150 ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE. 



birds eat corn ; all through the year they subsist 

 on the seeds of weeds and on insects. How 

 useful, for instance, is the Goldfinch. This 

 charming bird prefers the seeds of docks and 

 thistles to any other food, and these are two of 

 the most stubborn and troublesome of weeds that 

 the farmer has to contend with ; then, again, the 

 Bullfinch searches along the weedy slovenly 

 hedgerows for the seeds of many noxious plants, 

 therefore let this be remembered in his favour 

 during the time he gets into mischief among the 

 buds of the fruit trees ; whilst the Brambling in 

 flocks rids stubbles and pastures of weeds innu- 

 merable. These Finches, therefore, are amongst 

 the farmer's best friends ; yet too often does he 

 shoot them down as " Sparrows," ignorant of their 

 usefulness, and blind to their good offices on his 

 pastures. 



All the birds we have hitherto noticed have 

 belonged to the sub-family Fringillinae, or birds 

 with a hard, conical beak, adapted to crush corn 

 and seeds, and whose diet is principally grani- 

 vorous ; we shall now glance at the various soft- 

 billed birds that are often found among the wheat. 

 One of the most regular visitors to the corn-fields 

 is the Whitethroat, another is the Willow Wren, 

 a third is the Tree Pipit, a fourth is the Hedge 

 Accentor. Now, ninety-nine farmers out of every 

 hundred firmly believe that every bird they see in 

 or near a wheat-field is there for no good purpose ; 

 but all the little birds I have just mentioned go 



