408 



Some Notes on the Food of Birds. [oct., 



and other beetles. In most parts of the country jays are too 

 few in number to do much damage and are well thinned down 

 by gamekeepers. 



Wood pigeon. — Many correspondents condemn the wood 

 pigeon as an unmitigated pest, and from an agricultural and 

 horticultural point of view it seems to have no redeeming point, 

 as it does not eat insects, its food throughout the year being 

 grain, vegetables, fruit, and forest seeds. 



Blue tit. — The blue tit and great tit spoil apples and pears, 

 especially the later pears of best quality, which they puncture 

 near the stalk. They are most persistent and have been 

 known to make their way through. a mesh of garden netting 

 which had been used to protect wall-grown pears. They are 

 great insect eaters and feed the young on caterpillars collected 

 from fruit trees. The blue and long-tailed tits eat scale on 

 apple, gooseberry, and red currant. One correspondent states 

 that : — " After several hours watching I was rewarded by 

 seeing eight or ten tits visit the apple trees and feed on 

 mussel scale. The amount of good done in this way is not 

 sufficient to keep the pest down and there would always 

 be a fair amount of scale (which the tits could not reach) 

 left for breeding purposes " (Woburn, Beds). They are fond 

 of sunflower seed which may be grown to allure them from 

 pecking apples and pears. The long-tailed tit has also been 

 reported as taking Ermine moth caterpillars, while the blue 

 tit and the tree-creeper have been known to eat the female 

 winter moths caught on the grease bands, as well as the woolly 

 aphis. The general opinion of the replies seems to be that the 

 blue, long-tailed, and coal tit are useful birds, destroying many 

 insects, though in some localities the blue tit may "be too 

 numerous. Blue tits are sometimes troublesome in vineries, 

 spoiling the grapes by taking a peck out of each. 



The Blackcap is an insect eater, but is a lover of cherries, figs, 

 and raspberries. 



Whitethroat and other Warblers. — Mostly insect feeders, but 

 will eat peas, and are reported as eating soft fruits, especially 

 raspberries. 



Robin. — The robin is decidedly an insect feeder, though it 

 also attacks currants, strawberries, cherries, grapes, and figs 

 when ripe. 



