370 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



pillars. Mr. S. Waldo Bailey informs me that Blue Jays 

 tear open the winter webs of the brown-tail moth and eat 

 the young larvae. 



The House Sparrow. 



The House or " English " Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is 

 the only one of the smaller birds that has repeatedly been 

 seen to destroy the nests of other birds, break their eggs, 

 kill their young, mob them, and drive them away from 

 their homes. It occupies the houses of Bluebirds, Martins, 

 Swallows, and Wrens, and the nests of Barn Swallows, 

 Cliff Swallows, and Bank Swallows, and, by persistency and 

 force of numbers, drives the owners away. All careful ob- 

 servers who have watched the Sparrow ever since its intro- 

 duction, and have noted the effect produced upon other 

 birds by its presence, agree that it is pernicious. 



Being a small bird, it necessarily eats many insects ; but it 

 lives more on grain and less on insects than any of the native 

 birds that it supplants, and is one of the few species that 

 deserves no consideration at the hands of the farmer. 



Shrikes. 

 The Shrikes or Butcher Birds are regarded as beneficial ; 

 but our winter visitor, the Northern Shrike (Lanius bore- 

 alis), kills many small birds. It pursues Tree Sparrows, 



Juncos, Song Sparrows, and 

 Chickadees, overtakes and 

 strikes them while they are in 

 flight, sometimes eating them, 

 but oftener leaving: them to hane- 

 on trees, where they furnish food 

 for other birds. When one sees 

 the little Butcher killing Chick- 

 adees and hanging them up, his 

 faith in its usefulness receives a 

 great shock. Shrikes are prob- 

 ably of less value here than in their northern homes, where 

 in summer they feed much on insects. Their chief utility 

 while here consists in their mouse-hunting proclivities. 



Pig. 156. — Northern Shrike, one-half 

 natural size. 



