Bulletin . rvae pupated, to emerge lateras flies. We reared many of these parasites, which werekindly determined by Mr. L. O. Howard as Pimp/a few birds feed upon hairy larvae like the tentcaterpillar, but some, like the cuckoos and blue jays, devourthem eagerly. The European cuckoo is said to regurgitate themass of hairy skins swallowed with the caterpillars, and prob-ably our species have the same habit. Many observers havenoticed that both the Black-billed and the Yellow-billed Cuckoos NATURAL ENEMIES 55 feed upon the tent caterpillars. For example, Mr. C. E. Bailey
Bulletin . rvae pupated, to emerge lateras flies. We reared many of these parasites, which werekindly determined by Mr. L. O. Howard as Pimp/a few birds feed upon hairy larvae like the tentcaterpillar, but some, like the cuckoos and blue jays, devourthem eagerly. The European cuckoo is said to regurgitate themass of hairy skins swallowed with the caterpillars, and prob-ably our species have the same habit. Many observers havenoticed that both the Black-billed and the Yellow-billed Cuckoos NATURAL ENEMIES 55 feed upon the tent caterpillars. For example, Mr. C. E. Baileystates:* On May lo a Black-billed Cuckoo came into a treenear me at 3 p. m., and sat there until 4 :40 p. M., then he wentstraight to a tent caterpillars nest. He looked it over for ashort time, and then commenced eating the caterpillars. Hepicked twenty-seven caterpillars out of the nest before hestopped. The bird ate them all and did not drop one. Mr. E. H. Forbush gives* the following list of birds found. Fig. II.—Yellow-billed Cuckoo (After Brehm) feeding on tent caterpillars in a Massachusetts orchard in 1895 :Crow, Chickadee, Baltimore Oriole, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo, Chipping Sparrow, Yel-low Warbler. Other birds have also occasionally been reportedto feed upon these pests, but birds do not do so much towardtheir destruction as they do toward the destruction of the can-ker-worm, the latter being a much more edible insect. My observations upon the natural checks upon the tent cater- * Mass. Crop Report, July, 1895, P- ^9 56 THE TENT CATERPILLAR pillar lead me to believe that it is not good policy to dependupon them for subduing the pests. It will be much better forthe intelligent people of each community to attempt to arousepublic opinion so that each man will destroy the caterpillarsupon his own premises and along the adjoining roadsides. METHODS OF DESTROYING TENT CATERPIL-LARS The tent caterpillar is open to attack in a variety of wa
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