INSECT-EATING BIEDS. 



201 



senger-pigeon was accustomed to breed in considerable num- 

 bers in a forest not for from his house. Now a few pairs may 

 be seen in the spring 

 and fall migrations, but 

 none in the summer. 

 In the same county ten 

 years ago the rufl'ed 

 grouse was quite abun- 

 dant, but now it is rare 

 that any are seen ex- 

 cept in the deepest 



woods, and then only Fig. U.-Slue-jay. C.cristata. 



an occasional pair, most of them having been snared and sent 

 to the Boston market, laws to the contrary notwithstanding. 

 Formerly some six or seven species of sea-ducks bred among 

 the islands of Massachusetts. Now none are to be found ex- 

 cept the dusky-duck, and that in no great abundance. 



INCREASE OE INSECTS. 



As a result of the decrease in 

 the number of birds we find that 

 insects have been steadily increas- 

 ing, and the aggregate loss through 

 their agency is now much greater 

 than in former years. Since 1860 

 the damage done each year by such 

 insects as the canker-worm, cur- 

 rant-worm, wheat-midge, Hessian- 

 fly , &c. , has been greater and great- 

 er, so that in some sections the cul- 

 tivation of particular crops has been 

 almost abandoned. New species of 

 noxious insects are constantly being 

 discovered by entomologists and 

 others, while many species before unknown in this country 

 have been introduced by the importation of plants, &c., from 

 Europe. Insects that are abundant in the West are gradually 

 working eastward, as the Colorado potato-beetle, and only 

 earnest study and effort will prevent the continued increase of 

 these pests of the land. 



26 



Fig. 15. — Wliite--winged Crossbill. 

 Gurvirosira leucoptera. 



