from which an abundance of the finest bunches are gathered 

 each year, some of the vines being thirty-four years old and 

 still in fine healthy condition. 



Over these trees and vines my martins catch much of 

 their prey, but being aerial feeders, the whole credit for 

 ridding the trees of insects cannot be given them, I must 

 therefore name other species of birds which infest our lawn 

 and garden, some of them living, during the summer, en- 

 tirely within our premises. At blooming time in early May. 

 our trees teem with the melody of bird-music of such varie- 

 ties as yellow warbler, chipping sparrow and Baltimore ori- 

 ole, the first two species nesting in the trees and shrubbery 

 about the place, and the latter in the sycamores along the 

 creek bank adjacent to our property. Robins, which are 

 numerous, feed upon the ground. Along with the arrival of 

 the species first mentioned, comes the catbird, which takes 

 up its abode in the denser parts of the trees. At all hours 

 of day they can be seen going through the branches of the 

 trees or over the rose bushes and shrubbery. Here several 

 song sparrows are found feeding on insect life; and among 

 the grape vines and about the fences and exterior nooks of 

 buildings, the Carolina wren regales himself on mosquitoes 

 and other such insects which seek shelter of this kind. The 

 bluebirds which nest in boxes in the more secluded parts of 

 the garden, feed mostly over the garden. About mid-sum- 

 mer, the cuckoos appear in the trees searching for woolly 

 caterpillars. These shy birds make their rounds in all the 

 trees, several times daily, until September. Along with the 

 appearance of the cuckoo comes the little goldfinch, mostly 

 a seed-eating bird, to feed upon the lettuce seed and that of 

 the sunflower, but they also go through the rose bushes as 

 effectively as did the yellow warblers and chippy birds, ear- 

 lier in the season. The shy little warbling vireo, a valuable 

 insect destroyer, is also a frequenter of the fruit trees while 

 in bloom, and later. Numerous cardinals come and go, and 

 the chickadee is often here, once nesting in a post of a vine 

 arbor. 

 Waynesburg, Pa. J. Warren Jacobs. 



