37 



Bi'own thrasher, 

 House wren, 



White-breasted nuthatch, 

 Bed-breasted nuthatch, . 

 Chickadee, 

 Wood thrush, . 

 Wilson's thrush, 

 American robin, 

 Bluebird, . 

 Cedar waxwing, 



Harporhynchus I'ujus (Linn). 

 Troglodytes cedon (Vieill.). 

 Sitta carolinensis (Lath.). 

 Sitta canadensis (Linn.). 

 Parus atricapillus (Linn.). 

 Tardus mustelinus (Gmel.). 

 Turdus fusccscens (Steph.) . 

 Merula migratoria (Linn.). 

 Sialia sialis (Linn.). 

 Ampelis cedrorum (Vieill). 



Birds Feeding on tiie Pupje or Imagoes. 



Yellow-billed cuckoo. 



Black-billed cuckoo 



Hairy woodpecker. 



Downy woodpecker. 



Yellow-bellied sapsucker 



Kingbird. 



Great-crested flycatcher. 



Phoebe. 



Wood pewee. 



Least flycatcher. 



Blue jay. 



Crow. 



Baltimore oriole. 



Chipping sparrow. 



Towhee. 



Rose-breasted grosbeak 

 Indigo bunting. 

 English sparrow. 

 Scarlet tanager. 

 Red-eyed vireo. 

 Yellow-throated vireo. 

 Black-and-white warbler. 

 Yellow warbler. 

 American redstart. 

 Catbird. 



BroAvn thrasher. 

 Chickadee. 

 Robin. 



Bluebird. 



Assuming that our observations have proved that birds eat hairy cat- 

 erpillars it may be interesting to inquire why has not this fact been 

 previously noticed. It will be seen at once, by one who makes a study 

 of the subject, that the error which has been so long persisted in arises, 

 first, from a lack of careful observation. 



It is not strange that the cuckoos should have been known for years to 

 feed on hairy caterpillars. The cuckoos are sizable birds ; they are not 

 shy, and as they feed on the larger caterpillars when those insects are 

 full grown, and as both cuckoos and caterpillars are common in the 

 vicinity of dwellings, their habits in this respect could not escape the 

 most casual observer. But to observe the habits of shy birds, such as 

 the crows and jays, which feed on the larger caterpillars, is much more 

 difficult; and to learn the feeding habits of the smaller birds, which 

 feed mainly on the minute larvae soon after these larvae have hatched from 

 the egg, is still more difficult. Reliable observations of this class can 

 be made only by trustworthy and skilled obseiwers, who can devote time 

 to the task. 



But, it may be asked, why have not those who have dissected the 

 stomachs of the birds discovered that they were eating hairy caterpillars 

 to a considerable extent? To this it may be answered that up to the 

 present time most of the knowledge that has been gained in regard to 

 the destruction of hairy caterpillars by birds has been gained from 

 stomach examinations, and it is by stomach examinations mainly that 

 light has been thrown on this question. Yet he who examines the 

 stomachs of small birds labors under many difficulties in determining 

 the specific character and quantity of food of this class. Minute cater- 

 pillars are speedily reduced to a pulpy mass in the bird's stomach 

 While the field observer may readily identify the small tent caterpillars, 

 for instance, on which the birds are feeding, and even count the number 

 eaten, it might be impossible for the man in the laboratory, working 

 without exact knowledge of the conditions under which the bird was 

 shot, to do either. Many of the larger caterpillars eaten by the smaller 



