HOUSE FINCH. iv 
for its home it was only a matter of course that the bird should 
select as its secondary food the nearest available source of supply, 
namely, fruit. For seeds, which are to be regarded as the linnet’s 
natural food, grow about the borders of orchards and by roadsides, 
and hence are readily obtained. 
Although the great bulk of fringilline birds normally subsist 
principally upon seeds, at certain times, notably in the breeding 
season, they eat a considerable quantity of animal food, mostly 
insects. Moreover, their young while still in the nest are usually 
fed largely, and in some cases entirely, upon insects. Quite the con- 
trary is true of the linnet. The adults eat only a small percentage 
of animal food, even in the breeding period, and feed their nestlings 
no more, perhaps less, than they eat themselves. In this respect the 
Iinnet is probably unique in its family. Such animal food as the 
bird does eat, however, is much to its credit. Plant-lice (Aphide), 
especially the woolly species, constitute a large portion of this part 
of the linnet’s food; caterpillars and a few beetles make up most of 
the remainder. 
It is, however, as a seed eater that the linnet stands supreme. 
Over 86 percent of its food for the year consists of weed seeds, and it 
is in this field, if anywhere, that the bird redeems itself from the 
odium of its other misdemeanors. When the immense number of 
linnets in California is taken into consideration, with the added fact. 
that each one destroys several hundred seeds daily, most of which are 
potential weeds, it must be conceded that the bird renders a valuable 
service to agriculture, for the sum total of weeds so destroyed is 
enormous. 
FOOD. 
In the laboratory investigation of the food of the linnet 1,206 
stomachs were examined, including 46 of nestlings. All were from 
California, and from points fairly well distributed over the State, 
with the exception of the northern quarter. The greater number were 
from the fruit-growing sections, so that the western coast region 
is better represented than the part east of the Coast Ranges. They 
were distributed through the year as follows: 
SV ATMALY oreo em ers Sh a eons 35 ART UTS Gad owe ge re an pe ae ee ae 118 
WODEUATY js os . J85''| Septembeis as see eres see 123 
Morel 222 essa en sees eee 186) | OC Oberstar ee 108 
SANT Fle 28 cae Sa oS Due ns S0::| Novemberic- 222---.s.o-ss25s5 25 
MAY => (22am. obs250262..cs ee 74 | December --------------------- 54 
OMIM G: Se oe teh es Se oS tn tebe phe, 167 
PU Yes aed yt hte ees Eee ek 148 Totilsccsecssn eoscsssaecS 1, 206 
9379—No. 30—07——2 
