1 8 
NEW HAMPSHIRE NATURE STUDIES 
crows, robins, meadow larks, flickers, sparrows, and quail. Some 
of these birds have specialties in their meadow diet: in early spring 
the robin feeds very largely upon one ot the smaller species of 
meadow maggots — the larvas of the bibio fly; the flicker feeds more 
freelv upon ants than upon any other insects; the bobwhite or 
quail is one of the comparatively few birds that seems to esteem the 
chinch bug as a source of food. The blackbirds and crows are 
fond of white grubs, while all these birds and many others feed 
freely upon army-worms, cutworms, and grasshoppers. 
The condition in that part of the farm devoted to field ciops is 
similar to that of the meadow. 
The insect pests are much the 
same anti the birds that check 
them are very similar. 
When we reach the shrubby 
growth along the border of the 
woods we come to a place 
where insect life is very abun- 
dant. The grassy growth scat- 
tered here and there in the 
more open spaces furnishes food 
for many sorts of insects, while 
the ground beneath the denser 
foliage is the hiding-place of 
many sorts that come from the 
bark and leaves above. The 
trunks and branches of the 
shrubs and small trees furnish 
subsistence to hordes of insects, 
while the leaves yield an abun- 
dant food to myriads of others. The most characteristic bird of these 
woodland borders is the chewink, or towhee bunting, often called 
the ground robin from its living so largely upon the ground beneath 
the shrubby growth, where it is continually searching for insect 
food. The brown thrasher frequents the same situation, gleaning 
food also among the twigs and leaves. The catbird is also common- 
ly present, especially if a body of water is near at hand, in which 
case the Maryland yellow throat will also generally be found. 
Photo by Ned Dearborn 
Cedarbird at Nest 
