162 USEFUL BIRDS. 



the " needles " after the Kinglets had left them, and could find 

 nothing on them ; but when a bird was disturbed before it had 

 finished feeding, the spray from which it had been driven was 

 invariably found to be infested with numerous black specks, 

 the eggs of plant lice. Evidently the birds were cleaning 

 each spray thoroughly, as far as they went. 



Since the above was written several of these infested sprays 

 have been sent to Prof. F. E. L. Beal of the Biological 

 Survey, who submitted them to Mr. Pergande of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, who says that they are the eggs of a plant 

 louse of the genus Lachnus, and in all probability Ladinus 

 sirobi, the white pine louse. The pines are considerably 

 infested, and several pairs of Kinglets have been seen feed- 

 ing upon the eggs. 



Again since the above was written I have had occasion to 

 observe the work of Kinglets in our home grove of white 

 pine. For the past two years certain plant lice or bark lice 

 that infest these trees have been increasing so rapidly in 

 the grove as to menace the trees; but on Dec. 29, 1905, 

 seven Kinglets were seen feeding there. As it was unusual 

 to see so many there, they were carefully watched. They 

 were not working upon the foliage, as in the case mentioned 

 above, but mainly on the trunks and larger branches. They 

 were very unsuspicious, and it was easy to see that they 

 were feeding upon the eggs of the aphids. Some of these 

 eggs were sent to Dr. L. O. Howard, who gave it as his 

 opinion that they belonged to some species of Lachnus. 

 These eggs were deposited in masses on the bark of the pines 

 from a point near the ground up to a height of thirty-five feet. 

 The trees must have been infested with countless thousands 

 of these eggs, for the band of Kinglets remained there until 

 March 25, almost three months later, apparently feeding most 

 of the time on these eggs. Wlien they had cleared the 

 branches the little birds fluttered about the trunks, hanging 

 poised on busy wing, like Hummingbirds before a flower, 

 meanwhile rapidly pecking the clinging eggs from the bark. 

 In those three months they must have suppressed hosts of 

 little tree pests, for I have never seen birds more industrious 

 and assiduous in their attentions to the trees. One might 



