BULLETIN NO. 34. 17 



found in their stDmachs in ciimparison witli those of some 

 members of other famihes. For instance the Robin which 

 is a common winter resident here, some ten or twelve stomaclis 

 examined contained Httle ij^ravel; they are filled with every- 

 thing; like an insect that can be found, more particularly a 

 small white larva which they seem to pull out of the ground 

 but which 1 have not been able to find in the very places where 

 they have been feeding. Where the old "turned out" fields 

 have been burned over, the Robins are th^ most plentiful and 

 there they seem to find most of their food. The stomachs ap- 

 pear to contain more dirt than gravel, although a small amount 

 of sand or gravel is evident. 



Of course the Song Sparrow is a hard-billed bird and it not 

 only swallows a much larger amount of gravel in proportion to 

 its size in comparison with the Robin, but it is particular to the 

 kind it takes into its stomach. Those that 1 have taken this sea- 

 son have been secured in low marshy ground adjoining streams. 

 In these little streams, often mere ditches, is found small 

 white gravel mixed with the gravel of a dark brown color, and 

 the white gravel is invaribly found in the gizzards of these little 

 birds. Of course the reason is obvious why a seed-eating 

 bird requires more grinders than one that is purely insectivorous, 

 but what is the virtue of the white gravel alone .'' 



Another thing 1 have noticed is that birds like many other 

 bipeds "only scratch for a living when necessity make scratcbi- 

 ing compulsory." Mockingbirds, Catbirds and Brown Thrasheis 

 though insectivorous, will simply move into a wild cherry tree 

 or a place where the berries of the pokeweed are ripening, and 

 stay until everything in the fruit line is consumed. An exam- 

 ination shows that few or no insects are found in their stomachs 

 at this time, and the underparts of their tails are st lined with 

 the juices of the fruit, being plainly seen when they take flight. 

 It is a common saying of the negroes of the South when speak- 

 ing of a man when drunk that "his face looks like a Catbird's 

 tail in pokeberry time." 



ROBBRT Windsor Smith. Kirhwood, Ga. 



Vernancular Ornithology of Delaware.— When 

 business called me to the Southern border of Kent County, 



