36 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



death of every King-bird is an actual loss to the 

 farmer, by multiplying the numbers of destructive 

 insects, and encouraging the depredations of 

 crows, hawks and eagles. For myself, I must 

 say, that the king-bird possesses no common share 

 of my regard. I honor this little bird, for his ex- 

 treme affection for his young ; for his contempt of 

 danger, and unexampled intrepidity." 



Mr. Wilson continues, "as a friend to this per- 

 secuted bird, and an enemy to prejudices of every 

 description, will the reader allow me to set this 

 matter in a somewhat clearer and stronger light, by 

 presenting him with a short poetical epitome of 

 the King-bird's history !" 



"Soft sits his brooding mate, her guardian he, 

 Perched on the top of some tall, neighboring tree. 

 Thence, from the thicket to the concave skies, 

 His watchful eye around unceasing flies. 

 Wrens, Thrushes, Warblers, startled at his note. 

 Fly ill a fright the consecrated spot. 

 He drives the plundering Jay, with honest scorn, 

 Back to his woods ; the Mocker to his thorn ; 

 Sweeps round the Cuckoo, as the thief retreats ; 

 Attacks the Crow ; the diving Hawk defeats ; 

 Darts on the Eagle downward from afir, 

 And, 'midst the clouds, prolongs the whirling war. 

 All danger o'er, he hastens back elate, 

 To guard his post, and feed his faithful mate. 

 ^Behold him now, his family flown. 

 Meek, unassuming, silent and alone ; 

 Lured by the well-known hum of favorile bees. 

 As slow he hovers o'er the garden trees ; 

 (For all have failings, passions, whims that lead 

 Some favorite wish, some appetite to feed ;] 

 Straight he aiights, and, from the pear-tree spies 

 The circling stream of humming insects rise ; 

 Selects his prey ; darts on the busy brood, 

 And shrilly twitters o'er his savory food. 

 Ah! ill-timed triumph ! direful note to t'.ee, 

 That guides the murderer to the fatal tree ; 

 See where he skulks ! and takes hisgloomy stand. 

 The deep charged musket hanging in his hand, 

 And gaunt for blood, he leans it on a rest, 

 Prepared, and pointed at thy snow-white breast. 

 Ah, friend ! good friend ! forbear that barbarous deed. 

 Against it valor, goodness, pity, plead ; 

 If e'er a family's griefs, a widow's woe, 

 Have reached thy soul, in mercy let him go ! 

 Yet should the tear of pity nought avail. 

 Let interest speak, let gratitude prevail ; 

 Kill not thy friend, who thy whole harvest shields, 

 And sweeps ten thousand vermin from thy fields; 

 Think how this dauntless I ird, thy poultry's guard, 

 Drove every Hawk and Eagle from thy yard ; 

 Watched round thy cattle as they fed, a; d slew 

 The hungry, blackening swarms that round Ihem flew. 

 Some small return— some little right resign, 

 And spare his life, whose services are thine ! 

 —I plead in vain ! Amid the bursting roar, 

 The poor, lost King-bird welters in his gore." 



Another bird of the Fly-catcher tribe, we shall 

 now notice, is the Pewee, a loitering fellow, with 

 a drawling note, which some would think indicat- 

 ing great laziness. But upon a better acquaint- 

 ance, his note would no longer be considered 

 lackadaisical, but simply pensive, without affecta- 

 tion. He certainly loves his ease, and spends many 

 a warm sultry summer's day perched upon a dry 

 branch of an old oak, in apparent listlessness, but 

 not unmindful of the hum and motion of the in- 

 sect world around him ; occasionally launching 

 forth into the bright sunsliine, to secure some pass- 

 ing fly or small wild bee, and again returning to 



his perch in the shade. The Pewee feeds upon 

 insects when they are to be obtained, and when 

 these fail, in Autumn, upon wild berries. There 

 are in New England several species of these birds 

 to be found. These are the Pewet, Fly-catcher, 

 or Phebe, River-sided Fly-catcher orPe-pe, Wood 

 Pewe, and small Pewee. The farmer has no rea- 

 son to complain of their habits. The Cedar-bird, 

 perhaps better known as the Cherry-bird, is dis- 

 tinguished for its beautiful silky plumage, tjje gen- 

 tle fondness of its disposition, and its gluttonous 

 habits. They arrive from the south about the first 

 of April, and feed principally upon insects, until 

 the ripening of the mulberries and cherries. At 

 this period, they are well known as great pests in 

 the fruit garden. And should we stop here, in 

 our investigation into the character of the Cherry- 

 bird, we should be compelled to admit, they had 

 but little to recommend them to the tender mer- 

 cies of the cultivators of May Duke's. But we 

 are happy however to notice, that the usefulness 

 of this bird to the cultivators of fruit, is at the 

 present time more generally admitted, than it was 

 when Mr. Wilson wrote its history. The author 

 supposed that the use of the Cherry-bird to the 

 farmer consisted principally in their agency in 

 transporting various kinds of seeds and berries, on 

 which they feed, the action of the stomach not 

 injuring their vegetative powers. In other re- 

 spects however, their usefulness to the farmer 

 may be questioned ; and in the general chorus 

 of the feathered songsters, they can scarcely be 

 said to take a part. We must rank them there- 

 fore, far below many more homely and minute 

 warblers, their neighbors, whom Providence seems 

 to have formed, both as allies to protect the pro-* 

 perty of the husbandman from devouring insects, 

 and as musicians to cheer him while engaged in 

 the labors of the field, with their innocent andde- 

 lighful melody." Such was Mr. Wilson's opinion 

 of the merits of the Cherry-bird. Since this dis- 

 tingished ornithologist's time, the character of this 

 bird is in better repute, we trust, among intelligent 

 and discerning horticulturists. It having been 

 found, at least in the towns and cities in the east- 

 ern part of Massachusetts, that the Cherry-bird is 

 very useful in destroying the canker worms. The 

 period from their arrival, which we have said, is 

 about the first of April, to the time of their pair- 

 ing, which takes place the first of June, is spent 

 by these birds, congregated in small flocks, in pro- 

 curing their insect food, principally canker worms, 

 and small caterpillars, And in this connection, 

 we would notice the social habits of the Codar-bird, 

 as observed by ourselves, as well as others. We 

 have seen a flock, containing some six or eight of 

 these birds, after having silently fed upon the can- 

 ker worm to repletion, seat themselves in a row 

 on a dry limb, in a state of listlessness, pluming 

 their wings, and occasionally lisping their feeble 

 note, and thus quietly digesting their meal. Pres- 

 ently, one of their number, more vigilant than the 

 rest, discovers at a short distance from the perch, 

 a well-fed insect, which he at once seizes, and po- 

 litely presents to his neighbor on his right, who, 

 declining to partake of it passes it to the next, 

 who also refuses to eat it, and it is in this way, 

 sometimes passed round several times, before one 

 can be found to accept it. Notwithstanding this 

 disinterested trait in the character of the Cherry- 

 bird, they are sometimes gluttonous in the ex- 



