SOME OHIO BIRDS 
31 
The beautiful olive-green plumage of the female blends perfectly 
with the foliage, affording her the necessary protection while attend¬ 
ing to her duties of incubation. The loosely built nest is usually 
placed in the taller undergrowth or in the lower branches of larger 
trees, preferably along the borders of woods. At the approach of 
autumn, the scarlet of the male is replaced by olive-green, rendering 
him less conspicuous during the southward migration. 
The food of this species is almost entirely insectivorous, includ¬ 
ing caterpillars, leaf-rollers, wood-boring beetles, weevils, flies and 
many other forms injurious to forest trees. It is especially useful 
for the destruction of night-flying moths and insects which depend 
upon protective coloration to escape their enemies. No woodland 
bird is more useful for the destruction of noxious insects. 
SPARROWS AND FINCHES 
The family to which the Sparrows and Finches belong, com¬ 
prises the largest existing family of birds, both as regards number 
of species and of individuals. Its members are almost cosmopolitan 
in their distribution, being represented in every part of the world 
except Australia. They show wide variation in form and habit, but 
all possess stout bills adapted to crush seeds, which comprise their 
chief food. As a group the Sparrows are not so highly migratory as 
birds which depend more largely on insects for food. They are 
spread over their geographical range at all seasons except that some 
species retire southward from its extreme northern limit in winter. 
The Sparrows are, for the most part, dwellers of the fields; their 
brown, streaked plumage renders them inconspicuous. All are 
song-birds of more or less musical ability. The brighter Finches 
and Grosbeaks are woodland dwellers, and are gifted singers. Many 
of our caged birds belong to this group. 
The food of adult Sparrows consists of from 25 to 35 percent 
animal matter for the entire year, and of vegetable matter, 65 to 75 
percent. The animal matter is chiefly insects—grasshoppers, 
beetles and caterpillars constituting nine-tenths of the whole amount. 
The vegetable portion is composed almost entirely of seeds, but a 
small quantity of fruit is taken. The young, while in the nest, are 
almost wholly insectivor ous. Because of their general distribution 
on cultivated land, they are of greater value to the agriculturist thali 
any other group of birds whose economic status has thus far been 
investigated. The English Sparrow, which is an introduced species, 
and is not included with our native birds, is very injurious. (Judd.) 
The Grosbeaks and Finches differ from the Sparrows in being 
more brilliantly plumaged and wood-inhabiting. As a group, they 
