STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 155 



here we have a truly famous eater of grubs and insects, gleaned 

 from the soil as well as from the bark of trees. Farmers ■ are 

 often their own enemies, and never more certainly so than when 

 they shoot for sport as they do, law or no law, 'one er them air 

 valler hahmers,' as they call them down in INIaine. It is true. I 

 suppose, that one woodpecker, the yellow-bellied sapsucker, 

 decorates trees with those admirably even rows of holes, not for 

 insects within the bark, but for the sap, the life-blood of the tree. 

 But he doesn't spend all his time doing this, and he is now, in 

 most localities, rare enough to cause regret to the bird-lover, and 

 satisfaction to the forester." 



The robin was the last of the spring birds treated. He is 

 certainly fond of such dainty fruits as strawberries and cherries ; 

 but he has helped protect them from worse enemies. To shoot 

 all the robins would be a dangerous experiment. From the 

 economic point of view alone, no bird w^ould be more missed. 



The summer birds were seen in a June day's stroll through 

 fields and groves near Boston. Each w'as interestingly char- 

 acterized, often by original stories and imitations of notes and 

 songs. Most prominent among these were the golden robin, 

 kingbird, bobolink, rose-breasted grosbeak, red-eyed vireo, 

 thrasher, scarlet tanager, indigo bird, chewink, cuckoo, the 

 thrushes of the wood, blue jay, cedar bird, goldfinch, and some 

 of the warblers, such as the redstart, yellow warbler, and Mary- 

 land yellowthroat. The haunt of each was shown on the screen, 

 the bird itself in its natural colors and attitude. 



''The rose-breasted grosbeak, a bird now quite common in 

 most Massachusetts towns, is know in Pennsylvania as the 

 "Potato-bug bird," it being the only bird known to eat this 

 pestiferous beetle. 



"In the above list of our common summer birds there are only 

 two or three but are known as beneficial to the cultivator. Not 

 far from the head of the list, for value, should be placed the red- 

 eved vireo and his numerous tribe, birds nearly allied to the fly- 

 catchers proper. There are several species of these slim, little 

 olive birds, and although they are little known, save to the bird- 

 student, they doubtless far outnumber the robins. They prefer 

 hard wood growth, chiefly maple, elm, and oak, and are common 

 alike to forest, and suburban street. 



