The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-08-28
ITO BE CONTINUED
WHAT THE BIRDS EAT.

At a recent meeting of the Ontario
Agricultural Commission held at London
VIM. f. Sanders, the we'll known Cana
dian ornithologist, gave an account of
some insectivorous birds that were worthy
Of encouragement. He said he had been
engaged in the study of birds for the last
seven or eight years, and had examined
the crops of probably about 200; of the
birds which were purely insectivorous,
the most common was the large family
or warblers, Of which the yellow warbler
and the red start mostly took their food
on the wing, but partially on the branches
of trees; of the birds which took their
food exclusively on the wing there were
the fly -catchers, which included the king
bird and the pewee; their food was chief
fly flies. Moths were numcrously caught
by nightlIawks, and these altogether
with the swallows he considered birds
beneficial to the farmer and fruit grower.
OF the birds which feed partly on the
wing and partly on trees, the food of the
yellow warbler consisted chiefly of the
Larvae and eggs of moths which they took
from the leaves of trees; the vireds and
cuckoos We're birds of the same class,
and similarly beneficial. The bluebird
fed mostly on insects, though it might
take grain when it's favoritc diet was not
-, n1, 10 4 4 l.,
the last described class of birds were
mostly injurious to the orchardist and
the farmer. The nut-hatch, which was
Il very common bird, Staid in these lati-
tubes the year around, and lived almost
entirely on insects and their eggs, and
chrysalides. The woodpeckers mostly
took their food upon trees. The red
headed variety We're generally considered
a pest on account of their devouring SO
much fruit, chiefly cherries and apples.
The high-holder woodpccker, though it
occasionally ate a few cherries, was on
the whole bird which should be protect
ed, owing to the number of insects it
ucNoulSo. liz Hail. liu uo"AJ "oou-
peckers and the yellow-bellied variety
were commonly. but we believe unjustly
denominated sap-suckers, and accused of
destroying fruit and other trees by eX-
tracing the sap from them. He had
never seen trees injured by them, and
they were beneficial birds in his estima-
ton.
OF the birds which ate their food upon
the ground there was first the thrushes,
including the robin, the tawny thrush,
the brown thrush and the cat-bird.-
From his examination of the maws of
the robin he had very little to say i'll its
favor, as they were very destructive to
cherries and other fruits, and ate very
few nsects-chetly coleoptera- then
only when it could not get fruit; the
cat-brd WAS allied to the robin, and like
it WAS destructive to raspberries; the
tawny and brown thrushes We're almost
exclusively insectivorous. The food of
the blackbird family -which included
the red-winged blackbird, the crow
blackbird, the COW blackbird, the mead
ow lark and the oriole-consists largely
of beetles and Larvae: the crow blackbird,
| however, lived almost entirely on gran
while the COW bird, like the European
cuckoo, was decidedly injurious by laying
its'eugs in the nests of other and beneficial
birds, whose young were generally starry
| r,i to DEATH owing to the greater size
and more clamorous appetite of the in
truding brood. The red-winged black
| bird fed on the larv>e of beetles in the
Spring. hut in The Fall it devoured grain.
About % per cent of the food of the
! meadow lark consisted of beetles and
other insects, the remainder being vege-
table food, but of what kind he had been
unable to ascertain. The Bathurne orr
ole was beneficial to the farmer. The
sparrows We're all Wetty much grain feed
ers, Though the gray bird or chipping
.parrow fed largely on insects. One va
riety, the purple finch, devoured the buds
of trees, and was injurious on that ac-
count. The indigo bird fed mostly on
the seeds of grass and weeds. The Eng
lish sparrow Seemed to feed about equal
ly ON seeds and insects, but he had not
examined their stomachs. 1t was doubt
full whether its importation would prove
benefit or an injury. The canary fed
chiefly on small seeds, but its Young de-
voured good many insects. He believed
and their Larvae, and, like the black
capped tit, Or chickadee, was entirely