32 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY [1914-15 



friends. You can not remember the birds by the sound of 

 their song, for a bird may sing in one tone to-day, and when 

 you again heard him the pitch would be different. But you 

 can remember the sound of different birds by their mechan- 

 ical rhythm." 



He then illustrated the song of the peabody bird, illus- 

 trating by a tapping that his song was in five notes. He 

 illustrated then by whistling the different ways that the 

 bird may sing the notes, but always having the same 

 time, though the pitch may never be the same. He pro- 

 duced by tapping the mechanical time of the crow of the 

 rooster. ''The downy woodpecker," he said, ''does not 

 sing much." He explained its tapping on a pole or tree 

 and how^ its mate would answer it from a distance. 



"The woodpecker," he said, "will drill his long bill into 

 a pole or tree until he finds the part where insects are, and 

 will then feed." 



The wood pewee he then illustrated, which he said is 

 seldom seen on the ground, feeding on the wing, catching 

 butterflies, moths and smaller insects in its path. 



"The birds," he said, "are busy at all times destroying 

 the things that w^ould destroy our lives or the lives of our 

 children." 



He spoke then of the beautiful song of the yellow^ hammer 

 and told of music taken from his tones. 



"The black-billed cuckoo, which looks like a small, 

 slim dove, continues in two notes for an extended time. He 

 comes when the caterpillar is building its nest and eats all 

 that it can find, and patiently awaits more. 



"The man}^ different species of warblers coming in May, 

 June, July, eat the net surface on the back of the leaves and 

 do an inestimable amount of good for the farmers. 



"The bluejay is rather destructive as it destroys the 

 young birds and nests and eggs of other birds, but at the 

 same time does his share of good, destroying many of the 

 most harmful of the insects." 



