THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 93 



eleven cutworms ; three, five wire- worms ; two, two hairy 

 caterpillars ; one, a hog-caterpillar of the vine ; five, eight 

 scarabseid beetles ; two, two curculios ; one, a click-beetle ; 

 one, an ichneumon-fly ; two, two spiders ; one, a millipede ; 

 two, two angle- worms; six, nine grasshoppers; two, eight 

 grasshopper's eggs ; one, a moth ; three (young birds), pellets 

 of grass ; one, choke-cherries ; two, black cherries ; one, 

 raspberries ; one, grapes ; one, sheep-berries ; and one, ber- 

 ries of Indian turnip. 11 



A few years ago we examined the stomach contents of a 

 robin shot in Michigan between a row of cherry-trees and 

 a raspberry-patch, both with ripe fruit. The stomach was 

 almost filled with maggots, apparently belonging to some 

 species of Anthomyia. Sixty of these Iarva3 were present. 



The earliest extended investigation of the food of the robin 

 was that made in Massachusetts about half a century ago by 

 Professor J. W. P, Jenks. The study was continued throughout 

 the year, and in the main the results obtained are very simi- 

 lar to those of Forbes summarized above. Bibio larvae formed 

 the principal food in early spring. Audubon states that in 

 the South during winter the robins feed on the berries and 

 fruits of the holly, sweet-gum, gall-berry, and pokeweed, as 

 well as the caperia-berry, wild-orange berry, and the berries 

 of the pride of India. The seeds of most of the berry-like 

 fruits which the robin eats are not digested, and doubtless 

 are widely scattered by the birds. 



In 1891 Mr. E. V. Wilcox examined the stomach contents 

 of nearly two hundred Ohio robins, taken during April, May, 

 June, July, and August. "The great majority of the birds 

 were killed on the Ohio Experiment Station grounds, about 

 fifty being taken in other parts of the State. 11 These grounds 

 were largely devoted to the cultivation of cherries, strawber- 

 ries, raspberries, blackberries, and other fruits. On this ac- 

 count it would seem probable that the percentage of fruit eaten 

 would be greater than under ordinary field conditions, but the 



