276 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I4I 



Periplaneta americana, Germany, Frankfurt am Main, Zoological 

 Garden (Lederer, 1952) : Newly molted cockroaches were accepted 

 as food, but others were usually passed by or consumed unwillingly. 



Order SERPENTES 



Family COLUBRIDAE 



Heterodon platyrhinos Latreille 



Synonymy. — Heterodon contortrix [Dr. Doris M. Cochran, per- 

 sonal communication, 1957]. 



Common name. — Hog-nosed snake. 



Experimental prey. — Periplaneta americana, U.S.A. (Moore, 

 1946) : Cockroaches containing infective acanthellas of Moniliformis 

 dubius were fed to one snake. 



Garter Snake 



Experimental prey. — Blatta orientalis, U.S.A. (Rau, 1924). 



Class AVES 



The cockroach is always wrong when arguing with a chicken. 



Spanish proverb (Hartnack, 1939) 



Arboreal cockroaches hidden in and under bark are much more 

 likely to be encountered by birds than by other predators, and in- 

 sectivorous birds undoubtedly consume many more cockroaches than 

 the few records would indicate. Most of the records we have located 

 identify the birds at least by common name. Where possible we have 

 given the scientific names for those birds whose common names are 

 recognizably specific. We have followed the systematic classification 

 of Wetmore (1940). 



Figuier (1869) stated that poultry and owls are very fond of cock- 

 roaches. Perkins (1913) made the general statement that some of the 

 native birds of Hawaii are partial to the endemic Allacta similis. 

 Asano (1937) stated that in Japan natural enemies of cockroaches 

 may be found in the Galli formes, Strigi formes. Passed formes, and 

 Piciformes. Although Lederer (1952) successfully fed newly molted 

 Periplaneta americana to insectivorous birds in the Zoological Garden, 

 Frankfurt am Main, Blattella germanica were preferred by these 

 birds. The following records are of specific birds feeding on cock- 

 roaches. 



