48 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



other brood had eaten a total of 53 adults and 200 larvse, averaging 

 lOf adults and 40 larvse for each bird. Four other young, about 2 

 days' old, had devoured 4 adults and 195 larvae. 



A brood of three, 3 or 4 days old, had taken a total of 210 adults 

 and 12 larvse from a badly infested field adjacent to the shed in 

 which the nest was located. Another brood of the same number had 

 eaten 190 and 15 ; a brood of two, 129 and 5 ; while three other young 

 birds, 3 or 4 days old, had taken no larvse, but had consumed 183 

 adult weevils. On May 27 the writer collected a brood of five young 

 birds, 5 or 6 days old, whose stomachs contained a total of 308 adults 

 and 151 larvse, an average of 61.6 and 30.3 per bird, and amounting 

 to 70.4 per cent of the contents. 



Of the 530 stomachs collected for this period, there was one which 

 contained over 100 larvse, 7 which had from 75 to 99, 29 with from 

 50 to 74, and 90 with from 25 to 49. As to adult weevils, there were 

 5 stomachs containing from 75 to 99, 21 with from 50* to 74, and 74 

 with from 25 to 49. Many stomachs contained from 15 to 25 larvse, 

 as well as adults, the total frequently exceeding 40 individuals. 



The food, other than weevils, next most important was Lepidoptera, 

 comprising 18.36 per cent of the contents, and almost entirely made 

 up of caterpillars. In 28 stomachs caterpillars composed three- 

 fourths or more of the contents. Though at present these insects 

 are not causing so milch damage as the weevil, yet the good service 

 of the birds in destroying them must be recognized. Ground beetles 

 (Carabidse) made up 4.65 per cent of the stomach contents, the prin- 

 cipal portion being of the genus Amara. Diptera, made up largely 

 of Tipulidse (crane flies), comes next in order, with a percentage of 

 3.9. Spiders, eaten principally during the first 2 or 3 days of the 

 nestlings' life, composed 3.78 per cent, and scarabseid beetles, mainly 

 of the genus Aphodius, represent 2.75 per cent. Hymenopterous in- 

 sects made up 2.08 per cent of the contents. The remainder of the 

 animal food, a little less than 3 per cent, was scattered among several 

 groups of insects, of which carrion beetles (Silphidse), grasshoppers, 

 and bugs (Hemiptera) were most important. 



The vegetable food, as usual, was composed almost entirely of 

 wheat and oats. Much of this must be considered waste, though 



C5 



some complaints that sparrows steal chicken feed are verified by this 

 examination. 



June 1 to June 15. A percentage of 26.75 shows the extent to 

 which the 382 young, examined in this period, were feeding on the 

 weevil. A total of 4,907 adults and 5,336 larvse were eaten, an aver- 

 age of 12.85 adults and 13.97 larvae for each bird. In 1911 of 22 

 birds 3 had failed to feed on the insects, while in 1912 only 1 out of 

 360 did not eat them, this being a very young bird in which spiders 

 and caterpillars formed much of the stomach contents. 



