218 USEFUL BIRDS. 
Its bill seems well fitted to wrench out the seeds of coniferous 
trees from their cones, but a large part of its summer food 
consists of insects, among them many of the greatest pests 
of woodland, orchard, and garden. Hairless caterpillars are 
continually sought. Much skill is evinced in extracting leaf- 
rollers. The bird has been seen feeding to some extent on 
the caterpillars of the gipsy moth and the tussock moth. It 
is fond of beetles and their larvee, particularly those of leaf- 
eating and wood-boring species. Dr. Warren found a few 
wasps and flies among the food of this bird. In early spring 
the eggs and hibernating pup of insects are taken from 
crevices in the bark. On the ground the Grosbeak finds 
large caterpillars like the army worm, and some grasshoppers 
and locusts. Here also it eats the seeds of weeds. Professor 
Beal says that he cxamined the stomachs of a few birds that 
were shot while eating green peas, but that the stomachs 
contained enough potato beetles, old and young, as well as 
other harmful insects, to pay for all the peas the birds would 
be likely to eat in a whole season. 
The Grosbeak eats wild berries, and the seeds of the 
alder and birch. The fact that it takes buds and the ovaries 
of the blossoms of fruit trees leads Minot to regard it as an 
enemy to agriculture ; but Mr. Brewster says truly that such 
pruning is seldom more severe than that practised by a thrifty 
horticulturist. The office performed by the Grosbeak, with 
its strong, cutting beak, is, as has been hereinbefore stated, 
merely a part of nature’s pruning, which, though sometimes 
drastic, still in the long run benefits rather than injures the 
trees. 
Towhee. Chewink. Ground Robin. 
Piptlo erythrophihaimus. 
Length. — From about eight to eight and three-fourths inches. 
Adult Male. —~ Head, all round, neck and chest, wings and tail black; the two 
latter white-marked ; sides and flanks chestnut; breast and belly white. 
Adult Female. — Brown replacing the black of the male. 
Nest.— On ground; usually sunken and often roofed over. 
Eggs. — White, rather finely and evenly spotted with light ashy and brown. 
Season. — The latter part of April to October, rarely remaining all winter in 
southeastern Massachusetts. 
This common and well-known bird always may be found 
in its season in sprout lands and thickets, avhere it scratches 
