SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 255 



eat away the wood, and thus destroy the leading shoot or 

 main stem of the tree. As the side shoots grow upward 

 they also are attacked, and the tree is ruined for timber. 

 Instead of growing a tall, straight trunk, it grows straggling 

 branches. Quite often the leading shoot of a tree is attacked 



Fig. 113. Pine top killed by pine 

 weevil. 



Fig. 114. Tree crooked and ruined for 

 timber by pine weevil. 



in this way year after year. Each attack results in a crook 

 in the trunk, and the tree when grown is fit only for kindling 

 wood. Perhaps no insect is a greater pest to the lumberman 

 than this. While examining the work of this insect in a 

 fine grove of young white pines I saw that many of the bur- 

 rows had been perforated by birds, and the grubs extracted. 

 It appears that Dr. Fitch also noticed this, for he says that 

 small birds are very efficient in ferreting out and devouring 



