 upon the young chickens. Many of the chicks 

 that are missed, and charged against the 

 "wicked Hawk," may be rightly charged to 

 the Crow. In this class may also be placed 

 the Duck Hawk, Pigeon Hawk, Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk, Cooper's Hawk and Great Horned Owl, 

 all of which are very fond of poultry, both 

 young and old. 



Class HI. Birds Injurious to game birds. 

 In this class the Sharp-shinned Hawk and 

 Great Horned Owl occupy the most prominent 

 place as they destroy a great many of our 

 game birds — seem to prefer them to poultry. 

 There are others which occasionally prey upon 

 our game, but not so persistently as the above. 

 The Crow, too, may possibly spoil an 

 occasional hatch. 



Class lY. The birds in this class may be 

 called the worst enemies, as they destroj^ a 

 huge number of the birds which are beneficial. 

 Among their victims are many of our insectiv- 

 orous friends. The Screech Owl, Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk and Pigeon 

 Hawk, also members of the Shrike family. 



feed largely upon small biids, while the Crow 

 and Blue Jay devour the eggs of smaller birds; 

 and, while the English Sparrow does neither, 

 he belongs to this class, as he not only drives 

 away our native birds but also destroys their 

 nests, even breaking their eggs and killing 

 their young; and, where Bluebird, Pewee and 

 Wren once abounded, the Passer domesticus is 

 the only one found. 



There are other of our birds which at certain 

 seasons may be injurious, and which others 

 may think should be included in this list, still, 

 as they are beneficial the greater part of the 

 time, we will not class them among "Our 

 Feathered Enemies." S. R. Ini/ersoll. 



Unusual Nesting. 



I have received from Mr. William A. 

 Mastin the following, dated Williamsburg, 

 W. Ya., February 17, 1892: "I mailed you 

 yesterday a set of Wren's eggs found in a hay 

 mow on Cherry River on the last day of 

 January. Is it a usual occurrence? I have 

 the nest; will send or bring it out if you 

 wish. . . .■' The eggs undoubtedly belong to 

 the House Wren {Tro<jlodytes cedon), but aver- 

 age .slightly larger. Mr. Mastin' s address is 

 Richmond, Nicholas County, W. Ya. 



I found, on blowing, the eggs were perfectly 

 fresh. They were five in number, but two, 

 unfortunately, were broken. Thad. Snrber. 



Wlilte Sulphur .Springs, W. Ya. 



Death of Harry K. Jamison. 



Our readers will be sorry to learn of the 

 death of Harry K. Jamison, of Manayunk, 

 Penn., which occurred on April 6, 1892, from 

 consumption. 



Mr. Jamison was twenty-six years old, and a 

 man who would, if he had lived, probably 

 have made his mark in his chosen studies of 

 ornithology aiul oology. He contributed a 

 number of articles to The Oknitiioi.ogist 

 AND OoLOGisT, Hotably one on the nesting of 

 the Prairie Warbler, which was the best 

 account of the nidification of that bird that 

 has ever appeared in print. 



That he should have been cut off in his 

 youth, when his life gave such promise, is 

 very sad. J. P. A^ 



