392 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



mands for my services in many capacities were so great that 

 engagements necessarily were made which interfered sadly with 

 my laudable intentions. 



In June, on the estate of William P. Wharton and on my 

 ouoi farm, tree swallows, bluebirds and flickers were watched 

 while feeding their young, and photographed in the act with 

 insects in their bills. The flicker apparently feeds always by 

 regurgitation, carrying the food in her throat or gullet, and in 

 no case could any of it be seen in any photograph taken. Swal- 

 lows seem to carry food to -their young mainly in their mouths, 

 and although some portions of the insects projected from the 

 bill, and we succeeded in getting the camera within three feet 

 of the bird with little difficulty, it is impossible to recognize 

 the insects carried in any case. With the bluebirds, however, 

 there was little trouble, as they carried the insects in their bills 

 and held them up apparently for inspection. It was plain that 

 they were feeding their young on insects from the field, garden, 

 orchard, shade trees and the near-by cranberry bog. Caterpil- 

 lars, including cutworms and army worms, were brought very 

 often, moths occasionally, many grasshoppers, and weevils or 

 curculios were noted. The accompanying plates show how the 

 food was carried. 



Birds and the Army Worm. 



When the army worm outbreak, which extended widely over 

 the eastern States, was first reported it was impossible for me 

 to take the field on account of previous engagements. Reports 

 came in of the destruction of birds by the use of poisoned bran 

 freely recommended by entomologists, but by the time I got 

 into the field the season was nearly over, and it was too late to 

 study the effect of the bran on birds ; nevertheless, there were 

 still many army worms and many birds feeding upon them. 



On July 31, 1914, I went with Wilfrid Wheeler, secretary 

 of the State Board of Agriculture, to see some outbreaks of the 

 army worm in Plymouth County. 



On August 4 I took the first train for Oak Bluffs in company 

 with Walt McMahon. We found evidence of the army worm 

 in the brown turf all about the island near Oak Bluffs, and at 



