35 



As the wtirin clays of spring revivify vegetation and the sap 

 ascends the trunlvs and branches, the buds expand and open to the 

 sunlight. The same warm sun which brings forth the leaflets stirs 

 to life the embryos within the millions of insect eggs deposited 

 among the trees, and even before the leaves have opened, hordes 

 of tiny caterpillars are seeking every crevice in the buds. 



A Avarm wind blows from the south, bringing new life to leaf 

 and insect. Tiny perforations are now plainly seen, where each 

 worm has gnawed bud or leaf. During the night swift wings are 

 heard, with many a cry and chirp, as the birds come in on the 

 warm south wind. And when the sun again appears, filling the 

 woods with warm odors from the steaming ground, its rays light 

 up a procession of beauty, for the migrants from the south have 

 come. Thus come they always when the spring has prepared 

 their food for them, and now the wood is alive with merry warb- 

 lers, swinging actively from bough to bough and lightly pecking 

 the tiny caterpillars and plant lice from their resting-places on 

 the twigs and leaves. The birds pass on, destroying countless 

 numbers of insects as they go, and are succeeded by other busy 

 throngs. This goes on during the latter part of May, when, not- 

 withstanding the inroads made in their numbers by the birds, the 

 caterpillars have become so numerous and destructive that in 

 some places many branches are denuded of their foliage. But 

 soon the young of the resident birds are hatching, and they re- 

 quire an enormous amount of insect food. Thrushes, sparrows, 

 swallows, flycatchers, warblers, wrens, cuckoos, titmice, black- 

 birds, jays and many other birds of the forest, orchard, pasture, 

 field and meadow all repair to the grove, where food is so plentiful 

 and so easily obtained. Soon the destruction of the caterpillars 

 is doubled, as the young birds, fully fledged, are led by their 

 parents to these favorable spots. The trees in some localities 

 have >now been almost entirely denuded of their foliage, and 

 stretch out their bare arms as if in supplication for deliverance. 

 Their branches are festooned with the webs and threads spun by 

 feeding worms. Many of the insects have pupated, and some 

 have emerged from the chrysalis, but the birds are still busy 

 among the desolated woods. Sparrows, thrushes, cuckoos, jays 

 and crows are hopping among the branches or upon the ground, 

 picking up, killing and devouring the caterpillars or tearing open 

 the cocoons. Flycatchers are flitting about among the trees, 

 catching the flying moths. Titmice are searching in the crevices 

 for eggs. The young of the grouse, quail, towhee and thrush are 

 fed largely upon insects on or near the ground. They destroy 

 vast quantities of these during the summer. 



