102 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUIT. 



farmers, when they see flocks of crows ransacking their fields and meadows, instead 

 of offering bounties for their destruction, should be thankful that there is something 

 to keep the grasshoppers and other insects in check. 



In April last I dissected a Meadow Lark. I found its stomach filled with the 

 rings or sections of what are often called thousand-legged worms lules. These 

 insects are found about the roots of grass a little under the surface. The beak of the 

 Lark is long, strong, and tapering to a very sharp point. The beak of this one was 

 coated with earth. 



In July I shot another. It had been feeding on beetles and other insects com- 

 monly found on the ground in pastures. In December, when the ground had been 

 covered with snow for several days, a Lark was opened. It had been feeding on 

 seeds, chiefly oats and wheat. Crows shot at this time were found to contain black 

 marsh mud, with here and there the off-shoots of bulbous roots. 



The winter birds as well as the poultry, except when the ground is covered with 

 snow, will help us in the destruction of our insect enemies. The Grasshoppers in the 

 stomach of the Crow, and the lules found in the Lark, show that they have a faculty 

 of detecting the hiding-places of these insects in their torpid condition, or a sense of 

 sight wonderfully acute. It is a recognised fact that the Crow knows from the 

 wilted appearance of certain plants where to find the destroying grub at the root. 

 Could we know exactly what the stomachs of a party of hens contain after a foraging 

 expedition to an orchard, we should probably re-arrange our figures giving the profit 

 and loss account of Poultry. 



" Protection against the Curculio. It has frequently been remarked that fowls were more or less a 

 protection against the Curculio. A striking example of this has been shown the present reason in the grounds 

 of Wm. H. Southwick, New Baltimore, N. Y. He has many very handsome Plum trees, of good size, healthy, 

 and vigorous. Several of these trees of different kinds are inclosed in yards where fowls are kept separate 

 inclosures being necessary for the different breeds which are here bred. The trees in the fowl-yards are 

 loaded with plums, while on the trees not so inclosed almost all the fruit has been lost by the sting of the 

 Curculio." Cultivator, Sept. 1861. 

 1 



NOTE. On page 49 of this volume, on the next line to the bottom, the word "peach" is printed instead 

 of "pear." Thi is an error of so much importance as to require an explicit correction. 



The young Pear crop will be much benefited by jarring off the Curculio for a few days. After this 

 the Pears will be deserted for other fruits ; but if the Peach crop is to be protected from the Curculio 

 the jarring should be continued as with Plums or Apricots. 



