THE BLUE TITMOUSE. 93 



they are most partial, or in search of which they 

 are not only more assiduous and successful, but 

 employed more in the proper season than many of 

 the so-called insectivorous species, and especially 

 more than any of the Warblers. These last-named 

 quit the country at the close of the summer, leaving 

 the insects to deposit their eggs, and before they 

 return, these eggs have been hatched and the 

 mischief has been done. The Tits, on the other 

 hand, watch the buds, more particularly the fruit- 

 buds, from the time of their formation in the autumn 

 until they begin to expand in the spring ; and the 

 number of eggs and larvae of the Tortrices and 

 other insects which they pick up, would, if left 

 alone, be quite sufficient to ruin the crops and dis- 

 figure the trees. 



" The larvae of these lurking moths not only do 

 mischief themselves, but are also the cause of mischief 

 being done by others. The injury which they do 

 to the young buds, in the very cores of which they 

 batten, gradually brings on that languid action in 

 the tree in consequence of which the influence of 

 the sun, which in healthy plants would bring out a 

 rich and luxuriant foliage, induces a saccharine 



