180 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 85 



tiger beetles, water beetles, and snout beetles of various spe- 

 cies. The flies were mostly fish flies tho house and stable 

 flies were also noted. On one occasion a small frog was 

 thot to have been fed. On the last two days of the study, 

 wild raspberries and gooseberries were fed in small num- 

 bers. Under the title "larvae" is included all moth and beetle 

 larvae. A few cutworms and may-beetle larvae were among 

 them. Of all the insects used as food, flies were the most 

 easily obtained. These and the grasshoppers were the two 

 most conspicuous forms in the little ravine in which the nest 

 was located. The flies were to be seen in large swarms over 

 the bushes and the grass contained numbers of grasshoppers. 

 Of the 596 morsels fed, 99 or 16.61% were flies; 40 or 

 6.71% were grasshoppers; 112 or 23.82% were beetles, 

 moths and their larvae; and 9 or 1.51% fruit (raspberries 

 and gooseberries). The remaining 51.35% was made up of 

 various insect forms in small numbers. The fruit consumed 

 is not of any economic importance as it was all wild fruit. 

 It is important only as further proof of the feeding of fruit 

 to the nestlings when it is available. Deducting this 1.51%, 

 we find that 47.14% of the nestling food in this case was 

 composed of flies, grasshoppers, beetles, and moths, practi- 

 cally all of them injurious. 



The most significant fact of the two studies is the great vari- 

 ety of insect species used as food. From these and other stud- 

 ies, the conclusion is drawn that the most available supply of 

 food is largely used. Both of these little ravines teemed with 

 insect life and as a result no one or two species stand out 

 prominently as the source of food supply. In the study of 

 nest C, flies were noted to be exceedingly plentiful among 

 the bushes and many times were caught from the nest or near 

 it but other insects were also numerous and flies do not fur- 

 nish any unusual part of the food. In the case of the brown 

 thrasher previously mentioned, it was found that grasshop- 

 pers, moths, mayflies, and cutworms totaled 1012 out of 1260 

 morsels fed or 80.31%. This was undoubtedly due to loca- 

 tion. The nest was on a dry hillside with only a few scat- 



