CHECKS UPON INCREASE OF USEFUL BIRDS. 365 



before their eyes were opened, and while they were still 

 taking their mother's milk, and could never have tasted 

 birds or egos. The}' were afterwards given to Mr. C. Allan 

 Lyford, and reared in a cage at Worcester, One day, when 

 they were well grown, one was given its liberty. The first 

 thing it did was to climb an apple tree, go to a Robin's 

 nest, and begin eating out the brains of a 3 oung bird. How- 

 ever, its eagerness for fresh meat may have been caused by 

 a lack of animal food in its cao-e diet. This habit of killino: 

 young birds has been reported from several counties in the 

 State, and must be widespread. Squirrels are quite car- 

 nivorous. When meat is put up on trees for birds, squirrels 

 frequently come and eat it ; also, they are destructive to 

 apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, and sometimes even to 

 grapes, and they dig up seed corn in [)lanting time ; but 

 they have two good habits, — they plant trees and they eat 

 insects. Once in summer, when there were no nuts, acorns, 

 or buds for squirrels to eat, I saw a gray squirrel in the 

 woods go over a black oak about fifty feet in height, search- 

 ing systematically, branch by branch, with its nose close to 

 the bark, and apparently catching about all the insects rest- 

 ing there. It went to a brown-tail moth web, and spent some 

 time there. I distinctly saw one caterpillar in its mouth. 

 The tree had been considerably^ infested by leaf hoppers and 

 caterpillars. As it had a small top, and could easily be ex- 

 amined, I climbed and inspected it after the squirrel had 

 gone. My search occupied about half an hour. The smooth, 

 clean bark formed a dark, glossy background, on which in- 

 sects could })lainly be seen, and the foliage was thin, and 

 not hard to examine; but I could find only about a dozen 

 insects, and no brown-tail caterpillars. Since then I have 

 observed other similar cases. It is not so widely known that 

 scjuirrels eat insects as that they rob birds' nests. Possibly 

 their virtues may balance their faults ; but we shall never be 

 able to determine their economic position until a thorough 

 study of their food habits can be made. 



