2 BULLETIN" 280, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the exception of the solitaire, do not require any greater seclusion 

 than that afforded by an acre or two of woodland or swamp. 



The thrushes are largely insectivorous, and also are fond of spiders, 

 myriapods, sowbugs, snails, and angleworms. The vegetable portion 

 of their diet consists mostly of berries and other small fruits. As a 

 family thrushes can not be called clean feeders, for the food eaten 

 often contains a considerable proportion of such matter as dead 

 leaves, stems, and other parts of more or less decayed vegetation. It 

 might be supposed that this was gathered from the ground with 

 insects and other food, but investigation shows that much of it has 

 a different origin. It was noticed that the setse or spines of earth- 

 worms were a very common accompaniment of this decayed vegeta- 

 tion. Earthworms themselves are rather rarely found in stomachs, 

 although some birds, as the robin, eat them freely. It is well known 

 that the food of earthworms consists largely of partially decayed 

 vegetable matter found in the soil. Hence it is probable that decayed 

 vegetation found in the stomachs of thrushes is the food contained 

 in the earthworms when they were swallowed. The tissues of worms 

 are quickly digested, leaving the contents of their alimentary canals 

 mixed with the hard indigestible setse or spines. 



Thrushes of the genus Hylocichla show a very pronounced taste 

 for ants, and the average consumption of these insects by the five 

 species is 12.65 per cent. Few birds other than woodpeckers show 

 so strong a liking for this highly flavored food. Hymenoptera in 

 general, including ants, bees, and wasps, are the second largest item 

 of insect food. Lepidoptera (caterpillars) stand next as an article 

 of thrush diet, while Orthoptera (grasshoppers), which are a favorite 

 food with most birds, do not seem to appeal much to the thrushes. 



The thrushes are pronounced ground feeders, and may often be 

 seen picking small fruit that has fallen to the ground. The vege- 

 table portion of their food (40.72 per cent) is largely composed of 

 fruit, which constitutes over 34 per cent of the total food. Of this 

 30.88 per cent is made up of wild berries, which outweigh the do- 

 mestic varieties with every species. In all, 94 species of wild fruits 

 ■■ or berries were identified in the stomachs of these birds, although it 

 is not always practicable to identify such material unless seeds or 

 some other characteristic parts are present. As this is not often 

 the case, a considerable portion of the stomach contents must be pro- 

 nounced "fruit pulp" without further identification; thus probably 

 many more species are eaten than are recorded. Moreover, in the 

 case of some fruits, it is not possible to distinguish species by the 

 seeds, so that many species go unrecognized except as to genus. 

 Domestic fruits are eaten so sparingly by the thrushes here consid- 

 ered as to be of no economic importance. 



