33 



neighborhood, but when winter set in tens of thousands still 

 remained on the outer branches beyond reach. About Decem- 

 ber 1 a pair of hairy woodpeckers came and fed daily on the 

 pupse. In the course of that month and the next, over a 

 dozen more of the birds appeared, and their industry in regard 

 to this particular pest attracted the attention of passersby. 

 When March came round not a cocoon was to be seen in places 

 where the branches had been literally white with them, and 

 this was the last that was seen of the pest. 1 



Mr. A. W. Anthony asserts that in southern California the 

 passion vine is infested by a red butterfly (Agraulis vanilla), 

 the larvae of which feed extensively upon this plant. The plants 

 are often completely defoliated, and become so unsightly that 

 in some regions many people have destroyed their vines and 

 replaced them with others less liable to breed a horde of pests. 

 Mr. Anthony says that he called on a friend living in the 

 suburbs of San Diego, who had a large number of unusually 

 thrifty passion vines climbing over his fence. Upon inquiring 

 the reason of their freedom from the inevitable pest he was in- 

 formed that a pair of road runners had paid daily visits to 

 these vines for several months, climbing through them in all 

 directions until they had captured the last caterpillar. 2 



The destruction of hairy caterpillars by birds is considerable, 

 but instances where they have killed out hairless caterpillars 

 probably are much more numerous. The late E. W. Wood of 

 Newton, Massachusetts, formerly a well-known member of the 

 Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, informed me that 

 during a season when spring cankerworms (Anisopteryx vernatd) 

 became quite numerous in his orchard, a pair of Baltimore 

 orioles fed daily on the worms, meantime building a nest near 

 by. When the young were hatched the parents redoubled their 

 diligence, sometimes carrying ten or more worms to their nest 

 at one time. Soon the cankerworms in that orchard had dis- 

 appeared. The foliage and fruit were saved for that year, 

 and for several succeeding years no noticeable damage was 

 done. 3 



Cedar waxwings are very destructive to canker worms, and, 



i Sterling, E.: Insect Life, Vol. Ill, 1891, p. 295. 



* Auk, Vol. XIV, 1897, p. 217. 



Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, Crop Report, Bulletin V, 1894, p. 30. 



