. 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. Birds; Birds. 292 USEFUL persistent foe of the Orthoptera. Grasshoppers constitute nearly twenty-two per cent, of its food for the year, and in August and September more than sixty per cent. Alto- gether, seventy-six per cent, of its food for the season con- sists of insects or allied forms, and the other twenty-four per cent, is made up of wild fruit and other vegeta
. 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. Birds; Birds. 292 USEFUL persistent foe of the Orthoptera. Grasshoppers constitute nearly twenty-two per cent, of its food for the year, and in August and September more than sixty per cent. Alto- gether, seventy-six per cent, of its food for the season con- sists of insects or allied forms, and the other twenty-four per cent, is made up of wild fruit and other vegetable substances, taken mainly in winter. In selecting its food, the Bluebird, like the Robin, is governed as much by abundance as by choice. The vegetable food of the Fig. 128.—The Bluebird's Bluebird provcs its harmlcssucss to ^^^^' crops. It consists almost entirely of wild berries ; a few blackberries are eaten, and a little grass and asparagus. Undoubtedly the Bluebird weU deserves the welcome annually accorded it. WRENS. Five species of Wren are found in Massachusetts, but only one, the House Wren, was ever of much economic impor- tance in garden or field. The Winter Wren is ordinarily seen in woodlands and thickets. It comes here chiefly in migration, and is not common enough to be of much service to man. The Carolina Wren is rare, and the two Marsh Wrens are seldom if ever seen except in wet lowlands. House Wren. Troglodytes dedon. Length. — Atout five inches. Adult. — Upper parts brown; lower parts grayish-brown, sometimes grayish- white ; wings, tail, and flanks faintly barred with hlackish; tail often held erect. Nest. — Composed of sticks and rootlets, in a hollow tree or any accessible cavity. Mggs. — Six to eight; white, thickly speckled with reddish-brown. A once common and familiar species, but now no longer a regular summer resident in the greater part of Massachusetts, the Wren is apparently doomed to give way before the ad- vance of the House (or &quo
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