262 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 
despised by our farmers, fruit growers and others because of its per- 
nicious habits. In the spring it feeds largely on buds of fruit trees, 
bushes and vines, chief among which are the pear, apple, plum, 
peach, cherry, currant and grape. Garden products such as lettuce, 
beans, peas, cubbage, berries, pears, apples and grapes are greedily 
eaten by these birds. Corn, when in the milky state, wheat, oats 
and barley are also devoured with great relish. When not engaged 
in rearing their young they are always to be found in flocks, which 
in the Jate summer often number hundreds and sometimes thou- 
sands of individuals each. It is not uncommon for these flocks to 
commit very serious depredations in wheat fields, about the time the 
erain is ready to be cut. The English Sparrow not content with a 
much varied vegetable diet, has been known to kill and devour the 
young of other small birds. The pugnacious English Sparrow has 
caused many species of our native song and insectivorous birds, 
such as wrens, orioles, vireos, swallows, warblers, blue-birds, etc., 
to abandon their former summer abodes in our lawns, parks, or- 
chards and gardens. That this bird should be destroyed there is no 
doubt, but I do not favor, as many of our citizens advocate, a bounty 
for the worthless head of this little foreigner. 
The Warblers. 
About forty species and subspecies of the warblers have been ob- 
served during recent years in Pennsylvania. This number includes 
spring and fall migrants, summer residents or natives and strag- 
glers. Occasionally during mild winters, generally in November or 
December, solitary Myrtle, Yellow Palm and Pine Warblers, par- 
ticularly the Myrtle, are found in sheltered localities in the south- 
eastern portions of the State. 
When migrating the males come, particularly in spring, in ad- 
vance of the females. The majority migrate at night. Some mem- 
bers of this interesting and beneficial family are remarkable for the 
melody of their song and many species which migrate north, pene- 
trating, as some do, even the Arctic wilds to rear their young, are 
said to possess most exquisite vocal powers. During migrations 
many of these birds are common visitors to the orchards and shade 
trees about our houses. Warblers subsist almost exclusively on in- 
sect, such as flies, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, plant- 
lice and different kinds of larvae. 
Writing of these birds Dr. Elliott Coues, says: “With tireless in- 
dustry do the warblers befriend the human race; their unconscious 
zeal plays due part in the nice adjustment of nature’s forces, help- 
ing to bring about that balance of vegetable and insect life without 
which agriculture would be in vain. They visit the orchard when 
