INSECTS OF THE GARDEN 197 



spinning down from the trees in summer the larvae burrow 

 into the ground three or four inches and there transform 

 into pupae. With great show of wisdom the fall species 

 wait until after the first hard frosts, when our summer 

 birds have flown, and then, during the first warm spell, 

 emerge to lay their eggs. They may also come forth 

 during any warm days in winter. The spring form, a 

 few of which may come out in the fall, wait until the 

 first warm weather in spring, also before many of the 

 birds are back. The male is a frail silken-winged moth, 

 while the female is wingless and must, therefore, crawl 

 up the trunk where she lays her eggs, often a hundred 

 in a plate, on the bark or on the twigs of the food 

 tree. The eggs hatch with the bursting of the buds, and 

 the year story is again begun. Our winter birds, espe- 

 cially the chickadee, eat great quantities of the eggs and 

 female moths. Professor Forbush has demonstrated that 

 an orchard can be practically rid of them by protecting 

 these birds and attracting them with winter food. The 

 wingless condition of the females makes this one of the 

 easiest insects to deal with. Bands of coal tar, mixed 

 with oil or printer's ink, are for this purpose fastened 

 around the trees. They often fail because those who do 

 the work are ignorant of the insect's life story and do not 

 put on the bands until large numbers have ascended the 

 trees and laid their eggs, or they allow the bands to get 

 dry during warm spells in the winter or early spring. 

 While the English sparrow was imported largely to destroy 

 cankerworms, they have greatly increased where the spar- 

 row has become most numerous and where our native 

 birds have, in consequence, been driven away. 



