15 



It will therefore be seen that instead of 

 being an enemy he is in reality a bene- 

 factor to the apiarist, for in many cases 

 where to satisfy an accuser the birds 

 have been collected, the stomach has 

 been found to contain not bees, but their 

 worst enemies. Even though he took 

 an occasional bee, would you in your 

 selfishness begrudge the boy an apple 

 who daily protects your orchard from 

 thieves ? 



Our native flycatchers are strikingly 

 characteristic and their habitats vary 

 from the open fields in the kingbird to 

 the dense woods in the great crested fly- 

 catcher. The phoebe frequenting the 

 dwelling of man and its outbuildings, 

 while the wood peewee, small flycatchers 

 select the orchard or lighter woods. 



Our only true lark is the prairie horn- 

 ed lark, and this bird raises its young 

 entirely upon 

 insect food, 

 while the addi- 

 tional food o f 

 the adult con- 

 sists of noxious 

 weed seed. In 

 the aviary he 

 invariably se- 

 lects the small- 

 er weed seeds, 

 discarding the 

 broken wheat kernels. 



From a family with a clean record we 

 pass to one against which many grave 

 charges exist, some no doubt authentic 

 but many others altogether unauthentic 

 and unjust. A group of birds familiar 

 through some of its representatives to us 

 all in song, story and real life. 



Much has been said against the crow, 

 and even his satanic majesty must at 

 times stand aghast at the sulphurous 

 ejaculations against corvian acquaint- 

 ance. He is accused of stealing corn, 

 cereals, fruit, chickens, eggs and what- 

 ever he gets his eyes and beak upon or 

 into. He destroys the nests, eggs and 

 young of smaller birds, and has altogeth- 

 er a black record as well as a black 

 plumage, and were it not for his crafti- 

 ness and cunning he would ere long be- 

 come a rara avis. 



Much mav, however, be said in his 

 favor. He has an exceptional fondness 

 for cutworms, and if he takes corn it is 

 while in search for these pests, while if 

 the corn be tarred it will not be taken 

 before or after sprouting. He is an ex- 

 pert mouser and undoubtedly preserves 

 much more grain than he destroys by 



Prairie Horned Lark. 



(Otocuros alpestris 



praticola.) 



his keeping away the mice and gophers, 

 and as hawks, owls, foxes and weasels 

 and other natural enemies to the mice 

 decrease with the advance of settlement, 

 much credit is due the black renegade 

 for his work in the field. His fondness 

 for insect life is proverbial and we 

 should not forget his redeeming quali- 

 ties in passing judgment upon him. 



The problem of the crow is not a new 

 one. Much money and time have been 

 expended in the accumulation of evi- 

 dence and on experiments, with the re- 

 sult that save the discovery of a few 

 preventatives against his depredations 

 the matter is still no nearer solution. 



Invariably the most carefully laid 

 plans for his destruction are soon dis- 

 covered by this semi-human or satan- 

 inspired bird and sedulously avoided. 



Naturalists Walter Burrows and E. A. 

 Schwarz, of the U. S. Agricultural De- 

 partment, in 1895 issued a hundred-page 

 pamphlet on corvian investigations 

 made by the department and summed it 

 all up in the statement that they would 

 not advocate any protection for one so 

 thoroughly capable of protecting itself, 

 all methods of destruction having prov- 

 en futile, but for all " the crow was not 

 as black as he was painted." 



Second only to the feeling regarding 

 the crow is the diversity of opinion re- 

 garding the blue jay. An unprincipaled, 

 deceiving rascal and a coward, yet with- 

 al a gay dashing fellow who carries with 

 him a charm we cannot fail to admire 

 even in the midst of his reckless ma- 

 raudings. All the good and bad points 

 of his black brother's character are his, 

 with more dash and possibly a trifle 

 more deception. A jav will dash into a 

 bush and give a cry of alarm at the ap- 

 proach of a hawk, and steal and eat the 

 eggs or young of the brave little king- 

 bird while it is engaged with the rap- 

 torial intruder. He will sit and face a 

 crying, distracted mother too small to 

 interfere and will devour her babes be- 

 fore her eyes without a tremor save of 

 delight at her suffering and satisfaction 

 with his meal. 



Notwithstanding these depreciating 

 points, investigation has proven that 76 

 per cent, of his food is a vegetable diet, 

 chiefly nuts, acorns and berries and a 

 good proportion of the remaining 24 per 

 cent consists of insect food. 



To insinuate economic value in the 

 blackbirds in the presence of the aver- 

 age farmer would mean to court imme- 

 diate and possibly unhealthy hostilities. 



