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throughout the summer, when more than nine tenths of 

 its food consists of insects and spiders. 



Crows (Corvidae). The crows, jays, and ravens are not 

 worthy of much encouragement. The common crow, 

 although destroying young corn and eating the eggs and 

 the young of other birds, atones for his evil deeds by 

 destroying large numbers of mice and cutworms. The 

 magpie west of the Rocky Mountains sometimes attacks 

 horses and mules where the flesh has been lacerated by 

 the harness. 



Orioles and Blackbirds (Icteridae). The Baltimore 

 oriole often called golden robin or firebird should be familiar 

 to every one in eastern North America. The male arriving 

 from the south when the orchards are in blossom may be 

 recognized by its glossy black head, throat, wings, and 

 upper back, and the rich orange color of the other portions 

 of the body. It is a trifle smaller and not so stout as the 

 common robin. The female is of a yellowish olive color. 

 The nest is an exquisitely woven pouch swung from a high 

 limb. 



The five or six young during their ten days of life 

 in the nest consume thousands of noxious caterpillars and 

 canker worms, of which species the parents are also fond. 

 Beal states that caterpillars formed thirty-four per cent of 

 the food of one hundred and thirteen specimens examined. 



The bobolink, a country dweller in eastern North America 

 all summer, assists the farmer in destroying insects, but 

 later in the season retiring southward it creates havoc in 

 the rice fields and is known as the rice bird. When sold 

 in the market it is called reed bird. This species is an ex- 

 emplification of the great difference that may exist between 



