. Birds in their relations to man; a manual of economic ornithology for the United States and Canada . They are dex-terous fly-catchers, and when in the woods they labor in afield almost peculiar to themselves. They often station them-selves upon the top-most branches of somedead tree-top whichcommands a view abovethe forest, and therewatch hours togetherfor insects, every fewminutes beating off andup into the air to securethe winged forms thatare passing above the borders of woodsthey often fly out six ormore rods for passinginsects. Besides being fly-catchers they search among the fo
. Birds in their relations to man; a manual of economic ornithology for the United States and Canada . They are dex-terous fly-catchers, and when in the woods they labor in afield almost peculiar to themselves. They often station them-selves upon the top-most branches of somedead tree-top whichcommands a view abovethe forest, and therewatch hours togetherfor insects, every fewminutes beating off andup into the air to securethe winged forms thatare passing above the borders of woodsthey often fly out six ormore rods for passinginsects. Besides being fly-catchers they search among the foliage of trees for larv?eof various kinds. ^ Unfortunately, the cedar waxwings arealso very fond of cherries, and on this account are in bad re-pute among fruit-growers. Yet it has been shown that theygenerally eat only the earliest cherries, and there can be littledoubt that during the year they abundantly pay for the fruittaken during the cherry season. In some localities cherry-trees have been so generally planted that there is more thanenough for birds and men; in such places the depredations. THE CEDAR-BIRD. F. H. Kin^. 126 BIRDS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. of these birds are not noticed. Raspberries, elder-berries,myrtle-berries, mulberries, and various other wild fruits arealso eaten largely by the cedar-birds. In the orchard infested by canker-worms treated of inChapter VI., Professor Forbes shot seven specimens out ofa flock of thirty cedar-birds. The stomachs of all thesewere full of the worms, averaging one hundred to each, sothat it Avas estimated that this flock would destroy ninetythousand of the pests if they stayed in the orchard a other insects which are known to be eaten by thisspecies may be mentioned beetles, crickets, crane-flies, lace-wing flies, and ichneumon-flies. At the Department ofAgriculture the food-contents of one hundred and fifty-twostomachs of this species have been examined, the resultsshowing that seventy-four per cent, of the food
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1916
