MY FARMER FRIENDS. 



(IN NORTHERN INDIANA.) 

 PART II. 



If you want the effervescence of merry 

 bubbling life go out to the meadow some 

 beautiful morning in June when the 

 clover is in bloom, when the timothy 

 stalks are nodding their plumes, when 

 the wind makes the wheat field ripple and 

 fall in endless waves. Then the bobolink 

 bubbles over with joy and makes of life 

 one long continuous holiday. It is very 

 difficult to find the nest as he will settle 

 with equal composure in a dozen differ- 

 ent places. Read what Mrs. Olive 

 Thorne Miller has to say of finding a 

 nest. With us he is a merry eccentric 

 singer that leads a life of joy and sun- 

 shine. When he migrates and reaches 

 the rice fields the case is different. Then 

 he is merely a gourmand that will make 

 an excellent pot-pie. We find in him a 

 great enemy of insects, one of the pleas- 

 antest of companions and a light-hearted 

 summer resident. 



The whip-poor-will and bull bat are 

 both night birds. They consume a great 

 number of insects, especially those that 

 fly about in the evening. 



Of the flycatcher family the most com- 

 mon in this locality are the kingbird, 

 wood pewee and great crested flycatcher. 

 All the members are useful as they de- 

 stroy great numbers of insects. 



Though the kingbird has been accused 

 of killing bees, investigation does not bear 

 out this idea. He is the most common 

 about here and makes a vigorous police- 

 man from whom the hawk flies in terror. 

 They frequently build close by the house 

 in some of the fruit trees. 



Space forbids that each sparrow be 

 taken up separately. As' they all belong 

 to the finch family the bill is not suited 

 for worms as in the case of robin or 

 bluebird. They destroy a great many 

 insects but the main diet is seeds. Of 

 these, great quantities are consumed but 

 almost all are either useless or noxious. 

 On the whole they are a help to the 

 farmer. 



Nor can we enter into' the great family 

 of warblers, interesting as they are. All 

 of them are enemies of insects and 

 worms. The majority pass on north but 

 quite a number remain. Among them 



are the red-start, black-and-white creep- 

 ing warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher and 

 the blue-backed warbler. 



So far, we have been considering only 

 those birds which spend the summer 

 here. But they are by no means the only 

 ones that inhabit our woods and fields. 

 While we are discussing the warblers, 

 it is but a step to some other birds that 

 frequent the woods, such as the chicka- 

 dee, nuthatch, crested titmouse and 

 brown creeper. These four birds in com- 

 pany with the hairy and downy wood- 

 pecker may be found every day. It is 

 hard to tell which is the most interesting : 

 the merry chickadee, the titmouse with 

 his erect crest, the nuthatch with his 

 smooth head who "follows his nose" or 

 the tiny brown creeper who can hardly 

 be distinguished from a piece of rough 

 bark. They are all enemies of the count- 

 less insects that infest our trees. I never 

 yet have gone to the woods and searched 

 for any .time' that I did not find these 

 merry little fellows often in company 

 with the downy or hairy woodpecker. 

 Weather seems to be a matter of indif- 

 ference to them, for is not their home in 

 the forest itself? 



From these, we naturally turn to the 

 woodpecker family. The most common 

 in this locality are the hairy, downy, red- 

 head and yellow hammer. The first two 

 are more quiet and are frequently passed 

 by. The hairy can imitate the call of a 

 robin so closely that I have been deceived 

 into thinking some robins were still lin- 

 gering away in December. But the other 

 two are so well known as to make it a 

 waste of time to describe them. All four 

 are destructive to insects, especially of 

 ants. The red-head must have a change 

 of diet when cherries are ripe but the 

 good he does far outweighs the evil. With 

 other species I am not familiar. 



Probably the most conspicuous bird of 

 the dooryard is the blue jay. He is bold 

 and aggressive, one that has the stamp of 

 individuality. There is no mistaking 

 that blue coat and that strong voice. He 

 is the noisiest one in the dooryard and 

 has a pugnacious temper to make good 

 any threat or defiance. Much has been 



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