|!I)S IX THKIK KKLATIOXS TO MAX. 



Fortunately, cut-worms and their allies form a largo pro- 

 portion of Hie food of many birds. They are especially used 

 by the old birds for feeding the nestlings. 



The families of silk-spinning moths and their allies for- 

 merly included under the Bombycidse, but now subdivided 



into many groups include a 

 number of the most injurious 

 insects affecting fruit and shade 

 trees. The larv;e of this group 

 are hairy caterpillars which 

 feed upon loaves, and when 

 full grown spin silken cocoons 

 for protection in the pupa state. 

 The tent caterpillar of the apple 

 and wild cherry, the fall web- 

 worm, the tussock-caterpillar, 

 and many similar insects bo- 

 long here. One of the most 

 notably destructive members 

 of the group is the gypsy 

 moth, recently so prominent 

 before the public in Massachu- 

 setts. The two sexes of the 



TENT ,-ATERI-II.I.AR-^XKM- BAIlJEIl BY U( ] u [ t ^{^ J,, ^Jg gp^.^g faf_ 



fer greatly : the general color 



ofjhe male is brownish and of the female whitish. The eggs 

 are laid in bunches in a great variety of situations, and the 

 resulting hvrv;e feed upon the foliage of nearly every kind of 

 tree and shrub. 



Comparatively few birds attack the hairy caterpillars of this 

 group, but some as the cuckoos and blue-jays devour them 

 eagerly. The European cuckoo is said to regurgitate the mass of 

 skins thus swallowed ; probably our species have a similar habit. 

 The larger bombycid caterpillars like those of the cecropia 

 and polyphemus moths are eaten bv some of the hawks. 



