THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 



by digging up ants' nests and feeding on the inhabi- 

 tants has its value in an agricultural community. 



The Question of the Weed Seeds. — The work of the 

 Chickadee, the Nighthawk, the Cuckoo, and the 

 Flicker is only an example of the good being done 

 by at least two-thirds of birds in the United States, 

 and most of the remainder are not without their 

 beneficial qualities. When the coming of winter 

 brings a cessation of insect life, many birds turn to 

 the weed patches for food. Especially is this the 

 case with the various varieties of native Sparrows. 



No one has yet determined just how many 

 weed seeds one of these birds will eat in a day. The 

 number, however, must be very great. An orni- 

 thologist, upon examining the stomach of a Tree 

 Sparrow, found it to contain seven hundred undi- 

 gested pigeon-weed seeds, and in the same way it was 

 discovered that a Snow Bunting had taken , one 

 thousand seeds of the pigweed at one meal. 



Mr. E. H. Forbush, the well-known Massachu- 

 setts naturalist, frequently amuses himself by ob- 

 [no] 



