File:Birds and nature (1904) (14748569071).jpg

Identifier: birdsnature161904chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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vidently upon mischief bent,and finding the robins absent no doubtthought himself safe in pillaging theirhome. But the ever-watchful Rose-breasted Grosbeak, who was tenderlyguarding his sitting mate, espied thework of destruction and, ceasing hissong for a moment, furiously attacked thefreebooter, literally making1 blue feathersfly. The crestfallen jay beat a hasty re-treat, screaming with terror. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks subsist on amixed diet of insects and vegetable sub-stances. They are the natural guardiansof the potato fields, having a special fond-ness for the Colorado potato beetle, theyassist very materially in the abatement ofthis pest. And this fact is so well knownby appreciative farmers in some localitiesthat it has won for the Grosbeak the titleof Potato-bug Bird. They also destroymany other noxious insects. The vege-table diet consists of seeds and the budsand blossoms of forest trees. The onlycharge brought against them is that ofstealing green peas, but the damage done
Text Appearing After Image:
AMERICAN COLOR-TYPE CO., CHI. & N. V. 31 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK(Habia ludoviciana). V, Life-size. COPYRIGHT 1900. BY ft. W MUMFORD, CHICAGO. is slight and surely no one would be-grudge this beautiful songster a few peaseven though he were utterly worthlessfrom an economic standpoint. The favorite haunts of these Grosbeaksare open timber lands and groves, andthough they do not court the society ofman sufficiently to be classed as gardenbirds, still they are not wholly averse tohuman companionship. Two pairs ofthese lovely birds graced our orchardwith their presence one summer, and onepair of them chose their home in a tree quite near the house, in fact, this treestands in one of the most public situa-tions about the place. It could not be expected that a birdwith the attractive plumage of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak would escape the eyeof the millinery collector, and this partlyaccounts for the sad decrease in numberof this beautiful and useful songster,which should be protected in

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