232 



VERTEBRATA 



-Hunting crows' eggs in March. 

 Photograph by Neal. 



is worth double its 

 weight in silver to 

 the farmers. The 

 kingbird or bee mar- 

 tin, recognized by its 

 white-tipped black 

 tail, was once thought 

 to be a destroyer of 

 bees, but late inves- 

 tigations show that 

 it eats very few bees 

 and most of these are 

 drones. Ninety per 

 cent of its food con- 

 sists of harmful in- 

 sects. It nests in 

 trees in the orchard 

 or forest margin. It 

 migrates south in 

 winter. The Phoebe 

 or pewee is a trifle 

 larger than the Eng- 

 lish sparrow and re- 

 veals its presence by 

 its characteristic note, 

 pewit, pewee, phcebe, 

 phoabe. It arrives 

 from the south in 

 March, and acts as 

 special police to the 

 agricultural interests 



