No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST, 263 



sitcli spraying have been exaggerated both by the people and 

 the press. We cannot say that no birds die from eating live, 

 poisoned insects, from eating poisoned foliage or from drink- 

 ing poisoned water, but after several years' study of the sub- 

 ject it seems safe to assume that although probably some birds 

 are fatally poisoned, they are the exception and not the rule. 

 Probably there is far more destruction of birds where un- 

 sprayed trees are stripped of their foliage by the gypsy moth 

 and the brown-tail moth than where spraying is done and the 

 foliage is saved. The defoliation of the trees by these insects, 

 which exposes the nests of the birds to the sun and rain, and 

 to their natural enemies, results in the death of nearly all 

 young birds in a region so defoliated, while the spraying 

 probably kills at most comparatively few. The dearth of 

 birds in parts of the region infested by the gypsy moth and 

 the brown-tail moth is no doubf due largely to defoliation, 

 as well as to the filling of holes in trees where birds formerly 

 nested, and the cutting down of trees as well as the cutting 

 and burning of underbrush. These operations, which are 

 necessarily a part of the work of the moth suppression, are 

 not destructive to birds if not carried on in the nesting season, 

 but they drive them away. The effect of the spraying opera- 

 tions upon birds may be illustrated by the case of the rose- 

 breasted grosbeak. This bird is very fond of the Colorado 

 potato beetle. Potatoes have been sprayed with Paris green 

 and other arsenical insecticides ever since this beetle first 

 appeared in New England, and there is much circumstantial 

 evidence which seems to point to the death of rose-breasted 

 grosbeaks which have fed among the poisoned potatoes. 

 Nevertheless, the Colorado beetle has furnished a new food 

 supply for the gTosbeaks, and the birds appear to be more 

 numerous in Massachusetts than they were forty-five years 

 ago, before the beetle was introduced. 



The results of the investigation of the year follow. 

 Letters were sent early in ]\Iay to many correspondents, and 

 notices were published widely in the press requesting all 

 persons finding dead birds near sprayed trees to send them to 

 the State Ornithologist for examination. Much correspond- 

 ence resulted and many dead birds were received at this 



