Ninth Report of the State Entomologist 357 



that these robins must have destroyed hundreds of grubs on my prem- 

 ises that summer. 



In " Bulletin No. 5 of the N. Y. State Museum of Natural History,'* 

 the robin was merely named among a few other birds that Avere said to 

 feed on white grubs, in the absence of any definite information of the 

 extent to which they entered into its food. That in addition to its 

 other well-known insectivorous habits, it is also an active white grub 

 destroyer, should certainly increase our regard for it, and secure as far 

 as possible its protection. 



A Maple-Tree Pruner, Elaphidion parallelum. 



The following communication and reply is from the Country Gentle- 

 iniati of September 9th, 1886 : 



" I enclose a sample of fallen limbs taken from beneath the orna- 

 mental maples that help to beautify the grounds surrounding the coun- 

 try residence of Hon. J. B. Dutcher, Pawling, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 

 These pieces represent portions of boughs that have been cut off by a 

 worm, and have fallen to the ground. 



" So extensive is the injury inflicted by these insects that the handsome 

 tree tops are becoming sadly disfigured by the unequal dismemberment of 

 twigs and limbs that daily drop out, even if nothing worse results from 

 it. The section of wood illustrates the manner in which the damage 

 "by these pests is effected. A knife has been passed longitudinally 

 through one of the pieces to expose the interior of the wood. It will 

 be seen that the heart or pith throughout the entire length of the piece 

 has been destroyed. You will also please observe that the end of one 

 of the sticks is a cross-cut, made by the worm, the woody part being 

 neatly severed, while the outer covering or bark was left intact. It is a 

 peculiar feature characterizing the work of this worm that it first 

 enters the wood at the junction of a twig or limb with its larger parent 

 stem. Having reached the heart, it turns and follows this until satis- 

 fied with the length of the tube bored out, and is then ready to cut the 

 limb off. The reason for selecting a knotty point wherewith to com- 

 mence business is known only to the instinct which prompts it to 

 injure the tree at all. The work of cutting off the limb is done from 

 its resting place in the heart of the wood, the cut thus radiating out- 

 wardly in continually enlarging circles until all is detached excepting 

 the bark. There is, apparently, no av.ersion to attacking at any point 

 other than a knot at this stage of the work, — the clear wood of the 

 inclosed specimens being squarely cut off at an intermediate point 

 between a growth of knots» 



