22 



FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 



were taken in California. The food was found to consist of 99.31 

 per cent animal matter to 0.69 per cent of vegetable. 



Animal food. — Useful beetles amounted to 2.45 per cent of the food 

 and consisted of predaceous ground beetles (Carabidse) found in 

 8 stomachs, and ladybirds (Coccinellidse) in 24. This would seem 



to indicate that 

 this bird has a de- 

 cided taste for coc- 

 cinellids, though 

 the jDcrcentage was 

 not large. Other 

 beetles amounted 

 to 5.94 per cent, 

 and were eaten 

 quite regularly 

 through the sea- 

 son. The weevil 

 genus Balaninus, 

 or the nut destroy- 

 ers, was found in 8 

 stomachs, and sev- 

 eral other harmful 

 species were iden- 

 tified. Hymenop- 

 tera amounted to 

 38.76 per cent and 

 were found in 121 

 stomachs, of which 

 7 contained no 

 other food. They 

 were mostly wasps 

 and bees, though 

 ants were found in 

 19 stomachs and 

 entirely filled one 

 of them. But few 

 parasitic species 

 were found. 



Hemiptei'a were 



found in 53 stomachs, of which 2 contained nothing else. They 

 amounted to 8.44 per cent of the food and consisted of stink bugs, 

 tree hoppers, and leaf hoppers. The 2 stomachs that contained 

 Hemiptera alone were entirely filled with .stink bugs. Diptera 

 were the second largest item of food and were eaten in every 

 month and more regularljr than any other. They were found in 67 



506 



Fig. 9. — Western yellow-bellied flycatcher. 



