﻿Common Birds in Relation to Agriculture. 307 



the country the crow probably does more good than harm, 

 at least when ordinary precautions are taken to protect 

 young poultry and newly-planted corn against his 

 depredations. If, however, corn is planted with no pro- 

 vision against possible marauders, if hens and turkeys are 

 allowed to nest and to roam witli their broods at a 

 distance from farm buildings, losses must be expected. 



THE BOBOLINK, OR RICEBIRD. 



( Dolichonyx oryzivorus. ) 



The bobolink is a common summer resident of the 

 United States, north of about latitude 40°, and from New 

 England westward to the Great Plains, wintering beyond 

 our southern border. In New England there are few 

 birds, if any, around which so much romance has clustered ; 

 in the South none on whose head so many maledictions 

 have been heaped. The bobolink, entering the United 

 States from the South at a time when the rice fields are 

 freshly sown, pulls up the young plants and feeds upon 

 the seed. Its stay, however, is not long, and it soon 

 hastens northward, where it is welcomed as a herald of 

 summer. During its sojourn in the Northern States it 

 feeds mainly upon insects and small seeds of useless 

 plants ; but while rearing its young, insects constitute its 

 chief food, and almost the exclusive diet of its brood. 

 After the young are able to fly, the whole family gathers 

 into a small flock and begins to live almost entirely upon 

 vegetable food. This consists for the most part of weed 

 seeds, since in the North these birds do not appear to 

 molest grain to any great extent. They eat a few oats, 

 but their stomachs do not reveal a great quantity of this 

 or any other grain. As the season advances they gather 

 into larger flocks and move southward, until by the end 

 of August nearly all have left their breeding grounds. 

 On their way they frequent the reedy marshes about the 



