38 



BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



and their allies. After the leaves have fallen the bright red 

 color of these berries renders them very conspicuous. To us 

 they have an abominable taste, but evidently the birds do not 

 dislike them. In the wooded swamps where they grow one 

 may often find robins up to the verge of winter, long after 

 these birds have disappeared from the fields, subsisting almost 

 wholly on these berries. Other members of the Ilex family, 

 such as the holly and Cassenna, are also eaten. 



Among the miscellaneous small fruits devoured by birds 

 must be mentioned the grapes and the berries of the Vir- 



A SPRAY OF BARBERRIES. 



ginia creeper, which are taken by woodpeckers and many 

 other birds. The mulberry has many devotees, among them 

 the cuckoos. Pokeweed, in spite of its poisonous properties, 

 supplies berries for a multitude of birds. It is a notable 

 fact that wherever a wood-lot is cleared, pokeweed — if it 

 grows anywhere in the neighborhood — is sure to spring up in 

 abundance from seeds dropped by birds at their roosts. Par- 

 tridge-berries, which remain unchanged through the winter, 

 are relished by grouse and pigeons in both spring and fall. 



