72 



three grasshoppers, thirty one saw-flies, fourteen bugs, six flies, and twelve spiders. 

 As in the case of the Black-billed Cuckoo most of the caterpillars belonged to hairy 

 species and many of them were of large size. One stomach contained twelve Ameri- 

 can tent caterpillars; another, two hundred and seventeen fall web-worms. The 

 beetles were distributed among several families, but all more or less harmful to 

 agriculture. In the same stomach which contained the tent caterpillars were two 

 Colorado potato beetles. The saw-flies were in the larval stage in which they re- 

 semble caterpillars very closely. ]\Iany species of saw-fly larvse are exceedingly 

 injurious, among them being the well-known currant worm. 



At Midsummer the Yellow-billed Cuckoo seems to be much more active at 

 night than during the day. In the trees around my house I commonly hear them 

 as they forage for food at all hours from sunset to dawn. 



CUCKOOS. 



Description. 



BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 



Upper parts clear olive brown, with a greenish gloss, wings and tail the same, 

 the latter tipped with white. Under parts dull white; in the adult the eyelids 

 scarlet; yellow in birds of the first season; no rufous on the wings; bill blackish 

 except an occasional trace of yellow on lower mandible. 



L., 1L75; W., 5.50; T., 6.50. 



Nest, in bushes or low trees. Eggs, two to five, pale greenish blue. 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 



Upper parts clear olive brown, with a greenish gloss; wings mostly reddish 

 chestnut on inner webs of the quills; central tail feathers like the back, the rest 

 black with large white blotches at tips, the outer feathers margined with white; 

 lower mandible chiefly yellow. 



L., 12.00; W., 5.50; T., 6.50. 



Nest, in bushes or low trees. Eggs, four or five, pale greenish blue, 



VIEEOS. 



Vireos. Among the most voracious, and therefore the most useful, of our in- 

 sect-eating birds are the Vireos, or Green lets, as they are sometimes called. The 

 famJly contains six species, of which the Eed-eyed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, and 

 Warbling Vireo are fairly common summer residents, breeding in our orchards 

 and shubberies throughout their range in the Province. The Yellow-throated Vireo 

 is uncommon, but probably breeds where it occurs. The White-eyed Vireo is a 

 southern form which has been recorded only once in Ontario, and the Blue-headed 

 Vireo is a regular and not uncommon migrant in spring and autumn, probably 

 breeding in the interior. All these Vireos glean their insect food from the trees 

 and shrubs, never descending to the ground in search of it, and their appetite 

 seems to be insatiable; even in the hottest weather, when most birds retire to the 

 shade and rest for a time in the middle of the day, these birds are active and 

 constantly feeding. 



All insect-eating birds require about their own weight of insect food every 

 day, but if I may judge from my experience in trying to feed some of them in 



