History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

Family Ampelidae.-The Bohemian wax-wing, or Ampelis
garrulus, is a recent and rare visitor. The cherry bird, or Carolina wax-wing, breeds here in August and September. They feed
upon apples, cherries and berries, but are not numerous enough
to cause any great anxiety to the pomologist.
Family i]rundinidae comprises the barn swallow, the whitebellied swallow, the eave swallow, the sand swallow and the purple martin. These birds destroy myriads of winged insects, and
make them their principal food. The swallow, though not so:showy as her gaudy neighbors, confers more real benefit upon the
people than any other member of the bird tribe.
Family Vireonidae comprises the red-eyed vireo, brotherly-love
vireo, or Vireo philadephicus, warbling vireo, yellow-throated
vireo, solitary vireo and white-eyed vireo. They feed chiefly on
insects, dwell in the forests, and seldom as they come to town, are
in a hurry to return to their rustic homes.
Family Lanidae.-The great northern shrike, or Collurio borealis, sometimes remains here to breed, but is not such a permanent settler as the loggerhead shrike, which makes its home here
the year round. The white-rumped shrike is seen here during the
summer months. They are very quarrelsome among themselves,
and savage toward other birds. They impale their victims on
thorns and leave them there until driven by hunger to eat them.
The Family Corvidae is becoming extinct, or at least, very uncommon here. During the present year the few which visited left
suddenly, contrary to all precedent. This birds are omnivorous,
and comprise among others the raven, crow and blue jay. Their
evil ways are almost compensated for by their good qualities, and
some are inclined to believe that the benefits they confer are far
in excess of the damage they do.
The Family Fringillidae is the most extensive known in the
States of the Union. It is graminivorous, except during the breeding season, when it feeds itself and young on insects. The rosebreasted grosbeak is the only member of the family which feeds
upol the potato bug. The white-crowned sparrow's food is the
grape-vine flea-beetle; the fox-sparrow and chewink search out
hybernating insects and snails; the English sparrow, a recent immigrant, feeds on seeds; the purple finch and crossbills feed on
oily seeds and the seeds of pine cones.
The names of the varied representatives of this tribe, are: The
pine grosbeak, purple finch, white-winged crossbill, red crossbill,
red-poll linnet, mealy red-poll, pine linnet, goldfinch, snow bunting, Lapland longspur, Savanna sparrow, bay-winged bunting,
ye low-winged sparrow, Henslow's, Lincoln's, swamp, song, chipping, field, clay-colored, white-throated, white-crowned, fox, and
English sparrows. The latter bird was introduced here in 1873-'4.
The blue-bird, martin, swallow, and other sparrows have to fly before the approach of their legions. The lark, finch, black-throated
bunting, rose-breasted grosbeak, the indigo bird and the Towhee
bunting, or chewink, are not so destructive as the English spar