146 BULLETIN 179, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) form 12.91 per cent of the phoebe'a 

 food. * * * 



Lepidoptera (moths and caterpillars) are eaten much more regularly than 

 grasshoppers, but not in such large quantities. They amount to 8.86 per 

 cent of the food of the year. * * * 



Spiders constitute quite a steady article of the phoebe's diet. Ticks and 

 millepeds also are eaten. None of these creatures can be taken when they are 

 on the wing, as they can not fly, but spiders may sometimes be picked up when 

 they are sailing through the air upheld by their gossamer threads or they 

 may be found on the top of a tall reed as the bird flies past. But ticks and 

 millepeds must be taken from the ground or some other surface. The aggre- 

 gate of these creatures for the year is 5.78 per cent. * * * 



The vegetable food of the phoebe may be placed in two categories, fruit 

 and seeds. Fruit amounts to 4.99 per cent. * * * Of small wild berries 

 17 species were identified, besides a number of seeds, but nothing of any 

 economic value was found. * * * The great bulk of the vegetable food was 

 taken in the fall, winter, and early spring months. * * * 



Among the stomachs examined were those of four newly hatched nestlings, 

 which merit passing notice. The stomachs contained no vegetable matter 

 whatever, but were completely filled with insects and spiders. 



Professor Beal concludes his examination of the phoebe's food 

 with the following pleasant summary: "It seems hardly necessary 

 to say anything in favor of a bird already firmly established in the 

 affections of the people, but it may not be amiss to point out that 

 this good will rests on a solid foundation of scientific truth. In the 

 animal food of the phoebe there is such a small percentage of useful 

 elements that they may be safely overlooked ; while of the vegetable 

 food it may be said that the products of husbandry are conspicuous 

 by their absence. Let the phoebe remain just where it is. Let it 

 occupy the orchard, the garden, the dooryard, and build its nest 

 in the barn, the carriage house, or the shed. It pays ample rent 

 for its accommodations." 



B. H. Belknap (1938) reports that phoebes were very active in 

 destroying tent caterpillars in the moth stage during an infestation 

 by these insects at Albany, N. Y. He says: "In view of the fact 

 that the female moth is a little larger and somewhat more showy 

 in flight than the male, the object of the chase was more than likely 

 to be a female. In any event, the dozens of tent caterpillar moths 

 devoured daily represented literally thousands of tent caterpillar 

 eggs not laid." 



The phoebe captures most of its food while both bird and insect 

 are on the wing, as we might infer from the preponderance of flying 

 insects composing its diet. As we watch a bird fly out from its 

 perch in pursuit of an insect — sometimes such a small one that we 

 ourselves cannot see it — the phoebe impresses us with its lightness 

 and agility in the air, although guiding itself with admirable pre- 

 cision. Its flight is a soft, butterflylike fluttering, with abrupt, 



