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 larvae 

 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 larvse 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 larvse. 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 



Fig. 42. — Nashville 

 Warbler, natural size. 



Fig. 43. — Caterpillar of the brown-tail 

 moth. 



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 

 little signs of the presence of 

 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 larvas, 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 larvse 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. 



