14 BIRDS OF A MARYLAND FARM. 



fields, the}^ avoided fields of timothy and broom-sedge and areas under 

 actual cultivation and foraged in waste corn land and on wheat stub- 

 ble, where, for a time after harvest, they obtained wheat and, later, 

 abundant seeds of ragweed. They were often observed in lots 2 and 

 3 feeding on the seeds of oxalis, spurge, and other weeds that grew 

 among old cornstalks, and in fall worked among the rank weed}^ 

 growths that overran the truck land between Persimmon Branch and 

 the river; but they were more often seen in lot 4, which was near the 

 woods where they nested, and which furnished them wheat stubble or 

 new corn stubble with their favorite pigeon-grass. At harvest time 

 and later the flock of doves numbered a score or more. Their feed- 

 ing grounds changed from time to time according to the rotation of 

 crops. They did not approach the buildings with as much confidence 

 as did the meadowlarks and the bob whites, and thus lost some effec- 

 tiveness as weed-seed destroyers. 



Crows. — Both the fish crow and the common crow occurred on the farm, 

 but the latter species was much the more abundant. Crows nested in 

 the scrub pines {Pinus virginiana) which grow among the white oaks 

 and red oaks bounding lot 4, and bred also in the woods across the 

 calamus swamp, where, in addition to the trees just mentioned, there 

 is a sprinkling of cedar, S3^camore, and holly. Their favorite feeding 

 grounds in spring were newly plowed fields where Ma3^-beetles and 

 cutworms were to be found. Even when such fields were close to 

 buildings the crows, though usualty shyer than the doves, watched for 

 opportunities to visit them, and many times were noticed in the early 

 morning stalking along the furrows, sometimes within a few rods of 

 the cabin, cow barn, and storage barn. As thej^ did not often enter 

 the timothy fields, which were tenanted by meadowlarks and grass- 

 hopper sparrows, and as these, on the other hand, were seldom seen 

 on plowed land and among the hoed crops where the crows constantly 

 foraged, the work of the latter was, in a measure, complementary to 

 that of the former. 



Blackbirds. — The crow blackbird, although it did not nest on the 

 farm, was a frequent visitor. During the breeding season its favorite 

 haunt was the cherr}^ trees along the river bluff", but in spring and fall 

 it foraged in flocks over all the lots of the farm. Sometimes with this 

 bird, but more often in separate flocks, the rust}^ grackle visited the 

 farm during migration. At this time also, the cowbird, often in large 

 flocks, appeared in the open fields and helped to reduce the weed-seed 

 harvest; but during the breeding season the species was limited to sev- 

 eral pairs, which were generally to be seen walking about the pastures 

 at the heels of the stock. 



Other birds. — The robin, though not breeding at Marshall Hall, was 

 abundant in spring and fall, and might be found foraging out in the 

 centers of the largest fields. The goldfinch showed the same fondness 



