20 
USEFUL BIRDS 
driving- away the ravens and other l)irds disposed to prey upon tlie 
eggs and young of the gulls.” The bird appears to be growing- 
rarer in Minnesota, due perhaps to laek of provision in the way of 
bird houses. Spirit Island has recently been made a Bird Reserve 
by the Federal Government. 
THE SONG SPARROW. 
The Song Sparrow, so dear to us all, deserves a prominent place 
on our list ; it is not only friendly and attractive l^ecause of its song 
and from the fact that it is one of the earliest of bird arrivals from 
the South, but it consumes a large amount of weed seed and many 
insects. 
THE YELLOW HAMMER OR FLICKER. 
The Yellow Hammer or h'licker, we ]mrposely left off the col- 
ored plate, to allow^ space for a more useful woodpecker. The 
I'dicker or High Hole is something of a “ground bird”; that is, it 
is very fond of ants and is quite apt to he discovered dining on ants 
upon the ground. It eats wood-boring grubs to some extent, but is 
not as industrious in that direction as many of our other wood- 
peckers. It occasionally takes a little fruit and is reported to eat 
grain, though rarely. On the whole, it is a useful bird, and -\ve are 
attached to it because we associate its characteristic call with the 
promising days of early spring before the leaves appear on the 
trees. 
THE RUBY-CROWNED AND GOLDEN-CROWNED 
KINGLETS. 
The Rul)y-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, tiny deni- 
zens of woodlands, consume large quantities of beetles, bugs, tree 
hoppers, scale insects, plant lice and leaf hoppers. 
