[106] REPORT 4, UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 
Note 25 (p. 87). — An interesting instance of the appetite of swine for Cotton Worms 
is told by a writer in the Shelby (Ala.) Guide. Two pigs, nearly dead with cholera, 
were turned into a field of cotton to graze. The field was overrun with worms, and 
the pigs fed exclusively upon them, recovering from their cholera and growing fat on 
the diet. Their presence induced another " gang" of pigs to enter the field, and it 
was surprising to see with what activity and persistence they hunted the worms. 
The half-6tarved dogs of the poor freedmen and also their cats are also reported to 
feed upon the worms. 
Note 26 (p. 88). — In the Report upon Cotton Insects, Department of Agriculture, 
1879, a tolerably complete list of Southern birds is given (pp. 159-162), those nesting 
in the South being especially designated. This list was compiled by Mr. Robert Ridg- 
way, of the Smithsonian Institution. 
Note 27 (p. 89). — It is a question as to how far the English Sparrow will be able to 
hold its own in the extreme southern portions of the country. We find, upon corre- 
spondence with the members of the American Ornithologists' Union, and especially 
with members on the special committee on migrations, that very little seems to be 
known to ornithologists as to the exact distribution of this bird in the South and 
West. From other sources and from our own correspondents it has obviously ex- 
tended all over the South and is now even found on the Pacific coast. But it is also 
equally obvious that in the hotter portions of the country it is confined to towns and 
villages, and has not become in any way an important factor in the suppression of 
the Cotton Worm. 
Note 28 (p. 89). — Having turned these spiders over to Dr. George Marx, with a re- 
quest that he make a brief report upon them, he has kindly submitted the following 
notes with the accompanying figures: 
The following list of spiders which are found inhabiting the cotton plant and feed- 
ing on the larva of the cotton moth Aletia, certainly, does not comprise the full num- 
ber of those spiders which, by destroying insects noxious to agriculture, deserve par- 
ticular mention and description. But although the number of the present list is small 
and insufficient, the mentioning of these few beneficial spiders seems to me justified 
by The fact that it is the first attempt to draw the large and interesting order of Aranese 
our of an undeserved and superstitious interdict into a more friendly relation to us. 
The spiders which have been observed to devour the larvae of Aletia belong to six 
different families, and were the observations more complete would probably comprise 
all the families of the order. 
Epeirold^e. Epeira siellata H. (PI. LXIII, Fig. 1). 
Tetragnatha extensa W. (PI. LXIV, Fig. 1, $ and 9 )• 
Tetragnatha laboriosa H. 
Argiope fasciata (H.) (PI. LXIII, Fig. 2). 
TiiKinDioiD^:. Theridula spharula (H.) (PL LXIII, Fig. 3). 
Theridula quadripunctata Keyserling. 
Lingphia communis H. (PI. LXIII, Fig. 4). 
Euryopis funebria (H.). 
Teutana triangulosa (Keyserling). 
Mimtius interfector H. 
TnoMisoiD^E. Misumena americana Keyserling. 
Misumena gcorgiana Keyserling. 
Xysticus quadrilineutus Keyserling. p 
Dpassoid^e. Cheiracanthium piscatorium (II.). 
ATtOIIkJB. Attus fa8ciola1u8 H. 
Attus parvus H. 
Attus cardinalia H. 
OxyopoidjE. Oxyopes viridans IT. (PI. LXIV, Fig. 2). 
The mode of capturing their victims differs with the different families, but obser- 
vations in this connection are very limited, though it may be stated, with consider- 
able certainty, that the members of the Thomisoid, Drassoid and Attoid families sim- 
ply. jump suddenly upon the larva}, killing them instantly by biting them to death ; 
but the way in which the smallest and most frail of all the spiders enumerated here, 
the Theridula spharula, captures her prey, shows so much intelligence and skill that 
it deserves a more full description. 
