62 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



the pine weevil. All of these insects work serious damage to 

 our forest growths, and .if not held in check by their natural 

 ■enemy, would soon become a serious proposition to owners of 

 wild lands. Every one who raises fruit for home consumption 

 or for market feels himself almost helpless when signs of the 

 borers appear in his trees. Their method of work is so insid- 

 ious that only the trained eye can detect evidences of their 

 ravages before the trees are ruined. But the downy wood- 

 pecker is always on the lookout for these borers. Expert at 

 auscultation and percussion he explores suspicious localities 

 and quickly detects evidences of secret chambers within. Cheer- 

 ful and industrious he gives utterance to his labor song, pick, 

 pick, and suits his actions to his words by picking out the boring 

 larva within. 



During the summer months other tree-trunk inhabiting birds 

 come up from the South to aid the downy in his work. Chief 

 among these in his importance to the fruit grower is the black- 

 and-white creeping warbler. This is a common bird in the 

 orchards, and woodland, and may be called fairly abundant in 

 the groves and smaller clumps of trees around New England 

 villages. He is the particular favorite of the young naturalist 

 being generally the first of the warbler family to be carefully 

 studied. He is fitted for a life upon trunk and branch, but the 

 tail is not used in climbing and his bill is too slender for cutting. 

 He may be seen during the summer season creeping about over 

 the tree trunks, often hanging head downward searching dili- 

 gently here and there, over and back, in search of insect food. 

 Like the woodpecker he sings at his work, and his song is the 

 ■embodiment of his life's purpose, being a monotonous but not 

 unmusical / see, I see, I see. And he does see every bark louse, 

 canker worm, bark beetle, curculio, click beetle, caterpillar, 

 resting moth, and hidden egg. He reaches for the larvae that 

 are spinning down from the branches, darts like a flycatcher for 

 flying insects that have been startled from their hiding places by 

 his approach, and when the trunk has been cleared, he often 

 descends to the ground for cutworms. Hairy caterpillars are 

 a favorite morsel, and he really enjoys eating the dreaded gypsy 

 and brown-tail larvae. 



It may be well to digress for a moment to note the enormous 

 amount of food required daily by nestling birds and the constant 



