The Food of Birds. lOn 



eleven per cent, to less than one, and the latter from forty- 

 four per cent, to fifteen. Anioni;- the families of Ooleop- 

 tera we see from the taV)le that it is the ScarabfViche whicli 

 benefit chietly by this diversion of the robin's activities; 

 for, while the other families remain about as l)efore, this 

 family drops from twenty-two per cent, in the preceding; 

 month to one in this. 



Taking up the details of the food of the thirteen June rob- 

 ins, ranging from the 10th to the 29th, all shot at Normal, 

 we first notice the larger percentage of ants. These have 

 hitherto occurred in but trifling numbers, — (three per cent, 

 in the preceding month), — but are now more than twice 

 as common in the food. This fact is doubtless due to the 

 same cause as the still greater relative abundance of the 

 ants in June in the food of the l)luebird, — to the abun- 

 dance of the winged perfect forms of some species at this 

 time. Caterpillars stand at seventeen per cent., seven 

 per cent, being cutworms. Carabidae form six per cent, 

 of the food. Among the adults were Callida punetata, 

 Cratacanthus d^ihius., Agonoderus and Anisodactylus. 

 Wireworms were again numerous, four per cent being- 

 eaten by seven of the birds. Forty-seven per cent, of the 

 food of these birds was cherries and eight per cent, rasp- 

 berries. 



July. 



The fourteen July birds were evidently reveling in the 

 fruit garden, raspberries, blackberries, and currants form- 

 ing seventy-nine per cent, of the food.* 



On the other hand, but twenty per cent, of the food was 

 insects and one per cent, was spiders. The caterpillars 

 furnish only four parts of the food, and beetles but nine 

 parts, of which two-thirds were Carabida?. Evarthrus, 

 Pterostichus and Amara were noticed among these. Scara- 

 basidas, Elaterida?, and Khyncophora each one per cent., a 

 mere trace of Hemiptera, four per cent, of Orthoptera 

 (chiefly crickets), eaten by two of the birds, and one per 



*I have not ordinarily attempted to distinguish raspberries from black- 

 berries in the stomachs of birds, but have set down either one or the 

 other, according to the advancement of the season. 



