REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 37 



ges. The adult males in spring are brilliant in suits of red, which graduallj- 

 change during summer to match the greenish yellows and browns of the female. 

 The latter maj' well be considered as wearing a protective coloration, wdien 

 we consider how seldom w^e see or recognize the females as compared with our 

 familiarity with the males. 



The family of Swallows should have our very special care. They eat no- 

 thing of value to man, but destroy enormous quantities of insects caught on 

 the wing over pastures grainfields, ponds and farm yards. With a little encour- 

 agement they will form colonies about farm buildings. The purple martin 

 takes very kindly to birdhouses placed on tall poles or on buildings, and their 

 graceful flight and pleasant gurghng notes are among the most satisfactory asso- 

 ciations of summer in town or country. 



Waxwings wear perfectly fitting suits of quaker brown, but their well 

 marked crests and alert attitudes, and particularly the white wing marks and 

 the garrulity of the erratic Bohemian waxwing neutralize any suggestion of 

 passivity. A small fraction of their food may be cultivated fruits, but by far 

 the greater part consists of harmful insects and waste wild fruits. The Shrikes 

 destroy some desirable small birds but this may be balanced by their attacks 

 on mice, crickets and grasshoppers in summer and house sparrows in winter. 

 Vireos or Greenlets are small greenish brown birds which live almost entirely 

 on the insects w^hich infest our trees, particularly the slender branches and leaves. 

 Some of these inconspicuous friends of man may be heard singing almost contin- 

 uously throughout the brightest and warmest hours of midday. 



The Wood Warblers are in general small in size and wear brightly marked 

 plumage. They are unknown to the ordinary unobservant person, but are 

 worthy objects of delightful woodland walks to those initiated into the charms 

 of bird stud}'. An opera glass is required to make clear their markings and 

 when the warblers can be recognized and named without a gun, the fortunate 

 person may consider himself an amateur naturalist. They are all insect eaters, 

 inhabiting groves and the higher parts of trees. 



The most notable of our Canadian singing birds are the catbird and the 

 brown thrasher. The former is smokj^ gray in color and usually sings from the 

 shelter of a thicket. Its relation to the mockingbird is shown in its power of 

 mimicry by which the songs of other birds are reproduced in clear melodious and 

 continued strains. The thrasher sings usually from a prominent spray or the 

 top of a small tree and its song rivals that of the catbird. Both of these birds 

 live largely upon injurious insects and wild fruits,occasionally visiting the cultiv- 

 ated raspberries. Wrens require no description or introduction because 

 their busy singing, scolding, insect catching lives are so often closely associated 

 with our houses, outbuildings, and orchards. A box, tin can or broken flowerpot 



