146 USEFUL BIRDS. 



flew out and went to the meadow land near by, and were searching for 

 grasshoppers most of the day. I could hear them feeding their young 

 there very often. Whenever I left the jjlace for a few minutes to go to 

 the spring they would fly back again. I counted nine Blue Jays in the 

 colony at one time, and they were all busy eating the larva? and pup*. 

 I could see only one distinctly, and he ate five pujije and two larvse in 

 two and one-half minutes. A family of Oven-birds were scratcJiing 

 about on the ground among the thick bushes. They were walking 

 about like a flock of chickens, and took the larvae that were crawling 

 on the ground or that happened to fall from the leaves. A young 

 Cuckoo was perched in the oak s]) routs near me. The old bird 

 brought him larvas at the rate of one every two minutes for about 

 thirty-six minutes ; he then went into the swamp. A Red-eyed Vireo 

 came into the colony and ate steadily for forty minutes. He ate sev- 

 enty-three larvaj that I saw. He would hold the larv* with his feet, 

 pull out the inside, eat it, and drop the outside. A Downy Woodpecker 

 eaiue into the colony, ate two pupse, and then flew away. 



July 14. — The Crows are still in the colony, back and forth, when 

 no one is there. They fly out when they see any one. They seem to 

 be eating great numbers of the piipte. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo came 

 in the early morning and fed forty-eight minutes, and ate eighty-one 

 larvae. He would beat each one once or twice and swallow it, then rest 

 a short time before taking another. Chickadees are still here in large 

 numbers, and are eating a great many caterpillars, as they 

 eat only the inside. Blue Jays are still eating large quan- 

 tities of larva; and pupse, but their actions cannot be seen 

 accurately, as they are so shy. Black-billed Cuckoos are 

 here to-day, as before. I saw four at one time, and they 

 were here at intervals all day, and always eating the cater- 

 pillars. There were several Tanagers, or the same one 

 several times ; each one would eat two or three of the 

 larvJB each time he was in sight. He seemed to pick out the small 

 ones. He would hammer them well before he swallowed them. 



July 15. — When I ari-ived this morning there were three Flickers 

 in the path where the larvaj were crossing to get green food. These 

 birds were picking the larvae up as they crossed, and eating them. 

 They would hammer them on the ground. Yesterday there was a 

 Hairy Woodpecker around the colony, but I could not see what he was 

 doing. To-day he came and picked into the mass of pup;i3, pulled them 

 in pieces, and ate them. The Downy AVoodpecker was also here again 

 to-day. I saw him eat three pupfe. He was around nearly all day. 

 The Crows are getting tamer, and came several times during the day, 

 and I saw them take both larvaj and pupa3 and feed their young with 

 them. The Chickadees are here in greater numbers than any da}^ be- 

 fore; there were evidently two families of them. All were feeding on 

 the larvse, in the same manner as mentioned before. A Chewink perched 



