70 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



Other insects aggregate a little more than 5 percent. Tipiilid flies 

 (daddy-long-legs) were found in several stomachs, as were grass- 

 hoppers also. One stomach contained the remains of 13 of the latter, 

 a remarkable number for so small a bird, but the bulk was not great, 

 and they Avere probably the debris of several meals. Spiders are 

 a very constant article of food, but do not appear in great numbers, 

 as tlije average for the ^^ear is somewhat less than 1 percent. 



Vegetable food. — In the vegetable food of the plain tit, fruit 

 amounts to nearly 32 percent. Fruit is a rather surprising item of 

 the food of this bird, as no one, so far as the writer can learn, has 

 ever accused it of destroying fruit. The quantity is three times as 

 much as is eaten by the linnet, and is another illustration of the fact 

 that in estimating the status of a species the number of individuals 

 as well as the amount eaten by each individual must be considered. 

 The fruit consumed appears to be of the larger cultivated varieties, 

 as no seeds of wild berries were found. 



Cherries were identified in a number of stomachs, and pulp of the 

 laroer fruits was abundant. As considerable of this was contained 

 in stomachs taken in the late fall and winter months, it is evident 

 that it Avas refuse left on the tree and of no value. Not only does the 

 plain tit eat fruit, but to some extent it indulges also in grain. Oats 

 Avere found in a number of stomachs and constituted nearly 30 per- 

 cent of the contents of two stomachs taken in January. Grain is 

 probably not eaten to any considerable extent, hoAveA^er, as the amount 

 for the year is but little OA^er 1.5 percent, and oats Avas the only variety 

 identified. Leaf galls, seeds of poison oak, Aveed seeds, unidentifiable 

 matter and rubbish make up the remainder, 24 percent, of the vege- 

 table food. None of these are of much economic importance, except 

 that the distribution of poison-oak seed is a nuisance. 



SUMMARY. 



From this somewhat imperfect revicAV of the food of the plain tit 

 it is evident that in its present numbers it is useful. The insects it 

 eats are practically all harmful and the scales exceedingly so. More- 

 oA'er, its habit of foraging in trees enables it to capture some of the 

 Avorst enemies of fruit and renders its work in this direction iuA^alu- 

 able. On the other hand, it eats quite a large percentage of fruit, 

 most of Avhich appears to be of cultivated varieties, and should the 

 bird ever become as abundant as the linnet noAV is it Avould undoubt- 

 edly be a pest. This contingency, hoAvever, is extremely unlikely. 



CHESTNUT- SIDED CHICKADEE. 



(ParHs nifcscciis subspp. ) 



While this bird at present inhabits mountain regions rather than 

 orchards, still it may not be out of place to gi\^e a short digest of our 



