THE APPLE MOTH. IK) 



filled with these holes, while adjoining rows of other kinds will be exempt. So far as 

 I have noticed, these holes have been made only in October. Sometimes they will 

 be seen in Cherry trees, and I have observed those trees thoroughly drilled. Some 

 Evergreens are so pecked in this way as to bleed the next season to an injurious 

 extent. But I have not been able to ascertain that they impair either the growth or 

 the fruit-bearing power of the Apple tree. 



The grub of the Apple Tree Borer works between the bark and the wood during 

 the first of the three years of its life, but it is always either under or so near the surface 

 of the ground as not to be likely to be found by the Woodpeckers. I have never 

 seen any bird in pursuit of this grub. The two following years it is always so far 

 within the wood as to be out of reach of the birds. I know no other grub that works 

 under the bark of living Apple trees; but an Apple tree in decay will often be found 

 teeming with grubs. 



Figure 10, PARUS ATRICAPILLUS Linnaeus. Black-cap 'Titmouse Wilson. 

 Chick-a-dee. Sp. Ch. Second quill long as the secondaries. Tail very slightly rounded; 

 lateral feathers about ten, shorter than middle. Back, brownish ashy. Top of head 

 and throat black, sides of head between them, white. Beneath, whitish ; brownish 

 white on the sides. Outer tail-feathers, some primaries, and secondaries, conspicuously 

 margined with white. Length, j; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.50. Hal. Eastern North 

 America along the Atlantic border. 



March 7, 1864. The Chick-a-dees are flitting about upon the Apple trees in 

 the orchards and Maple trees in the swamps chick-a-deeing and very happy, and 

 why not ? in these bright warm days after the long cold winter. This is one of 

 the creepers quick in all its motions. 



March 8. Shot a Chick-a-dee to-day, but the contents of its stomach were so 

 comminuted that it was impossible, without the aid of the microscope, to distinguish 

 anything positively. Some portions looked like parts of beetles, and others seemed 

 like the broken shells of the eggs of moths and butterflies. Could see no seeds. 



The habits of these minute little friends are delightful. You see two, three, 

 four, sometimes more in an Apple tree, climbing up pendent twigs and examin- 

 ing them all round, apparently in search of the eggs or minute larvae of insects. 

 Next you will see their little beaks working among the moss on the older branches. 

 Then they will be pecking at something like a beetle in a crotch. Next there will 

 be a gentle whistling call, and all will be off" to the next tree. Often other birds, 

 especially sparrows, will be seen closely following these restless little fellows, as if 



