80 



BULLETIN 326, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The following were identified in the pet chary stomachs examined : 



CRUSTACEA. 



JJca pugnax rapax— 



ORTHOPTERA. 



Schistocerca Columbiana. 

 Scapteriscus didactylus _ 



HEMIPTERA. 



Proarno hilaris 



Rocconota sp 



Zelus sp 



Nezara sp 



COLEQPTERA. 



Coccinella sp 



Cycloneda limbifer 



Chrysobothris denticulata-- 



Acmceodera sp 



Photinus sp 



coleoptera — continued. 



Gryptocephalus sp 2 



Diabtotica graminea 3 



Lachnopus sp 4 



Diaprepes spengleri 29 



Hetamasius hemipterus 3 



hymenoptera. 



Poltstes sp 



Campsomeris sp 



Campsomeris dorsata 1. 



Odynerus sp 



Odontomachus hcematoda 



vertebrata. 



Eleutherodactylus sp 10 



Anolis sp 17 



Anolis stratulus 1 



Vegetable food. — Vegetable matter that may be classed as rubbish amounted 

 to 1.96 per cent, and seeds forming 21.13 per cent were found in 36 stomachs, 

 or a little more than half those examined. Not so many species are eaten as 

 in the case of the gray kingbird and some of the favored species taken by that 

 bird are missing in the appended list, notably the moral (Cordia). Berries 

 of palms and the fruit of the wild fig and espino (Xanthoxylum sp.) were 

 well represented, while the others were scattering. None were of the least 

 commercial value except possibly the concombre (Cucumis -sp.), which every- 

 where in the island grows in a wild state. As in the case of the gray kingbird, 

 no gravel was found in the stomachs examined. 



The following seeds were identified in these stomachs : 



Arecacese sp 1 



Palmo real (Boystonea borinquena) 2 



Wild fig (Ficus sp.) 3 



Chenopodaceae sp 3 



Almendrillo (Prunus sp.) 1 



Espino (Xanthoxylum sp.) 4 



Bejuco prieto (Paullinia pinnata) 3 



Adelia (Adelia sp.) 



Nightshade (Solanum sp.)_ 

 Santa Maria (Lantana sp.). 



Rubiacesa sp 



Camacey (Miconia sp.) 



Concombre (Cucumis sp.)_. 

 Compositse sp 



Summary. — The Porto Rican petchary or clerigo is a beneficial species in the 

 true sense and renders great assistance in suppressing numbers of injurious 

 insects. Although a few predacious coccinellids and larger numbers of lizards 

 and tree toads are eaten, the weevils, bugs, miscellaneous beetles, changas, and 

 other Orthoptera destroyed show a large balance in favor of the bird. The 

 bird has been accused of damage by owners of apiaries who believe that it eats 

 many bees. This charge, however, is entirely unsubstantiated, though a num- 

 ber of birds were collected in the immediate vicinity of bee yards. In an 

 island where large insectivorous birds are few this bird is one of the most bene- 

 ficial of the native species and should be protected by all. The good that it 

 does is not limited to the coffee plantations, in which it chiefly resides, as 

 many of the weevils taken are serious pests in cane fields and elsewhere." The 

 bird is beginning to appear in the more open cultivated lowlands, and if undis- 

 turbed in its chosen haunts in bamboos and mango trees should increase in num- 

 bers. Further plantings would tend to encourage it in the pastures. 



