. 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 . Treat writes of a town in which the elms liadbeen defoliated for several years by the elm-leaf beetle, ])utthe Cedar Birds came, andthe trees were afterwardscomparatively free from thebeetles. Durino- the timewhen the adult birds feed oncherries, the young are fedvery largely upon insects,although fruit is given themas they grow older. Thesebirds feed so much on wildfruit as
. 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 . Treat writes of a town in which the elms liadbeen defoliated for several years by the elm-leaf beetle, ])utthe Cedar Birds came, andthe trees were afterwardscomparatively free from thebeetles. Durino- the timewhen the adult birds feed oncherries, the young are fedvery largely upon insects,although fruit is given themas they grow older. Thesebirds feed so much on wildfruit as it ripens, that it con-stitutes nearly seventy-fiveper cent, of their food; butlater, after the young are reared, they turn flycatchers, andtaking a high perch on some tree near a lake or river oron the borders of the Avoods, they sally out after flying-insects. Grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, ichneumon flies,crane flies, and lacewings are all devoured bv them. Bugsand bark lice are also on the bill of fare. While these birdsare sometimes a pest to the fruit grower, they are, on thewhole, beneficial to agriculture, and deserve Fig. 76. —Good work in tlie orchard. TANAGERS. This group of brilliant woodland birds is represented hereby but two species ; one of these, the Summer Tanager, isvery rarely seen ; the common Scarlet Tanager is one ofthe most valuable birds of orchard and woodland. 212 USEFUL BIIIDS. Scarlet Tanager. Pirauijd (ri////>v))ielas. Length. — About seven inches. Aclidt Male. — Entire body bright scarlet; wings and tail black; in autumn much like female, but retaining the black on wings and Female. — Greenish above; yellowish below; wings and tail darker and —Of fine twigs and straws: usually in lower branches of some large tree, but sometimes fully twenty feet up ; occasionally in the ^. — Liglit greenish-blue, with brown and puri)lish ^on. —May to October. This most gorgeous
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