70 Practical Bird-Keeping. 



abundant that it strips limes and sallows of their foliage is re- 

 jected b\' all excepting onr Cuckoo, which eats it with avidity. 

 Many of the larger and commoner stick-caterpillars 

 i^GeometridcB) are refused ; not, I believe, on acconnt of their 

 resemblance to pieces of twig, nor because they are unpleasant 

 to the taste, although the latter ma}'^ partly explain the rejection 

 by some birds of the caterpillar of the Swallow-tailed molh 

 {^Urapteryx sambiccaiia) when it has been feeding upon Irish ivy, 

 but rather because they are extremely tough. I have seen some 

 of my birds trying to break up caterpillars of this character for a 

 considerable time and giving it up in the end as hopeless; only 

 birds with powerful bills are successful. The black caterpillar of 

 the Brindled beauty {^Biston hirtaria), by no means a pretty moth 

 by the way, is easily collected from the trunks of lime-trees, but is 

 one of the toughest of its kind. On the other hand the little cater- 

 pillars of the V.-moth {Halia vauaria) a gooseberry pest, are a 

 favourite food of the Titmice; indeed I once watched a Bhie-tit 

 for quite half an hour feeding its young upon these caterpillars 

 alone : on the other hand the spotted larvse of the common 

 Gooseberry-moth {^Abraxas giossuhniata) are rejected with disgust 

 by most birds, as well as by lizards, frogs, and spiders, although 

 Mr. Page says that he has seen his Weavers eating them : the chry- 

 salides of the same moth, with their wasp-like colouring are also 

 generally refused, but the moths are occasionally accepted and my 

 male Blue-bird was very fond of them. In like manner the cater- 

 pillars of the large white butterfly {Ganoris hrassim) are generally 

 refused, but the chrysalides and perfect insects devoured without 

 hesitation. Size does not seem to alarm birds, for a Blue-tit in 

 one of my aviaries captured in the air a full-sized female of the 

 Poplar hawk moth {Sfneritiihus populi) tore off the wings and 

 carried it to a perch to eat it; neither does the so-called terrify- 

 ing attitude of certain caterpillars of hawk-moths seem to affect 

 the nerves of birds to the slightest ex'ent. The caterpillars ot 

 the Puss-moth, common on willows and poplars, is approached 

 with caution by all birds excepting the Tits, which are familiar 

 with it and lecognize it as providing an excellent meal ; un- 

 <loubtedly its very bizaire shape and coiouiing and the existence 

 of two tentacles on the last segment from which it can eject an 

 acid liquid renders most birds wary of it. 



