74 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



make up the remainder, 9.2 percent. One can not fail to notice the 

 soft nature of most of this food provided for the young. The beetles 

 are the only exception, and these were the smallest item. 



SUMMARY. 



In summing up it is evident that so far as its natural food is con- 

 cerned the wren tit does little or no harm, as coccinellid lieetles, the 

 only really useful insects it eats, are consumed very sparingly. Its 

 vegetable diet presents two points for criticism. It eats a moderate 

 amount of fruit, and were the bird as abundant as the linnet the harm 

 it would do in orchards would perhaps more than counterbalance the 

 good. The wren tit, however, naturally is a denizen of dense shrub- 

 bery, ^nd as this is cleared aw^ay for farms and orchards the species 

 is likely to diminish in numbers rather than increase, unless its habits 

 radically change. The consumption of the seeds of poison oak is an 

 unfortunate habit, since it aids in the dissemination of this poisonous 

 plant, already too common and widespread. All things considered, 

 the wren tit for the present is to be classed as beneficial. 



CALIFORNIA BUSH TIT. 



(Psaltripnnis mhiinnis califoniicus.) 

 (Frontispiece.) 



The bush tit is one of the smallest species of the family, and 

 although its name implies that it is partial to bushes, it more often 

 is seen in large oaks and frequently on the tops of the highest trees. 

 It shows the same indifference to the presence of man as the rest of 

 the family, and frequently may be observed scrambling over orchard 

 trees in search of its favorite food and paying no attention to the 

 observer. That it does not prey upon fruit to an appreciable degree 

 appears from the fact that less than 1 percent of its food for the year 

 consists of fruit. Insects that live on trees, however, constitute 

 four-fifths of its food, and most of these are harmful. 



In the investigation of the food of this bird 353 stomachs Avere 

 examined. They were collected in every month of the year, although 

 April is represented by but a single one and March by only six. The 

 greater number were taken during the growing months, when fruit 

 and grain abound, and the fact that in these months the bird ate 

 almost none of these products speaks volumes in its favor. The first 

 analysis of the food of the year gives nearly 81 percent animal mat- 

 ter, composed entirely of insects and spiders, to 19 percent of vege- 

 table. As the bush tit inhabits the same range during the year, 

 monthly variations in the kind and proportions of food are only 



