190 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:5— May, 1919 



fact to bear in mind is that both of these birds nest in shrubbery of 

 the garden by choice. The catbird usually rears two broods and 

 the mockingbird more. The nestlings of both are fed almost 

 entirely upon insects which injure plants. Ground beetles, cut- 

 worms and grasshoppers nourish the little "kitten birds," as a small 

 girl called these nestlings. The mocking bird nestlings are fed 

 upon insects to the same extent. The adult birds feed upon fruits, 

 but choose many of the wild berries rather than the varieties culti- 

 vated. A garden would surely be lonesome without a catbird or 

 a mocker, and we had much better provide Russian mulberries for 

 them, than to drive them out because they feast upon cherries or 

 small fruits. 



The Orioles 



These birds belong more properly to the trees than to the garden, 

 but there are very many of them that live in trees near gardens and 

 hence their value in destroying garden insects. Both the Balti- 

 more and orchard orioles hunt the garden over for caterpillars, 

 and fortunately the oriole doesn't mind a hairy caterpillar, but 

 knows how to extract it from its whiskers, with skill and celerity. 

 Caterpillars, grasshoppers, cankerworms, cabbage worms, currant 

 worms are fed to the nestlings. The adult birds have been known 

 to do some damage, by eating young peas after opening the pods, 

 and sometimes take some grape juice from the ripe grapes to cheer 

 them on their way. The writer has always had a pair of orioles 

 in her garden, and never suffered as to peas or grapes or in any 

 other way, and not for any consideration would she have her garden 

 empty of this "golden shuttle" weaving in and out the green foliage. 



The Yellow Warbler 



The summer yellow bird is becoming more and more an inhabi- 

 tant of the garden, for it loves to build its nest in the lilacs or the 

 orchard trees, and is therefore on hand to take caterpillars or other 

 insects that are feeding upon our plants. In our garden last simi- 

 mer, the yellow warblers worked on the rose bushes holding in check 

 the destructive slugs and aphids. The entire food of this bird 

 consists of insects and it also feeds its nestlings on insects. Some 

 one watched a mother bird make fifty trips in one day to her 

 nestlings, each time canying insects to feed them. 



