CONTINUED DISPERSION OF THE SPECIES UNEXPLAINED. 15 
conclusion was correct, he found that the chickadees (Penthestes 
atricapillus) were working among the clusters and were apparently 
feeding. On making a more thorough examination he found that a 
few small white-pine seeds had been stored away in the cavities that 
were made by the birds in the gipsy-moth egg clusters. No egg- 
shells or other evidences of feeding were found, and later Mr. Farley 
saw the birds depositing the seeds. Later in the season an examina- 
tion was made and the seeds previously secreted were missing. Dis- 
sections have shown that pine seeds are a favorite food of this species 
and that they are often collected and stored for a winter food supply. 
The reliability of these data is unquestioned and throws an interest- 
ing light on the subject. 
It has been suggested by Mr. William Brewster, the well-known 
ornithologist of Concord, Mass., that the gipsy moth may be spread 
in the egg stage by crows, hawks, and other large birds that make 
nests (PI. IV) of large twigs, as it would be possible for them to 
carry material which was infested with egg clusters. This may 
happen in some cases, but it seems probable that it would result in 
local rather than long-distance dispersion. 
In view of the results secured by the experiments above mentioned 
and of the observations cited it seems that the evidence is wholly 
inadequate to prove that birds were responsible for distributing the 
gipsy moth to the large area which was annually becoming infested. 
Furthermore, towns where only one small infestation was found 
might, the following year, be infested in 20 or 30 different locali- 
ties, all of which were remote from influences which would favor 
artificial means of spread. As the first infestation found in a town 
is usually small and is thoroughly treated, no reasonable explanation 
could be given for the presence of so many colonies the following 
year. The fact, also, that many of these outbreaks were located in 
places that were seldom frequented by men or animals indicated 
strongly that some other natural means must assist the insect in 
becoming generally dispersed. 
CONTINUED DISPERSION OF THE SPECIES UNEXPLAINED. 
For several years this matter was thoroughly considered by the 
officials connected with the gipsy-moth work, but it seemed impossible 
to come to any conclusion as to the means whereby so many small 
isolated colonies had become established. The theory was advanced 
that occasionally one of the female moths, developed in a badly 
infested colony where the adults were abnormally small on account 
of an insufficient food supply for the larva?, might be able to fly, and 
in this way cause the dissemination of the pest. No facts to prove 
this theory have ever been secured, and although this might happen 
occasionally it wholly fails to explain the reason for numerous small 
