BIRDS, CATERPILLARS, AND PLANT LIGE. 139 



few minutes, then pull the larger ones to pieces, and swallow them ; 

 the smaller ones she would swallow whole. I saw her eat fifteen in the 

 eight minutes she was in the tree. A Catbird came to the tree, picked 

 four brown-tail larvse from the branch, and ate them, and would prob- 

 ably have eaten more, but a Robin chased her out of the grove toward 

 the boulevard. She would give the larvas a knock or two, then swal- 

 low them. 



May 29 A pair of Blue Jays were very busy carrying food to their 



young. They came twenty-four times to a willow tree, with forest tent 

 caterpillars on it, daring the three hours I was there, and took at least 

 two or three larvse each time. Once they went to some hazel bushes 

 near by, where a Chestnut-sided Warbler was sitting, and would prob- 

 ably have taken the eggs, if I had not interfered. A White-breasted 

 Nuthatch came to a willow and climbed around the trunk for a time, 

 when she found two forest tent caterpillars. She ate one after hammer- 

 ing it for a moment, but passed over the other. I saw her pass over 

 two others in the same way, apparently preferring to pick the smaller 

 insects from the bark. These were so small that I could not see what 

 they were. A Wood Thrush took two of the forest tent caterpillars and 

 ate them, and later in the day I saw a Wood Thrush go to the apple 

 tree and eat five of the brown- tail larvae, and then fly away. I saw a 

 Flicker alight on an ant hill and make a hole in the hill with her bill, 

 and pick up the ants. She was busy in this way for nearly fifteen min- 

 utes, and must have eaten large numbers of them. I found in the thick 

 woods a few oak trees that were badly infested with forest tent cater- 

 pillars, and there were quite a number of them on the low bushes on 

 the ground. A Chewink came to the brush, scratched in the leaves and 

 pulled out large grubs, but I could not make sure what they were. . She 

 then hopped about and took six of the forest tent caterpillars, beat them 

 on the ground, and ate them, An unwise move on my part frightened 

 her away. A Black-billed Cuckoo came and gorged himself. He ate 

 twenty-nine forest tent caterpillars at first, then rested between ten and 

 fifteen minutes, then ate fourteen more. He would shake and hammer 

 one on the branch, then swallow it; and pick up another. A Nashville 

 Warbler came to the apple tree, picked a brown-tail larva from the 

 leaves, beat and shook it for about thirty seconds, and swallowed it; 

 then took another,, hammered it in the same way, and swallowed it. 

 He then flew to the low shrubs. A Robin was passing to and fro, but 

 I did not see her eat any of the brown-tails ; she seemed to eat nothing 

 but what she took from the ground. The angleworms were plentiful 

 that day, and she had no appetite for anything else. 



May 31. — An Indigo Bird came to the brown-tail moth tree, took a 

 brown-tail larva from the leaves, and flew to a low branch, shook and 

 hammered the larva, and ate it. He then went back, took another, and 

 flew with it to a neighboring oak, ate the larva, and flew away. A 

 AVarbling Vireo sung and fed in the oak trees for nearly thirty minutes. 



