340 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



before the spraying began, seven male redstarts were singing 

 along the street between his house and Mount Auburn; soon 

 after the spraying they all disajopeared, and no redstarts have 

 been breeding there since. Mr. Brewster's garden is en- 

 closed by a cat-proof fence, and is a favorite resort for birds. 

 But soon after the spraying the only bird songs to be heard 

 there were those of the robin, yellow warbler and red-eyed 

 vireo. Nearly all the birds disappeared in those years except 

 a pair of red-eyed vireos, a pair of robins, one yellow war- 

 bler whose mate vanished, and one i)air of cuckoos. The 

 first year three dead birds were found ; the second year, five. 

 The species were yellow-throated vireos, a flicker, a redstart 

 and a water thrush. 



On the contrary, Mr. F. H. Kennard informs me that 

 when spraying was going on near him he never missed a 

 bird from its accustomed haunts. The question arises 

 whether the insecticide used in his locality was the same in 

 strength and character as that used at Cambridge. 



The first conclusive evidence that spraying with arsenate 

 of lead was fatal to bird life was obtained in 1907 by Mr. 

 A. II. Kirkland. He had the digestive organs of a cuckoo 

 examined, which had been picked up dead in the vicinity 

 of sprayed trees. Both lead and arsenic were found in its 

 stomach. 



In the spring of 1908 extensive spraying operations were 

 conducted against the gypsy moth, the brown-tail moth and 

 the elm-leaf beetle. Reports came in that many birds were 

 dying. A request was inserted in some of the daily papers 

 to the effect that dead birds should be sent to the State Or- 

 nithologist for examination, but less than a dozen birds were 

 received. The injuries of two black-billed cuckoos evidenced 

 that they had been killed by flying against wires. Other 

 birds showed marks of the teeth or claws of cats, with con- 

 tusions and coagulations which left no doubt regarding the 

 cause of death. There were only four whose death could not 

 be accounted for by some other means than spraying. The 

 organs of digestion of these four were examined by Dr. B. 

 F. Davenport, but neither arsenic nor lead were found. The 

 chemist then suggested that in future cases it would be 



