SONG BIBDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 



169 



p. 150, in Avliicli an attempt was made to foster and pro- 

 tect tlie birds in an old and neglected orchard, with a view 

 to observing the etiect of sucli a policy upon the trees. 

 The Chickadees were at- 



!( 



^ 



tracted to the orchard in 

 Avinter, and were seen 

 destroying thousands of 

 eggs of the fall canker- 

 worm moth, and many 

 eo;o--bearin2r females as 

 well. A few of the bii'ds 

 were killed, and their stomachs examined for evidence cor- 

 roborative of our observations. The following notes are 

 taken from the record of the experiment, as published in 

 the annual report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agri- 

 culture for 1895 : — 



Fig. 52. — Fall cankerworm moth: n, male 

 motli ; b, wingless female motli ; c, d, structural 

 details. 



Bird No. 1, 

 Bird Xo. 2, 



216 

 278 



Making in all ten hundred and twenty-eight eggs found in the stomachs 

 of four birds. Four birds killed later in the season had eaten the 

 female imagoes of the spring cankerworm (^Paleacrita veniata), as 

 follows : — 



Moths. I Moths. 



Bird No. 1, . . • -^M ^'^^^^ ^o- 3. ... 27 



Bird No. 2, . . . 18 | Bird No. 4, . . . 19 



Making a total of one hundred and five. In Nos. 2, 3, and 4 of the last 

 table there were a large number of eggs also. It is safe to say that 

 there were one hundred and fifty eggs in each stomach, in addition to 

 the female moths eaten. 



Fig. 53. —Apple twig, with eggs of the cankerworm moth. These eggs are eaten by 



the Chickadee. 



Mr. C. E. Bailey carefully counted the eggs in the ovaries of twenty 

 of these female moths, with the following results : — 



