156 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



Fur the Netr England Farmer. 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 

 BY S. P. FOAVLER. 



Mu. Editor : — Upon examination of the bird 

 I send you to-day, you will probably not at once 

 discover anything very remarkable in its general 

 appearance ; you cannot fail, hoM'ever, to notice 

 tliat it has a large head and a sharp and strong 

 beak, that betokens a life spent in bloody deeds. 

 But when you look at its feet you will see no cor- 

 responding talons, that we alv.ays find in birds of 

 2)rey. Its wings also are short and rounded, 

 which renders it incapable of soaring and indulg- 

 ing in a prolonged flight, and you are perplexed, 

 it may be, to know where to class the bird, or 

 judge of its character by its points developed. 

 And it would not be surprising, even after you 

 were Avell acquainted with its habits, to find this 

 difficulty of classification increased. Ray, Buf- 

 fon, Brisson, Linnaeus and Latham long ago could 

 not agree in what order the birds of this genus 

 should be classed. Some of our ornithologists of 

 the present day, from the fi^ct of its preying up- 

 on insects, class it in the order of insectiverous 

 birds. But if the exhibition of rapacity, connect- 

 ed with unnecessary cruelty, give character to a 

 bird, it should be classed with the rapacious birds. 

 All animals that kill for the pleasure of killing, 

 and more than suffices them for food, must be 

 considered cruel. That broad head of our bird, 

 armed with a strong and heavy beak, and moved 

 by strong muscles, situated in its neck, when 

 thrown back, inflicts a stunning blow like a slung- 

 shot, or breaks the skull of its victim, usually a 

 small bird. After it has satisfied its appetite, it 

 continues to kill, and hangs up its dead in the 

 crotches of small trees and bushes to decay. It 

 has been thought by some ornithologists that our 

 bird is provident by thus making provision for 

 its future wants, that it is in fact hanging up its 

 game, like an epicure, to ripen and grow tender. 

 But such does not appear to be the fact, as itfeeds 

 only on fresh-killed meat. It likewise has the 

 singular habit of impaling grasshoppers upon the 

 thorn bush. I have seen some of this hung dried 

 meat .n my rambles in boyhood. A lady a few 

 •weeks since showed me a Yellow Rumped Warbler, 

 in its winter plumage, that was found hanging by 

 the neck in a crotchet twig of an alder, no doubt 

 placed there by the bird under consideration. Its 

 usual method, as we have before said, of killing 

 its prey, is by breaking the skull with its beak, 

 but it sometimes resorts to garroting its victim, 

 by seizing it by its throat and choking it. This 

 warbler that was found suspended, was evidently 

 tlirottled. Jardine, speaking of the birds of this 

 species, says: "They have all the character of 

 being cruel and tyrannous, arising from the pe- 

 culiar manner of impaling their prey upon thorns, 

 or fastening it in the cleft of branches, often in a 

 Avanton manner, as if for the sake of murder 

 only, thus fixing up all it can seize upon." A lady 

 of my acquaintance informed me that during the 

 last winter, one morning upon sweeping her par- 

 lor she discovered what she supposed to be alight 

 blue-colored dove, endeavoring to come into the 

 room by the upper sash of the window, where 

 was hanging her canary in its cage. She dropped 

 thv sash, when instantly the strange bird came 

 in and alighted upon the cage, and exhibited hos- 



tile movements, which being noticed by the lady 

 she attacked him with a woman's best Aveapon, a 

 l)room, which she happened to have in her hand, 

 but did not succeed in driving the marauder out 

 at the window until it had killed her favorite bird 

 by a Ijlow u])on the head. Such is the bold and 

 burglarious daring of the bird before you. As it 

 stands in some of our ornithological Avorks, at 

 the head of the order of insectivorous birds, it 

 may claim some favor from agriculturists. Mr. 

 Wilson supposed that its principal food Avas in- 

 sects, particularly grasshoppers, and that it preyed 

 only upon birds in Avinter. I am of the opinion 

 that it Avould not hesitate, when pressed by hunger, 

 to attack any small quadruped, as I have noticed 

 it Avatching around a hog-yard, and endeavoring 

 to seize the vermin that infested it. Its note is 

 as singular as its habits, being like the creaking 

 of a sign-board hinge ! But it is time, perhaps, 

 that I should close this communication, by an- 

 nouncing the name of the smart little bird you 

 hold in your hand, and give some accounts of its . 

 breeding habits. 



It is the Great American Shrieker or Butcher 

 Bird, {Lanuis borealis vieill.) During winter it 

 is not uncommon in Massachusetts. Retires to 

 the forest to breed, builds a large nest, the female 

 laying six eggs of a greenish white color, thickly 

 marked Avith pale broAvn spots. 



Danvers-Port, Feb. 10, 1858. 



FOURTH LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTURAL 

 MEETING. 



[reported for the N. E. FjVRMER by ZENAS T. HAINE3.] 



THE PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF JIANURE3. 



At the Fourth Legislative Agricultural Meet- 

 ing, held last Tuesday evening, Hon. Mr. Phelps 

 of the Senate, presided. On taking the chair he 

 remarked that he had no practical knoAsiedge of 

 agriculture, and consequently had no suggestions 

 to offer. The subject of the proposed discussion 

 of this evening Avas one of great interest to those 

 dwelling on the sterile soil Avhere our lot had been 

 cast. 



Mr. Flint, Secretary of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, Avas the first speaker introduced. He re- 

 marked that the subject of the preparation and 

 application of manures was the great basis of 

 successful farming In this section. Manures were 

 divided into animal, vegetable and mineral; or, 

 more commonly, into the two classes of barnyard 

 and artificial manures. But animal manure was 

 the kind in which the agriculturists of Massachu- 

 setts were the most interested. The importance 

 of protecting such manures from the washing of 

 rains was urged. Its soluble nature particular- 

 ly required its protection from the forty-eight 

 inches of rain that fall in a year. Liquid manures 

 had been too much disregarded. A coav would 

 void sixty lbs. of liquid manure a day, but by the 

 ordinary management of farmers forty lbs. a day 

 were lost, and with it a pound of ammonia to 

 every 5^ gallons of the fluid. The great value of 



