FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIBDS. 21 



Hemiptera (bugs) amount to 20.11 per cent. Among them were 

 many of those queer beechnut-?haped little bugs called tree hoppers 

 (Membracidss) . Stink bugs (Pentatomidae) were found in 13 stom- 

 achs, cicadas in 13, jumping plant lice (Psyllida;) in 7, shield bugs 

 (Scutelleridse) in 1, leaf hoppers (Jassida?) in 7, assassin bugs 

 (Reduviidse) in 1, and negro bugs (Corimehenidfe) in 1. 



Diptera (flies) amount to 12.83 per cent of the food. Those iden- 

 tified belong to the house-fly family (Muscidse), the Syrphidse, 

 and the robber flies (Asilidae). Altogether Diptera were found in 

 24 stomachs. Lepidoptera (moths and their larva;) amount to 17.11 

 per cent of the seasonal diet and were found in 29 stomachs. Of 

 these, 22 contained caterpillars and 7 held moths. Orthoptera (grass- 

 hoppers and crickets) were eaten in the first four months — i. e., from 

 April to July — and a few in December. The total is only 6.14 per 

 cent. Raphidians, dragonflies, and spiders together make 2.93 per 

 cent, the balance of the animal food. Dragonflies were found in 6 

 stomach.s and spiders in 17. 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable food of the ashy-throat can all be 

 summed up in two words — fruit and' seeds. Elderberries {Sam- 

 hucus) were found in 5 stomachs, Cissus in 1, black nightshade 

 (Solanum) in 1, fruit not identified in 2, and seeds unknown in 3. 



Summary. — In foraging for its animal food the ashy-throat de- 

 stroys a great many harmful insects and a few useful ones, so that 

 the balance is decidedly in favor of the bird as a useful economic 

 factor. The vegetable food has no economic interest. — F. E. L. B. 



WESTERN YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. 

 (Empidona.r difflcilis.) 



The western yellow-bellied flycatcher (fig. 9) occupies the western 

 part of the United States from the Pacific coast eastward as far as 

 the eastern foothills of the Rockies and as far north as Alaska. It 

 is found in its summer range about 8 months of the year and during 

 winter, in Mexico. While somewhat fond of the darker shades of the 

 forest, it takes kindly to the open when other conditions suit, and 

 since the advent of civilization and the planting of orchards it finds 

 these places quite to its mind as foraging grounds. The nest is 

 usually under cover, but that appears to be the only condition. A 

 hollow tree, a bracket under the porch of a house, a beam under a 

 bridge, a crevice among the roots of an overturned tree, or under the 

 overhanging turf of the bank of a stream are probably fair samples 

 of locations. 



For the study of this bird's food 150 stomachs were available. 

 They were taken in every month from March to October and are very 

 fairly distributed in time, but not so well in space, as most of them 



506 



