BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LICE. 133 
the above-mentioned eating cankerworms, but could not keep any one 
individual in- sight more than a few seconds at a time. By 7.45 most 
of them had left the orchard. I saw a Least Flycatcher alight on a 
branch of an apple tree near me, and when it saw a cankerworm move, 
it would fly and snap it up from the leaf. I saw it take nine in this way 
before it flew away. In the swamp 
a Yellow Warbler came to the wil- 
lows, and, after foraging in the top 
for a time, alighted on one of the 
shoots that was infested with the 
gipsy moth, took fifteen of the larvee 
in less than five minutes, then flew 
out of sight. A Nashville Warbler also came and 
remained among the willows for about half an 
hour, and took forty-two gipsy moth larve while 
in sight, but must have taken away many more, 
for he was not in sight all the time. A Rose- 
breasted Grosbeak came to the apple tree and ate 
fifty-seven brown-tail larvee. He was in the tree about twenty minutes, 
and was singing and eating all the time. He probably ate more than 
I was sure of. 
May 15.— An Oriole ate fifteen of the tent caterpillars from the web 
at one sitting, and nine in about twenty minutes after. ‘The Robin was 
still hanging around the brown-tail moth tree, but I did not see her eat 
any. A Chestnut-sided Warbler came and stayed about twelve minutes, 
and I counted twenty-eight brown-tails that he ate. 
May 16.—I found that one large tent that was full of caterpillars a 
week ago contained only three to-day, and a large part of the web had 
been carried away by the birds for nesting material. Just after I had 
opened the web an Oriole flew to 
it and took one of the remaining 
caterpillars. The Orioles are eat- 
ing immense numbers of canker- 
| worms. The row of apple trees 
nearest the woods now show but 
Fig. 43.— Caterpillar of the brown-tail little signs of the presence of 
mosh cankerworms. <A pair of Scarlet 
Tanagers came to the brown-tail moth tree. The male stayed seven- 
teen minutes and the female ten minutes. The male ate at least forty- 
four larvee, and probably many more. They took only those that were 
on the leaves, and they examined all leaves that were curled up, and 
took from them all the larve they contained. A Wood Thrush came 
to the tree just at night, and perched and sang for nearly half an hour. 
Occasionally he would move along the branch and pick a brown-tail 
larva or two. The Black and White Warblers came again, stopped a 
moment, taking two and three each, then flew away. 
Fig. 42.— Nashville 
Warbler, natural size. 
QY Ai i aa 
