BULLETIN 280, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



are a standard article of diet. They were found in the stomachs 

 collected in every month of the year but four, and a greater number 

 of stomachs would probably show them in every month. The one 

 stomach taken in May contained the maximum (72 per cent). The 

 total for the year is 12.95 per cent. Ants are eaten to the extent of 

 4.71 per cent, while other Hymenoptera, as bees and wasps, make 

 up less than half of 1 per cent, Diptera (flies) are represented 

 by a mere trace in the stomachs. Observers who have seen this bird 

 in its native haunts testify that it takes a considerable portion of its 

 food on the wing. In view of this fact it seems curious that the two 

 orders of insects most active on the wing (Hymenoptera and Dip- 

 tera) should be so scantily represented in the food. Hymenoptera 

 are a standard diet with flycatchers and would seem to be the natu- 

 ral food of any bird that feeds upon the wing. 



Hemiptera (bugs) were found to the extent of 3.51 per cent of the 

 total food. All were contained in three stomachs taken in March, 

 June, and July. In the July stomach four cicadas, or dog-day flies, 

 constituted the whole contents. Grasshoppers amount to less than 1 

 per cent and all other insects to but a trifle. Spiders were eaten to 

 the extent of 2.94 per cent of the food and were found in the stomachs 

 taken in seven of the twelve months, and judging from their dis- 

 tribution they are eaten whenever available. A hair snake (Gordius) 

 was found in one stomach. Following is a list of insects identified 

 and the number of stomachs in which found : 



COLBQPTBHA. 



Amara erratica. 



Aplwdius sp 



BalaMnus sp 



HEMIPTERA. 



Platypedia putnami. 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable portion of the food of Myadestes 

 is 64.10 per cent of the whole, and 58.70 per cent of this, or more than 

 half the whole food, is classified as wild fruit or berries. These 

 were found in stomachs collected in every month. From the even dis- 

 tribution of this food through the year and from the quantity eaten 

 it is evidently a favorite article of diet. Nothing was found in any 

 of the stomachs that could be identified as cultivated fruit, with the 

 possible exception of a mass of fruit pulp found in one. A few 

 seeds of poison ivy and sumac, with fragments of flowers and a few 

 weed seeds, complete the vegetable food. Following is a list of fruits, 

 seeds, etc., identified, and the number of stomachs in which found: 



Rocky Mountain cedar (Junipents svo- 



pulorum) 



Western cedar {Juniperus monospcr- 



mum i 



Other cedars {Juniperus sp.) 



llackberries (('{It is oiridentalis) 



Kouglas hackberrips (Celt is douglasii) _ 



Service berries (Amelanchter sp.) 



Rose haws (Rosa sp.) 



W'ibl cherries (Prunua sp.) 1 



Sumac berries (Rhus sp.t 1 



Poison ivy [Rhus toxicodendron) 1 



Waxwork (Celastrux sp.) 1 



Madrona berries (Arbutus menzicsli). 5 



Honeysuckle berries (Lonicera sp.) 1 



Elderberries (Ba/tnbucua sp.) l 



Fruit nol further identified 3 



