154 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



everybody who lives where bUiebirds could possibly come, 

 put out a house or a box to catch their fancv when they arrive in 

 March? To be sure, the English sparrows, if present in your 

 neighborhood, may take possession; still, the bluebird is a 

 plucky fellow and knows how to look out for number one, as the 

 purple martin knows to his sorrow. 



The familiar song sparrow was heard and seen, singing beside 

 the meadow brook, and his relations of the finch family were also 

 introduced — the chipping sparrow with his hair nest in the 

 orchard; the vesper sparrow of the dry hillside; the white- 

 throated sparrow with his clear "Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, 

 Peabody," whistle, and the handsome crimson finch (American 

 linnet), with his craving for the spring buds of certain trees. But 

 what matter for this? Did anyone ever miss the small number of 

 leaves or orchard fruit that these birds nip in the bud? And how 

 short is the season in which they can commit this mischief. Of 

 course if he takes a fancy to your blossoming trees, you may as 

 well drive him off, for he has hundreds of useless wild or half- 

 wild trees to go to. 



"The red-winged blackbird of the bushy swamp andoverfiowed 

 meadow, is everywhere characteristic. His 'tchuck' and 

 'gurglee !' are familiar to everybody. Redwings, with the robin 

 and crow blackbird, repair to the ploughed land as soon as they 

 come and these birds rid the soil of an incalculable number of 

 noxious insect-grubs before the sowing. The dissector brings 

 no bad record against this bird, and the cultivator who shoots 

 them is very short-sighted, as regards his own interests. In- 

 deed, to sum up this matter, a bird should never be shot because 

 he sometimes ofifends. If he makes himself a nuisance for a 

 week, or even a fortnight, he is making himself useful (although 

 it may not be, indeed, in your particular neighborhood,) for the 

 rest of the year. So that to grudge a bird an ear of corn is ill- 

 treating the unpaid little workman, who made the crop possible. 

 You can keep birds away from your crops, but to battle with the 

 insect host is beyond all human ingenuity. 



"The golden winged woodpecker's resounding reveille came 

 ringing over the countryside from the still leafless woods. This 

 large, gaily marked woodpecker is known to every man or boy 

 who has ever carried a gun. Alas, that this should be so! for 



