have a peculiar " woodsy" quality about them. The seeds of the hemlock are 

 occasionally eaten by the Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch, and the White- 

 breasted Nuthatch is said to sometimes eat beechnuts and acorns, but I have 

 never found any trace of them. The Tree Creeper eats no vegetable substance 

 whatever. 



This little group of bii-ds is of the £;reatest value to the fruit-grower, as 

 they feed principally on the minute insects and their eggs, which are individually 

 so small that they escape our observation until, having- seen the damage done by 

 them, our attention is called to their existence, and then it is too late to enable 

 us to remedy the matter for the season. 



THRUSHES. 



We have in Ontario seven species belonging to this family, all of them 

 migratory, ari'iving here from the .south in early spring and leaving us in the 

 autumn, as cold weather sets in. They are the Wood Thrush, Wilson's Thrush, 

 Grey cheeked Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Robin and Bluebird. 

 The Olive-backed Thrush, Hermit Thrush and Grey-cheeked Thrush pass on and 

 raise their young to the north of us ; the others remain throughout the summer 

 and breed here. 



The Wood Thrush and Wilson's Thrusii, or Veery, as it is sometimes called, 

 are strictly birds of the woodlands, and seldom venture far from the edge of the 

 bush, though both species will at times select a garden where there are shrubs 

 for their summer residence, if they tind themselves unmolested, particularly if 

 there are no domestic cats about the premises. The cats at all times prefer young 

 birds to mice or rats, and are as much to blame for the decrease of our native 

 birds as bird-nesting brys or anything else, perhaps, except the Cow bird. Wil- 

 son's Thrush is one of our most abundant species, but it has the faculty of 

 concealing itself to such perfection that it is often overlooked though there may 

 be many within a few yards of where a person is standing. The Wood Thrush 

 is very rare with us, which is to be regretted, as it is a beautiful songster. 



All these thrushes are very valuable birds to the agriculturist, their food 

 consisting for the most part of grubs that live under the surface of the ground, 

 and caterpillars. In the autumn they eat many wild berries, those of the 

 Eldei' and V^iburnum being especial favorites, but they never help themselves to 

 the produce of the farm or garden. The best known and most familiar of the 

 thrash family is the Robin, and opinion is very strongly divided as to its utility. 

 Many fruit growers condemn this bird with great emphasis, stating that it is the 

 worst enemy they have ; others weigh its merits and demerits more carefully, 

 and are inclined to think that it at least pays for the fruit it eats by the destruc- 

 tion of insects. No doubt it does take a large number of cherries, strawberries 

 and raspberies, and s<jinf gnipis, but it is open to question if it were not for the 

 birds whether there wdiiM lir any cherries, strawberi-ies or grapes, oi-, indeed, 

 whether any crop couM \<r liruught to maturity. The great merit of the Robin is 

 that in the early pari of tlic .season it feeds itself and its young almost entirety 

 on cut worms ami (ni llir large white grub, the larva of the May beetle. Of all 

 our insect enemies the umlerground cut worm is about the mos^t destructive, for 

 in feeding it just comes above the surface and cuts off the entire plant, or if the 

 plants are very young and the stems small it cuts off half a dozen or more at one 



