28 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



the best bird provider in this family ; in grain-fields, along 

 road-sides, and in worn-out pastures this plant affords the 

 birds a feast unsurpassed either in amount or duration. 

 During the latter part of their stay the summer sparrows 

 largely depend upon it ; while in the winter bob-whites, gold- 

 finches, redpolls, English sparrows, snow-flakes, and horned 

 larks make festival among its miniature branches. Even 

 the red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers as well as the 

 flicker have been known to partake of these ragweed seeds. 



The buckwheat family the order Polygonaoece also fur- 

 nishes a liberal supply of food to many birds. The list of 

 birds that devour these triangular seeds is a long one. Knot- 

 weed, sheep-sorrel, dock, bindweed, and many more each 

 contributes to the birds that frequent its station. Juncos, 

 chipping-sparrows, and redpolls come to the door-yard to 

 glean among the knotweed ; cow-birds, redwings, mourning- 

 doves, bob-whites, and flickers look for the seeds of dock and 

 bindweed in fields and meadows ; mallards, teals, and other 

 river ducks dabble for the seeds of w r ater-smartweed and 

 other aquatic or semi-aquatic varieties, making a full meal of 

 them whenever they are able to do so. 



The seeds of the pigweeds, hemp, mullein, and a host of 

 other weeds belonging to less numerous families are also 

 freely drawn upon for the support of bird life. 



The wild grasses of the order Graminece also supply their 

 share. Among them the pigeon and other grasses of the 

 genus Setaria are perhaps the most important in bird economy, 

 as they invade cultivated ground everywhere and are fed 

 upon very generally by sparrows and many other birds. In 

 swamps and along the borders of ponds and streams, es- 

 pecially in the Southern and Western States, wild rice grows 

 abundantly, and during the autumnal migration it is often the 

 predominating element in the diet of such marsh-loving birds 

 as bobolinks, blackbirds, rails, and ducks, all of which be- 

 come very fat upon it. 



