BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE. 
349 
CHAPTER X. 
BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE. 
The birds of wet, waste lands, fresh-water meadows, 
marshes, swamps, and the shores of ponds and rivers seem 
at first sight to be of no importance from an economic point 
of view. Still, most of 
iN Ny 
Sy , rows, Herons, 
NINN and water-fowl 
. that live in 
Fig. 151.—Salt-inarsh caterpillar. This species such localities 
is eaten by marsh birds. 
undoubtedly 
help to prevent uprisings of such field pests as the 
army worms, the green grasshoppers, and the salt- 
marsh caterpillars, that sometimes multiply so in 
lowlands as to overrun and devastate the upland 
crops. The Herons are of some further service 
to man, for, besides eating insects, they help to 
prevent the undue increase of meadow mice, rep- 
tiles, and frogs. Space will not permit detailed 
descriptions of the marsh birds and water birds, 
but a brief mention may be made of some of the 
most important species. 
i 
\v 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
Song Sparrows, Savanna Sparrows, Blackbirds, 
Grackles, and Bobolinks, all of which spend more 
or less time-in wet meadows and marshes, have 
already been described. Swifts and Swallows 
hawk over meadows, marshes, streams, and ponds, 
but the Swamp Song Sparrow or Swamp Sparrow 
(Melospiza georgiana) is rarely seen far away from 
its favorite marshes or swamps. It is a dark spe- 
cies, with a chestnut cap, a whitish throat, and a 
the Marsh Wrens, Spar- 
