No. 4.] BIRDS AND CATERPILLARS. 317 



Among the earliest of these statements now at hand is one 

 from a writer in the " Annales de I'lnstitut Horticole de Fro- 

 mont," vol. 5, p. 311, published in Paris in 1833. In dis- 

 cussing the opinion promulgated by the Natural History 

 Society of Gorlitz, that the diminution of fruits is on account 

 of the diminution of birds, he places the caterpillar of the 

 gj'^psy moth at the head of the list of injurious caterpillars, 

 saying that ' ' above all it is very essential that it be de- 

 stroyed." He says further that, as these caterpillars are 

 armed with long hairs, the birds guard well against bringing 

 them to their young, and that in twenty years of observation 

 he has not seen a single example. He also states that these 

 insects when in the chrysalis are not sought by birds. 



Statements like the above have been received without 

 question, and the inferences and conclusions drawn by the 

 earlier writers appear to have been accepted and promulgated 

 by others. In recent years, however, more accurate knowl- 

 edge seems to have been gained by a few observers at home 

 and abroad in regard to this matter. The ornithologists of 

 our national Department of Agriculture have added much to 

 our knowledge of the subject. 



The purpose of the present article is to furnish conclusive 

 evidence that the hairs with which some caterpillars are 

 armed are not a sufficient protection to guard them from the 

 attacks of birds, many of which eat quantities of them and 

 some also feed them to their young. It is also intended to 

 show that many birds feed upon these insects later in the 

 chrysalis or in the imago. 



Those species of birds which feed upon hairy caterpillars 

 are among the best friends of the farmer and horticulturist, 

 in so far as they prove destructive to these insects, many of 

 which are among the worst enemies of farmers and fruit 

 growers. 



When one attempts to disprove a theory which has been 

 widely accepted for many years his readers are naturally in- 

 clined to be skeptical as to his conclusions, and to question 

 the accuracy of the observations on which such conclusions 

 are based. Therefore, a brief description of the methods 

 used and a statement of some of the results obtained will be 

 necessary here. 



