312 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



trees. The gypsy moth is placed first in order, as it is an 

 imported insect, and is considered the most injurious of all. 

 As the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which has expended 

 more than a million dollars in an attempt to exterminate this 

 insect, has now given up the task as impracticable, and as it 

 is now probably only a question of time before the insect 

 will spread over the country, all birds which may assist in 

 holding it in check assume the utmost importance. The next 

 insect in order, the brown-tail moth, another importation 

 from Europe, bids fair also to become here, as in Europe, a 

 pest of the first class. While this insect does not feed on so 

 many trees and other plants as the gypsy moth, it has already 

 proved itself a serious nuisance here, destructive to fruit, 

 shade, orchard and forest trees. The State Legislature hav- 

 ing neglected to provide for the extinction of this insect when 

 it first appeared, it is rjjpidly spreading, and is now known 

 to have obtained a foothold in Maine and New Hampshire. 

 The tent caterpillars, both the canker worms, the tussock 

 moth, and the white grub or May beetle, are all well-known 

 and destructive native pests, while plant lice are probably 

 known among farmers, gardeners and foresters everywhere. 

 The methods pursued in gaining the information given in the 

 lists below have been described in tiie crop rei)ort for Sep- 

 tember, 1899.* This work has been supplemented by 

 stomach examinations. 



Birds feeding on the Gypsy Moth (Porthetriadispar, Linn.). 

 The list of birds given in 1896 in the report on the gypsy 

 moth enumerated only 38 species, while 40 are included in 

 the list given below. Several of those not included in the 

 earlier list have been found since to be habitual feeders on 

 this insect. Among these are the scarlet tanager and the 

 Nashville and golden-winged warblers. There is little doubt 

 that this insect as it becomes disseminated will be attacked 

 by other birds, and it is believed that several species not 

 given in the list are now attacking it ; but, in view of the 

 general belief that birds do not eat hairy caterpillars, care 

 has been taken to secure the most positive proof before in- 



• Birds as destroyers of hairy caterpillars, annual report, Massachusetts State 

 Board of Agriculture, 1899, p. 316. 



