226 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



Fig. 84. — Pea 

 weevil, much 

 enlarged. 



sionally helps itself to green peas ; but Dr. Harris tells us, 



in his work on insects injurious to vegetation, that this 



Oriole splits open the green pods for the sake of the weevil 

 grubs contained in the peas, thereby greatly 

 helping to prevent the spread of these noxious 

 insects. Nuttall says that it takes the sac- 

 charine nectar from fruit blossoms. It eats 

 cherries, but seems to prefer Juneberries and 

 mulberries. Professor Beal says that several 

 Orioles that were shot in cherry trees had 



no cherries in their stomachs, but some seeds of Rubus and 



Juneberries. John Burroughs told me years ago that it was 



very destructive to ripe grapes at his place on the Hudson 



Eiver, but I have 



never heard of its in- ,,„ , ^V>\^): , ''' 



juring grapes in Mas- 

 sachusetts ; it usually 



leaves us before most 



grapes are ripe. 

 Having catalogued 



the sins of this bird, 



let us see what its 



good qualities are. 



Professor Beal finds 



that eighty-three and 



four-tenths per cent. 



of the Oriole's food 



consists of animal 



matter, caterpillars 



forming thirty-four 



per cent, of the 



whole. Evidently 



the Oriole is one of 



the first among the 



birds known to de- 

 stroy hairy caterpillars, and for this alone it may be ranked 



as one of the chief friends of the orchardist and forester. 



The tussock, gipsy, brown-tail, tent, and forest caterpillars, 



Fig. 85. — a, 6, tent caterpillars ; c, eggs; d, cocoon. 

 The caterpillars are eaten by Orioles. 



