. 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 . pernicious. Being a small bird, it necessarily eats many insects ; but itlives more on grain and less on insects than any of the nativebirds that it supplants, and is one of the few species thatdeserves no consideration at the hands of the farmer. Shrikes. The Shrikes or Butcher Birds are regarded as beneficial;but our winter visitor, the Northern Shrike (Lantus bore-alis),
. 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 . pernicious. Being a small bird, it necessarily eats many insects ; but itlives more on grain and less on insects than any of the nativebirds that it supplants, and is one of the few species thatdeserves no consideration at the hands of the farmer. Shrikes. The Shrikes or Butcher Birds are regarded as beneficial;but our winter visitor, the Northern Shrike (Lantus bore-alis), kills many small birds. It pursues Tree Sparrows, Juncos, Song Sparrows, andChickadees, overtakes andstrikes them while they are inflight, sometimes eating them,but oftener leaving them to hangon trees, where they furnish foodfor other birds. When one seesthe little Butcher killing Chick-adees and hanging them up, hisFig. 156.—Northern Shrike, one-half faith in its Usefulness rccsives a natural size. j_ i i r^i .t great shock. Shrikes are prob-ably of less value here than in their northern homes, wherein summer they feed much on insects. Their chief utilitywhile here consists in their mouse-hunting CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 371 Other Bird Enemies. Some Gulls and the larger Grackles or Crow Blackbirdsare accused, with some justice, of nest robbing. Thereseems to be little satisfactory evidence against the Cuckoos,except the general aversion shown toward them by otherbirds. Probably individuals of many species occasionally eat theeggs of other birds or molest their nests, as do the we have acquitted the Catbird of the charge of robbingbirds nests, it is only fair to state that John Burroughs writesthat he saw a Catbird in the act. Still, we cannot concludethat this is a common habit with the Catbird ; it is probablyexceptional, as with the Oriole. While all the smaller birdshave their quarrels, it is not probable that many of themseriously
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1913
