WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



use, his depredations in the vineyards have be- 

 come a serious matter. 



But, after all, these robberies, annoying as they 

 may be locally, are but a slight compensation for 

 the invaluable services he renders the gardener in 

 the destruction of hosts of noxious insects. At 

 first beetles and hymenopterous insects form his 

 diet, and he seeks them with restless agility among 

 the opening buds. As the season progresses, and 

 the caterpillars begin to appear, he forsakes the 

 tough beetles, and rejoices in their juicy bodies, 

 being among the few birds that will eat the hairy 

 and disgusting tent-caterpillar of the apple-trees. 



About the middle of September the Baltimore 

 orioles begin to disappear, and by the last of the 

 month all have left the northern States for their 

 winter - quarters in Mexico, Central America, or 

 the West Indies. 



