36 THE CONDOR . Vol. XXI 
developments from day to day. I found ‘that these grubs fed upon the pupae, 
eating shell and all, and apparently being quite indifferent as to whether the 
pupae contained Chaleid Fly or Musceid larvae. 
From these grubs several species of moths hatched. A few living specimens 
of these moths were turned over to Professor Wheeler of the Bussey Institution 
for identification, together with some Nasoma brevicorms and Protocalliphora 
azurea. It was necessary to send the moths to the United States Bureau of En- 
tomology at Washington, where they were partially identified by Mr. Carl Hein- 
rich. Among them were two species of Tinea, one of which was definitely iden- 
tified as Tinea occidentella (Chambers). There was only one specimen of the 
other species and that was too badly rubbed for specific determination. A speci- 
men of another species proved to be an Oecophorid, probably EHndrosis lactcella 
(D. & S.), or a closely related species, but also too badly rubbed for exact iden- 
tification. Several of these moths were retained for the United States entomo- 
logical collection by the entomologists at Washington. 
1¢ will now perhaps be of interest to ornithologists and entomologists, as 
well as to bird lovers in general, to state how frequently the larvae of Protocal- 
liphora azurea were encountered in birds’ nests and what effect their blood- 
sucking habit has on the nestlings. During the eleven weeks in which these ex- 
periments were carried on, no less than sixty-three nests, representing six species 
of birds, were examined. Of these, thirty-nine, or nearly two-thirds, were in- 
fested by blood-sucking fly larvae. The following tables will help to illustrate. 
TABLE I 
Nests exam- Infested Uninfested Percentage 
Species of bird ined nests nests of 
infestation 
INMECATIAS DALTOW. i c25s.2 ec ieee cee ee nee 4 4 0 100 
California Purple Finch and California Lin- ; 
NSC cals Se re eS Ce re ee 31 21 10 67 
Green-backed Goldfinch ...............0.22......2.-222..000+ 13 8 5 61 
Willow -Goldtineh?..22 72.2 ae eee 7 4 8 57 
California Brown Towhee)..25..:224:.- 8 7 6 25 
Totals: 3. 63 39 24 61 
(Average) | 
TABLE II 
Species of bird Larvae in Totals Larvae 
each nest per nest 
California Purple Finch and California Lin- 
101 2) eee erica Pat espe oO ce eae Sie 8, 10, 14, 15, 
17, 203923, 29; 
50, 52, 54, 60, 
62.) (As oO: 
94, 103, 103, 
106, 108, 154. 1239 59 
CaliforniasBrowm Towhee: :...2....24.201-2ees- 44, 62. 106 53 
Wallow::Gold fimeh s2 3:22. .2 cs 2. poeece ee ee 13, 24, 34, 81. 152 — 38 
NGC tall Spann OW i ic.2. 5. coset hk as eee ae eee 24, 36, 36, 37. ie 33 
Green-backed Goldfinch ...................2-.-2...2..2-----+ TSS) Oza 
28, 30, 35, 50. 214 26 
Totals -=-3 1844 47 
(Average) 
*A considerably smaller, but apparently more deadly species than VProtocalliphora 
azurea (Fallen). 
From the first table it will be noticed that birds which build a rather com- 
pact nest, for example the goldfinches and the linnets, show a considerably larger 
proportion of infection than those which construct nests of a looser texture, as 
for instance the California Brown Towhee. This may possibly be due to the 
