16 



FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 



Animal food. — The jorincipal item of insect food was small Hymen- 

 optera, of which a large proportion are probably parasitic species. 

 They amount to 36.32 per cent of the food, and next to spiders are 

 the largest constituents of the animal diet. Hemiptera stand next 



to Hymenoptera 

 among the insects 

 eaten and amount 

 to 8.88 per cent of 

 the food. Many of 

 these appear to be 

 minute leaf hoppers 

 (Jassidsa) or mem- 

 bers of some closely 

 allied family. Dip- 

 tera (gnats) were 

 found. in only a few 

 stomachs. They 



amount to only 2.57 

 per cent of the 

 food. The largest 

 component of the 

 ruby-throat's food, 

 however, is spiders, 

 which amount to 

 43.46 per cent of the 

 stomach contents. 



Vegetable food. — 

 Four stomachs held 

 what was thought 

 to be fruit pulp, 

 one contained plant 

 hairs felted into a 

 solid mass, one held 

 what appeared to 

 be pieces of a seed, 

 and one contained a 

 few bits of rubbish. 



Pig. 5. — Ruby-throated hummingbird. 



Altogether, vegetable food amounts to 5.68 per cent of the whole, 

 and it is doubtful if any of it is taken intentionally. 



As a representative of the western members of this family, the 

 Anna hummer {CdLypte anna) (fig. 6) has been selected. Of this 

 species 111 stomachs were examined, and in some respects the food 

 was found to differ noticeably from that of the ruby-throat. The 

 largest item of animal food is Diptera (gnats or small flies), which 



50G 



