182 



ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



FIG. 330. PENGUIN OF PATA- 

 GONIA. Wings used as flip- 

 pers for swimming. 



Crow. That he does pull up sprouting corn, destroy chickens, 

 and rob the nests of small birds has been repeatedly proved. Nor 

 are these all of his sins. He is known to eat frogs, toads, sala- 

 manders, and some small snakes, all 

 harmless creatures that do some good 

 by eating insects. Experience has 

 shown that they may be prevented 

 from pulling up young corn by tarring 

 the seed, which not only saves the 

 corn but forces them to turn their at- 

 tention to insects. May beetles, " dor- 

 bugs," or June bugs, and others of 

 the same family constitute the princi- 

 pal food during spring and early sum- 

 mer, and are fed to the young in 

 immense quantities. 



Ricebird. The annual loss to rice 

 growers on account of bobolinks has 

 been estimated at $2,000,000. 



Meadow Lark. Next to grasshop- 

 pers, beetles make up the most impor- 

 tant item of the meadow lark's food, 

 amounting to nearly 21 per cent. 

 May is the month when the dreaded 

 cut-worm begins its deadly career, and 

 then the lark does some of its best 

 work. Most of these caterpillars are 

 ground feeders, and are overlooked 

 by birds which habitually frequent 

 trees, but the meadow lark finds and 

 devours them by thousands. 

 Sparrows. Examination of many stomachs shows that in 

 winter the tree sparrow feeds entirely upon seeds of weeds. 

 Probably each bird consumes about one fourth of an ounce a 

 day. Farther south the tree sparrow is replaced in winter by the 

 white-throated sparrow, the white-crowned sparrow, the fox spar- 

 row, the song sparrow, the field sparrow, and several others ; so 

 that all over the land a vast number of these seed eaters are at 



FIG. 331. Umbrella holding 

 the nests of social weaver 

 bird of Africa; polygamous. 



