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ROM the point of view of the farmer and the 
gardener, this handsome bird may perhaps 
be best described as a friend for about half the year, and 
an enemy for the other half. During the greater part of 
the spring and the whole of the summer it is undoubtedly 
useful, for it brings up its little ones entirely upon cater- 
pillars and insects, and feeds largely upon those creatures 
itself. In autumn and winter it prefers a diet of seeds; 
and although a large proportion are those of wild plants, 
including many noxious weeds, there can be no question 
F 69 
