USEFUL r,lRl)S 
0 
the growth of a higher, and at the same time, a more |)raetical senti- 
ment in this direction. A brief description of the 1)irds figured on 
the plates follows. 
Except where noted, the male bird is figured and described. 
ROBIN. 
(Plate I, Fig. 1.) 
What would a country home be wdthout robins on the lawn! 
As a rule, the robin, which is really a thrush, is fairly useful, al- 
though a large per cent of its food is fruit, and it eats many use- 
ful beetles. Because of our general attachment to the bird, agri- 
culturists will probably try every possible protective means before 
having recourse to the shotgun Avhen fruit is to be saved. 
Individuals of this species are found frequently very late in the 
fall, and occasionally where evergreen thickets afford shelter, even 
in the winter. The writer found them in 1885 on November 9th 
in Otter Tail County. They have been observed in Minnesota, 
evidently returned from the south, as early as February, but gen- 
erally they begin to arrive the latter part of March or early in April, 
welcome harbingers of spring. Two broods are reared. Beetles 
constitute a large part of the robin’s diet during the summer. Beal 
(Bui. 171, Bur. of Biol. Survey) gives a list of nearly 100 plants, 
the seeds of which have been found in robins’ stomachs. Most 
prominent among them are blueberries, dogwood, woodbine, sumac, 
blackberries, cherries (domestic and wild), cedar, mulberries, etc. 
Since most of these seeds pass thru the alimentary canal with fer- 
tility unimpaired, the robin is a disseminator of these plants. 
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER; MYRTLE WARBLER. 
(Plate I, Fig. 2.) 
One of our more common warblers, breeding in the northern 
part of the State and in Canada and observed in vicinity of Minne- 
apolis about April 15th. Found in small flocks amongst bushes 
and other low growth. Its food consists almost entirely of injurious 
insects, a small percent only represented by fruit and seeds. It 
is particularly fond of scale insects and plant lice, and is something 
of a fly-catcher as well. It is a little over five inches in length, and 
can be easily recognized by the presence, in the adult males, of a 
bright yellow patch on rump, on top of head, and on each side of 
breast. General colors, — grayish wdth darker stripes, throat white, 
more or less black on breast and lower parts. In the young and 
