ENTOMOLOGY. 
253 
the branches smartly with a stick, to cause the caterpillars to drop on 
the ground, and then immediately digging the ground to bury them. 
But many practical men insist that there is no better plan than hand¬ 
picking and killing the insects at once, as is done in the case of 
earwigs. 
On the subject of warding fruit-trees and other plants from the 
depredations of insects, we have yet much to learn. When the 
economy of our commonly destructive insects is better known, dis¬ 
coveries may be made that will extend the power of the gardener and 
farmer against their common enemies, and which will be of the 
greatest advantage to both. The Entomological Society of London 
is now directing its views to this application of the science, and the 
best results may be expected from the united endeavours of the 
members. 
Very closely connected with the depredations of insects in gardens, 
are those committed by the feathered tribes. For as every insect seen 
about a plant is condemned as an aggressor, so many birds while busily 
employed in the service of the garden, are ruthlessly scared, robbed of 
their nests, or relentlessly slaughtered with the gun. 
On this subject we have lately seen an excellent article in the 
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture for this present month, from which 
we will make a few extracts. 
As our subject,” says the writer, “ naturally divides itself into 
three parts, inasmuch as birds are decidedly destructive, partially 
destructive, or not destructive at all, though alleged to be so, it will 
be convenient to treat the three kinds separately, beginning with the 
last, of whose habits and food gardeners and farmers (it is presumed) 
know much less than they do of the two first. 
“ At the outset it is necessary to remark, that many birds not in the 
least destructive to the ordinary crops of a farm, often commit con¬ 
siderable depredations in orchards and gardens : nay, the latter, so far 
from being injurious to agricultural crops, may prove of no little service, 
as we shall afterwards see. We may notice, first, insectivorous birds, 
which do not eat fruits or seeds; they are but few in number, and, like 
the larger carnivorous animals, are thinly scattered, with rare exceptions 
live solitary, and do not assemble in flocks. 
“ One of the most exclusively insect-eating birds, not uncommon in 
most parts of the empire, is the gold-crested wren (Regulus cristatus ), 
the smallest of the birds of Europe. It cannot be mistaken for any 
other bird, being of a greenish-yellow colour, while the common wren 
is rusty brown with lighter bars and spots; and though the chiff-chaflf 
and the hay-bird are yellowish-green, neither has the golden yellow oil 
