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locality. My observations on the robin are offered with the 

 belief that the statements made are correct so far .as my own 

 garden is concerned. A small fruit grower differently situated 

 might consider the robin an enemy. The picture of the robin 

 at the nest with a grub in her bill shows the eagerness with 

 which the young robins anticipate the coming of their food 

 (Fig. 6). 



Next to the robin in usefulness in our garden comes the chip- 

 ping sparrow. This little bird, which often hops about the 

 dooryard of the farmhouse, picking up crumbs that fall from 

 the doorway, spends much of its time in the garden. With us 

 it did no noticeable harm, feeding much on insects in the 

 spring and summer, and largely on weed seeds in the fall. It 

 was almost constantly busy along the vegetable rows in early 

 summer. It was especially devoted to the green peas and the 

 beets. Beets are usually more or less infested with a larva 

 which mines the leaf, in some cases destroying many leaves. 

 This insect is not usually a serious pest, as some enemy appears 

 to check its undue increase. Early in the season the beets 

 were attacked by it and were quite seriously infested, but as 

 time went on the number of worms grew less and less. It was 

 noticed that this scarcity of the beet worms was coincident with 

 the appearance of the chipping sparrows among the plants, and 

 that the longer the birds worked there the fewer beet worms 

 could be found. These sparrows were commonly to be seen 

 going up and down the rows, feeding among the plants in the 

 garden where table beets were grown. Other birds of this 

 species were also observed in the field among the stock beets 

 or mangel wurtzels. I was enabled one day, by creeping along 

 the ground between the rows, to get very close to a chipping 

 sparrow which was feeding there. It was passing among the 

 plants searching somewhat among the stems, from which it 

 took small insects, but mainly getting its food from the infested 

 leaves. By moving very cautiously, I was able to follow it for a 

 hundred yards along the rows. It could be plainly seen taking 

 something from the leaves. It touched none but the infested 

 leaves. In each case when the bird had passed, the leaf was 

 freshly punctured, and the worm was missing. The little bird 

 found it necessary in many cases to use its wings to reach the 



