354 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



fear, as in the case of a visit from a hawk, cat or shrike. 

 Whenever a cat appeared they immediately hid behind the 

 branches and remained quiet until the intruder had passed. 

 The appearance of other enemies or the firing of a gun 

 would produce much the same effect. 



The woodpeckers and nuthatches which frequented the 

 orchards were not seen to eat the eggs of the canker-worm 

 moth. As they were not numerous, none were killed. Mr. 

 Bailey observed, however, that the nuthatches were eating 

 many scales which they found on the limbs of the apple- 

 trees in a neighboring orchard. In relation to these scales 

 the following note from Mr. Kirkland is of interest : — 



March 20, 1895. Mr. Bailey brought in specimens of apple 

 twigs infested with the bark scale louse, 3fi/tilaspis pomorum. 

 He reported that the nuthatch was feeding on them. These twigs 

 were infested in a worse manner than I have ever seen before. 

 They were literally covered with the scales. On one small twig, 

 one-half inch in diameter, I counted 367 scales on one inch of the 

 twig. The eggs contained in a number of scales varied from 62 

 to 83, with an average of 70. 



These scales, when numerous, are very injurious to the 

 apple-tree. Each scale covered .a dead female of the pre- 

 ceding year and the hibernating eggs, ruany of which must 

 have been disposed of by the nuthatches. It was shown, 

 both by observation and dissection, that birds feeding in 

 the sam'e neighborhood and upon the same trees showed 

 considerable variance in the character of their food. King- 

 lets taken had no canker-worm eggs, but had eaten largely 

 of bark borers. "Woodpeckers seemed to confine themselves 

 to the larvae of borers and to wood-ants and other insects 

 which bore into the wood of the tree. Chickadees and nut- 

 hatches ate the pupa? and eggs of insects found upon the 

 bark or in the crevices of the trunks. No birds were seen 

 to eat the eggs of the tent caterpillar, nor were any found in 

 the stomachs of any of the birds examined. It seems prob- 

 able that these eggs are so protected by a hard covering 

 that they are not eaten by most birds. 



It is impossible, in the limited space at our command, to 



