294 USEFUL BIRDS. 



and two per cent, of vegetable matter, which is made up of 

 bits of plants taken accidentally with the insects. Half of 

 the animal food is grasshoppers and beetles ; the remainder 

 mostly caterpillars, bugs, and spiders. 



The Wren does not range far from its nest, and when that 

 is near the garden it gets a large part of its food there. In 

 Medford we succeeded in getting two families of Wrens to 

 nest in boxes, one on the house, the other in an apple tree. 

 The entrances to these boxes were round holes a little less 

 than an inch in diameter. The Sparrows could not get in, 

 and so the Wrens were unmolested. 



The only injurious habit of the Wrens seems to be their 

 mischievous conduct in breaking and even eating the eggs 

 in the nests of other birds. This habit seems to be common 

 to individuals of this and other species of Wren, but it has 

 been recorded so seldom in Massachusetts that no one need 

 hesitate to put up boxes for them. Unless something can 

 be done to provide for their increase, they are likely to 

 disappear from the State. 



SPARROWS. 



Some members of this group, particularly the Finches and 

 Grosbeaks, have been included in previous pages, among the 

 birds of orchard and woodland (see p. 215) ; the remaining 

 common species are mainly birds of the field that nest on 

 or near the ground, and get most of their food in fields, 

 gardens, or pastures. 



Although they are all seed-eating birds, they live largely 

 on insects during spring and early summer, and their young 

 are fed mainly on such food. In fall and winter Sparrows feed 

 on the seeds of grains, grasses, and weeds, although they 

 are not then averse to insect food when they can find it. 



Dr. Judd, in his important paper, " The Relation of Spar- 

 rows to Agriculture," states that the value of these birds to 

 the agriculturist is greater "than that of any other group 

 whose economic status has thus far been investigated." He 

 says, nevertheless, that the native Sparrows contrast markedly 

 in this respect with the introduced "English" Sparrow, which 

 is a pest. The great bulk of the food of Sparrows consists 



