Destructive Insects and Utility of Birds. 
241 
well comprehend the full utility of the work we have on hand? 
if not, pray be attentive and bear witness to it hereafter!" 
Their cliief victims are very mischievous insects, such as the 
JVoctaa, the Lasiocampa, the Sphinx pi nastri, the Tisodes jnni, the 
ILjluir/us pinijwrda, &c. The green woodpecker (^Picus viridis), 
and tlie greyheaded woodpecker (^Picus canus), are especially 
distinguished for their skill in putting to death wasps, whose 
sting avails nought against them. The greater spotted wood- 
pecker (^Picus viajor\ is ever on the look out for insects and 
larva; ; the three-toed woodpecker ( Picus trydactilis\ as well as 
the great black woodpecker (^Picus martins), much prefer the 
Coleoptera libriola. Another important item in the history of 
those birds lies in the fact of their being the forest-bird carpenters 
in ordinary. Every woodpecker, in the course of the year, drills 
at least a dozen holes in the trunks of trees, not only constructing 
as commodious and pretty a nest for hatching as possible, but 
also resting-places in which he lodges for a few nights at the 
period of migration ; when at his work shavings several inches 
in length are observed to drop to the ground ; and in such 
like cavities hosts of small insectivorous birds find convenient 
retreats for laying and hatching fully prepared ready to hand. 
It is acknowledged that this operation of the woodpecker causes 
no injury to woods, as they on no account work upon healthy 
trees, but prefer decayed ones which are beset by insects. 
Even amongst birds of prey (^Rapaces), many insectivora are 
to be found, and such of them are worthy of protection. All the 
smaller birds of prey, and some of the larger ones also, feed their 
young on insects, and they themselves, when hatching, hardly 
touch anything else. The most useful members of the order 
incontestably are owls, which being extraordinarily gifted for the 
work, devour in their twilight haunts considerable quantities of 
forest insects, principally night butterflies and their caterpillars. 
Some species of the owl are noted, together with the rook-crow 
(Corvus fruf/ilegus), the jackdaw, the jay, and the great cinerous 
shrike, for their destruction of cockchafers. A tawny owl (^Strix 
strididd) was cnce dissected at Berlin, and its stomach discovered 
to be full of insects, and amongst these were at least 75 cater- 
pillars of the Sphinx pinastri ; in the destruction, as well, of field 
mice and rats they render services whose importance is but 
seldom recognised. The English naturalist. White, once watched 
for a length of time a pair of white owls (^Strix Jiaxined), and 
noticed that they brought a mouse to their nest, on an average, 
every five minutes ; a couple of the little owls carried to their 
young eleven mice in the course of an evening in the month of 
June. Nothing is more absurd than the way in which these 
birds are hunted down by ignorant ploughmen, whose chief 
VOL. XXIII. K 
