The Ash-Throated Flycatcher {Myiarchm dnerasccus) 



By Gerard Alan Abbott 



Length : About 8 inches. 



The Ash-throated Flycatcher is very siniihir to our crested flycatcher of the 

 eastern United States, so a single plate of the study will suffice for both'. The 

 range of the ash-throated is west of the Rocky Mountains, where they are com- 

 paratively common in Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon. A shy bird of re- 

 tiring habits, it prefers the solitude of deep, shady forests where the insect food 

 of this useful bird abounds. It is usually sole possessor of the tree in which its 

 nest is built. Like the kingbird, this beautiful flycatcher is pugnacious, attacking 

 all feathered intruders when they appear near the old cavity containing the nest. 



Old hollows, formerly used by squirrels or woodpeckers, are favorite nesting 

 sites. The eggs, like those of the crested flycatcher, are handsome and peculiar 

 in markings. Four to five creamy eggs marked with jnirple streaks are laid, 

 usually in June. 



For the determination of the character of this bird's food onl\ 91 stomachs 

 were available, taken in the months from Ajjril to December, inclusive. So few, 

 spread over so long a time, can give only a tentative idea of the food. In the 

 first analysis the food divides itself into 92.32 per cent of animal matter to 7.68 

 of vegetable. Of the animal portion all but a few spiders is made up of insects, 

 strictly speaking. Some fruits and seeds compose the vegetable part. 



Animal food. — The Ash-Throat is one of the lesser beetle eaters among the 

 flycatchers. Beetles aggregate only 7.2G per cent of the food, and of these 2.1.^ 

 per cent can be considered as of useful species. These last consist of predaceous 

 ground beetles (CarabidreV, found in 3 stomachs, and a ladybird (Coccinellidae'i 

 in 1. The bird evidently does not hunt for these insects, or it would find more of 

 them. Other beetles belonging to 7 different families were found in 60 stomachs, 

 or two-thirds of the whole number. This raises the question as to the criterion 

 for the palatableness of any article of food — the frequency with which the bird 

 takes it or the amount eaten. Hymenoptera amount to 26.94 per cent and are the 

 largest item of animal food. WWA bees and wasps make up the bulk of this item, 

 with a few of the parasitic species. No honeybees were found. That Hymen- 

 optera are a favorite food is shown by the quantity eaten and by the facts that they 

 were found in .S5 stomachs and that they were well distributed over the season. 



Hemiptera (bugs) amount to 20.11 per cent, which is the highest record for 

 this item among the flycatchers now considered. Among them were many of those 

 queer beechnut-shaped little bugs commonly known as buffalo tree hoppers (i\Iem- 

 bracidae). These creatures are as agile as fleas, and would seem to be too nimble 

 to be taken by most species of birds, but the ash-throat is evidently very success- 

 ful in catching them, as they were found in 23 stomachs, while the sluggish stink- 

 bugs (Pentatomidas) were in only 13. Cicadas were found in 13 stomachs, jump- 

 ing plant lice (Psyllidae) in 7, leaf hoppers f Jassidse) in 7, shield bugs (Scutel- 

 leridse) in 1, assassin bugs (Reduviidre) in 1, and negro bugs f Corimel<ienid;el in 1. 



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