272 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and young. The following list includes the birds I have 

 seen feeding on the army worm the present sunmier : king- 

 bird, Phoebe, bobolink, cow bird, red-winged blackbird, 

 Baltimore oriole, crow blackbird, English sparrow, chipping 

 sparrow and robin. Hens, turke^^s and guinea fowls also 

 devour large quantities of army worms. 



Meadow larks, crows and flickers were seen apparently 

 feeding upon the army worm, but I was unable to approach 

 near enough to verify this observation. There was, how- 

 ever, an abundance of army worms on the ground in the 

 places where these birds were feeding. At the Jordan farm 

 several quail were heard in the swamp land adjacent to the 

 infested lield, and I am informed by Gen. W. W. Blackmar 

 that these birds have been seen feeding upon the arm}' worm 

 at his estate. At Marshfield a flock of quail w-as seen to 

 feed for several days upon army worms in an infested field. 

 The two species of blackbirds are apparently the greatest 

 destroyers of these insects, but the good work done by the 

 bobolink and English sparrow deserves mention. It is, 

 however, very doubtful if the services of the sparrow would 

 equal those of the native birds it has displaced. 



To verify observations an examination was made of the 

 stomachs of a few birds taken in an infested field. The 

 stomachs were found to contain army w^orms as follows : 

 cow bird, remains of army worms ; red- winged blackbird, 

 three ; crow blackbird, twenty-seven ; six English sparrows, 

 respectively, four, three, five, four, none, three. 



The o-arden toad ranks high as a destroyer of army worms. 

 These batrachians were present in all the infested fields aftd 

 seemed to feed nearly continuously. Dissections of three 

 toads revealed nine, eleven and fifty-five army worms in the 

 respective stomachs.* 



Certain parasitic flies and ground beetles usually attack the 

 army worm and destroy large numbers, but these insects have 

 been conspicuous by their absence in all localities visited. A 

 single ground beetle {Platynus siimafus) was noticed at Hing- 

 ham feeding upon the small larvae. Mr. A. I. Hay ward of 



* It is to be regretted that there is so little accurate knowledge concerning the food 

 of the garden toad, a deficiency that I hope in some measure to supply at a later date. 

 A large number of dissections of toads, made this year, show it to be a prime de- 

 stroyer of cut worms and of nearly all tlie injurious insects of the garden. 



