ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 



55 



VIREOS. Family Vireonidae. 



Vireos are gleaners, searching the foliage carefully for leaf-eating insects and 

 their eggs ; peering beneath the leaves, and examining crevices in the bark for 

 forms of insect-life which are especially injurious. Several of the Vireos are abun- 

 dant and the service they render is correspondingly important. 



Red-eyed Vireo {Vireo olivaceus). — "From the stomachs of eighteen of this 

 species were taken fifteen caterpillars, five other larvae ; eight beetles — among them 

 five weevils, one longhorn and darkling beetle, seventy heteropterous insects — 

 among them sixty-seven chinch-bugs ; sixteen winged ants, one ichneumon (?), five 

 dragon-flies, two dipterous insects — one of them Tabanns atratus ; and seven dog- 

 wood berries. Of thirty-six other specimens examined, fifteen had eaten caterpil- 

 lars ; two other, larvae ; nine beetles — among them two Coccinella malt; three, 

 grasshoppers ; two, ants ; two, moths ; four, insects, none of which were identified ; 

 and seven, fruits or seeds, among which were raspberries, dogwood berries, berries 

 of prickly ash and sheep berries." (King.) 



Yellow-throated Vireo {Vireo flavifrons). — "Of twenty-one specimens exam- 

 ined, seven had eaten caterpillars — among them geometers ; seven beetles — among 

 them weevils and a buprestis ; three, grasshoppers ; two, moths; two, heteropterous 

 insects — -among them leaf-hoppers ; three, dipterous insects." (King.) 



Warbling Vireo {Vireo gilvus). — "Of sixteen specimens examined, eight had 

 eaten thirty-four caterpillars ; two, five beetles, among which were a lady-bird 

 {Coccinilla G — notata), and a Diabrotica duodecim-piinctata ; three, three heterop- 

 terous insects ; two, two crane-flies ; one, grasshoppers ; two, twenty-eight insects' 

 eggs ; and one, dogwood berries." (King.) 



WARBLERS. Family Mniotiltidse. 



With few exceptions the members of this large family, containing many abun- 

 dant species, feed exclusively upon insects. 



Black and White Warbler {Mniotilta varia). — " Owing to the small size of 

 these birds, they find it profitable to feed extensively upon very small insects. For 

 this reason they are able to do a work for which the Nuthatches and Woodpeckers 

 are not so well fitted. It is, therefore, especially desirable that they should attain a 

 greater abundance with us. 



" Food : Of seventeen specimens examined, three had eaten five ants ; two, 

 twenty-one caterpillars, twenty of which were small measuring-worms; three, four 

 moths; three, five diptera ; six, sixteen beetles, one of which was a curculio ; two, 



