jBtoteg from jTtrtti anti ^tutip 



Birds and Caterpillars 



Last year, at Brandon, Vermont, the 

 tent-caterpillars were so abundant as to 

 be a serious injury and annoyance. 

 They lay in close rows, making wide 

 bands on the tree trunks. They spun 

 down from the upper branches and fell 

 upon the unfortunate passers-by. They 

 crawled through the grass in such num- 

 bers that it seemed to move in a mass 

 as one looked down upon it. Under 

 these circumstances, birds might be ex- 

 pected to do strange things, — and they did. 



The pair of Downy Woodpeckers which 

 lived near us were frequently seen on 

 the ground picking up the crawling tent- 

 caterpillars. They seemed to prefer tak- 

 ing them from the ground to taking them 

 from the trees, though there were more 

 on the tree-trunks than on the ground 

 eyen. And the Woodpeckers seemed to 

 have no difficulty in moving on the 

 ground, though they moved more slowly 

 than when dodging around a tree. 



Two mountain-ash trees on the place 

 were infested by borers, though only 

 slightly and only near the ground, and 

 at the foot of one of these trees the 

 Downy Woodpeckers made many a stand, 

 while they probed the borer-holes with 

 their bills. 



The Cuckoos came boldly into the village 

 and fed and fed, flying about quite openly. 

 The Nuthatches flew to a band of cat- 

 erpillars on a tree-trunk, and were so 

 busy and absorbed in devouring the 

 crawlers that I could put my hand on 

 them before they started to fly, and then 

 they merely flew to another tree close by, 

 and attacked another mass of caterpillars. 



Blackbirds waddled over the grass by 

 the sides of the streets picking up the 

 crawlers, and even a Woodcock spent 

 several hours in the garden and on the 

 lawn, apparently feasting on tent- 

 caterpillars, but I could not get near 

 enough to be sure. 



The Vireos — White-eyed, Red-eyed, and 

 Warbling — the Cat-birds, Cedar-birds, and 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks did good service 

 ■ to the trees and human beings, but the 

 most evident destruction was done by the 

 Chipping Sparrows when the moths 

 emerged late in the summer. The moths 

 were very abundant after four o'clock in 

 the afternoon, flying about the trees to 

 lay their eggs, and then the Chippies be- 

 came fly-catchers for the time, and flew 

 straight, turned, twisted, dodged, and 

 tumbled ' head over heels and heels over 

 head ' in the air, just as the course of the 

 hunted moth made necessary. A quick 

 snap of the beak, and four brownish 

 wings would float down like snowflakes, 

 and their numbers on the walks, roads 

 and grass showed how many thousands of 

 moths were slain. In spite of the un- 

 wonted exercise the Chippies waxed fat, 

 but not as aldermanic as the Robins, which, 

 earlier, gorged themselves on the cater- 

 pillars until, as one observer said, "their 

 little red fronts actually trailed on the 

 ground." — Caroline G. Soule, Brook- 

 /I'f/c, J/ass. 



An Odd Nesting Site. 



I have never seen an account of 

 a House Wren taking up his abode in 

 another bird's nest. It seemed, therefore, 

 at first incredible when, early this summer, 

 we saw a Wren frequenting a deserted 

 Baltimore Oriole's nest and apparently 

 start housekeeping in it. This nest was in 

 one of the outermost branches of a large 

 sugar maple about twenty feet from the 

 ground and the same distance from the 

 farm-house, and was completely filled with 

 twigs by its tenants. The little Wren's 

 choice was the more remarkable, in that a 

 number of bird houses had been placed 

 about the grounds for their special accom- 

 modation. I believe none of these were 

 occupied, and this pair deliberately pre- 

 ferred the Oriole's nest. — L. H. Schwab, 

 Sharon, Conn. 



;i66) 



