636 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



redwings, and consequently this region 

 has become the great breeding ground 

 for the species. These prairies pour forth 

 the vast flocks that play havoc with 

 grainflelds. East of the Appalachian 

 range, marshes on the shores of lakes, 

 rivers, and estuaries are the only avail- 

 able breeding sites and, as these are 

 comparatively few and small, the species 

 is much less abundant than in the West. 

 Redwings are eminently gregarious, liv- 

 ing in flocks and breeding in communi- 

 ties. The food of the redwing consists 

 of 27 per cent animal matter and 73 per 

 cent vegetable. Insects constitute prac- 

 tically one-fourth of the food. Beetles 

 (largely weevils, a most harmful group) 

 amount to 10 per cent. Grasshoppers are 

 eaten in every month and amount to 

 about five per cent. Caterpillars (among 

 them the injurious army worm) are eaten 

 at all seasons and aggregate six per cent. 

 Ants, wasps, bugs, flies, dragon flies, and 

 spiders also are eaten. The vegetable 

 food consists of seeds, including grain, of 

 which oats is the favorite, and some 

 small fruits. When in large flocks this 

 bird is capable of doing great harm to 

 grain. 



Bobolink 

 Dolichonyx oryzivorus 

 Length, about seven inches. 



Range 



Breeds from Ohio northeast to Nova 

 Scotia, north to Manitoba, and northwest 

 to British Columbia: winters in South 

 America. 



Ilaliifs and Econoniif Status 



When American writers awoke to the 

 beauty and attractiveness of our native 

 birds, among the first to be enshrined in 

 song and story was the bobolink. Few 

 species show such striking contrasts in 

 the color of the sexes, and few have songs 

 more unique and whimsical. In its north- 

 ern home the bird is loved for its beauty 

 and its rich melody; in the South it 

 earns deserved hatred by its destructive- 

 ness. Bobolinks reach the southeastern 

 coast of the United States the last half 

 of April just as rice is sprouting, and at 

 once begin to pull up and devour the 

 sprouting kernels. Soon they move on 



to their northern breeding grounds, 

 where they feed upon insects, weed seeds, 

 and a little grain. When the young are 

 well on the wing, they gather in flocks 

 with the parent birds and gradually move 

 southward, being then generally known 

 as reed birds. They reach the rice fields 

 of the Carolinas about August 20, when 

 the rice is in the milk. Then, until the 

 birds depart for South America, planters 

 and birds fight for the crop, and in spite 

 of constant watchfulness and innumer- 

 able devices for scaring the birds a loss 

 of 10 per cent of the rice is the usual 

 result. 



Common Crow 



Corviis hrachyrhynchos 



Length, 19 inches. 



'Range 



Breeds throughout the United States 

 and most of Canada; winters generally 

 in the United States. 



Habits and Economic Status 



The general habits of the crow are uni- 

 versally known. Its ability to commit 

 such misdeeds as pulling corn and steal- 

 ing eggs and fruit and to get away un- 

 scathed is little short of marvelous. Much 

 of the crow's success in life is due to co- 

 operation, and the social instinct of the 

 species has its highest expression in the 

 winter roosts, which are sometimes fre- 

 quented by hundreds of thousands of 

 crows. From these roosts daily flights of 

 many miles are made in search of food. 

 Injury to sprouting corn is the most fre- 

 quent complaint against this species, but 

 by coating the seed grain with coal tar 

 most of this damage may be prevented. 

 Losses of poultry and eggs may be avert- 

 ed by proper housing and the judicious 

 use of wire netting. The insect food of 

 the crow includes wireworms, cutworms, 

 white grubs, and grasshoppers, and dur- 

 ing outbreaks of these insects the crow 

 renders good service. The bird is also 

 an efficient scavenger. But chiefly he- 

 cause of its destruction of beneficial wild 

 birds and their eggs the crow must be 

 classed as a criminal, and a reduction in 

 its numbers in localities where it is seri- 

 ously destructive is justifiable. 



