THE OOLOGIST. 



135 



conditions affect him little, directly, ex- 

 cept as far as his food is concerned, and 

 as this consists largely of the insects 

 that live in the foliage of trees, the ar- 

 rival of /. galbula is postponed until 

 they have become plentiful. 



It begins its southern migration about 

 the second week in August, and by the 

 first week in October we look in vain 

 for the beautiful flash of color so fre- 

 quently seen but a few short weeks 

 since. 



I took one specimen at Woods Hole, 

 Mass., on the 2d of November, but have 

 seen none later, although the capture of 

 one as late as Nov. 16th is recorded from 

 Conn. By this date, however, ordinar- 

 illy, nothing but the deserted nest, 

 swinging from the leafless bough, as 

 the bleak November blast howls among 

 the trees, tells of the occurence of 1. 

 galbula in that locality. The winter is 

 spent in the warm southern countries 

 beyond the U. S. border. 



The present paper on the food supply 

 is confined to the results reached from 

 the examination of eighty-six stomachs, 

 from birds taken from ten states, and 

 covering a range from Mass., westward, 

 to North Dakota, and were taken from 

 April 10th to Sept. 3d, inclusive. The 

 gross contents of these stomachs may 

 be stated relatively, as follows: Anima] 

 matter (principally caterpillars and 

 beetles), 72.5; vegetable matter (princi- 

 pally wild fruit), 12.; mineral matter 

 (not food and can therefore be eliminat- 

 ed) 16.4; the additional 9 per cent, be- 

 ing water and mixed gastric juices. 



From the reports received from west- 

 ern points, it appears that the largest 

 amount of insect food was found in 

 those stomachs examined from May 1st 

 to June 20th, averaging between these 

 dates about 87 per cent, of the whole 

 contents. The minimum amount of in- 

 sect food was found in those stomachs 

 examined in April and July, when it 

 was found to be only about 65 per cent. 

 Caterpillars were by far the most abund- 



ant insect; in fact during the time when 

 these insects were most plentiful there 

 was scarcely any other insect to be 

 found in the stomach. 



A general average between the cater- 

 pillars and beetles in the stomachs ex- 

 amined, would give as a result cater- 

 pillars 30 per cent., beetles 22 per cent., 

 and the other stomach contents making 

 up the balance. 



The caterpillars were founl to be 

 more numerous in the stomachs after 

 the 1st of July than before, owing, no 

 doubt, to the increased supply of these 

 insects. Beetles are the article of food 

 next pleasing to the Oriole palate, and 

 though only eaten during May, June 

 and July, the click or snapping beetles 

 {Elateridae) constituted nearly 10 per 

 cent, of the food for these months. Ihis 

 seems a trifle strange from the fact that 

 the hard shells of these beetles render 

 them seemingly undesirable articles of 

 diet. However, let us not dispute the 

 good intentions of / galbula, for these 

 beetles, together with their larve, the 

 "wire worms," are among the most de- 

 structive to the products of the farmer; 

 and as there are over 500 species of 

 snapping beetles in North America, any 

 aid in their destruction should be gladly 

 welcomed by him. 



Among the other beetles used by this 

 bird for food are the May beetles, {Scar- 

 abaeidae) the dung beetles (Aphodius) 

 and several of the leaf-eating beetles 

 (Bichelonycha). Among this latter, the 

 striped squash beetle, {E. vittata) which 

 in the larval state bores at the roots of 

 squashes and cucumbers, and in the ma- 

 ture state feeds upon the leaves, may be 

 mentioned. Odontola dorsalis and 0. 

 rubra, which feed on the leaves of the 

 juniper and apple, respectively, and at 

 times ruin these trees, are also a favor- 

 ite with the Oriole. The Snout beetles 

 or weevils (Rhyncophora) are also taken 

 by this bird in small quantities. The 

 Caribidae or cannibal beetles, which feed 

 for the most part on the injurious in- 



