BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 143 



half a mile. I think the best bird to destroy the moths is the Kingbii'd. 

 The Kingbirds came into the woods at 6.15 a.m. There were seven of 

 them, and they did nothing but hunt the moth until 9.30. I saw them 

 take seventy-nine males and twentj-four females. The\' dropped six 

 of the females. I'he}' would cut the wings off both males and females 

 with the bill. It is safe to sa}' that the seven Kingbirds from 6.15 a.m. 

 to 9.30 A.M. killed two hundred and tifty males. I covdd not keep one 

 bird from the rest, so I took the numV)er each time I saw a bird eateh 

 one. I did not see the birds take any males excej^t on the wing, and 

 most of the females were taken from bi-anehes of trees near the ground. 

 They almost all stopped feeding at one time, left the woods, and did 

 not come back while I was there. I saw the Chipping Spai'row take 

 five females ; three were taken from the gi'ound, two from a tree. 

 They took a number of males on the wing. They would peek both 

 males and females before eating them. There were six Least Fly- 

 catchers, and I saw them take thirty-one males and nine females. Tavo 

 of the female moths were caught by the birds when the moths were 

 falling from the tops of trees ; some other Ijird might have dropped 

 them. One was taken from the ground and six from the trunks of 

 trees near the ground. The}' took the wings off, just as the Kingbird 

 did. They took the moths only when thej- came near them. The 

 Wood Pewee took twenty -two males and seven females, that I saw. 

 There were three of these birds in the woods. Eight of the male moths 

 were taken off the trunks of trees, and twelve were taken on the wing. 

 The Cuckoos fed very little. I saw them take eight larv.-e and three 

 pupje. The larvie were peeked several times before they wex'e eaten. 

 I did not see them take any notice of the moths. The Black-billed 

 Cuckoo was hunting for a small larva in the tops of the trees ; I could 

 not get one to determine the sjiecies, but it was not the gipsy larva. 

 A large number of Chickadees came into the woods at 

 6.30 A.M., and stayed there mitil I left, but were not 

 feeding all the time. I saw them take several male gipsy 

 moths from the bark of the trees, Ijut did not see them 

 take any on the wing. I saw one bird take a female moth 

 and pick it all up in very small parts. Another bird took 

 a female, took only the wings off, and ate her. They were hunting 

 for some small insect that is feeding on the new leaves, but I could not 

 tell what it was. I saw eight pup;>? taken by the Chickadees, and all 

 of them were pecked open by the bird before any part was eaten. The 

 Baltimore Oriole came, found four small gipsy moth larvfe, and I am 

 sure took one male moth on the Aving. The Redstarts took several 

 male moths on the wing. A Yellow Warbler took a male moth from 

 the trunk of a tree and ate it. A number of Towhees were hunting for 

 the moths, and took the female as readily as the male. I saw them 

 take eighteen in all ; then they left the ground where they had been 

 hunting, and went into the tops of the trees, hunting for the moths. 



