MOST USEFUL BIRDS. 



215 



maiming them and dropping them upon the ground. This 

 habit of killing and dropping larvae has been observed else- 

 where.* 



FIG. 32 Blue jay. 







Chipping Sparroio. Though the chipping sparrow does 

 not rank high among insectivorous birds, and feeds largely 

 upon seeds during certain seasons of the year, it nevertheless 

 destroys very many in- 

 sects, especially lepi- 

 dopterous larvae, which 

 are injurious to trees 

 ,and garden plants. It 

 is often seen chasing 

 flying gypsy moths. It 

 appears to be fond of 

 gypsy moth caterpillars, 

 and I have frequently 

 observed it in badly 

 infested spots catching 



^Cs 



FIG. 33. Chipping sparrow. 



and killing large larvae. A young chipping sparrow shot 

 and dissected contained a nearly full-grown larva of the 

 gypsy moth, which had been swallowed head first. 



In 1891 Mr. E. P. Felt confined (for experimental pur- 



* Dr. C. M. Weed in the Ninth Annual Report of the Ohio Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, 1890, p. Iv. 



