90 
tanagers, vireos, warblers, mocking thrushes, titmice, and the true 
thrushes, among which the robin appears to be the most useful. It 
has been acknowledged for years that the cuckoos form an exception 
to the generally accepted rule that birds do not eat hairy caterpillars. 
There has been no question as to the value of the cuckoos in this 
respect, and owing chiefly to the publications of Prof. F. E. L. Beal, of 
the United States Department of Agriculture, at Washington, the pub- 
lic has come to have a better knowledge of the value of orioles and 
vireos as well. The cuckoo has long been known as a caterpillar eater, 
because it is a large bird, feeding mainly on the larger caterpillars, and 
especially frequenting those outbreaks of such pests where they have 
done considerable injury and are, therefore, conspicuous. The cuckoo 
and the caterpillars both being common in the neighborhood of dwell- 
ings, the feeding habits of the birds can not escape the most casual 
observer. Eating, as they do, the large caterpillars, and usually swal- 
lowing them whole, there is no difficulty in determining the character 
of this food by stomach examination, for the heads of the caterpillars 
are readily recognized in the stomach, even if the skin and hairs can 
not be. 
The observations which have been made in Massachusetts, however, 
leave it an open question whether other birds are not quite as useful 
as the cuckoos in this respect. The later observations show that crows 
spend much of their time in woodlands infested by hairy caterpillars, 
and while there are feeding on caterpillars or the pupze almost con- 
stantly. Jays are equally industrious, and the tanagers and titmice 
certainly destroy vast numbers of these insects. The catbirds are also 
exceedingly useful, and the vireos as well. There is no question as to 
the value of the towhees and other sparrows which feed mainly upon 
the larve and pup of the moth on or near the ground and among the 
underbrush. Not only do these birds feed upon these insects, but they 
also feed quantities of them to their young. Those that do this are 
doubly useful, for the young birds require a tremendous amount of 
insect food. Mr. Mosher watched a pair of red-eyed vireos feeding 
their young. The young were about a day old and, being very small, 
could assimilate only a limited amount of nourishment, yet the old 
birds visited them 125 times between 7 in the morning and 5 at night, 
apparently bringing food each time. All the food brought appeared 
to be insects, which were so small they could not be positively indenti- 
fied. Caterpillars form a considerable part of the food of these young 
birds. OnJune12 Mr. Mosher watched a nest of a pair of rose-breasted 
grosbeaks from 6a. m.to 5p.m. There were 4 young in the nest 
nearly fledged, and the amount of food required by them was much 
greater than that required by the newly-hatched birds in the vireo’s 
nest. The parents made 384 visits during the portion of the day they 
were watched. The food consisted mainly of caterpillars of one kind 
or another, and there were only 4 visits made by either bird when but 
