36 PROTECTION OF PLA>vTS, 1920-21 



ent, retreating before the lumberman and prospector. The crows on the con- 

 tarry thrive in agricultural districts. ]\Iagpies belong to the western plains 

 while jays inhabit forested regions. All the family are fond of animal food. 

 Ravens attack weak or sickly lambs and live largely on living or dead crabs, 

 lobsters, and fish that may be exposed at low tide. Crows haunt the edge of the 

 water for any kind of animal refuse, searching also the nests of smaller birds 

 for eggs or young, and destroying in late summer enormous numbers of insects, 

 grubs, mice and small reptiles. But they are practically omnivorous, and are 

 hated by farmers because of their vicious habit of pulling up and eating the 

 sprouting grains, and also opening and eating the ripening ears of maize. Jaj^s 

 live largely on acorns and beech nuts, but also take eggs and young birds from 

 the nests, and in winter will steal an}- kind of grain, especial!}" maize. It is as 

 yet impossible to say on which side of our account with this family the debit 

 lies, and it quite certainly varies with the district and the season. Their intel- 

 ligence will prevent their suffering any loss which might excite alarm. 



Our groups of Blackbirds, which also includes the clear voiced oriole, and 

 the so-called meadow lark, comprise at least two distinctly harmful species. 

 These are the bronze grackle which destroj^s the 3'oung of many musical and 

 insectivorous birds, and the cowbird, which is entirely parasitic in the matter 

 of rearing its young. By dropping its egg into the nest of some smaller bird, 

 the cowbird usually secures for each of its offspring the entire industry of a pair 

 of foster parents. The young cowbird, by its precocity, absorbs nearly all the 

 food brought to the nest and soon pushes overboard the legitimate nestlings, 

 which are thus all sacrificed for the sake of the one intruder. B}" a surprisingly 

 acute instinct, the young cowbird deserts its misguided foster parents, and 

 joins with the flocks of its own kind before the autumn migration. The red 

 shouldered starling, the bobolink, the oriole and the meadow lark are favorites 

 with all, destroying our plant and insect enemies and providing joj^ous bird 

 music. 



The Sparrow family includes the Grosbeaks, Snow Buntings, Finches, 

 Crossbills, Redpolls, Siskins and Longspurs as well as Goldfinches and Sparrows, 

 All have strong and mostly conical bills, that of the grosbeaks being clumsily 

 large, while the tips are curved and crossed in the crossbills. They are all seed 

 eaters, but feed their 3'oung nestlings with insects. All of the list, except gold- 

 finches and sparrows, come to southern Ontario only as visitors during winter 

 and spring and gather the seeds and fruits left uncovered by the snow. Many 

 are bright colored, and a few, such as the Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the Purple 

 Finch, have very pleasing songs. • Excepting that illmannered immigrant — ■ 

 the house sparrow — the whole family is worthy of our protection and encour- 

 agement. The pine and the cardinal grosbeaks of the above group, and the 

 scarlet tanager are among our most notable examples of seasonal plumage chan- 



