THE OOLOGIST. 



9 



During the greater part of the year 

 grasshoppers, crickets and locusts con- 

 stitute the greater part of the food. 

 Next in importance to grasshoppers 

 come the beetles, and they constitute 

 nearly eighteen per cent, of the entire 

 food for the year. 



The most important of these are the 

 May beetles (Scarabaeidae,) which are 

 probably the most injurious of any. 

 The average of these beetles for the 

 year is 4 per cent. The snout beetles 

 or weevils are of constant occurrence, 

 but not in large numbers, averaging 

 about 3 per cent. The principal var 

 ieties of these beetles are the extremely 

 injurious curculios (Curculionidae,) of 

 which the plum curculio (Contrachelus 

 nenuphar,) is perhaps best known and 

 the scarred snout beetle (Otiorhynchi- 

 dae.) 



The carabid or predaceous ground 

 beetles are eaten, but the quantity is 

 small in comparison to that of the other 

 varieties, and are probably taken only 

 when the others can not be procured 

 with ease. Bugs (Hemiptera) are found 

 in the stomachs throughout the year, 

 and average about four per cent. 

 □ The stink bugs (Pentatomidac) consti- 

 tute the greater number, and as these 

 bugs crawl over ripe fruit and impart a 

 very disagreeable taste to it, a great 

 deal of good is done by their destruc- 

 tion. 



The larvae of butterflies and moths, 

 and the larvae of beetles are constantly 

 met with. 



Ants are also a constant though rel- 

 atively small element of diet. Wasps, 

 spiders and thousand legs are also 

 eaten quite freely, and among the oc- 

 casional side dishes may be mentioned, 

 flies, earwigs, cattle-ticks, snails, sow 

 bugs, and minute crustaceans and 

 batrachians. but these last are only 

 rarely taken, and are not a favorite. 



Of the total 27 per cent, of vegetable 

 food, grain constitutes a little more than 

 one-half, and in some localities the bird 



has been accused of pulling sprouted 

 grain, but such reports are few. 



Seeds of plants are reished and were 

 found in all the stomachs which were 

 examined. 



The fact that the grain diet is only 

 temporary, and at that only composed 

 of about one half cultivated grain, 

 while the rest is composed of wild or 

 cultivated seeds, surely gives Sturnella 

 magna a clear title to the honor of be- 

 ing a very beneficial bird. 



The following table will show at a 

 glance the economical standing in re- 

 gard to agriculture, of each of the birds 

 which we have considered, and we must 

 all agree that our sprightly little friend, 

 Troglodytes aedon carries off the palm. 



Table showing the number of stom- 

 achs examined, and the per cent, of the 

 food contents of the birds considered in 

 this and the preceding papers: 



a 



£■ 3 



o d 



CO O 



Numb ar of stomachs S6 23S 192 121 52 



Per cent, of animal food; 



Ants 2 3 10 5 2 



Caterpillars 29 8 5 s 16 



Beetles 21 is 24 2S 22 



Grasshoppers 3 29 4 12 25 



Bugs 5 4 2 2 12 



Spiders and thousand legs... 10 5 4 7 14 



Miscellaneous animal food... 2 5 5 15 



Total animal 72 72 44 63 95 



Per cent, vegetable food: 



Cultivated fruits 2 18 S ... 



Wild fruits and seeds 9 12 35 24 ... 



Grain 11 ... 3 ... 



Miscellaneous vegetable f'd 1 3 2 ... l 



Total vegetable food 12 26 55 35 1 



Mixed mineral matter, not 



fdwhlch can be eliminated 16 2 l 2 1 



Total contents 100 100 100 100 100 



