350 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



meat, they do not depend entirely on this aliment, but spend 

 the greater portion of their time in searching for insects 

 and eggs in the immediate vicinity. 



Finding a plentiful supply of food, the chickadees re- 

 mained about the orchard most of the winter, except for a 

 week or two, when the supply of meat was exhausted, but 

 they were lured back again later by a fresh supply which 

 was placed in the trees. Not only were the chickadees 

 attracted to the orchard in large numbers, but other birds 

 came also. A pair of downy woodpeckers (Dryobates pu- 

 bescens) and two pairs of nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) 

 were frequent visitors, and a few brown creepers (Certhia 

 americana) came occasionally. All these paid frequent 

 visits to the meat and suet, and also thoroughly inspected 

 the trees in search of insect food. They made excursions 

 also to the trees in the neighborhood, but the greater por- 

 tion of their attention was confined to the orchard in which 

 the bait was suspended. As they became more accustomed 

 to Mr. Bailey's presence, they grew quite tame and could 

 be viewed at a distance of a few feet. Indeed, chickadees 

 frequently alighted on his person and occasionally took 

 food from his hand. He was thus enabled to determine 

 accurately (without killing them) what they were feeding 

 upon, and was soon convinced that they were destroying 

 the eggs of the canker-worm moth in large numbers, as 

 well as the hibernating larvse and pupas of other insects in- 

 jurious to trees. 



To determine how many eggs a single chickadee would 

 eat, a few birds were killed and their stomach contents ex- 

 amined, with surprising results. There was no difficulty 

 in identifying the eggs of the canker-worm moth which 

 were found in the birds' stomachs, as a great portion of the 

 shells remained intact. The other insect contents of the 

 stomachs were identified for me through the kindness of 

 Mr. A. II. Kirkland, B.Sc, assistant entomologist to the 

 State Board of Agriculture, who made the examinations. 

 Although it was impossible in all cases to learn with cer- 

 tainty the species to which certain insects belonged, it was 

 evident that they could be referred to genera known to be 

 of injurious habits. 



