BOBOLINK (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) 
Length, about 7 inches. 
Range: Breeds from Ohio northeast to Nova 
Scotia, north to Manitoba, and northwest to 
British Columbia; winters in South America. 
Habits and economic status: When Ameri- 
can writers awoke to the beauty and attract- 
iveness of our native birds, among the first to 
be enshrined i in song and story was the bobo- 
link. Few species show such striking contrasts 
in the color of the sexes, and few have songs 
more unique and whimsical. In its northern 
home the bird is loved for its beauty and its 
rich melody; in the South it earns deserved 
hatred by its destructiveness. Bobolinks reach 
the southeastern coast of the United States the 
last half of April, just as rice is sprouting, and 
at once begin to pull up and devour the sprout- 
ing kernels, Soon they move on to their north- 
erm breeding grounds, where they feed upon 
insects, weed seeds, and a little grain. When 
the young are well on the wing, they gather 
in flocks with the parent birds and gradually 
move southward, being then generally known 
as reed birds. They ‘reach the rice fields of 
the Carolinas about August 20, when the rice 
is in the milk. Then until the birds depart for 
South America planters and birds fight for the 
crop, and in spite of constant watchfulness and 
innumerable devices for scaring the birds a 
loss of 10 per cent of the rice is the usual re- 
sult. 
COMMON CROW 
(Corvus brachyrhynchos) 
Length, 19 inches. 
Range: Breeds throughout the United States 
and most of Canada; winters generally in the 
United States. 
Habits and economic status: The general 
habits of the crow are universally known. Its 
ability to commit such misdeeds as pulling 
corn and stealing eggs and fruit and to get 
away unscathed is little short of marvelous. 
Much of the crow’s success in life is due to 
codperation, and the social instinct of the spe- 
cies has its highest expression in the winter 
roosts, which are sometimes frequented by 
hundreds of thousands of crows. From these 
roosts daily flights of many miles are made in 
search of food. Injury to sprouting corn is 
the most frequent complaint against this spe- 
cies, but by coating the seed grain with coal 
tar most of this damage may be prevented. 
Losses of poultry and eggs may be averted by 
proper housing and the judicious use of wire 
netting, The insect food of the crow includes 
wireworms, cutworms, white grubs, and grass- 
hoppers, and during outbreaks of these insects 
the crow renders good service. The bird is 
also an efficient scavenger. But chiefly because 
of its destruction of beneficial wild birds and 
their eggs the crow must be classed as a crim- 
inal, and a reduction in its numbers in locali- 
ties is justifiable. 
Photograph by W. C. Johnson 
ALL ABOARD! 
The first venture of these little swans upon the stormy seas of life is safely negotiated 
upon their mother’s back, while she, with a true mother’s pride in her offspring, takes every 
care that no harm shall come. 
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