The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-10-18
Gral1l- Eating i1irds.

| puI Ciiey aIe never known 10 10 much
mischief to cereals. The cardinal gros
beak and towhee evince fondness fol
rice and corn, but are never 50 numer.
ons as to be sources of much alarm tC
the farmer. Among columbine birds.
to whiQh our various doves belong, the
wild or migratory pigeon Is sufficiently
abundant IN certain localities to be Of
incalculable injury. But then, these
birds frequent timbered regions and
waste fields in proximity to running
streams rather than thickly populated
districts, and have u seeming prefer.
there is scarcity of such diet they
feed upon The seeds Of last years
growth.
Barring the destructive, grain-loying
sparrow of Europe, now well. estab-
lished in this country, we have more to
dread from the starlingy and Grows
than from all other species combined.
The sub-family Of orioles, from the
smallness of it's grain-eating propen-
sity, can hardly be considered as an
enemy Of tho agriculturist, and there
| fore must he passed by without a more
! extended notice. OF the marsh black
birds, the bobolink, swamp blackbird
| and meadow lark call for a share of at
tention.
The bobolink has at different seasons
| OF the year a remarkably extended dis
trlbutlon. In it's migrations it traver.
ses the whole OF the United States east
OF the high central plains to the Allan
tlc seaboard, as far north as the fifty
fourth parallel, which is considered as
| its most northern limit. Its food with
us consists Of the seed of various weeds
and grasses Of Yalueless kinds and
gruDs OF diverse ground beetles, as
well as the mature forms themselves,
and grasshoppers, crickets, bats and
plant.li at the South these birds do
| a vast amount Of injury to the young
wheat as they are passing northward
IN the spring, and upon the rice.planta-
tons, Oh their return in the fall.
Throughout their breeding terri tory
they are not known to m0lest crops.
but conllne their food to destructive
insects and useless weeds.
About the middle Of August or early
i'll September the tlocks wend their way
southwark. They soon congregate in
large numbers among the marshes Of
the Delaware, where they are eargerly
hunted by sportsmen under the name of
reed birds, their flesh being racy and
toothsome article of diet. Two weeks
later they swarm among the rice fields
Of South Carolina. They are now
called rice birds. Southern epicures
pursue them with the same tireless ell
ergy and pleasure, and thousands fall a,
sacrifice. In October they halt again
among the West India Islands, where
they feed upon the seeds of a certain
species of grass, which render them
exceedingly fat. The sporting frater-
nifty here call them butter birds, and
vast numbers are destroyed for the
table. They render immense service to
the cultivators Of Sea Island cotton by
destroying tho larvae Of the obnoxious
cotton worm.
Tho swamp blackbird, is being "a
lover Of swamps and low, humid
grounds, from which fact the species
takes It's name, extends throughout tho
whole Of North America from the At
lantlc to the Pacific northward to the
fifty-seyenth parallel of latitude. While
these birds may occasionally be seen in
the stubblo fields i'll quest of the fallen
grains of wheat and rye, we have never
observed them to attack these plants
Willie standing. With respect to buck
wheat we cannot say so much. In some
localities they manifest a relish for the
grain, which they do not hesitate to
| take from the sown ground as we'll as
from the stalk. But, when all is told
to the detriment of the species that can
be said, a long experience has taught
us that the millions Of insects which
these birds annually destroy compen-
safe, III moro than quadruple ratio,
the farmer for the lOsses.-neyer enOr-
mOuS-Which he sustains.
| The meadow lark is resident over
rye portions Of the United States. 1t
ranges from Florida to Texas OH tho
south, and from Nova Scotia to the
plains of the Missouri on the north.
1t is fond of lowlands, more elevated
situations only occasionally being cllo-
sen. With us it manifests considerable
dlstrust, stunning rather than court
ing the society Of man, although in
Georgia and South Carolina it consorts
with the kill-deer plovers about the
yards and outbuildings, showing won
derful familiarity. Their food Consists
| or seeds Of grasses, blackberries and
| strawberries-the wild kinds-and
ground beetles, fern-leaf beetles, grass
hoppers, crickets, ants, earth-worms,
plant-lice, caterpillars, grubs, butter
flies and moths, They are indiscrimi-
nate feeders. Injurious and beneficial in
sects are alike destroyed. In the autumn
these birds, young and old, collect IN
small fiocks, and retire to the South.
They gather in large numbers in the
rice fields, being passionately fond of
this grain, and also about the buildings
where it is deposited. During the win
tor in Alabama and Western Florida
they visit the salt marshes in flocks of
from ten to thirty, where they obtain
food and shelter. Although destroying
considerable rice, it cannot be reckoned
an unmitigated nuisance, but rather a
benefactor to man than otherwise. Its
Western cousin has 3 better reputation,
however, for it feeds upon seeds and
insects chiefly, destroying vast num-
bcrs Of the latter, but is not known to
do any damage to the crops.
The crow blackbird, sometimes called
purple graklo, exhibits three distinct
varieties. From North Florida in tho
South, TO Maine, and from the Atlan-
tic to the Allegheny Mountains, it is
known by the latter name. In tho
country west Of the Alleghenies as far
southwark as the Rio Grande and
thence to the Missouri plains on the
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