236 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



Birds of the second class feed by preference upon fruits, 

 nuts, and grain, the bluebird, robin, wood thrush, mock- 

 ing bird, catbird, chickadee, cedar bird, meadow lark, oriole, 

 jay, crow, and woodpecker belong to this group. Those 

 that winter with us the chickadee, nuthatch, brown 

 creeper, and woodpecker perform a service for us by 

 devouring many weed seeds. 



The third class is known as hard-billed birds. It 

 includes those birds that live principally upon seeds and 

 grain, the canary, goldfinch, sparrows, and some others. 



Birds that come early, like the bluebird, robin, and red- 

 wing, are of special service in destroying insects before 

 the insects lay their eggs for the season. 



The robins on the lawn search out the caterpillars and 

 cutworms. The chipping sparrow and the wren in the 

 shrubbery look out for all kinds of insects. They watch 

 over the orchard and feed freely upon the enemies of the 

 apple and other fruit trees. The trunks of these trees are 

 often attacked by borers, which gnaw holes in the bark and 

 wood, and often cause the death of the trees. The wood- 

 peckers hunt for these appetizing borers and by means of 

 their barbed tongues bring them from their hiding places. 

 On the outside of the bark of the trunk and branches the 

 bark lice work. These are devoured by the nuthatches, 

 creepers, and chickadees. 



In winter, the bark is the hiding place for hibernating 

 insects, like plant lice, which in summer feed upon the 

 leaves. Throughout the winter a single chickadee will 

 destroy immense numbers of the eggs of the cankerworm 

 moth and the plant louse. The blackbirds, meadow larks, 

 crows, quail, and sparrows are the great protectors of the 



