The Food of Birds. 188 



coincides with the period of the greatest aljiindance of the 

 small fruits. One-half the insects eaten are l)eetles, which 

 stand at one-fourth of the food in April and June, rise to 

 one-half in May and fall to about one-eighth in July and 

 August. Half the beetles of the year are Scarabaeidse, 

 chiefly June beetles and Euryoniia, all taken previous to 

 July. Nearly one-fourth of the beetles are Carabid*, 

 which remain at about five per cent, of the food, except 

 in May when they rise to ten per cent. Although the 

 ratios of spring-l)eetles and snout-beetles are but two per 

 cent., the numbers eaten are of some significance. My 

 notes show that these birds were eating each at the daily 

 rate of about 1^ curculios, and consequently had averaged 

 a total of about 250 to each thrush for the season. The 

 brown thrush takes ants more freely than the robin, but 

 eats comjjaratively few caterpillars; seven per cent, of 

 each were found in the food of the year. Diptera are ta- 

 ken in very trivial quantity and Hemiptera in moderate 

 number only. This bird eats thousand-legs more freely 

 than the robin, especially in the early spring. In the gar- 

 den it plays a part very similar to that of the other thrushes, 

 but is less mischievous, on the wdiole. Its average of the 

 edible fruits for June, July and August is thirty-eight per 

 cent, as against sixtv^ per cent, of the robin and forty-nine 

 per cent, of the catbird. It relishes the whole list of gar- 

 den fruits, and later in the season resorts, like the other 

 thrushes, to the wild fruits of the woods and thickets. 

 Compared with the robin, this bird is seen to be esx)ecially 

 peculiar in the coprophagous habit already mentioned as 

 distinguishing it from all the other thrushes. It takes 

 about one-half as many Lepidoptera, about half as many 

 again Coleoptera, nearly twice as many Carabidae and three 

 times as many leaf-chafers ; but eats comparatively few 

 grapes and cherries. From the catbird it is further dis- 

 tinguished by taking half as many ants, a trivial number 

 of Diptera, twice as many Coleoptera and twice as many 

 Carabidai, five times as many leaf-chafers and more spring- 

 beetles, snout-beetles, Hemiptera and Orthoptera. It eats 

 two-thirds as many berries and one-third as many cherries 

 and grapes as the catbird. 



