RELATIONS OF BIRDS TO GARDENS 299 



consists of beetles, about one third of which are useful 

 ground beetles, taken mostly in spring and fall when other 

 insects are scarce. Grasshoppers make up about one 

 tenth of the whole food, but in August comprise over 30 

 per cent. Caterpillars form about 6 per cent, while the 

 rest of the animal food, about 7 per cent, is made up of 

 various insects, with a few spiders, snails, and angle 

 worms. All the grasshoppers, caterpillars, and bugs, with 

 a large part of the beetles, are injurious, and it is safe to 

 say that noxious insects comprise more than one third of 

 the robin's food. Vegetable food forms nearly 58 per cent 

 of the stomach contents, over 47 being wild fruits, and only 

 a little more than 4 per cent being possibly cultivated va- 

 rieties. Cultivated fruit amounting to about 25 per cent 

 was found in the stomachs in June and July, but only a 

 trifle in August. Wild fruit, on the contrary, is eaten in 

 every month, and constitutes a staple food during half the 

 year. No less than 41 species were identified in the 

 stomachs ; of these, the most important were four species 

 of dogwood, three of wild cherries, three of wild grapes, 

 four of greenbrier, two of holly, two of elder ; and cran- 

 berries, huckleberries, blueberries, barberries, service ber- 

 ries, hackberries, and persimmons, with four species of 

 sumac, and various seeds not strictly fruit." 



There is no doubt that the Robin is a very useful bird, 

 when we consider its life through the year. But it is also 

 true that at times, especially in fruit-growing regions, it is 

 decidedly injurious. 



No country boy needs to be introduced to the Catbird. 

 It is familiar to every one who has wandered along a 

 roadside or by the margin of woods. It is a useful bird, 

 although it sometimes helps itself too freely to the fruits 

 of the orchard and garden. "Ants, beetles, caterpillars, 



