202 



LIVING CREATURES. 



pipe, and the bird acquires the art of using them by 

 practice. 



The useful birds, and the birds of song, must be 

 protected. Chimney swifts, and swallows, with deep- 

 cut mouths for catching flies on the wing, are our 



. t friends. The little 



-^^ house-wren, though 



saucy, is a nice singer, 

 and should have a box 

 for its nest. A thou- 

 sand insects, in a single 

 day, have been carried 

 by a pair of wrens to 

 their young. 



Among the star' 

 lings, that have stout, 

 rather long and cutting bills, are the oriole, the mead- 

 ow-lark and the bobolink. The bobolink is the only 

 black and white bird west of the Mississippi. He is 

 full of joy and music. Of all the songsters none takes 

 deeper hold of the heart than the song-sparrow he 

 is so cheery, so trustful of his human friends. He 

 sings from seven to ten different tunes. 



Bobolinks. 



51. A BIRD NATION. 



THE pilgrim fathers and mothers of the innumerable 

 nation of house-sparrows came from England to this 

 country, in the year 1852. It was a mistake to bring 

 in seed-eaters to catch canker-worms. In England, a 



