138 USEFUL BIRDS. 



twelve minutes in the apple tree, and were busy all the time eating 

 brown-tail larvie. I could see but one distinctly, and he ate forty-three 

 brown-tails that I saw, and probably a few more, but not many. 



May 26. — I watched a Maryland Yellow -throat on the low willow 

 sprouts, and saw him pick off fifty-two gipsy moth larvae before flying 

 away. I saw Warblers flying in and out among the trees, taking one 

 here and another tliere all the time I was there, but could not watch 

 any one individual for any length of time. The Yellow Warblers were 

 taking them from the trunks as well as the sprouts, and also in the tops 

 of the tall trees. A pair came to a bunch of sprouts near me, and I 

 counted thirty-five gipsy larvae that they took in the two minutes they 

 were there. A pair of English Sparrows have a nest in a hollow tree in 

 the grove, and they are almost continually chasing the Warblers and 

 other birds that come near them ; but I did not see them feed any in the 

 grove, — they go out to the streets and dooryards. The Redstarts were 

 also eating large numbers of the larva?. One that I got near enough 

 to observe ate thirty-one gipsj^ larvte before he left the clump of willows. 

 At the brown-tail moth tree a Black-billed Cuckoo came, and, going 

 to a branch where the larvae were very numerous, began eating them 

 greedily. He had taken four mouthfuls when a Robin, that has a nest 

 in a pine tree near, chased him out. A Yellow-throated Vireo came to 

 the tree and ate fourteen brown-tails in less than five minutes. He 

 probably ate many more, as he could not be distinctly seen nearly all 

 of the time. A Red-eyed Vireo came to the opposite side of the tree 

 and ate several larva?, but his doings could not be clearly seen. A 

 male Indigo Bird i^erched on the topmost branch of the apple tree and 

 sang for several minutes, then hopped down a branch or two and 

 picked the larva? from the brancli. I saw him eat sixteen of them 

 (brown-tails) after he had hanuuered them on the branch. 



May 27. — A Yellow-billed Cuckoo came to a willow tree near me 

 and ate forty-seven forest tent caterpillars in six minutes, then flew 

 to a small maple tree and sat on a branch for nearly ten minutes and 

 plumed his feathers, then returned to the willow and ate sixteen more, 

 and flew away. lie would take the caterpillar and hammer it once 

 or twice, then swallow it. A Blue Jay came, and took two of the 

 forest tent caterpillars and flew away with them. A male Redstart ate 

 three forest tent caterpillars. He would take one, fly to a neighboring 

 branch, hammer it well, swallow it, then go back for another. A male 

 Oriole came to the tree three times during the forenoon, and fed on the 

 forest tent caterpillars. The first time lie came he stayed four minutes, 

 and took eighteen caterpillars ; the second time he stayed seven minutes, 

 and took twentj^-six larviB ; and the last time he stayed about ten min- 

 utes, and ate fourteen larvas. At the brown-tail moth tree there were 

 quite a number of birds feeding in the surrounding trees, but not nearly 

 all the species visited the apple tree. A Red-eyed Vireo came to the 

 tree and would take the brown-tail moth larvae and hammer them a 



