WARBLERS. 



43 



to an average pxlonl of moi(> tli:iii lT) jxTcont of tlip whole food. 

 Afosl of the otluT insect food, also, is cilhci' of ;i noxious or nfiiti'al 

 descrij)tion, and (he veoetable portion is so small llint it may be dis- 

 regarded. There is probably no finer tribnte to the beneficial char- 

 acter of these birds than that of Dr. Elliot Cones, who says: 



With tireless indnstiy do the Warblers befriend the human race ; their uncon- 

 scious zeal pla.vs due part in the nice ad.iustnient of Nature's forces, helping to 

 Iiring about llic bahuice of vcKetaltle and insecl life, without which agriculture 

 would be in vain. Tliey visit the orchard wlicn the ai>iile and pear, the peach, 

 plum, and chen\v, are in bloom, seeming to revel carelessl.v amid the sweet- 

 scented and delicately-tinted blossoms, but never faltering in their good work, 

 'i'he.v peer into the crevices of the bark, scrulinize each leaf, and explore the 

 very heai-t of the buds, to detect, drag forth, and destroy these tiny creatures, 

 singly insignilicant, collectively a scourge, which prey upon the hopes of the 

 fruit-grower and which, if undisturbed, would bring his care to naught. Some 

 Warblers flit incessantly in the terminal foliage of the tallest trees; others hug 

 close to the scored trunks and gnarled boughs of the forest kings ; some peep 

 from the thicket, the coppice, the impenetrable mantle of shrubbery that decks 

 tiny watercourses, playing at hide-and-seek with all comers ; others more 

 humble still descend to the ground, where they glide with pretty, mincing steps 

 and .-.ffected turning "of the head this way and that, their delicate flesh-tinted 

 feet .lust stirring the layer of withered leaves with which a past season carpeted 

 the ground." 



Following is a list of insects, mostly beetles, identified in the stom- 

 achs of the Avarblers examined. A niunber of these had been eaten 

 by nearly every species : 



COl.KOI'TF.KA. 



Cocci nella t. califoniica. 

 >( l/iinius pallens. 

 Scimn us margin icolliN. 

 Hci/iiiuus sp. nov. 

 M icniJiiniH Jaticeps. 

 Mclanoplithaliiia <inicric(ni<i. 

 ApJiodiiis^nigifrons. 

 I > inch us aural IIS. 

 (Jiistfoiilca cijanca. 

 IHahrntica. soror. 



SiiiKsetiaoleiv. 



( 'rcpidodera helxiites. 

 F.pitrix parvuJa. 

 Bruchus pauperciiliis. 

 Blap.stiinis jiiilrcriilciitiis. 

 Xoto.riis iilaiiicda'. 

 A nth ic 11 s d ifflcilis. 

 Diodyihiiiicli //\- lii/tiiroides. 

 Apioii vcspcrtiiiiiiji. 

 Onycliohuris iiisidiosa. 

 naUniinus sp. 



HEMIPTKRA. 



Aspidiotus rapax. 



AUDUBON WARBLER. 



(Dendroica audi(hor>i. ) 

 (Plate III.) 



The Andnbon warbler is well distributed over the Pacific coast 

 region, breeding in the mountains and descending in winter to the 

 valleys and plains of California. It is one of the most abundant 



a Birds of the Colorado Valley, p. 201. 



