^8o Snodgr ASS, I^ood and Size o/ Bill iu Geospi'za. foct' 



similarly shaped bills (Plate XI, Figs. 6 and 3), but that of G.fortis 

 is the heavier. 



Two specimens of G. fortis platyrhyncha from Iguana Cove, 

 Albemarle, taken in December, had eaten only seeds Nos. ■^'i, 40 

 and 48, seeds not found in the stomachs of any of the Tagus Cove, 

 G.fortis, nor in any of the Iguana Cove specimens of G.fuUginosa. 



Four specimens of the Geospiza fortis on James Island, which 

 does not differ from the G.fortis of Tagus Cove, had eaten as fol- 

 lows, in April. Seed No. 15 occurred in two stomachs, seed No. 

 21 in two, seed No. 41 in two, seed No. 57 in one, and seed No. 

 59 in one. It will be observed that there is no seed common to 

 the three sets, /. e., in the food of the James Island, Iguana Cove, 

 and Tagus Cove specimens of Geospiza fortis. The case of the 

 James Island and Tagus Cove specimens belongs to proposition 

 II ; the G.fortis platyrhyncha differing from G. fortis fortis at two 

 other localities belongs to proposition V. It is important to note 

 that the food of all the individuals at any locality does not differ 

 as a whole from that of the others, more than may the food of two 

 individuals at the same locality. 



Perhaps the best case under proposition V can be made out 

 from a study of the food of Geospiza crassirostris (PI. XI, Fig. 4) 

 and of G. fuliginosa parvula at Iguana Cove, Albemarle. The 

 food of five specimens of the forjner species, taken the last of 

 December, consisted entirely of seeds Nos. 39 and 40, the former 

 found in only one stomach, the latter in all. As has before been 

 shown, G. fuliginosa parvula at Iguana Cove feeds almost entirely 

 on seed No. 15, seeds Nos. 39 and 40 not being found in any of 

 the stomachs. 



VI. Birds with small bills eat only small seeds ; birds with 

 large bills eat both small and large seeds. 



Geospiza fuliginosa (PI, XI, Fig. 6) eats fern seeds larger than 

 Nos. 14 and 15. The only larger one found in their stomachs 

 is No. 57, but this is a thin, flat seed, and is nearly always broken 

 into small pieces before being swallowed. In the stomachs of 

 G. strenua, one of the large-billed species (PI. XI, Fig. 8) , there 

 occurred, besides numerous small seeds, such larger ones as Nos, 

 18, 26, 28, 45 and 58, In the stomachs of G. conirostris (PI. XI, 

 Fig. 5) most of these same larger seeds were found and also No. 



