The Food of BhuJs. 141 



stragglers occuriiig in northern Illinois, according to Mr. 

 E. W. Nelson, and i^robably winters qnite beyond onr 

 limits. By Dr. Cones this is regarded merely as a variety 

 of the following species. I have ten specimens of tliis 

 bird shot in May, bnt none from the fall migration. This 

 nnml)er is probabl}" snfficient, hoAvever, to give a fairly 

 correct idea of its food in spring. Five per cent, of the 

 food of the month consisted of mollusks, chiefly Siiccinea 

 and Helix lahyrinfhica', ninety-three per cent, was in- 

 sects and nearly half of these were ants, which reached 

 the astonishing ratio of forty-three per cent., eaten by 

 every one of the birds. Fifteen per cent, of the food was 

 caterpillars ; nine per cent, consisted of crane-flies and 

 their larva?; Coleoptera amonnted to eighteen per cent, 

 (one-half Aphodiidfp), and the remainder were wireworms 

 cnrciilios and plant-beetles. Carabid^^ amounted only to 

 one per cent., the lowest average of these beneficial insects 

 found in the food of any thruvsh. Among the species of 

 Ooleoi^tera we find Stelidota gemhiata, Onthophagus janus^ 

 Conotrachelus anaglypticus^ Chrysomela sutiiralls and C. 

 simiJis. Grasshoppers make three per cent, of the food 

 and Myriapoda two per cent., all PoJi/desnuis serratus and 

 undetermined lulides. Of spiders merely a trace was found 

 in the stomachs of two birds. The striking feature of the 

 food of this bird is evidently its enormous appetite for ants, 

 its high insect average and the almost total absence of 

 beneficial elements in its food giving to this little thrush 

 an enviable status in relation to the farm and garden. 



TuRDUs swAiNSONi, Cab. Sw^ainson's Thrush. 



This is a migrant of which I have too few specimens for 

 generalization. Six in April and May were taken at 

 AVarsaw, AVaukegan and Normal, and five in Septem- 

 ber from the vicinity of Cairo, in extreme southern Illinois, 

 and northern Kentucky. The food in spring is very like 

 that of the preceding species, its especial features being 

 the large number of ants and cateri^illars and Coleoptera. 

 The September specimens, on the other hand, were feeding 

 largely upon fruits, which constituted sixty per cent, of 

 their food. Wild grapes, wild cherries, elderberries and 



