No. 4.] BIRDS ON THE FARM. 121 



1901 it was a serious task, and necessitated frequent weeding 

 or hoeino- all summer and into tlic fall. In 1902 the labor 

 was much lightened, and this was in part due to the birds. 

 All farmers know that, while hoed crops in the main may be 

 kept nearly free from weeds, it is impossible to weed a 

 squash or melon patch without injuring the plants. Such 

 crops invariably foul the land. It is also very difficult to 

 keep all fences and borders of fields clear of weeds. "We 

 depended mainly on the birds to take care of such weed 

 seeds as were left in the squash or melon patch or along the 

 borders, and they did their work well. 



The first year, birds were not numerous enough to destroy 

 all the weed seed ; the second 3"ear, there was hardly enough 

 seed to gather an increased number of birds. A small patch 

 of Japanese barnyard grass {Panicum crus-galU) was planted 

 north of the garden. The seed of this millet proved very 

 attractive to birds, but it was not molested except by gold- 

 finches and an occasional English sparrow until the seed 

 began to foil. The millet was then reaped and the seed 

 saved, but not until a great quantity of it had fallen to the 

 ground. 



All the fall and winter this seed proved a great attraction 

 to the birds. Sparrows were almost constantly feeding in 

 the vicinit}^ and the seed seemed to be relished by all of 

 them. There were probably some bushels of this seed on 

 the ground in the fall, but by spring hardly one could be 

 found, and only a very few scattering plants grew there the 

 following spring. This plant is merely a cultivated variety 

 of a common wild grass or weed, hence its attractiveness to 

 birds. 



Juncos and tree sparrows came in gi-eatest numbers. 

 They not only destroyed the millet seed, but they also 

 found and ate practically all of the weed seeds remaining. 

 The sparrows cat usually with avidity the seed of many of 

 the Avorst weeds known. Dr. Judd mentions the following- 

 weeds which are troublesome in fields and hoed crops, and 

 which are eaten by some twenty species of sparrows : rag- 

 weed (^Arnhrosia artemisicefolia) ; several species of the 

 genus Polygonum, including bindweed (P. convolvulus^, 



