vigorously dig into the sod until it is unearthed. Mr. E. H. Forbush 
(28) reported an unusual abundance of white-grubs in a cranberry bog 
at Wareham, Mass., nearly every plant being killed; but the following 
season robins appeared in large numbers, and by digging into the soil 
and pulling out the grubs they practically cleared the field of the pests. 
The crow is often similarly active in destroying white-grubs in sod land, 
especially when they are abundant. In 1912 the writer saw a badly 
infested pasture at Galena, IIl., in which the sod had been literally over- 
turned by the crows in their search for grubs. 
Witp Mammats anp AMPHIBIANS 
Of the mammals known to destroy white-grubs and the parent 
May-beetles the common skunk (Mephitis mephitis—Pl. XV, Fig. 60) 
is undoubtedly the most important, and it has been repeatedly mentioned, 
since the early records by Harris, as a very efficient destroyer of white- 
grubs. In speaking of the remarkable capacity and fondness of skunks 
for grubs Dr. Lintner remarks (45): “I have often watched them, and, 
incredible as it may seem, I could not say that they ate less than half a 
bushel daily.” Mr. D. E, Lantz, in his discussion (44) of the “Economic 
Value of North American Skunks”, speaks of the common skunk (Me- 
phitis mephitis), the white-backed skunk (Conepatus sp.), and the little 
spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) as very important destroyers of 
white-grubs and May-beetles, basing his conclusions on extensive field 
observations as well as on studies of stomach contents; and other 
workers of the U. S. Biological Survey (21) write similarly. Mr. Frank 
C. Pellett (54) concludes from five years’ observation of this mammal 
in the field and in confinement that it is a valuable friend in destroying 
insect and rodent pests, and that “the poultry-killing habit is accidental 
and unusual and confined to a small percentage of the individuals”. 
Because of its nocturnal habits the skunk is seldom seen at work, but 
Mr. Norman Criddle (14) tells of watching a skunk catching May- 
beetles at night, and later in the season, after the beetles had disappeared, 
of observing the activities of skunks in search of grubs. In an 8-acre 
field infested with white-grubs, near Aweme, Manitoba, the work of two 
or more skunks was quite apparent, and he estimated that they had de- 
stroyed 116,160 grubs in this one field. 
In connection with our own studies we have frequently observed 
the work of the skunk. In 1912 Mr. Henry Geske, of McGregor, Iowa, 
told us of observing an old skunk roll up grub-infested sod, thus expos- 
ing the grubs, which she and her young ate eagerly. More often the 
animal detects the presence of a grub by a keen sense of smell and 
secures it by digging a small hole at the spot where she knows it to be. 
The writer was called to Lagro, Ind., November 3, 1911, to investigate 
a reported *white-grub injury to fall wheat. A week previous the grubs 
were common near the wheat plants, cutting off the roots, but on the 
day when we visited the field scarcely a grub could be found, most of 
them having been destroyed by skunks; at nearly every stalk of wheat 
