218 USEFUL BIRDS. 



Its bill seems well fitted to wrench out the seeds of coniferous 

 trees from their cones, but a large part of its summer food 

 consists of insects, among them many of the greatest pests 

 of woodland, orchard, and garden. Hairless caterpillars are 

 continually sought. Much skill is evinced in extracting leaf- 

 rollers. The bird has been seen feeding to some extent on 

 the caterpillars of the gipsy moth and the tussock moth. It 

 is fond of beetles and their larvse, particularly those of leaf- 

 eating and wood-boring species. Dr. Warren found a few 

 wasps and flies among the food of this bird. In early spring 

 the eggs and hibernating pupae of insects are taken from 

 crevices in the bark. On the ground the Grosbeak finds 

 large caterpillars like the army worm, and some grasshoppers 

 and locusts. Here also it eats the seeds of weeds. Professor 

 Beal says that he examined the stomachs of a few birds that 

 were shot while eating green peas, but that the stomachs 

 contained enough potato beetles, old and young, as well as 

 other harmful insects, to pay for all the peas the birds would 

 be likely to eat in a whole season. 



The Grosbeak eats wild berries, and the seeds of the 

 alder and birch. The fact that it takes buds and the ovaries 

 of the blossoms of fruit trees leads Minot to regard it as an 

 enemy to agriculture ; but Mr. Brewster says truly that such 

 pruning is seldom more severe than that practised by a thrifty 

 horticulturist. The office performed by the Grosbeak, with 

 its strong, cutting beak, is, as has been hereinbefore stated, 

 merely a part of nature's pruning, which, though sometimes 

 drastic, still in the long run benefits rather than injures the 

 trees. 



Towhee. Chewink. Ground Robin. 



Pipilo erythrophlhalmus. 

 Length. — From about eight to eight and three-fourths inches. 

 Adult Male. — Head, all round, neck and chest, wings and tail black ; the two 



latter white-marked ; sides and flanks chestnut ; breast and belly white. 

 Adult Female. — Brown replacing the black of the male. 

 Nest. — On ground; usually sunken and often roofed over. 

 Eggs. — White, rather finely and evenly spotted with light ashy and brown. 

 Season. — The latter part of April to October, rarely remaining all winter in 



southeastern Massachusetts. 



This common and well-known bird always may be found 

 in its season in sprout lands and thickets, where it scratches 



