. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . breeding season it kills some small birds, particularlyif mice are not plentiful enough to furnish an abundance offood for its young. The Saw-whet Owl {Orypioglaux acadka acadica), alittle brown Owl, with no ear tufts, is the least of all thenative Owls of Massachusetts. It is rather uncommon, butvery useful, as it feeds mainly on mice and insects andrather rarely on birds.
. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . breeding season it kills some small birds, particularlyif mice are not plentiful enough to furnish an abundance offood for its young. The Saw-whet Owl {Orypioglaux acadka acadica), alittle brown Owl, with no ear tufts, is the least of all thenative Owls of Massachusetts. It is rather uncommon, butvery useful, as it feeds mainly on mice and insects andrather rarely on birds. The Barn Owl (Aluco pratincola), perhaps the most use-ful of the family, is rare here. On the whole, while Owls must be ranked among the ene-mies of small birds, they usually do so much more good thanthey do harm that only under exceptional conditions can theybe regarded as injurious, although the Horned Owl is com-monly considered pernicious because of its destruction of game. Crows and Jays. The Crows, Jays, and Magpies have acquired a world-widereputation as nest robbers. The common Crow and the BlueJay manage to live up to their reputation. ]My report onthe Crow and some additional notes on the destructiveness. PLATE XXXVII. —Blue Jays Nest in Authors Grove. (Ilioto-gi-aph, from life, by C. A. Reed.) (From American t)riiithology.) CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 3(59 of both Crow and Jay have been published elsewhere.^ TheAmerican Crow ( Corvus brac/tz/rhi/nchos bravht/rhynfJioK) isa foe to birds from the size of the Cliipping Sparrow to that ofthe Nio^ht Heron, Ruffed Grouse, and Black Duck, for it con-tinually steals the eggs and young of such birds and evidence on this point is so con-vincing and voluminous that it isimpossible to avoid this conclu-sion, although it is quite prob-able that only certainindividual Crows arethe criminals. Crowsnot only destroy eggs andyoung birds, but they havebeen known to band togetherto hunt down and kill adult birdsa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1913
