File:Birds in their relations to man; a manual of economic ornithology for the United States and Canada (1903) (14564910840).jpg

Identifier: birdsintheirrela00wee (find matches)
Title: Birds in their relations to man; a manual of economic ornithology for the United States and Canada
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Weed, Clarence Moores, 1864-1947 Dearborn, Ned, 1865-
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Philadelphia, London, J. B. Lippincott Company
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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rge proportion of the caterpillars of the Lepidopteraare eagerly devoured by birds, forming an important elementof the food of many species. Mention can be made here ofonly a few of the more important families. There is a large family of small moths called Tortrieidce, the larvae of which are com-monly known as leaf-rollers. The normalhabit of these little cater-pillars is to feed upon thesurfaces of leaves whichthey roll into a protectivecovering; sometimes theylive singly and sometimesa number live together ina common nest. Insectsof this family attack theleaves of nearly all ourfruit and ornamental trees,although, fortunately, theygenerally do little damage.Some species are not con-tent with the foliage, butfeed upon the fruit ; thetoo well-known codling-moth, or apple-worm, isan example of this group.The larva?, pupae, and moths of the leaf-roller family are alleagerly devoured by birds, but these insects are greatly pro-tected by their habits and colors, so that probably birds do
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MINK OF APPLE I.EAF-MINER. THE ANIMAL FOOD OF BIRDS. 49 not affect them so seriously as they do the insects of manyother groups. The leaf-miners differ from the leaf-rollers in that the larva?live within the tissues of the leaf, as in the case of the appleleaf-miner illustrated on the opposite page. The families of looping or measuring caterpillars—Geome-tridce and its allies—are of special interest from an ornitho-logical point of view because they contain many species whichin their larval state so closely resemble small twigs that theyeasily escape the notice of birds. A few species, like thecanker-worm, are of much economic importance on accountof their injuries to the foliage of fruit and shade trees. Suchspecies, as a rule, are less perfectly protected in their resem-blance to twigs than others, and when abundant are freelyeaten by birds. The moths of these families have slenderbodies and comparatively large wings, although sometimes thefemales are wingless. The great family

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