PROCEEDINGS OF THE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 701 



instinct ? It is a word wo use to answer a question, but it is not a defini- 

 tion. The insect world is full of such wonders. They arc the manifesta- 

 tions of the guiding hand of God Almighty." 



JARRING THE TREES. 



" June 9. Visited Brooklyn to-day to see the worms. At one place I 

 saw a negro man with a pole some twent}'' feet long, with a cross-piece 

 about six inches in length, fastened to one end of it; and with this he was 

 jarring the 'critters,' as he called them. He was the most sensible man I 

 had ever met with on the worm question. He jarred and jarred, and I 

 picked up till I got my handkerchief full, and then he killed the remainder." 



THE CEDAR BIRD. 



" Later in the day, after a shower, I visited Madison Square, to see about 

 that flock of cedar birds. While talking with the keeper of the park about 

 them, I heard the familiar low, whispering whistle, like a boy just begin- 

 ning this accomplishment of youth, when he cannot get out the sound 

 above his breath. Soon a few could be seen coming to a tree near us, and 

 very soon more, and then almost continuously, until several hundreds were 

 busily at work within fifty yards. These birds have been every day more 

 or less for two weeks, generally coming early in the morning and towards 

 evening, but often at other times also. To-day they grow so familiar from 

 being undisturbed, that I could approach within three or four yards of those 

 at work on the under branches. Here was no necessity to kill and dissect 

 to know what they eat. 



"The cedar bird has not the foot of the woodpecker and creepers; they 

 are not so graceful in the pursuit of their game as the orioles and warblers, 

 but they have become wonderfully expert in taking these span-worms. 

 Sometimes they will reach out to their utmost extent from the twig they 

 stand on to the worm on another; often the twig yields so much to this 

 pressure in the opposite direction, that the bird misses the worm, and has 

 quite a flutter to recover himself, but as soon as righted up, he tries again, 

 persevering till he gets the prey. Often they would take the worm from 

 the end leaf of a pendent twig, where t]iere was no way of reaching it 

 except on the wing as the fly catchers do, hovering over their intended 

 victims like the king fisher and the ospray. 



"Some few of the worms are already curling their leaves that arc to be 

 their cocoons. As soon as they shut themselves up in these houses, they 

 begin to contract in length, the lower part of the body grows larger, and 

 they lose their activity. This seemed something new to these birds, and I 

 was very much amused at the difliculty they had in getting the worms out, 

 especially where the bird and worm — or rather chr^'salis — were on separate 

 twig.s. The bird, when he would take hold, would pull hard, bringing the 

 two twigs suddenly together, and leaving no chance of purchase; then he 

 would let go, and away the two would separate with a spring. It would 

 now take some time to adjust matters, but he would try again. In one case 

 I counted ten attempts before the prize was secured." 



