218 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



would they capture and eat the larvae. When the first moths 

 were placed in the cage, they caught and ate them eagerly. 

 The larger crow ate eighty-three and the smaller thirty-three. 

 On the second trial, crow number one ate fifty-eight moths 

 and crow number two twenty-three, thus together destroying 

 eighty-one. On the third trial they would have none of them. 

 At first, the birds, being apparently quite hungry, devoured 

 them whole. Later they rejected the thorax with the wings 

 and other appendages, and took the soft abdomens only. 

 The birds were at first so eager for the moths that they 

 would snatch them from each other. A curious fact about 

 their eating was that they swallowed the moths hind end 

 first, while grasshoppers were always swallowed head first. 

 It would appear from this limited experiment that the crows 

 soon became tired of a gypsy moth diet. It is quite prob- 

 able that unconfined crows would tire of the moth as food 

 were no other food available. Yet from the frequency of 

 the crow's visits to the infested spots, the size and capacity 

 of the stomach, and the number of different forms of the 

 moth eaten, it may be inferred that this species is quite use- 

 ful in destroying the gypsy moth. 



Other Useful Birds. 



Bluebird, — In 1891 the bluebird was often seen feeding 

 on the larvae and pupse of the gypsy moth, but this was not 

 noticed in the ensuing years, and in 1895 no bluebirds were 

 seen during the summer in the infested region. When blue- 

 birds breed in or near an infested orchard, they will no doubt 

 destroy many of these insects. 



Warblers, — Although certain warblers have been seen 

 occasionally to capture many of the gypsy caterpillars and 

 moths, it is difficult to determine by observation or dissection 

 how useful they are in this respect. Owing to their activ- 

 ity, and the small size of the larv^ usually taken by them, 

 it is often impossible to learn the species or the number of 

 insects which they eat. The great vernal flights of warblers 

 through the infested region occur in May, at a time when 

 the larvae of the gypsy moth are very small, and are either 

 feeding or resting upon or underneath the leaves. The birds 

 migrating northward restlessly move from tree to tree, and 



