206 



THE OOLOGIST 



duce from 50,000,000 to 60,000,000 of 

 their kind a year. The natural in- 

 crease of one pair of gypsy moths 

 would defoliate the United States in 

 eight years, according to one of Uncle 

 Sam's experts. The locust, army 

 worm, cinch bug and others reproduce 

 with equally alarming rapidity. 



Against these myriads which threa- 

 ten vegetable life and, in turn, the ani- 

 mal life which feeds on it are natural 

 agents to preserve the balance in na- 

 ture. 



The appetite of a bird is not a pro- 

 verb. Why it is not is uncommon hard 

 to determine. The observed feats of 

 birds are much more remarkable than 

 those of pigs or other animals with 

 large appetites. 



Voracious Appetites. 



Birds eat most of the time and in- 

 sects are their principal diet. The old 

 bird is quite as revenous as the young. 

 A young crow will eat twice his weight 

 in a day. A young robin has been 

 known to eat sixty-eight angle worms 

 in a day; scarlet tanagers have accom- 

 plished the feat of eating thirty-five 

 gypsy moths a minute for eighteen 

 minutes at a stretch; the yellow- 

 throated warbler is credited with be- 

 ing able to devour 10,000 tree lice in 

 a day. An Ontario scientist fed a 

 young robin seventy-five cut worms a 

 day for fifteen days and the bird seem- 

 ed willing to continue the remarkable 

 feat. 



Game birds, no less than insectiver- 

 ous birds, live on insects. Prairie 

 chickens, quail, grouse and wild tur- 

 keys feed their young very largely on 

 insects. 



In this appetite, a demand for tiny 

 prey in huge quantities, which wakes 

 with each new sun as eager and strong 

 as on the day before, lies a large part 

 of the safety of the crops of the United 

 States. Senator McLean, speaking in 

 behalf of his bill, quoted with approval 



the statement that "men who have 

 had this subject at heart and in hand 

 for many years assert that bird life is 

 one of the most indispensable balanc- 

 ing forces of nature." 



Game and insectiverous birds have 

 been charged with feeding on seed to 

 such a degree that they prove destruc- 

 tive to crops. Careful observation, ac- 

 cording to the Biological Survey, dis- 

 l)roves this contention.- — San Francisco 

 Bulletin. W. A. Strong. 



San .lose, Cal. 



Copy Wanted. ■ 



We are very short of copy. What 

 is especially desired is short pithy bird 

 notes and observations unaccompanied 

 by illustrations. We have on hand a 

 very large amount of illustrated copy. 

 We want articles unaccompanied by il- 

 lustrations. 



The December number will be out 

 promptly on the 15th of the month 

 and possibly the 10th and all advertise- 

 ments must reach us here at Lacon by 

 the first of December. — Editor. 



Early June Birds of Cresson, Cambria 

 County, Pa. 

 Cresson is a small town and summer 

 resort lying on the Allegheny moun- 

 tain plateau, in Eastern Cambria Co. 

 During the first week of June, 1913, a 

 friend and I made a trip to this region, 

 having heard that it was inhabited 

 each summer by several species of 

 "Northern birds." At noon, on June 

 6th, we left the train and made our 

 way to a road which led away from the 

 town and through a wood. No sooner 

 had we entered this wood than the 

 pretty song of a Slate-colored Junco 

 reached our ears. Nearby a Least Fly- 

 catcher sat perched in a small tree, 

 uttering its peculiar notes. Some dist- 

 ance further on we heard the clear 

 notes of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 



