VESPER SPARROW (Pooecetes gramineus and sub-species).

Length, about 6 inches. Its white tipped outer tail feathers distinguish this individual from its brown liveried fellows.

Range: Breeds from southern Canada south to Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina; winters from southern California, Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, south to the Gulf coast and southern Mexico.

There is little about this brown streaked sparrow to attract attention and, until it flies and displays the white tipped tail feathers, you might mistake the bird for any one of a half dozen of the sparrow family. Indeed if one catches merely a glimpse of a vesper sparrow crouched low and running swiftly through the grass one may be forgiven for mistaking the bird for a mouse. It frequents open pastures and when singing likes to mount a rocky boulder so common in New England and other parts of the east.

We

are perhaps justified in calling its song its most notable characteristic. Though not a pretentious effort the voice of the vesper sparrow is sweet and plaintive beyond expression, and harmonizes with the dying day as does the song of no other bird.

Prof. Beal records the fact that in winter the food of this sparrow consists wholly of vegetable matter, while in summer it consists of little else than insects. The vesper sparrow cares less for grass seed than any other of its fellows but consumes great quantities of weed seeds. It eats also large numbers of grasshoppers, caterpillars and weevils. A number of these sparrows taken in Utah where the newly imported alfalfa weevil is doing much damage were found to have eaten these weevils to the average extent of more than half their food. Thus the value of this bird to the farmer cannot be questioned.

BLUE GROSBEAK (Guiraca cærulea and subspecies).

Length, about 7 inches. Distinguished by its larger size from the indigo bird which alone resembles it.

Range: Breeds in the southern United States north to northern California, Colorado, Nebraska, southern Illinois and Maryland and south to southern Mexico; winters in Mexico and Central America.

One seldom sees the blue grosbeak at short range or under circumstances which make identification easy, as the bird is rather shy and frequents brushy thickets and viny tangles much as does the indigo bird.

The low warbling song of this grosbeak may be compared with that of the purple finch but it is neither so loud nor so well sustained. Under the name of "blue pap" the grosbeak used to be a favorite cage bird in Louisiana and other southern states, and no doubt is so today, despite protective laws. In the matter of diet it shows a marked proference for insect food over vegetable, the propertion being about 67 to 33 per cent. The vegetable matter includes many weed seeds, as foxtail and bindweed, also corn, the taking of which makes a black mark against its record. As, however, the bird consumes twice as much animal matter as vegetable, the balance is much in its favor and it accordingly earns protection as well by its economic service as by its beauty and sɔng.

CARDINAL (Cardinalis cardinalis and
sub-species).

Length, about 8 inches. Its size, crest and bright red color serve for instant identification.

Range: Southern United States generally, west to Texas and southern Arizona, north to lower Hudson, northern Ohio, northern Indiana, southern Iowa and southeastern South Dakota; resident.

The cardinal is a notable bird and any locality he chooses for his residence must be considered highly favored. His bright colors, trim form and erectile crest, his clear whistling call, and his fine song are all to his credit. He is a resident of thickets and tangled undergrowth with hanging vines, and, when these are provided and he feels safe from the prowling cat and marauding hawk, he will take up his abode in your garden or back yard as readily as anywhere else. Favor him further by supplying him food and water in winter and you make him your friend indeed. Practically he is a resident wherever found and the sight of his flashing red suit amidst snow covered bushes is a memorable picture. The cardinal used to be a favorite cage bird in the Southern States and the business of trapping him for market, especially about the large southern cities, was common. The bird is now protected by law as it should be, and the sight of a cardinal behind prison bars has become rare indeed. How many thousands were sacrificed for hat gear we shall never know but happily this practice too is fast disappearing.

By preference the cardinal is a vegetarian, and about seven-tenths of its food consists of vegetable matter in the form of seeds, berries, etc. But it also cats many insects, potato beetles, cotton worms, boll worms, cotton-boll weevils, codling moths and many other scarcely less note worthy. Mr. McAtee in attempting to sum up all the economic facts, declares that the bird does at least fifteen times as much good as harm, which is a record to be proud of. CALIFORNIA QUAIL (Lophortyx californica and varieties).

Length, about 9 inches. Distinguished from Gambels' quail by the reddish instead of black belly. Range: Resident in the Pacific Coast region from southwestern Oregon and western Nevada through California and Lower California.

The California quail is one of our most beautiful game birds and the sight of a large covey running daintily along, with crests nodding and fine plumage gleaming in the sun is a sight to remember. Before quail were so much persecuted, covies were common in the gardens of Oakland and other California towns, seemingly as much at home among calla lilies and rosebushes as in the stubble field. The numerous families in the fall associate in bands of three or four hundred, or even more. The California quail has learned one lesson never acquired by our bob-white- -to roost in trees and bushes instead of on the ground, and no doubt the safety thus obtained during the hours of darkness is one reason for its great abundance.

This quail is the greatest vegetarian of any of our game birds, the vegetable food eaten by over 600 individuals examined amounting to 95 per cent of the total food consumed. Unfortunately the California quail consumes much grain when germinating and thus damages the growing crop; it also attacks grapes and, while it does not eat a great many, it seriously damages bunches by puncturing a few grapes here and there, so ruining the fruit for market.

TREE SWALLOW (Iridoprocne bicolor).

Length, about 6 inches. The steel blue upper parts and pure white under parts are distinguishing characteristics.

Range: Breeds from northwestern Alaska and northern Canada south to southern California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Virginia; winters in central California, southern Texas and Gulf States and south to Guatemala.

In its primitive state the tree swallow used to nest in hollow trees, and in some parts of the country it still continues to do so. Early in the settlement of the country it saw the advantage of putting itself under man's protection, and now no bird is quicker to respond to an invitation to nest in a box dedicated to its use. The bird lover within the range of the species may secure an interesting tenant or two by the expenditure of a little trouble and labor, since the bird is not a bit fastidious as to its domicile, providing it is weather tight. Tree swallows arrive from the south early in April and soon begin to nest. In the fall they gather in great flocks preparatory to their departure, and may then be seen by hundreds perched on telegraph wires. As is the habit with swallows generally, tree swallows migrate by day feeding as they go, and a flock passing swiftly south presents to the casual observer an every day appearance well calculated to deceive. Watch the flock as it crosses the road and passes from field to field and you will notice that while the line of flight has many a twist and turn it trends steadily to the south and that no individual takes the back track.

The tree swallow consumes vast numbers of gnats, flying ants, beetles, mosquitoes and other flying insects. It exhibits a rather curious departure from the traditions of its kind in that it appears to be very fond of the berries of the bayberry or wax myrtle. It also often chooses these bushes for a roosting place at night.

SCARLET TANAGER (Piranga erythromelas).

Length, about 7 inches. The scarlet coat and black wings and tail mark this bird out from all others.

Range: Breeds from southern Canada south to southern Kansas, northern Arkansas, Tennessee, northern Georgia and mountains of Virginia and South Carolina; winters from Colombia to Bolivia and Peru.

The tanagers are strictly an American family, and as their bright colors might seem to suggest, they originated in the Tropics to which most of the numerous species are confined. In fact the gleam of scarlet from the coat of this tanager in our somber woods always seems a little out of place as though the bird were an alien. But it is wholly at home with us, and, indeed, does not hesitate to make its summer residence still farther north in Canada. Curiously enough the nearest relatives of the brilliant tanagers in the bird world are the plainly colored sparrows. The chirp-churr of the tanager is a familiar call note in our northern woods, while its song is one of the sweetest; so that altogether this species is to be classed as a notable member of our bird world.

In some localities it is accused of eating honey bees, but to offset this local habit it devours the potato-beetle and many other beetles and a great variety of caterpillars. Blueberries and other small berries also form an important part of its food.

CLIFF SWALLOW (Petrochelidon lunifrons and sub-species).

Length, about 6 inches. The rufous upper tail coverts serve to distinguish this swallow from other species.

Range: Breeds from central Alaska and northern Canada south over the United States (except Florida) and to Guatemala; winters in South America. The cliff and the barn swallow are members in good standing of the original guild of masons, and their clever constructive work in nest building with mud pellets will bear the severest professional inspection. Through much of the west the cliff swallow still attaches its mud house to the faces of cliffs as from time immemorial, and it was not until the farmers' house and barn offered a satisfactory substitute for granite and sandstone bluffs, that the bird became really numerous in our eastern States. In some localities this swallow is not a welcome guest about the homestead as its nest is apt to contain parasites which the good housekeeper fears. Such parasites, however, are not to be dreaded as they will live only on birds. The cliff swallow performs invaluable service to man since its food consists wholly of insects, and among them are many pestiferous kinds, such as leaf bugs, leaf-hoppers and the boll weevil. Whoever then protects this and other species of swallows and encourages their presence on their premises does good and patriotic service and can moreover be sure of adequate reward.

WESTERN TANAGER (Piranga ludoviciana).

Length, about 7 inches. The combination of orange-red head, black back, and yellow under parts are distinctive.

Range: Breeds from northeastern British Columbia, southwestern Mackenzie and southwestern South Dakota to the mountains of southern California and New Mexico; winters from central Mexico to Guatemala.

Discovered in Idaho by Lewis and Clarke in 1806, this tanager has thus been known more than a hundred years in which time it has become one of the most familiar of western birds. It is a common inhabitant of both the western Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and is very much at home among the pine woods of which it is the brightest ornament. In general its habits are like those of its scarlet cousin, and it also has a sweet song very similar in general effect. In California this tanager has acquired an evil reputation by attacks on the cherry crop, and there is no doubt that when it assembles in large numbers in the fruit districts it is the cause of heavy loss to small fruit growers. Under ordinary cir cumstances, however, the greater part of its food consists of insects, many of them harmful, and it is only fair to balance the good the bird does against the harm. Two very harmful families of beetles, whose larvæ are wood borers and do much damage to trees and other plants, are represented in the food. The planting of berry bearing trees near the orchard would no doubt prevent much of the loss, occasioned by this bird, which by no means occurs every year. For the rest the fruit grower must be allowed to protect his fruit in the best and most effective way.