THE MULTIPLICATION OF INSECTS, 



107 



are inaccessible to birds. Others live under the bark of trees, and even deep 

 in the wood. Notwithstanding these and other obstacles, a great number 

 are yearly devoured by the birds, particularly during the breeding season. 

 In winter a multitude of birds, driven by hunger into the villages, diligently 

 search the branches of trees for the eggs of many sorts of moths that are 

 glued to them, and which yield a scanty sustenance to these frugal animals. 

 Reaumur states that the green-finch tears open the strong nest of the yellow- 

 tail-moth (Bombyx chrysorrhoe a), and consumes the young caterpillars. 



342. Among the birds of the woodpecker race^ the green and red wood- 

 peckers (Picus viridis and major), the nut-hatch {Sitia. cae'sia), and the tree- 

 creeper (Certhia familiaris), may be considered the most useful. Although 

 these birds seek beetles chiefly, and consequently contribute to the diminu- 

 tion of the long-horned and weevil tribes of beetles, they also consume a 

 number of caterpillars ; but it must be acknowledged, that they also devour 

 the honey-bee. 



343. Among birds of the sparrow tribe, the starling deserves particular 

 notice. It lives in summer chiefly in pastures, but comes in spring and 

 autumn in large flocks to the meadows and orchards, where it devours a 

 great number of insects, pupae, and larvae. The chaffinch is a determined 

 consumer of caterpillars and moths' eggs. The titmice are particularly use- 

 ful, viz. the ox-eye and tom-tit; then the goldfinch, redbreast, and red-start, 

 and also the wagtails. 



344. The cuckoo also particularly deserves to be spared ; it not only devours 

 many of the smaller smooth-skinned larvae, but even consumes the hairy 

 caterpillars of many moths, particularly of the ^ombycidae. On examining 

 the intestines of a cuckoo, in the month of September, Kollar found therein, 

 besides the remains of various insects, a great quantity of the skins of the 

 caterpillar of the large j56mbyx pini, which is one of the largest European 

 species, and has very stiff hair. The inner coat of the stomach was entirely 

 covered with hair, but a close inspection with the magnify ing-glass showed 

 that the hair was not the hair of the stomach of the cuckoo, as some orni- 

 thologists suppose, but only the hair of the caterpillars. This bird may 

 therefore be of very essential service when there is a superfluity of the 

 caterpillars of the lackey or processionary moths (^ombyx neustria or 

 processionea). 



845. It is sufficiently known that great service is rendered by the whole 

 race of crows to meadows and fields. Their favourite food consists of the 

 larvae of the cockchafer, which are thrown up by the plough, and which they 

 also draw out of the earth with their strong beaks. It is a wonderful provision 

 of nature, that exactly at the time that the insects injurious from their 

 great numbers appear, the greatest number of the insectivorous birds have 

 hatched their broods, and their voracious young are ready to be fed upon 

 them. 



346. Insectivorous birds are also sometimes granivorous, and feast readily 

 on our fruit, particularly cherries ; but the injury they cause in this respect 

 is not to be compared to the use they are of in destroying insects. At least 

 we never hear of universal devastation caused by birds, though we do by 

 insects. 



347. Among amphibious animals which destroy insects, lizards hold a 

 conspicuous place. Grasshoppers are the favourite food of many species. 

 Frogs and toads also devour many insects. 



