PHOEBE 



555 



away from man. It eats some insects, but like most of the native 

 sparrows it feeds mainly upon weed seeds. 



American goldfinch. This bright yellow songster is one of our 

 most attractive birds. It is often called the wild canary. It is 

 about five inches long. The male has a bright yellow body with a 

 black cap, and black and white tail and wings. The female is 

 brownish olive above and yellowish white beneath. The gold- 

 finch eats seeds of weeds, preferring those of the dandelion and 

 thistle, two of our greatest weed pests. 



Yellow warbler. A bird often confused with the goldfinch is the 

 yellow warbler. Like all warblers, this is a small bird about five 

 inches in length. Its color is yellow, with breast flecked with red- 

 dish brown (it has no black on the head as does the goldfinch). 

 It nests near houses in low trees or bushes. It is of much economic 

 importance because of its preference for the browntail and gypsy 

 moth caterpillars, and other enemies of the forest trees. It also 

 eats cankerworms and insects injurious to crops. We are spend- 

 ing millions of dollars every year to fight these pests, and the 

 warblers, besides being beautiful birds, are helping us in this fight. 



Phoebe. Another tireless hunter of insect pests is the phoebe. 

 This bird is a flycatcher, seizing insects on the wing. It builds a 



Insects are the preferred food of phoebes, 



mell 



