12:' 



ociiiiipn. Anici-Icaii;i) . t^o (lt'^tl■lu•tiv(' to tlu' oirhurds of New 

 Knjrliiiid. It is easy to sec then, lu)\v, when birds, the nsitnral 

 enemies of" insects, are destroyed and driven away, it will fol- 

 low that Insects will increase, and an increase of insects is 

 svnonynions with a decrease of crops. 



l->Mt there are to-day many farmers in Xew England who do 

 nothciie^c that birds are beneficial. They occasionally lose a 

 little corn by tlie crows, or a chicken by the hawks, and they 

 judge the whole class of birds by a few snch unfair samples. 

 They <lri^•e the robins from the garden thinking they are pull- 

 ing up the seed, and they take CAcry o])poi"tunity to drive from 

 the orchard the " sap-suckers," as they call the woodpeckers, 

 tliinking they arc sucking the sap of the trees. 



To correct such mistakes, — to induce farmers to study more 

 the habits of Itirds, and to enable them more readily to distin- 

 guish the beneficial and injurious species, we shall give a brief 

 description of some of the commonest birds of Ksscx county. 



AcciriTKii Cooi'Kuii — Cassiv. 

 ('()nn:i;*s Hawk. — This hawk is a conmion sununer inhali- 

 itant of .Massachusetts, being the smallest of those liaAvks 

 known to the farmer by the significant name of " Hen Hawks." 

 The nest is usually formed in the deep avoo<Is, almost always 

 in a [)ine tive, in a fork near the top. It is constructed of 

 large sticks and t\\igs, and Vincd Avith leaves of different trees ; 

 ^'fJS:^'^', from two to four: color, a dirty white, with spots of 

 brown and lilac, in some specimens distinct, in others the spots 

 are very obscure. The breeding season in ^Massachusetts is 

 about the loth of ^Nlay, l)ut varies as the season is particularly 

 late or eai'ly. This species is very injurious, as also the two 

 following, partly on account of the havoc they make in the 

 poultry-yard, but especially because they destroy a large niun- 

 ber of small birds, which, if permitted to live, would do a 

 great deal of good. 



AcnriTKi; Ft sets — Jionapartc. 

 SiiAiM'-siiixNKi) Hawk. — This species makes its ap[)earancc- 



