BIRDS FEEDING ON THE MOTH. 223 



Birds attracted to Infested Localities. 



The attraction of birds to infested localities and the num- 

 bers of gypsy moths destroyed by them there may be best 

 realized by visiting a badly infested spot at a season when 

 all forms of the insect are to be found upon the trees. At 

 such a time the birds which feed upon the moth may be 

 observed to the best advantage. For this purpose one 

 should rise before daybreak and be on the ground before 

 sunrise, as many birds are in active pursuit of insects at that 

 time. 



Upon approaching at dawn a badly infested spot in wood- 

 land, the stroke of a flitting wing, the rustle of dead leaves, 

 an occasional shower of scattering dewdrops, a chirp or alarm 

 note heard here and there, all denote the presence of birds in 

 the woods. Their forms are still hidden or only dimly visible 

 in the uncertain, growing morning light. The infested spot 

 has the appearance of an opening or clearing. We emerge 

 in what appears to be a dead forest. The trees wear no foli- 

 age. The pines, oaks, birches, poplars and wild cherries are 

 stripped and bare. The few leaves which still hang upon the 

 young maples and walnuts only accentuate the general naked- 

 ness. There are sounds, not of the wind or storm, and yet 

 akin to these, pervading the woods, sounds as of dry 

 leaves stirred by a rising breeze, mingled with those of the 

 tine pattering raindrops of sudden showers. These are caused 

 by the hosts of gypsy caterpillars which have devastated the 

 woods. The sound of their feeding is in the air, their 

 excreta rattle like raindrops on the dead leaves. As the 

 rising sun throws level beams across the hillside, the tracery 

 of the bare, interlacing branches and twigs is reproduced 

 upon the barren upright rocks of a rugged ledge. There is 

 little or no summer green, except the moss on the stones 

 along the stream, and a few small shrubs which have not 

 yet been wholly stripped. Upon the bare trees, especially 

 those near the edges of the defoliated tract, hundreds of 

 thousands of hairy caterpillars swarm. Many of them are 

 now hurrying down the trunks and crawling away to places 

 of concealment, seeking shelter from the sun's rays. Many 

 more, having been travelling perhaps throughout the night 



