﻿302 Canadian Record of Science. 



noxious species, and include many click beetles, May 

 beetles, and weevils. Grasshoppers in their season are 

 eaten to a considerable extent, while wasps of various 

 species, many flies of species that annoy cattle, and a few 

 bugs and spiders are also eaten regularly. It is evident 

 that a pair of phoebes must materially reduce the number 

 of insects near a garden or field, as the birds often, if not 

 always, raise two broods a year, and each brood numbers 

 from four to six young. 



The vegetable portion of the food is unimportant, and 

 consists mainly of a few seeds, with small fruits, such as 

 wild cherries, elder berries, and juniper berries. The 

 raspberries and blackberries found in the stomachs were 

 the only fruits that might have belonged to cultivated 

 varieties, and the quantity was trifling. 



There is hardly a more useful species than the phoebe 

 about the farm, and it should receive every encourage- 

 ment. To furnish nesting boxes is unnecessary, as it 

 usually prefers a more open situation, like a shed, or 

 a nook under the eaves, but it should be protected from 

 cats and other marauders. 



THE BLUE JAY. 



{Gyanocitta cristata.) 



The blue jay is a common bird of the United States 

 east of the G-reat Plains, and remains throughout the year 

 in most of its range, although its numbers are. some what 

 reduced in winter in the Northern States. During spring 

 and summer the jay is forced to become an industrious 

 hunter for insects, and is not so conspicuous a feature of 

 the landscape as when it roams the country at will after 

 the cares of the nesting season are over. 



Ornithologists and field observers in general declare 

 that a considerable portion of its food in spring and early 

 summer consists of the eggs and young of small birds, and 

 some farmers accuse it of stealing corn to an injurious 



