. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds. Birds; Birds. 80N0 BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 227 Fig. 86.—Click beetle, enlarged. the fall web worm, and even the spmy caterpillar of the mourning cloak buttex'fly,—all are greedily eaten by the Baltimore; and it does not usually swallow many, but merely kills them and eats a small portion of the inner parts. It thus destroys many more than would be needed to satisfy its
. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds. Birds; Birds. 80N0 BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 227 Fig. 86.—Click beetle, enlarged. the fall web worm, and even the spmy caterpillar of the mourning cloak buttex'fly,—all are greedily eaten by the Baltimore; and it does not usually swallow many, but merely kills them and eats a small portion of the inner parts. It thus destroys many more than would be needed to satisfy its appetite were they swallowed whole, while at the same time no recognizable portion of the caterpillar can be found in the bird's stomach. This is a habit about which, like many others, we can learn only by observation. Mr. Nash received a number of reports from correspond- ents in 1900 regarding the clearance of tent caterpillars from trees by these birds. They were watched day after day, and in the end cleared the orchards of the pests. An Oriole was seen to finish one nest of small caterpillars and begin on another while the observer was eating his brealdkst. Young Ori- oles are fed very largely on injurious moths and caterpillars. The Baltimore Oriole is worth its weight in gold for its ser- vices in destroying both gipsy and brown-tail moths. The bird is particularly fond of snap beetles or click beetles, the par- ents of the destructive wireworms. Professor Beal says that more than five hundred species of these beetles are found in North Amer- ica, and their larvas are exceed- ingly injurious to a great variety of plants, particularly to com. As they attack the roots or work within the stalks, they are very difficult to control. Many birds eat either the beetles or larv^. The very injurious May beetles and other leaf-eating beetles are taken by the Oriole, among them the striped squash beetle or cucumber beetle, one of the most destructive pests of the garden. Bagworm
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherb, booksubjectbirds
