58 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



of the vegetable matter is mostly wild fruit, such as cherries, dogwood, sour gum, 

 elder berries, greenbrier, spice berries, black alder, sumac, and poison ivy. 



" Although the Catbird sometimes does considerable harm by destroying small 

 fruit, the bird cannot be considered injurious. On the contrary, in most parts of 

 the country it does far more good than harm, and the evil it does can be reduced 

 appreciably by the methods already pointed out." 



CREEPERS. Family Certhiidae. 



Brown Creeper {Certliia familiaris). — Probably few birds are more wholly 

 beneficial than this persistent hunter after insects and other eggs. With an appar- 

 ently never-satisfied hunger for the smaller forms of insect life that live in the 

 crevices of the bark of trees, it searches the tree trunks from daylight until dark, 

 and if the service it renders daily could be expressed in figures we should doubtless 

 find that, individually, the Brown Creeper was among our most valuable birds. 



NUTHATCHES AND CHICKADEES. Family Parids. 



The members of this family feed largely on the eggs of beetles, plant lice, and 

 other forms injurious to vegetation. 



White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). — "Of thirty-five specimens 

 examined, fourteen had eaten thirty-two beetles — among which were three elaters, 

 one longhorn and a lady-bug (?) ; one, two ants ; one, two caterpillars ; one, two 

 grubs of a beetle ; one, a spider ; one, a chrysalis ; one, small toad-stools ; five, 

 acorns; and one, corn." (King.) 



Chickadee (Parus atricapillus). — The following facts in relation to the food of 

 the Chickadee are taken from Mr. Forbush's study of this species in Massachusetts, 

 previously referred to : 



" To determine how many eggs a single Chickadee would eat, a few birds were 

 killed and their stomach contents examined, with surprising results. There was no 

 difficulty in identifying the eggs of the canker-worm moth which were found in the 

 bird's stomach, as a great portion of the shells remained intact. The other insect 

 contents of the stomach were identified for me through the kindness of Mr. A. H. 

 Kirkland, B. Sc., assistant entomologist of the State Board of Agriculture, who 

 made the examinations. Although it was impossible in all cases to learn with cer- 

 tainty the species to which certain insects belonged, it was evident they belonged to 

 genera known to be of injurious habits. 



" I. take the following from Mr. Bailey's notes: 



