86 BULLETIlsr 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



there is still no orange crown patch, or only a trace of it. I have seen 

 birds in fresh, first-winter plumage, taken in Central America in 

 October; and have seen others in this plumage, showing various 

 stages of wear, in March, April, and May. The material seems to 

 indicate that the postjuvenal molt is complete, or nearly so, and 

 that a partial prenuptial molt, late in winter or early in spring, 

 produces a body plumage approaching that of the adult, which is 

 worn until the complete annual molt in late summer or fall. The 

 annual molt of adults apparently occurs in August or September, 

 perhaps even later. 



Food. — Prof. F. E. L. Beal's (1912) report is based on the examina- 

 tion of 129 stomachs of the swallow-tailed flj^catcher, taken in every 

 month from April to October, inclusive. The animal food amounted 

 to 96.12 percent and the vegetable food to 3.88 percent of the con- 

 tents. "Of the animal food beetles amount to 13.74 percent and form 

 a rather constant article of diet. Less than 1 percent belong to 

 theoretically useful families. The others are practically all of harm- 

 ful species." Bees and wasps account for 12.81 percent and bugs 

 10.17 percent of the food. He says that flies "do not seem to appeal 

 to this flycatcher as articles of food. They were found in the 

 stomachs taken in April, May, and September only, and amount to 

 but 3.80 percent." Beal continues: 



Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) are evidently the favorite food of 

 the scissurtail. They were found in the stomachs of every month, with a 

 good percentage in all except April. The average for the year is 46.07 percent — 

 the highest for any flycatcher. The 1 stomach taken in October contained 

 86 percent of these insects, bnt it is probable that the month of maximum 

 consumption is July, when they amount to over 65 iiercent. As this bird is 

 said to seldom light upon tlie ground, it follows that these insects must be 

 captured when they take their short flights or jumps. * * * 



Caterpillars, with a few moths, constitute a small but rather regular article 

 of diet with the scissor tail. They amount to 4.61 percent for the year and 

 were found in the stomachs of every month except October. In several stomachs 

 the cotton leaf worm (Alahama argillacea) vras identified and the cotton boll- 

 worm (HcUothis obsoleta) in another. Both of these are well-known pests of 

 the cotton plant and also feed upon a number of other cultivated plants. The 

 latter is also well known as the corn worm, because it feeds upon the sweet corn 

 of the garden. It also preys upon tomatoes and occasionally upon beans and 

 peas. A few dragon flies and some other miscellaneous insects and spiders 

 make the rest of the animal food, 4.92 percent. 



In his long list of insects identified in the food of this flycatcher, 

 he names 4 species of Hymenoptera, 35 of Coleoptera, 2 of Lepi- 

 doptera, 10 of Hemiptera, 6 of Orthoptera, and 2 of Neuroptera. He 

 says further that "the vegetable food consists of small fruit, or 

 berries, and a few seeds. The total percentage, 3.88, indicates that 

 this is not the favorite kind of food, but is taken for variety. 



