BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 83 



PORTO RICAN WOOD PEWEE. Blacicus blancoi Cabanis. 



BOBITO, JUI, JUI PBQCESO. 



The bobito, or wood pewee, is a tolerably common resident species In the west- 

 ern portion of Porto Rico. It is not recorded from the eastern half of the island 

 beyond a line passing through Salinas, Aibonito, and Ciales. This bird fre- 

 quents coffee plantations, small patches of second growth, or on the south coast 

 the dry brushy pastures, but very few even of the country people are familiar 

 with it, as it is so inconspicuous that it would be overlooked by one not acquainted 

 with its habits. In the coffee plantations it is found on the slopes about the 

 heads of small gullies, or on the middle portion of long, steep slopes. It usually 

 selects open perches on dead limbs not far from the ground, from which it makes 

 short sallies after insects. The call note of the males, a low tremulous pree-e-e-e 

 given at times, with trembling wings, can not be heard more than a hundred 

 yards, and is so ventriloquial that neither its direction nor the distance from 

 which it comes can be determined. Frequently a bird will call from a perch 

 not 30 feet away for several minutes before it is seen, so still does it sit and 

 so well do its colors harmonize with the background. The females are silent, 

 usually appearing suddenly on a limb, and without doubt are often overlooked. 

 The breeding season is in May, though no nests were found, and in July and 

 August the birds were molting badly. Near Cabo Rojo they were found in the 

 mangroves bordering the seacoast lagoons, but nowhere else did they approach 

 so close to the ocean. 



Food. — The Porto Rican wood pewee is a true flycatcher, as in 29 stomachs 

 taken in February, May, June, and August 99.17 per cent of the contents was 

 animal matter and 0.83 per cent vegetable. The vegetable matter was contained 

 in a single stomach taken May 1, 1912, near Salinas, and consisted of seeds of 

 the espino ( Yanthoxylum sp. ) . Of the animal food, Diptera and Hymenoptera 

 form the largest elements, though many beetles are taken. A cricket ( Orocharis 

 sp.) was found in one stomach and amounts to 0.56 per cent. Homoptera (5.39 

 per cent) are composed largely of lantern flies and tree hoppers, though one 

 bird had discovered a cicada. Other bugs (Heteroptera), all so broken or frag- 

 mentary as to be indeterminate, with the single exception of one stinkbug 

 (Pentatomidse), were found in three stomachs and amount to 1.45 per cent. 

 Leaf beetles (3.19 per cent) were encountered in 10 stomachs. A small species 

 of uncertain habit (Cryptocephalus sp.) was identified six times. Ladybirds 

 (Coccinellidaa) (3.87 per cent) appeared in five stomachs; they are usually 

 predaciotis species and are the only beneficial beetles taken. Those eaten are 

 all native forms, none of the species recently introduced to combat the mealy 

 bug in cane fields being found. An engraver beetle (Platypus sp.) (8.S6 per 

 cent) was identified in nine stomachs. These are common about coffee planta- 

 tions in many localities, and as many as 43 were found in a single stomach. 

 Other weevils, found in nine stomachs, amount to 1.84 per cent, among which 

 was a curculio {Anthonomus sp.). Coleoptera not included above come to 2.43 

 per cent, among which were a water scavenger beetle, click beetles (Mono- 

 crepidnis sp.), several longicorns, darkling beetles, and others. The beetles 

 eaten, though nearly all small, cover a wide range of families and are largely 

 injurious species. 



Moths are represented in eight stomachs and a caterpillar in one, together 

 forming 10.87 per cent. The former figure more extensively in the food of this 

 bird than in any of the flycatchers previously mentioned and show that active 

 prey is watched for and captured on the wing, the slower-moving caterpillars 

 being unnoticed. 



Of the total food, 23.07 per cent is composed of Hymenoptera, large numbers 

 of which are parasitic species. Representatives of this order were found in 



