OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. lf>a 



them a plentiful supply of suitable diet. When one parent is 

 absent on this mission, the other is near by to guard the ten- 

 tier fledglings from danger, seldom deserting the vicinity un- 

 less to sei/e a passing insect. Their food consists of the larva? 

 of beetles, which are extracted from decayed wood and the 

 bark of trees ; caterpillars of various kinds, aphides, ants, 

 small moths, and beetles. The chief articles which contri- 

 bute to their bill of fare, are the larva; of Cratonyckus eincreus. 

 ( . pert i net x* among coleoptera ; caterpillars of Anisoptcrvx 

 'ccrnata, A. poj)?etaria, Zerenc catoiaria, Anisota rubi- 

 cttnda* among lepidoptera ; many of the smaller Noctuidce, 

 L yccenida* and Tortricidce ; Formica sanguined and other 

 ants ; and Harpaliis pcnsv]~cj.nicu$, H. carbonarius, Pan- 

 gus caliginosus, and other beetles, when sufficiently ma- 

 tured to receive such diet. 



In about three weeks from the time of hatching, the young 

 quit the nest, climb out up the tree-branches, and there 

 receive food from their parents. Their gambols among 

 the branches during the intervals of feeding, are rather 

 amusing and interesting to behold. In less than a week 

 afterwards, they are able to forage for themselves, but 

 still continue with the parents, constituting the small flocks 

 which we see in Eastern Pennsylvania, and the large ones 

 farther to the north-west. In this latitude, we have never 

 found more than a single brood in a season ; although in 



o o 



Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, it raises as 

 many as two broods. Parents and young retire to the south 

 during the month of October. 



The food of the adult bird consists of the grubs and pupa?, 

 of beetles, which it is able to procure from its accustomed 

 haunts : besides various beetles, caterpillars, ants, plant-lice 

 and moths, which are to be found later in the season. The 

 following list embraces a few of the many which constitute 

 its bill ot tare: Cratonyckus ciiiereus, C '. pertiiietx* Do- 

 nacia confluenta, Rkynchanus strobi\ and other coleopters : 

 caterpillars and imagos of Zcrcne eatenaria. Auisopterv\ 

 20 



