SPRING PRACTICE IN ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY. 2S 



planter the next day without any other care. The hot water 

 softens the tar so that just enough adheres to the corn, and the corn 

 is completely glazed by the sun. This is by far the quicker way of 

 tarring corn, is harmless and effectual, and I have for years planted 

 with a machine corn treated in this way."* 



2 "Scatter soaked corn often about the borders of the field." 



3 "Plant the seed three or four inches deep. This is said to 

 prevent corn-pulling by crows and must be effectual on heavy soil." 



4 "Surround the field with a line of twine, strung on upright 

 poles, and suspend rags, streamers, pieces of bright tin, etc., from 

 the twine." 



5 "A frequent change in scarecrows is advisable. A barrel 

 hung on a leaning pole puzzles the crow."t 



6 A crow can sometimes be coaxed into a steel trap. An egg 

 is so exposed that the bird can only obtain it by stepping into the 

 trap, •vyhich is carefully concealed under loose earth. One or two 

 dead crows procured by this or any other method wiU usually keep 

 the others away for one season. 



7 A long range rifle, fired from concealment, will make the 

 birds wary of the neighborhood, especially if one or two are killed 

 and hung up in the field. 



Robin: A few birds remain in Ohio during the winter, but in 

 general the robin is migratory and it is one of the early comers 

 northward in spring. Over 42 percent of its food is animal matter, 

 principally insects, while the remainder is largely made up of small 

 fruits and berries. Of the 58 percent of vegetable food, over 47 

 percent consists of wild fruits, and a little more than four percent of 

 the cultivated varieties. During June and July, the percentage of 

 cultivated fruit rises to 25 percent, but in view of the great service 

 the bird renders throughout the year, we can well afford it a share 

 in the cherry and small fruit crop. Grasshoppers make up one- 

 tenth of the food and in August constitute over 30 percent. 



The Russian mulberry ripens about the same time as cherries, 

 and mulberries are preferred by robins and most other fruit loving 

 birds before the commonly cultivated fruits. Therefore, the fruit- 

 grower should plant a mulberry here and there over his plantation. 



Meadowlark: Grasshoppers make up 29 percent of its food for 

 the year and comprise 69 percent of it in August. About 21 percent 

 consists of beetles, two-thirds of which are harmful. Caterpillars, 

 cutworms, ants, chinch bugs, wasps, etc., bring up the total per- 

 centage of insect food for the year to 73 percent. The 27 percent of 



* Bthan Brooks in An. Rept. Mass. State Board of Agric, 1896. 



t E. H. Porbush in "Useful Birds and Their Protection," Mass. Board of Agric, 1907. 



