SOME NOTES OX NEBRASKA BIRDS. 163 



raontlis of the year, Professor Forbes, of Illiuois, found the contents 

 to consist of 65 per cent insects and 34 per cent of fruits and seeds. 



In the estimates of tiiese food percentages taken by the Robin, as 

 well as by other birds, bulk for bulk is taken, i. e., a quart of cater- 

 pillars or other insects is equivalent to a quart of cherries or a quart 

 of berries. 



Professor Forbes asks this question : '' Will the destruction of seven- 

 teen quarts of average caterpillars, including at least eight quarts of 

 cut-worms, pay for twenty-four quarts of cherries, blackberries, cur- 

 rants, and grapes?" and then answers it in these words: "To this 

 question I, for my own part, can only reply that I do not believe that 

 the horticulturist can sell his small fruits anywhere in the ordinary 

 markets of the world at so high a price as to the Robin, provided that 

 he uses proper diligence that the little huckster doesn't overreach him 

 in the bargain." 



Much more might be said in favor of this bird had I the time and 

 space at my command. 



761a. Merula migratoria propinqua Ridgw. — Western Robin. 



" Western United States, north to British Columbia, east to the eastern edge 

 of the Great Plains" (Goss). 



766. Sialia sialis {Lhm.). — Bluebird. 



West Point, Omaha, Lincoln, etc. — breeds (L. Bruner); "Resident, abun- 

 dant". (Taylor); "Abundant in Nebraska" (Aughey); "west to base of 

 Rocky mountains" (Goss); Beatrice, De Witt (A. S. Pearse); Omaha — breeds 

 ' (L. Skow) ; Peru —breeds (G. A. Coleman); Cherry county (J. M. Bates) ; Gage 

 county — breeds (F. A. Colby); "a common summer resident, breeds May 1 to 

 July 15, departs Sept. 20 to Oct. 15" (L S. Trostler); Lincoln, March 23 (D. 

 A. Haggard). 



767. Sialia mexicana occidentalis (Toitjjs.).— Western Blue- 



bird. 



" Once on the Niobrara" (Aughey). 



768. Sialia arctica Swains. — Rocky Mountain Bluebird. 



Sioux county, Dawes county — breeds, Sidney, Pine Bluffs (L. Bruner) ; 

 Western Nebraska (Aughey, Baird); "east into Dakota and Texas" (Goss).* 



* Persons wishing to take up the study of our birds systematically will find 

 Ridgeway's " Manual of North American Birds" indispensable. 



