BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 



61 



bird alone having eaten 38. Spiders were taken freely, but amount to only 

 4.08 per cent. Strangely enough, no cattle ticks were found, though it is the 

 universal belief that the ani consumes many, and from that fact indeed is de- 

 rived its generic name. 



Miscellaneous animal matter amounting to 1.45 per cent is composed of a wide 

 range of material. Fragments of a dragon fiy, a dipteran, and crustacean re- 

 mains each occur once. One stomach contained a peculiar fiat platelike tooth 

 from some fish, and only two contained lizard remains. The bird, shot in the 

 act of robbing a blackbird's nest, contained large fragments of eggshell. 



The following were identified in the stomachs of the ani : 



ORTHOPTEEA. 



Schistocerca sp 5 



Schistocerca columbiana 1 



Plectrotettix sp 6 



Plectrotettix gregarius 2 



'Homorocoryphus sp 1 



Conocephalus sp 1 



Neoconocrphalus sp 1 



Neoconocephalus macropterus 1 



Callimantis antillarum 1 



Anurogryllus sp 1 



AnurogryUus muticus 1 



Gryllus assimilis 1 



Scapteriscus didactylus 5 



HEMIPTEKA. 



Corixa sp 



Notonecta sp 



Zelus sp 



Phymata angulata 



Corizus sp 



Catorhintha sp 



Spartocera fusca 



Edessa sp 



Nezara sp 



Proxis sp 



Thyanta sp 



Thyanta perditor 



Margarodes formicarum 



COLEOPTEEA. 



Calosoma alternans 



Selenophorus sp 



coleopteea — continued. 



Cycloneda limbifer 



Alonocrepidius bifoveatus 



Aphodius lividus 



Atwnius stercorator 



Chlorida f estiva 



Diabrotica graminea 



Ceratoma denticornis 



Lema sp 



Coptocycla signifera 



Chcetocnema sp 



Myochrous sp 



Rhyssematus sp 



Metamasius hemipterus 



Lachnopus sp 



HYMENOPTEEA. 



Spilochalcis sp 



Megachile sp 



Solenopsis geminata- 

 Yespa sp 



AEACHXIDA. 



Lycosa sp 



Oxyopes salticus 



Epeira sp 



Argiope argentata 

 Attidse 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable matter (8.7 per cent) was made up largely 

 of the seeds of the cherrylike moral (Cordia sp.), which occurred in 15 of the 

 41 stomachs. It is doubtful whether seeds themselves appeal to this bird, as 

 there were few in the stomachs which did not have a more or less pulpy ex- 

 terior. The gizzard is hardly fitted for grinding up flinty seeds and in only 

 one stomach was a trace of gravel found. In the field the birds were seen 

 eating the icaco (Chrysobalamts sp.). None of the fruits taken are in any way 

 the product of man's labor. The following seeds were identified in the stomachs : 



Whitetop (Dichromena sp.). 



Palm (Coccothrinax sp.) 



Espino (Xanthoxylum sp.). 

 Euphorbiacese sp 



Moral (Cordia sp.) 15 



Concombre (Cucumis sp.) 1 



Compositae sp 1 



Summary. — The judio or ani may be considered entirely beneficial, as it de- 

 stroys large numbers of highly injurious orthoptera, beetles, and caterpillars. 



