BIRDS OF MARSH AND WATERSIDE. 



349 



CHAPTER X. 



Fig. 151. 



-Salt-marsh caterpillar. This species 

 is eaten by marsh birds. 



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 

 the Marsh Wrens, Spar- 

 rows, Herons, 

 and water-fowl 

 that live in 

 such localities 

 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. 



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 



