ENEMIES OF PLANTS. 315 



seed that was not covered. The song-sparrow 

 and several others scratch up much buried seed. 

 No less than fifty different birds act as weed 

 destroyers, and the noxious plants which they 

 help to eradicate number more than threescore 

 species. Some, the blackbirds, the bobolink, 

 the dove, and the English sparrow, in spite of 

 their grain-eating proclivities, do much good by 

 consuming large quantities of weed seed. 

 Horned larks, cowbirds, shore-larks, and gros- 

 beaks also render considerable service, while the 

 meadow-lark is even more beneficial. The 

 " quail as an enemy of insect pests and destroyer 

 of weed seed has few equals on the farm. 

 Goldfinches destroy weeds not touched by other 

 birds, confining their attacks chiefly to one 

 group of plants (the Composite), many of the 

 members of which are serious pests. But the 

 birds which accomplish most as weed destroyers 

 are the score or more of native sparrows that 

 flock to the weed patches in early autumn and 

 remain until late spring. Because of their gre- 

 garious and terrestial habits, they are efficient 

 consumers of the seeds of ragweed, pigeon-grass, 

 crab-grass, bindweed, purslane, smartweed, and 

 pigweed (Fig. 106). In short, these birds are 

 little weeders whose work is seldom noted, but 

 always felt." '* 



* Quoted from the Year-book, 1898 : " Birds as Weed Destroy- 

 ers." 



