176 Mr Brindley, Notes on certain parasites, food, and caj^ture 



Collinge in " The Food of some British Wild Birds " (London, 

 1913) reports on the contents of the crop, etc., of 29 of the com- 

 monest species, among which only four contained earwigs, and 

 these were very few in number. Thus in 404 House Sparrows 

 2 earwigs were found, 1 in each of 2 birds; in 721 Rooks 2 ear- 

 wigs were found, 1 in each of 2 birds ; in 40 Skylarks 3 earwigs 

 were found among 2 birds; in 64 Song Thrushes 7 earwigs were 

 found among 2 birds. 



Newstead in " The Food of some British Birds " (Sapp. to Journ. 

 of Board of Agric. no. 9, Dec. 1908) records observations on the 

 swallowed food of 128 species, the outcome of 871 post-mortem and 

 pellet examinations carried out in various years from 1894 to 1908. 

 He finds that 10 sj)ecies had eaten earwigs, the numbers of birds 

 examined and the numbers of earwigs found being : 1 Whimbrel, 

 40 earwigs ; 2 Green Woodpeckers, 24 earwigs ; 2 Starlings, 3 ear- 

 wigs; 1 Nuthatch, 3 earwigs; 1 Chaffinch, 1 Great Titmouse, 

 1 Redbreast, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Whinchat, 1 Woodcock, 1 earwig 

 each. 



Theobald and McGowan in '•' The Food of the Rook, Chaffinch 

 and Starling" {Sapix to Journ. of Board of Agric. no. 15, May 

 1916) put on record a particularly valuable and interesting series 

 of observations, as they examined the food month by month 

 during nearly 2^ years, viz., from Jan. 1912 to May 1914, the 

 inquiry covering 277 Rooks, 748 Starlings, and 527 Chaffinches. 

 An analysis of their results as regards earwigs for the 2^ years is 

 as follows: 



3K 



^c^ 



I have divided the year into two j)eriods of six months con- 

 formably with the seasonal presence or absence of earwigs on the 

 surface of the ground. From October to March most male earwigs 



