50 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 
vanellus), Which at times is very destructive, the plum leaf-beetle 
(Vodonotu tristis), which causes dropping of cotton bolls, a species 
‘Griburius equestris) which feeds on wild roses, and another wild- 
. ower beetle (Cryptocephalus quadrimaculatus). 
With the Chrysomelide is concluded also the list of principal 
Coleoptecrous families. The grosbeak eats few others. One rose- 
bresst devoured 5 of the decidedly malodorous burying beetles 
(Silpha noveboracensis), which feed on carrion, while another cap- 
tured one hard, polished Hister, an insect of similar habits. Sixteen 
of the little orange and black Jps fasciatus were secured by one of 
the three birds which fed upon this occasional depredator of stored 
vegetables and grain. 
It thus appears that a large number of the beetle enemies of agri- 
culture are preyed upon by the rose-breasted grosbeak. An almost 
equal array of serious pests is secured from the ranks of another 
order, which is eaten to only one-ninth the extent that beetles are, 
namely, the moth and butterfly order or Lepidoptera. 
This group may be discussed conveniently under the heads * larvee 
and ~ adults.” The latter do not seem to be eaten to any great extent 
by birds, and only 2 rosebreasts fed upon them. Four moths were 
secured, but they composed less than 0.2 percent of the total food. 
The larve or caterpillars, however, are more generally relished by 
birds and often are eaten in large numbers. Twenty-two out of the 
176 rosebreasts had eaten caterpillars, some of them securing from 6 
to 14 each, which usually constituted from 50 to 85 percent of the 
stomach contents. They make up 3.82 percent of the entire food of 
all the rosebreasts examined. 
It is well known that. at times the depredations of lepidopterous 
insects, such as canker worms, tent caterpillars, gipsy moths, and 
many others, are very serious, threatening ruin to orchards and even 
large forests, and thus becoming of State, if not National, importance. 
The difficulties encountered in combating such pests render the aid 
of natural enemies most valuable. It should be widely known that 
the rose-breasted grosbeak is conspicuous among the enemies of these 
insects, and also that it feeds upon no fewer than eight of the very 
worst lepidopterous pests. 
Among the more widely known of these are the canker worms, 
which are very destructive to both orchards and woodlands. They 
often strip orchards so that they appear as if fire swept, and when 
their attacks are continued for a few years the trees die. The rose- 
breasted grosbeak devours both the spring canker worm (Paleacrita 
rernata, fig. 35) and the fall canker worm (Alsophila pometaria, 
fig. 27). Two birds collected in Illinois in May had fed upon the 
former caterpillar, while O. W. Knight testifies that in Pleasant 
Valley, Me., the birds actively attack the other. 
