44 



material with which to construct its purse-like nest. Its food consists largely of leaf- 

 eating caterpillars and beetles. It is also particularly fond of the moths which fre- 

 quent the trees for the purpose of laying their eggs ; of these moths it devours large 

 numbers, and in this way materially assists in keeping down the army of leaf eaters 

 which so frequently strip our trees of their foliage. Very few of our birds will eat a 

 hairy caterpillar, but when they eat a female moth before she has laid her eggs they 

 destroy at one stroke a whole brood of these pernicious creatures, and to this work 

 the Oriole devotes itself with great industry. I have on several occasions obtained a 

 brood of young Orioles and hung them out in a cage near my house for the purpose 

 of discovering the nature of the food brought to them, and found that fully one-half 

 consisted of moths; unfortunately I did not keep a record of the number of these 

 brought in any one day, but it was very large, and the usefulness of this bird in keep- 

 ing down the swarms of destructive caterpillars, by cutting off the source of supply, 

 was clearly exemplified. 



During the summer of 1900 I received a number of reports as to the valuable 

 work done hj Orioles in clearing off Tent caterpillars. In several cases my informants 

 stated that they watched the birds at work in their orchards day after day destroying 

 these pests and that in the end they completely cleared the trees of them. 



A most interesting account of the operations of a pair of these birds was sent 

 me by Mr. Yarwood, of Picton. He says: "A pair of Baltimore Orioles delighted me 

 this summer by building in a silver maple in our door yard. As I was going in to 

 breakfast one morning, when the caterpillars were but lately hatched and had small 

 nests, I saw an Oriole cleaning one of the little nests out. When T came out after 

 breakfast he had finished that nest and was engaged on another. His appetite seemed 

 to be immense. They must have eaten an enormous number of insects, for they raised 

 four or five of a brood. * * * * j ^[^ j^q^ Icisive to spray any gooseberries aud 

 currant bushes this year. I would notice branches that worms had started on, but 

 some enemy had devoured them." 



When the cherries ripen the Oriole displays a certain partialiiv for fruit, but 

 the small quantity they take may well be spared them, more particularly as il is only 

 in this direction that they levy any toll for their services. The brilliant coloring of 

 the male, his flute-like note, and the ingenuity displayed in the construction of the 

 nest, all commend these birds to the lover of nature, and we could well spare a few 

 cherries for the sake of having them about our gardens, even if their usefulness was 

 less pronounced than it is. In the southwestern portions of our Province the 

 Orchard Oriole occurs. It differs from the Baltimore in being smaller, and in color 

 being chestnut and black, instead of the orange and black which marks the present 

 species. Its habits are much the same as those of the familiar Baltimore, but it is 

 too rare to have any economic value. 



BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 

 Description. 

 BROJ^ZE GRACKLE— CROW^ BLACKBIRD. 



Adult male. Head, neck, throat and upper part of breast, varying from brilliant 

 metallic purple to bluish green or steel blue; back metallic bronze; wings and tail 

 metallic purplish or bluish black, lower breast and bsUy siuiilar to the back but 

 duller. 



Adult female. Much duller, the back and belly brownish, sometimes without 

 metallic reflections. 



