31 



possibly the old birds suffered the same fate, as no song sparrows 

 nested there in 1902. 



Among the birds which frequented the garden were the 

 catbird and the goldfinch; but, so far as could be seen, these 

 birds contributed little to its welfare. The goldfinches attacked 

 the millet in the field, the sunflowers along the garden border, 

 and ate pieces from the leaves of lettuce and other tender 

 vegetables. They were not seen to eat insects, but they are 

 useful as destroyers of plant lice, caterpillars and other tree- 

 feeding insects. They destroy weevils also; but, so far as could 

 be observed, they were slightly detrimental to the garden. The 

 catbird was never seen to enter the garden except as it went to 

 the strawberry bed after the berries were ripe. Apparently 

 the catbirds went to the garden for strawberries alone. They 

 were never seen to eat anything else while there, and, as they 

 were about the strawberry bed much of the time while the 

 berries were ripe, they must have eaten as many berries as 

 all the robins, for the robins only took strawberries occasionally. 

 A pan of water was set out near the strawberry bed, that the 

 catbirds might have an opportunity to allay their thirst before 

 reaching the berries. They took no notice of this, as they 

 evidently preferred strawberry juice. If driven away, they 

 would return immediately. They remained about the bed 

 until the berries had been picked, when they left at once, and 

 hardly visited the garden at all for the rest of the summer. 

 Were we to judge the catbird by this experience alone, we must 

 agree with those who consider it a pest. Many people have 

 had somewhat similar experience with it. My experience 

 with it in Worcester, however, was somewhat of a contrast 

 to this more recent acquaintance. There we raised straw- 

 berries with little trouble from the catbirds that nested near 

 the garden, and were of considerable service in the destruc- 

 tion of insect pests, notably the white grub. This bird, how- 

 ever, is probably of much less service to the farmer than many 

 others, and is not to be compared with the robin as a destroyer 

 of garden insects. 



The vireos, redstarts and warblers, which bred in the woods 

 around the garden, occasionally came inside its limits, but 

 confined their attention mainly to the insects on the fruit trees, 



