Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-10-03
Grain-EatiDgDirds.

| its widest and most general acceptlon-
but they are never known to do much
mischief to cereals. The cardinal grOS-
beak and towhee evince fOndneSs for
rice and corn. but are Eever so numer-
Gus as to be sources of much alarm to
| the farmer. Among col lmbine birds,
to which 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 a seeming prefer
ence for arboreal fruits; and when
there is scarcity of such diet they
feed upon the seeds of last years
growth.
Barring the destructive, grain-loving
sparrow of Europe, now well-estab-
lished in this country, we have more to
dread from the starlings and crows
than from all other species combined.
The sub-family of orioles, from the
smallness of its grain-eating propen-
sity, can hardly be considered as an
enemy of the agricufturist, and there
fore must be passed by without a more
extended notice. OF the marsh black
birds, the bobolink, swamp blackbird
and meadow lark call for share of at
tention.
The bobolink has at different seasons
of the year "A remarkably extended dis
tribution. In its migrations 1t trayer-
ses the whole of the United States east
of the high central plains to the Allan
tic 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 valueleSS kinds and
grubs of diverse ground beetles, as
well as the mature forms themselves,
and grasShoppers, crickets, bats and
plant lice. At the South these birds do
vast amount of injury to the young
wheat as they are passing northward
in the spring, and upon the rice-planta-
tions, on their return i'll the fall.
Throughout their breeding territory
they are not known to molest crops,
but conline their food to destructive
insects and useless weeds.
About the middle OF August or early
in September the fiockS 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 eplcures
pursue them with the same tireless en-
ergy and pleasure, and thousands fall
sacrifice. In October they halt again
among the West India Islands, where
they feed upon the seeds of 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 the Larvae of the obnoxious
cotton worm.
The swamp blackbird, is being a
lover of swamps and low, humid
grounds, from which fact the species
takes It's name, extends throughout the
whole of North America from the At
lantlc to the Pacific northward to the
fifty-seventh parallel of latitude. While
these birds may occasionally be seen i'll
the stubble fields in 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 well 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, in more than quadruple ratio,
the farmer for the losSes-neyer enor-
mous-which he sustains.
| The meadow lark is resident over
large portions of the United States. 1t
ranges from Florida to Texas OH the
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 cho-
sen. With us it manifests considerable
distrust, stunning rather than court
ing the society of man, although in
Georgia and South Carolina it consorts
with the kill-deer ployers about the
yards and outbuildings, showing won.
derful familiarity. Their food consists
of seeds of grasses, blackberIies and
strawberries-the wild kinds-and
ground beetles, fern-leaf beetles, grass
hoppers, cricketS, ants, earth-worms,
Iplant-lice, caterpillars, grubS, butter
flies and moths, They are mdiscrimi-
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 building:
where it is deposited. During the win
; ter in Alabama and Western Florida
they visit the salt marshes in fiockS OF
: from ten to thirty, where they Obtain
food and shelter. Although destroying
considerable rice, it cannot be reckoneC
, an unmitigated nuisance, but rather q
benefactor to man than otherwise. 1t:
Western cousin has better reputation
, however, for it feeds upon seeds anC
, insects chiefly, destroying vast mum
bers of the latter, but is not known t
do any damage to the crops.
} The crow blackbird, sometimes calle(
purple grakle, exhibits three distinc
: varieties. From North Florida in tn,
, South, 10 Maine, and from the ATTAIN
2 tic to the Allegheny Mountains, it il
. known by the latter name. In tn,
+ country west of the Alleghenies as IA
t southwark as the Rio Grande an,
r thence to the Missouri plains on tn,
r northwest to the Saskatchewan, ant
4 to Maine and Nova Scotia on the north
r east, it takes the name Of bronze gra
+ kle. Few species are more condeme'
e than this, notwithstanding the grea
f good which it confers upon man
? Its bad reputation is due not SO mucl
= to its destruction of the cherry asst
4 the damage which it does in the corn
II field in spring and to the corn Will
+ shocked in the fall. Such is their pa:
n sion for this staple product that the
e defy all efforts of the huSbandman t
Il keep them away. Scarecrows are o