248 
BIRD-LIFE. 
affords them all the protection that lies in his power; while 
the stupid, ignorant bird-catcher erects a Titmouse trap on 
the borders of the ivood, because it pays, forsooth! Cuckoos, 
as before mentioned, also do their best to destroy the 
pest. Homeycr remarked, that in the case of a certain 
forest suffering under the inflictions of the Pine Lappet 
caterpillar, over a hundred Cuckoos, in the act of 
migrating, arrested their flight; and, in spite of their 
usually roving and solitary habits, remained for several 
weeks engaged in devouring these creatures. “ A single 
bird,” says he, “ would often swallow as many as ten of 
these caterpillars in a minute. If we, however, only 
calculate at the rate of two per minute to each bird 
during a day of sixteen hours (which are well utilised by 
the Cuckoo), 100 birds would have destroyed 192,000 
caterpillars daily, or close upon three millions in the space 
of a fortnight! A palpable decrease of numbers among 
these pests was unmistakable; and, indeed, one was 
tempted to believe that the Cuckoos finished by con¬ 
suming them all, for, after the last straggler had taken 
its departure, not a vestige of a caterpillar was to be 
seen.” 
“ To give a proof of the services rendered by Titmice, 
Goldcrests, and small climbing birds,” says Count 
Wodzicki, “ I will relate some of my experiences on the 
subject. In the year 1848, every leaf in my garden was 
devoured by numberless caterpillars of that most destruc¬ 
tive moth, Bombyx dispar, so that the trees looked as 
though they had been blighted. In the autumn I found 
millions of eggs attached to the stems and branches 
of my trees, contained in a hairy envelope. I had them 
removed by hand at a very great expense; but soon 
finding that human means were insufficient to rid me 
