FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWHT BIRDS. 



17 



amount to 45.23 per cent and replaces the spiders so characteristic of 

 the ruby-throat's diet. Hynlenoptera, on the other hand, are nearly 

 the same (35.03 per cent) as in the other species. Hemiptera (bugs) 

 amount to 17.30 per cent, or nearly double what the ruby-throat had 

 eaten. The Anna hummer had ,eaten spiders to the extent of only 

 2 per cent. A few 

 bits of beetles were 

 found in both spe- 

 cies; also a few 

 fragments of what 

 was supposed to be 

 the skin of a cater- 

 pillar. Only a trace 

 of vegetable matter, 

 presumed to be fxuit 

 pulp, was found in 

 the stomachs of the 

 Anna. 



Summary. • — The 

 food of these two 

 representatives of 

 the hummingbird 

 family, it appears, 

 possesses but little 

 economic interest, 

 and that little is 

 mostly in the wrong 

 direction. The Hy- 

 menoptera eaten are 

 probably largely 

 parasitic species and 

 so to be reckoned 

 as useful, while the 

 Diptera and spiders 

 may be considered 

 as neutral, although 

 it is possible that 

 some of the former 

 may be of the gall- 

 gnat family and so be harmful. The Hemiptera eaten are probably 

 mostly of injurious species. On the other hand, hummingbirds do 

 no harm to any product of husbandry and, as they are beautiful and 

 interesting creatures, their preservation may well be urged on purely 

 sentimental grounds. — F. E. L. B. 

 50679°— Bull. 506—12 3 



Fig. 6. — ^Anna hummingbird. 



