BIRDS USEFUL TO FARM AND ORCHARD 



629 



hibernating insects and insects' eggs, as 

 well as spiders and spiders' eggs, that are 

 missed by the summer birds. On its bill 

 of fare we find no product of husbandry 

 nor any useful insects. 



House Wren 



Troglodytes aedon 



Length, four and three-fourths inches. 

 The only one of our wrens with wholly 

 whitish underparts that lacks a light line 

 over the eye. 



Baii^re 



Breeds throughout the United States 

 (except the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 states) and Southern Canada; winters 

 in the Southern United States and Mexico. 



Habits and Economic Status 



The rich, bubbling song of the familiar 

 little house wren is one of the sweetest 

 associations connected with country and 

 suburban life. Its tiny body, long bill, 

 sharp eyes, and strong feet peculiarly 

 adapt it for creeping into all sorts of 

 nooks and crannies where lurk the in- 

 sects it feeds on. A cavity in a fence 

 post, a hole in a tree, or a box will be 

 welcomed alike by this busybody as a 

 nesting site; but since the advent of the 

 quarrelsome English sparrow such domi- 

 ciles are at a premium and the wren's 

 eggs and family are safe only in cavities 

 having entrances too small to admit the 

 sparrow. Hence it behooves the farmer's 

 boy to provide boxes the entrances to 

 which are about an inch in diameter, 

 nailing these under gables of barns and 

 outhouses or in orchard trees. In this 

 way the numbers of this useful bird can 

 be increased, greatly to the advantage of 

 the farmer. Grasshoppers, beetles, cater- 

 pillars, bugs, and spiders are the prin- 

 cipal elements of its food. Cutworms, 

 weevils, ticks, and plant lice are among 

 the injurious forms eaten. The nestlings 

 of house wrens consume great quantities 

 of insects. 



Brown Tbraslier 



Toxostoma rufum 

 Length, about 11 inches. Brownish 

 red above, heavily streaked with black be- 

 low. 



Ran^e 



Breeds from the Gulf states to Southern 

 Canada and west to Colorado, Wyoming, 

 and Montana; winters in the southern 

 half of the Eastern United States. 



Habits and Economic Status 



The brown thrasher is more retiring 

 than either the mocking bird or catbird, 

 but like them, is a splendid singer. Not 

 infrequently, indeed, its song is taken 

 for that of its more famed cousin, the 

 mocking bird. It is partial to thickets 

 and gets much of its food from the 

 ground. Its search for this is usually ac- 

 companied by much scratching and scat- 

 tering of leaves; whence its common 

 name. Its call note is a sharp sound like 

 the smacking of lips, which is useful in 

 identifying this long-tailed, thicket-haunt- 

 ing bird, which does not much relish 

 close scrutiny. The brown thrasher is 

 not so fond of fruit as the catbird and 

 mocker, but devours a much larger per- 

 centage of animal food. Beetles form 

 one-half of the animal food, grasshop- 

 pers and crickets one-fifth, caterpillars, 

 including cutworms, somewhat less than 

 one-fifth, and bugs, spiders, and millipeds 

 comprise most of the remainder. The 

 brown thrasher feeds on such coleopter- 

 ous pests as wire worms, May beetles, rice 

 weevils, rose beerles, and figeaters. By 

 its destruction of these and other insects, 

 which constitute more than 60 per cent 

 of its food, the thrasher much more than 

 compensates for that portion (about one- 

 tenth) of its diet derived from cultivated 

 crops. 



Catbird 

 Dumetella caroUnensis 



Length, about nine inches. The slaty 

 gray plumage and black cap and tail are 

 distinctive. 



Range 



Breeds throughout the United States 

 west to New Mexico, Utah, Oregon and 

 Washington, and in Southern Canada; 

 winters from the Gulf states to Panama. 



Habits and Economic Status 



In many localities the catbird is one 

 of the commonest birds. Tangled growths 

 are its favorite nesting places and re- 



