No. 4.] BIRDS USEFUL TO AGRICULTURE. 57 



entrance. Through this small hole the sparrow cannot enter, 

 and, if the wren can only keep the sparrows out of its nest, 

 it will give a s^ood account of itself. This bird is an inde- 

 fatigable worker in the garden, and delights in destroying 

 cabbage worms, currant worms, onion flies and all such 

 vermin. It eats also many spiders. The winter wren is not 

 often seen except in the woods, and its food habits are not 

 well known. 



The brown thrasher, sometimes called the red mavis or 

 planting bird, and the cat bird, are both familiar and useful. 

 Their special province is to clear the shrubbery and low 

 growth of caterpillars and other pests. 



Titmice, Creepers, etc. 



We cannot overlook in passing that interesting group of 

 familiar winter birds that are seen in company during this 

 inclement season busily searching over trunk, branch and 

 twig, prying into every hole and crevice, — the creepers 

 (Certhiidce), titmice and nuthatches (Paridce) and kinglets 

 (ReguUnm) . 



Every village orchard, every isolated farm, every wood 

 lot in the State, undergoes their searching scrutiny. They 

 go in small companies, sometimes one or two species 

 together, sometimes three. Often they are joined by one 

 of the smaller woodpeckers. Almost exclusively insec- 

 tivorous, they rely on other food only when driven by 

 extremity. They must labor almost incessantly to secure 

 sufficient food to keep up the vitality necessary to resist cold 

 and storms. Still they always appear cheerful and contented. 

 Searching the trees continually during daylight, they destroy 

 vast quantities of the eggs of injurious lepidoptera and 

 aphides. They drag from their hiding places thousands of 

 hibernating insects. The bark l>eetles are haled forth, the 

 tineids sought out, the scales destroyed. In the warmer 

 days, when the pregnant female moths leave the ground and 

 climb the trunks preparatory to depositing their eggs, they 

 are gladly pounced upon and hailed by these little bird 

 waifs, perhaps as a sign of coming spring. All through 

 the winter, when other birds have fled to a warmer clime, 

 these birds remain steadfastly with us, battling with the 



