WESTERN BLUEBIRD. 99 



Bees and wasps (Hymenoptera) are not largely eaten by the blue- 

 bird, and flies scarcely at all, as the aggregate for the year amounts 

 to only four-tenths of 1 percent. 



In the summer bugs (Hemiptera) are eaten to a moderate extent. 

 The species belong mostly to the family of 'soldier bugs' (Penta- 

 tomidse) or, as they are sometimes called, ' stink-bugs,' for they have 

 a vile odor and when taken into the mouth with a berry are not agree- 

 able to human taste. The total percentage of wasps, flies, bugs, and a 

 few other insects is a little less than 10 percent of the whole food. 



Spiders are eaten to some extent throughout the year, but never in 

 great numbers. The greatest number are taken in February, about 6 

 l^ercent. The total average for the year is 2 percent. One stomach 

 contained the lingual ribbon of a snail. 



Vegetahle food. — The bluebird asks practically nothing of man in 

 the way of vegetable food. It is evident that it is not a lover of seeds, 

 as is the linnet, and with abundance of them at hand, eats few or none. 

 In 2 stomachs several small unknown seeds were found, which may 

 have been swallowed accidentally. Not a kernel of grain had been 

 eaten. Fruit constitutes nearly the whole vegetable portion of the 

 food, and was distributed as follows: Elderberries (Sambucus) in 19 

 stomachs; grapes in 12 stomachs, all in the month of October or later; 

 blackberries or raspberries (Rubus) identified in 4 stomachs; pepper 

 fruits in 2 stomachs; figs in 1 and mistletoe berries in 1. Besides 

 these 9 stomachs contained pulp or skins that could be identified only 

 as fruit. From this it appears that elderberries are the favorite fruit 

 of the bluebird. Fortunately these are nearly always to be had in 

 California. Most of the grajoes eaten probably were waste fruit, as 

 many of them were consumed in December and other winter months. 



FOOD or YOUNG. 



Among the stomachs examined were those of several nestlings about 

 a week old. They were of interest as showing how large a proportion 

 of animal food is given to the young. In one brood of six the only 

 vegetable food found was a single piece of plant stem, which was 

 probably given accidentally with other food, and should properly be 

 classed as rubbish. The real food consists of grasshoppers and 

 crickets 90 percent, beetles 3 percent, and the remainder made up of 

 bugs, caterpillars, and spiders. In another brood of four, grass- 

 hoppers and crickets constituted 97.5 percent of the food, and 1 

 stonjach contained nothing else. The remains of 11 grasshoppers 

 were found in one of these stomachs, and 10 grasshoppers, a cricket, 

 and a beetle in another. The only vegetable matter found m these 

 4 stomachs was a single seed of Polygonum. 



Besides the stomachs of the Avestern bluebird discussed above, l-t 



