46 TWEiq^TIETH CENTURY CLASSICS 



twigs, to pick out a seed^ an insect from a leaf, or larva 

 hidden in a bud. Pretty birds ! that with their familiar, 

 unsuspicious ways win our love; and in addition to this 

 should receive a warm welcome for the good they do in 

 ridding the forest and fruit trees of their many pests. 

 Mr. Samuels, in " Birds of I^ew England," says : 



" In some localities the Titmouse is regarded as in- 

 jurious, from the fact that it is often seen among the 

 branches and leaves of the fruit trees and shrubs, pecking 

 off and destroying the buds. It does not do this to the 

 bud for food, but really for the grub contained in it. If 

 these buds be examined after the Chickadee has thrown 

 them away, the burrow of a grub or caterpillar will be 

 found in the very heart of them. The bir& is able to dis- 

 cover the presence of these vermin much more readily 

 than man could, and it is thus able to assail them at a 

 period of their existence when they are doing the most 

 harm. But it is not the insect and the larva alone that he 

 destroys. His microscopic eyes enable him to discover 

 their eggs deposited on and in the crevices of the bark and 

 in the buds, and in an instant he can destroy the whole 

 future brood. The eggs of the moth of the destructive 

 leaf-rolling caterpillar, those of the canker worm, the 

 apple tree moth, and others of these well-known plagues, 

 are greedily eaten up by it; and this is in the inclement 

 winter, when most of our other birds have abandoned us 

 for a more genial climate. 



" In the summer time, the Chickadee's labors are more 

 easily noticed; and as he raises a large brood of young, 

 the female laying six or eight eggs at a litter, he is very 

 busy through the whole day in capturing vast quantities 



