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number of colonies of this very useful 
bird. The boxes should be at a reason- 
able height, say 15 feet from the ground, 
and made inaccessible to cats. A colony 
of these birds on a farm makes great in- 
roads upon the insect population, as the 
birds not only themselves feed upon in- 
sects but rear their young upon the same 
diet. Fifty years ago in New England it 
was not uncommon to see colonies of 50 
pairs of martins, but most of them have 
now vanished for no apparent reason ex- 
cept that the martin houses have de- 
cayed and have not been renewed. More 
than three-fourths of this bird’s food con- 
sists of wasps, bugs, and beetles, their 
importance being in the order given. The 
beetles include several species of harmful 
weevils, as the clover-leaf weevils and the 
nut weevils. Besides these are many 
crane flies, moths, May flies, and dragon 
flies. 
Black-Headed Grosbeak 
Lamelodia melanocephala 
Length, about eight and one-fourth 
inches. 
Range 
Breeds from the Pacific coast to Ne- 
braska and the Dakotas, and from South- 
ern Canada to Southern Mexico: winters 
in Mexico. 
Habits and Economic Status 
The black-headed grosbeak takes the 
place in the West of the rosebreast in the 
Bast, and like it is a fine songster. Like 
it also the blackhead readily resorts to 
orchards and gardens and is common in 
agricultural districts. The bird has a 
very powerful bill and easily crushes or 
cuts Into the firmest fruit. It feeds upon 
cherries, apricots and other fruits, and 
also does some damage to green peas and 
beans, but it is so active a foe of certain 
horticultural pests that we can afford to 
overlook its faults. Several kinds of 
Scale insects are freely eaten, and one, 
the black olive scale, constitutes a fifth 
of the total food. In May many canker 
worms and codling moths are consumed, 
and almost a sixth of the bird’s seasonal 
food consists of flower beetles, which do 
incalculable damage to cultivated flowers 
and to ripe fruit. For each quart of 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
fruit consumed by the black-headed gros- 
beak it destroys in actual bulk more than 
one and one-half quarts of black olive 
scales and one quart of flower beetles, 
besides a generovs quantity of codling 
moth pupae and cankerworms. It is 
obvious that such work as this pays many 
times over for the fruit destroyed 
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak 
Lamelodia ludoviciana 
Length, eight inches 
Range 
Breeds from Kansas, Ohio, Georgia 
(mountains), and New Jersey, north to 
Southern Canada, winters from Mexico 
to South America. 
Habits and Economie Status 
This beautiful grosbeak is noted for its 
clear, melodious notes, which are poured 
forth in generous measure. The rose- 
breast sings even at midday during sum- 
mer, when the intense heat has silenced 
almost every other songster Its beauti- 
ful plumage and sweet song are not its 
sole claim on our favor, for few birds 
are more beneficial to agriculture. The 
rosebreast eats some green peas and does 
some damage to fruit But this mischief 
is much more than balanced by the de- 
struction of insect pests. The bird is so 
fond of the Colorado potato beetle that it 
has earned the name of “potato-bug 
bird,” and no less than a tenth of the 
total food of the rosebreasts examined 
consists of potato beetles—evidence that 
the bird is one of the most important 
enemies of the pest. It vigorously at- 
tacks cucumber beetles and many of the 
scale insects. It proved an active enemy 
of the Rocky Mountain locust during that 
insect’s ruinous invasions, and among 
the other pests it consumes are the 
spring and fall cankerworms, orchard and 
forest tent caterpillars, tussock, gipsy and 
brown-tail moths, plum curculio, army 
worm and chinch bug. In fact, not one 
of our birds has a better record. 
Song Sparrow 
Melospiza melodia 
Length, about six and one-fourth 
inches. The heavily spotted breast with 
heavy central blotch is characteristic. 
