Evidently this task is done ungrudgingly of his own free will, consider- 
ing it not beneath his lordly dignity, for I have heard him sing his joyous 
carol while sitting upon the eggs. The rose-breasted grosbeak is one of 
the very few birds that eat potato bugs. Almost every one knows by 
experience how much- injury these pests do to the potato plants. Gros- 
beaks have been know to completely rid a potato field of these injurious 
After U. S. Biological Survey. 
beetles. The great service which these birds render the farmer has been 
proved beyond a doubt. If, then, later in the season the grosbeak takes 
a small reward for his services by eating green peas, do not kill him 
but remember his former good deeds. He is one of the best friends the 
farmer has among the birds. 
Why not sow extra peas for the grosbeak's use, as a return favor 
for the "potato bugs" which he has destroyed? 
44 
