The Red-winged Blackbird breeds in Mexico and North America south of the Barron Grounds; winters in southern half of United States and south to Costa Rica.
The blackbird is frequently an inhabitant of the woods; but in the winter it comes into the gardens of the villages and towns. It is very fond of fruit, and thus often ravages the orchards and strawberry gardens.
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), resembles a sparrow, but its tail feathers are acute. Length seven inches. It breeds from Ohio northeast to Nova Scotia, north to Manitoba, and northwest to British Columbia; winters in South America.
Few species show such striking contrasts in the color of the sexes, and few have songs more unique and whimsical. In its northern home the bird is loved for its beauty and its rich melody; in the South it earns deserved hatred by its destructiveness. Bobolinks reach the southeastern coast of the United States the last half of April just as rice is sprouting and at once begin to pull up and devour the sprouting kernels. Soon they move on to their northern breeding grounds, where they feed upon insects, weed seeds, and a little grain. When the young are well on the wing, they gather in flocks with the parent birds and gradually move southward, being then generally known as reed birds. They reach the rice fields of the Carolinas about August 20, when the rice is in the milk. Then until the birds depart for South America planters and birds fight for the crop, and in spite of constant watchfulness and innumerable devices for scaring the birds a loss of ten per cent of the rice is the usual result.
Canary (Fringilla) is a beautiful but very common cage-bird, much esteemed for its musical powers. It is native to the region about the Canary Islands. Its color is grayish brown and dusky green, but the numerous artificial breeds show varieties of yellow and black markings, crests, etc. Naturally monogamous, the male sings best to win the love of the female. She incubates the eggs, he feeds the young. Six eggs are produced four times a year. Canaries cross readily with allied species. They have been domesticated for nearly four centuries.
Distinct varieties have been produced by scientific selective breeding, and these reproduce their distinctive characteristics, and “like breeds like” so long as the varieties are not crossed. The hardiest are the Norwich; the largest are Lancashire Coppies; the most costly and delicate are Belgians. Lizards, London Fancies, Yorkshires, Scotch Fancies, and Cinnamons practically complete the list.
Catbird (Mimus Carolinensis) is a species of Thrush common in eastern United States, so called from its peculiar note. It is very dark colored, about nine inches long, and nests in low bushes early in May. It breeds throughout the United States west to New Mexico, Utah, Oregon and Washington, and in southern Canada; winters from the Gulf States to Panama. The bird has a fine song, unfortunately marred by occasional cat calls. With habits similar to those of the mocking bird and a song almost as varied, the catbird has never secured a similar place in popular favor. Half of its food consists of fruit, and the cultivated crops most often injured are cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Beetles, ants, crickets, and grasshoppers are the most important element of its animal food. The bird is known to attack a few pests, as cutworms, leaf beetles, clover-root curculio, and the periodical cicada, but the good it does in this way probably does not pay for the fruit it steals.
Chickadee (Penthestes atricapillus).—The Chickadees are among the most popular birds that we have, owing to their uniform good nature even in the coldest weather, and their confiding disposition. They are common about farms and even on the outskirts of large cities they will come to feasts prepared for them on the window sill with their clear “phe-be,” “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” or “dee-dee-dee,” and several scolding or chuckling notes. They nest in hollow stumps at any elevation from the ground but usually near the ground, and most often in birch stubs. Their eggs are white, sparingly speckled with reddish brown. They range and breed in the northern half of the United States and northward. The Carolina Chickadee (Parus carolinensis) is smaller and with no white edges to the wing feathers, and is found in southeastern United States, breeding north to Virginia and Ohio.
Crossbills (Loxia) are the most highly developed members of the Finch family, characterized by having the tips of the upper and lower bills crossing so as to facilitate extraction of seeds. Males are reddish, females brownish olive in general coloration. The crossbill lives chiefly in the pine plantations, where it feeds for the most part on the seeds of the pine, cleverly opening the cones with its pointed beak. It hatches in all seasons of the year.
Finch (Fringilla) is a name applied to many birds but generally used with some affix, as in the familiar names bullfinch, chaffinch, and goldfinch. A finch is usually small, has a hard, conical beak, and generally lives upon seeds. The distribution is almost world-wide, excepting Australia. The buntings and the weaver-finches of the Ethiopian and Australian regions are usually kept distinct.