BIRD AND OTHER ENEMIES. Od 
The breeding season from latitude 38° northward to Canada begins 
in May, and during some years continues into September, a young bird 
just from the nest having been taken in Wayne County, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 5, 1887.* There are probably two, and southward three, broods 
each season, and while rather prolific, they are kept well reduced in 
numbers, at times to the verge of extermination over considerable sec- 
tions of country. They are hunted incessantly and slaughtered with- 
out consideration, except for gain. Also considerable numbers are 
killed by flying against electric wires, while entire coveys sometimes 
are smothered or frozen under the snow. As a result their helpfulness 
against chinch bugs is greatly diminished. 
OTHER BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CHINCH BUG. 
Among the other bird enemies of the chinch bug are the prairie 
chicken, red-winged blackbird, catbird, brown thrush, meadow lark, 
and house wren, but there is little doubt that the few chinch bugs 
eaten by all of these birds is insufficient to reduce the numbers of the 
pest to any extent, and for all practical purposes they might have 
been omitted from a list of natural enemies. 
THE FROG. 
Dr. Cyrus Thomas quotes Professor Eoss and others as stating that 
the common frog is an enemy of the chinch bug. While this is prob- 
ably true, it is nevertheless well known that com- 
paratively few frogs frequent grain fields as a rule, 
and thus the benefit derived from their attacks is 
of too little importance to merit further notice. 
INVERTEBRATE ENEMIES OF THE CHINCH BUG. 
Of the invertebrate enemies the same may be 
said as of the frog. The writer has occasionally 
found a chinch bug containing a species of Mer- 
mis, "hair snake." Also occasionally ants may 
be seen dragging these bugs away, while lady- 
beetles have sometimes been found to devour ^^/XnR^T^ 
them, as recorded by Walsh and Forbes. Per- 
haps the worst insect enemies of the chinch bug are to be found among 
its comparatively near relatives, the insidious flower bug, Triphleps 
insidiosus Say (Authocoris pseudo-chinche of Fitch's Second Report 
(fig. 11), and Milyas ductus Fab., (fig. 12) the latter being reported by 
Dr. Thomas as the most efficient of the insect enemies of this pest, while 
Dr. Riley found that the former also attacked it. Professor Forbes 
limits of the State or for sale within the state tor market purposes. The fish and 
game commission can, however. Issue permits to colleges and educational institu- 
tions to collect hoth birds and eggs lor strictly scientific purposes 
*A Preliminary List of the Birds of Wayne County. Ohio, by Harry C. Oberholser, 
Bull. Ohio A.gl. Exp. Sto., Tech. Ser., Vol. 1. No. l. p. 270. 
