BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 



77 



digestive juices and mixed with other material without the aid of a microscope. 

 Bees other than the honeybee figure largely in the stomachs taken about 

 apiaries, and in the series taken in June amount to 9.35 per cent. Frequently 

 birds taken near the hives, vigorously catching insects in the passing swarms of 

 bees, contained no trace of honeybees, though observation would have led to the 

 inference that their stomachs would be crammed with them. In fact, about as 

 many bees were found in birds killed in fields and pastures as in those collected 

 in the immediate vicinity of the hives. Moreover, as bees were found in but 5 

 stomachs out of 89, this should not weigh heavily against the bird when present 

 in ordinary numbers, unless it is about at swarming time, when the queens are 

 liable to be picked up. 



Other Hymenoptera amount to 11.33 per cent and are composed largely of 

 wasps. Caterpillars in ten stomachs and moths in four make up 4.75 per cent. 

 Lizards, largely anolis, were eaten by four birds and amount to 3.64 per cent. 

 One bird had swallowed an entire lizard 4£ inches long. Miscellaneous food, 

 consisting of spiders eaten three times, ant lions (Myrmelionidse) twice, one fly, 

 and a small quantity of indeterminate matter, amounts to 2.42 per cent. 



The following were identified in the stomachs of the gray kingbird : 



ORTHOPTERA. 



Schistocerca sp 



Callimantis antillarum 



Scapteriscus didactylus. 



HEMIPTERA. 



Proarno sp 



Proarno hilaris 



Nezara sp 



Zelus sp 



Zelus rubidus— 



COLEOPTERA. 



Cycloneda Umbifer 1 



Acmwodera sp 2 



Lachnosterna sp 1 



Solenoptera sp 1 



Cryptocephalus sp 1 



Coptocycla signifera 1 



Diaprepes spengleri 32 



Lachnopus sp 3 



Metamasius hemipterus 14 



HYMENOPTERA. 



Tiphia sp 



Elis sp 



Pepsis sp 



Priononyx sp 



Oxybelus sp 



Polistes sp 



Polistes canadensis 



Augochlora sp 



Campsomeris sp 



Campsomeris dorsata 



Exomalopsis sp 



Anthophora Jcrugii 14 



Centris versicolor 1 



Bomous sp 1 



Apis mellifica (worker) 5 



VERTEBRATA. 



Anolis sp 



Vegetable food. — Of the vegetable matter eaten, seeds and fruits comprise 

 22.06 per cent, while vegetable rubbish amounts to only 0.38 per cent. The 

 berries borne by the royal palm (Roystonea borinquena) and other species of 

 the same family are favorites, as are those of the espino (Xanthoxylum spp.), 

 a fruit with little pulp and a peculiarly reticulated seed. Seeds of various 

 euphorbias and of plants of the nightshade family are also sought greedily, and 

 one bird had eaten seeds of the Santa Maria (Lantana sp.), a pernicious weed 

 not of major importance in Porto Rico though very troublesome under similar 

 conditions in Hawaii. The moral (Cordia spp.) was perhaps the favorite, being 

 found in 12 stomachs. The fruits eaten are all wild and none are of commer- 

 cial importance. 



The following seeds were identified in the stomachs examined : 



Royal palm (Roystonea borinquena)-- 4 



Palm (Acrista sp.) 1 



Palma de Sierra (Acrista monticola)- 1 



Wild fig (Ficus sp.) 2 



Chenopodaces sp 1 



Phytolaceacese sp 1 



Espino (Xanthoxylum sp.) 5 



Espino (Xanthoxylum martinicense) 1 



Euphorbiaces sp 4 



Croton (Croton sp.) 1 



