BIRDS OF NEW YORK 41 



some flycatchers like the kingbirds, crows, jays, blackbirds, orioles, sparrows, 

 finches, a few of the vireos and warblers like the Myrtle warbler which 

 feeds on the waxberry, and the thrashers and nuthatches. 



In addition to the main articles of diet in the birds' regimen included 

 in this brief summary, we might mention the various species of animals 

 like snails, spiders, millipeds and crayfish, all of which are devoured by 

 the fish-eating and insect-eating species; the sea ducks feeding largely 

 on aquatic mollusca; thrushes frequently attacking the land snails; 

 grebes, kingfishers and ducks devouring the crayfish; wrens, thrashers 

 and various other species feeding on spiders. 



The buds and leaves of trees are attractive to many species like the 

 grouse and some of the finches. The sap and cambium layer is eagerly 

 sought by one species of woodpecker, the Sapsucker. The tender shoots 

 of many plants are also eaten by ducks, pigeons, grouse, bobwhites etc. 

 In fact, any kind of animal or vegetable food which is tender and easily 

 obtainable is likely to be found an article of diet of some species of bird; 

 but the more conspicuous varieties of diet we have enumerated to suggest 

 the benefit and the injury which it is possible for birds to accomplish. 



Injury Done by Birds 

 Destruction of grain. The Crow and the Blackbird have long been 

 reviled as corn thieves by the inhabitants of New York and there can be 

 no doubt that many fields which are located near the haunts of the Crow 

 and the Grackle have suffered much from the destruction of newly planted 

 grain, as they pull up the sprouting kernels and render the work of the 

 planter useless. Various devices have been tried for preventing this pulling 

 of newly planted corn, such as tarring the seed, which is more or less 

 effective, but there is little doubt that the crow is injurious in other ways 

 and there is little reason to preserve him although his injury to the corn 

 fields might be overlooked. The newly introduced Ring-necked pheasant 

 has also been destructive in some localities by digging up the newly planted 

 corn with its beak, following the rows and destroying each hill in succession. 



