* 
14 
Similar work is done in the last stage upon the full-grown and tough 
leaves (see fig. 7). 
A most peculiar kind of damage by the caterpillars of this species 
has been observed by Dr. Lintner in Albany, N. Y. There, in the 
summer of 1883, he found that the tips of many twigs were girdled 
by the caterpillars, which had entirely removed the bark for a tenth 
of aninch. Such twigs broke off and fell to the ground, with their 
leaves. This damage was so common in 18835 that the sidewalks of 
the streets and public parks wherever the American elm was growing 
were sprinkled with the newly fallen leaves. Dr. Lintner was of the 
opinion that a cold spring and the sudden advent of warm weather 
caused an unusually vigorous growth of the terminal twigs, and that 
the young tips were therefore unusually tender. They thus proved 
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Fia. 5.—Tussock-moth caterpillar. First, second, and third stages—enlarged (original). 
appetizing to the tussock-moth caterpillars, which developed a new 
habit for the occasion. This peculiar damage was repeated in 1895, 
but to a less extent. No other observer in any part of the country 
has ever reported similar damage. 
The young caterpillars drop down, suspended by silken threads, at 
even a slight jarring of the tree, and frequently spin down without 
such disturbance, and are blown to a considerable distance by the 
wind. When nearly full grown they are great travelers, crawling 
down the trunk of the tree upon which they were hatched and across 
a considerable stretch of ground, to ascend another tree. When they 
occur in numbers, an extensive migration will always take place from 
a tree which has been nearly defoliated, and the species spreads mainly, 
if not entirely, in this way. Just as is the case with the gypsy moth, 
