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Bronzed Crackle, Crow Blackbird, Quiscalus quiscala aeneus. — This bird is 

 rather common, and in some places does considerable damage to grain fields. On 

 the other hand, it destroys a large number of noxious insects, and in this way does 

 much good. They have a tendency to increase rapidly in some sections and often 

 are locally injurious. 



The Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinus, is less common than the grackle 

 and is on the whole a useful bird. 



The Meadow Lark, Sturnella magna, and the Baltimore Oriole, Icterus gal- 

 bula, are common and well-known birds. The former lives in the fields and feeds 

 largely on grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, bugs, caterpillars and vegetable matter. 

 From the study of their stomachs it is estimated that a single bird destroys about 

 fifteen hundred grasshoppers a month during the season while the insects are plen- 

 tiful. The oriole supplements the work of the meadow lark, feeding chiefly on 

 insects or their larvae that infest trees, destroying immense numbers of caterpillars, 

 grasshoppers, bugs and noxious beetles. 



Finches, Sparrows, etc. 



The sparrow family, Fringillidae, differ much in appearance and habit, but 

 generally have stout, strong bills fitted for crushing seeds. 



The Brown-Streaked Sparrows, which are often called greybirds, usually 

 inhabit fields or plains, and their dull coloring affords them protection from birds 

 of prey. Those that live in trees are more brightly colored. 



Living chiefly on seeds, the sparrows are not so migratory as insect-eating 

 birds like the warblers. In this Province the majority migrate, but they come early 

 in the spring and remain late in the fall. A few of the sparrows are winter visitants, 

 coming from their northern summer homes in the fall and remaining during the 

 winter, returning in early spring. 



They live chiefly on seeds, insects and fruit. Many of the seeds eaten are those 

 of noxious weeds, and as seeds are their chief food, they are unrivalled as weed 

 destroyers. The sparrows also feed on insects, about 25 per cent, of their food 

 consisting of these pests. The nestlings are almost entirely insectiverous, and 

 during the nesting period countless numbers of insects are used for feeding their 

 young. 



Of the brown-streaked sparrows the Song Sparrow, Melospiza cineria melodia, 

 is perhaps the most common and best known. It comes early in the spring, about 

 the last of March, and its bright, cheery song may be heard in all kinds of weather. 



