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Fig. 330.—Penguin of Patagonia. Wings used as flippers for swimming.
Crow.—That he does pull up sprouting corn, destroy chickens,
and rob the nests of small birds has been repeatedly proved. Nor
are these all of his sins. He is known to eat frogs, toads, salamanders,
and some small snakes, all
harmless creatures that do some good
by eating insects. Experience has
shown that they may be prevented
from pulling up young corn by tarring
the seed, which not only saves the
corn but forces them to turn their attention
to insects. May beetles, "dor-*bugs,"
or June bugs, and others of
the same family constitute the principal
food during spring and early summer,
and are fed to the young in
immense quantities.
Ricebird.—The annual loss to rice growers on account of bobolinks has been estimated at $2,000,000.
Meadow Lark.—Next to grasshoppers, beetles make up the most important item of the meadow lark's food, amounting to nearly 21 per cent. May is the month when the dreaded cut-worm begins its deadly career, and then the lark does some of its best work. Most of these caterpillars are ground feeders, and are overlooked by birds which habitually frequent trees, but the meadow lark finds and devours them by thousands.
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Fig. 331.—Umbrella holding the nests of social weaver bird of Africa; polygamous.
Sparrows.—Examination of many stomachs shows that in
winter the tree sparrow feeds entirely upon seeds of weeds.
Probably each bird consumes about one fourth of an ounce a
day. Farther south the tree sparrow is replaced in winter by the
white-throated sparrow, the white-crowned sparrow, the fox sparrow,
the song sparrow, the field sparrow, and several others; so
that all over the land a vast number of these seed eaters are at
