ROSEBREAST VS. HAIRY CATERPILLARS. 51 
The dreaded army worm (Heliophila unipuncta, fig. 28), which 
sometimes appears in myriads and devastate fields of grain and grass, 
also is the prey of this beautiful grosbeak. A bird from Illinois in 
July had captured 6 of these destructive caterpillars. 
The tent-caterpillars are another group of noxious lepidopterous 
insects, which are common in many 
parts of the United States. They 
greatly damage orchards, as well as 
shade and woodland trees. E. H. 
Forbush ¢ is authority for the state- 
ment that the rose-breasted gros- 
beak preys upon the orchard tent- 
caterpillar (Malacosoma americana, 
fg. 29), and Prof. C. M. Weed® "S27 fall cnternarm (avon 
reports that the bird devours Entomology.) 
moths, larvee, and pupe of the forest tent-caterpillar (J/. disstria). 
Two other insects of this order, which are usually thought of 
together and which indeed are closely related, are the gipsy moth 
(fig. 30) and the brown-tailed moth (fig. 31). 
Mere mention of their names calls to mind the 
enormous damage done by them in the State of 
Massachusetts, and of the costly efforts being 
made to stamp out these disastrous invaders 
from across the sea. Birds have proved of serv- 
ice as allies in this struggle, and the present 
species is by no means least in importance 
among them. In the original report® on the 
gipsy moth, as well as in later publications, 
the rosebreast is listed among the species de- 
vouring the larve, while in regard to the 
brown-tail moth Messrs. Mosher and Kirkland 
report * that “a rose-breasted grosbeak ate 57 
caterpillars in twenty minutes.” 
oe pea ean Only This species eats hairy and spiny caterpillars 
(From Chittenden, Bu- ag readily as smooth ones, and the idea so often 
Ren 98 Sinomelen): _. Avaneed that such hairy armature is effective 
protection against the attack of birds receives little support from the 
food habits of the grosbeaks. Tussock and gipsy moths and both 
of the tent caterpillars are devoured, though very hairy. The 
@Mass. State Bd. Agr. Rep. (1900), 1901, p. 315. 
oN, H. Exp. Stg. Bull. 75, 1900, p. 121. 
¢ Forbush, E. H., and Fernald, C. H., The Gipsy Moth, 1896, p. 219. 
¢ Forbush, E. H., Mass. State Bd. Agr. Rep. (1900), 1901, p. 313. 
€ Forbush, E. H., Mass. State Bd. Agr. Rep., 1899, p. 322. 
