. 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 . )ly so inlowlands as to overrun and devastate the uplandcrops. The Herons are of some further serviceto man, for, l)esides eating insects, they help toprevent the undue increase of meadow mice, rep-tiles, and frogs. Space will not permit detaileddescriptions of the marsh birds and water birds,but a brief mention may be made of some of themost important species. PERCHING BIRD
. 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 . )ly so inlowlands as to overrun and devastate the uplandcrops. The Herons are of some further serviceto man, for, l)esides eating insects, they help toprevent the undue increase of meadow mice, rep-tiles, and frogs. Space will not permit detaileddescriptions of the marsh birds and water birds,but a brief mention may be made of some of themost important species. PERCHING BIRDS. Song Sparrows, Savanna Sparrows, Blackbirds,Grackles, and Bobolinks, all of which spend moreor less time in wet meadows and marshes, havealready been described. Swifts and Swallowshawk over meadows, marshes, streams, and ponds,but the Swamp Song Sparrow or Swamp Sparrow{Melosiiiza georgiana) is rarely seen far away from Vits favorite marshes or swamps. It is a dark spe- Fig. €ies, with a chestnut cap, a whitish throat, and a worm. 350 USEFUL ])reast unstreaked ; and it sings all summer long about thebushy margins of grassy swamps and marshes and in thereeds or bush clumps of river meadows. Its song slightlyresembles that of the Chipping Sparrow, but is more variedand pretentious. Its sharp rhi)ik and busy chirping as it fusses about its lowly nest greetthe ears of the canoeist as he floatsdown the })liicid stream. Another l)ird whose song iscommonly heard alono the shoresof marshy rivers is the I^ong-billed ]\Iarsh AVren ( TeIma(odi/tes Fig. Sparrow,about 7^^ 7 »-S/r As) . It Is f O U U d COHl- ^^^^^^^^, ,^^.^^. ^.trcams along the coast, and up the river valleys of eastern Massachusetts, butis not so common in the central or western counties exceptalong the Connecticut liiver. It sings among the reeds, cat-tails, and marsh grasses, a voluble, joyous, typical Wrensong, which is kept up all day and may often be heard atnight. I
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidusefulbi, booksubjectbirds
