CHERRY TENT-MAKER 



6b 



been in the habit of feeding freely upon them, often depopu- 

 lating a nest. Last spring these birds continued their good 

 work, and did good service by exterminating a large propor- 

 tion of the colonies that were present. In Fig. 16 is shown a 

 nest in which holes had been made by one of these birds for 

 the purpose of extracting the caterpillars. The orioles are 



likely to pierce 

 the skin of the 

 caterpillar and 

 to extract some 

 of the body con- 

 tents, while the 

 cuckoos swallow 

 the insect whole. 

 This difference 

 in manner of 

 feeding may help 

 to determine 

 whether a given 

 caterpillar's nest 

 has been raided 

 by oriole or 

 cuckoo. If there 

 are many dead 

 and mutilated 

 larvas on the 

 branches near 

 the tent it was 

 probably an ori- 

 ole; if the cater- 

 pillars are gone 

 and there are no such remains it was probably a cuckoo. 



The work of few insects in early summer is more noticeable 

 than that of the Cherry Tent-maker or Ciiehry Twig-tyer 

 (Cacoccia cerasivorana), which has been extraordinarily abun- 

 dant during the last two years. This is the insect that so 

 webs the young bushes of the wild choke cherry by the road- 

 side that they look like a series of miniature white tents. 



Fig. 10. Catprpillars* nest attacked by birds. 



