BIRDS USEFUL TO FARM AND ORCHARD 



631 



and the seeds of poison oak or ivy, also 

 the seeds of pine and of the bayberry. 



Loggerhead Shrike 



Lanius ludovicianus 



Length, about nine inches. A gray, 

 black and white bird, distinguished from 

 the somewhat similarly colored mocking 

 bird by the black stripe on side of head. 



Range 



Breeds throughout the United States, 

 Mexico and Southern Canada; winters in 

 the southern half of the United States 

 and in Mexico. 



Habits and Economic Status 



The loggerhead shrike, or Southern 

 butcher bird, is common throughout its 

 range and is sometimes called "French 

 mocking bird" from a superficial resem- 

 blance and not from its notes, which are 

 harsh and unmusical. The shrike is 

 naturally an insectivorous bird which has 

 extended its bill of fare to include small 

 mammals, birds and reptiles. Its hooked 

 beak is well adapted to tearing its prey, 

 while to make amends for the lack of 

 talons it has hit upon the plan of forcing 

 its victim, if too large to swallow, into 

 the fork of a bush or tree, where it can 

 tear it asunder. Insects, especially grass- 

 hoppers, constitute the larger part of its 

 food, though beetles, moths, caterpillars, 

 ants, wasps and a few spiders also are 

 taken. While the butcher bird occasion- 

 ally catches small birds, its principal 

 vertebrate food is small mammals, as 

 field mice, shrews, and moles, and when 

 possible it obtains lizards. It habitually 

 Impales its surplus prey on a thorn, 

 sharp twig, or barb of a wire fence. 



Barn Swallow 



Hirundo erythrogastra 



Length, about seven inches. Dis- 

 tinguished among our swallows by deeply 

 forked tail. 



Bange 



Breeds throughout the United States 

 (except the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 states) and most of Canada; winters in 

 South America. 



Habits and Economic Status 



This is one of the most familiar birds 

 of the farm and one of the greatest in- 

 sect destroyers. From daylight to dark 

 on tireless wings it seeks its prey, and 

 the insects destroyed are countless. Its 

 favorite nesting site is a barn rafter, 

 upon which it sticks its mud basket. 

 Most modern barns are so tightly con- 

 structed that swallows cannot gain en- 

 trance, and in New England and some 

 other parts of the country barn swallows 

 are much less numerous than formerly. 

 Farmers can easily provide for the en- 

 trance and exit of the birds and so add 

 materially to their numbers. It may be 

 well to add that the parasites that some- 

 times infest the nests of swallows are 

 not the ones the careful housewife 

 dreads, and no fear need be felt of the 

 infestation spreading to the houses. In- 

 sects taken on the wing constitute the 

 almost exclusive diet of the barn swal- 

 low. More than one-third of the whole 

 consists of flies, including unfortunately 

 some useful parasitic species. Beetles 

 stand next in order and consist of a few 

 weevils and many of the small dung 

 beetles of the May beetle family that 

 swarm over the pastures in the late after- 

 noon. Ants amount to more than one- 

 fifth of the whole food, while wasps and 

 bees are well represented. 



Purple Martin 



Progne subis 

 Length, about eight inches. 



Range 

 Breeds throughout the United States 

 and Southern Canada, south to Central 

 Mexico; winters in South America. 



Habits and Economic Status 



This is the largest as it is one of the 

 most beautiful of the swallow tribe. It 

 formerly built its nests in cavities of 

 trees, as it still does in wild districts, 

 but learning that man was a friend it 

 soon adopted domestic habits. Its pres- 

 ence about the farm can often be secured 

 by erecting houses suitable for nesting 

 sites and protecting them from usurpa- 

 tion by the English sparrow, and every 

 effort should be made to increase the 



