74 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
make up the remainder, 9.2 percent. One can not fail to notice the 
soft nature of most of this food provided for the young. The beetles 
are the only exception, and these were the smallest item. 
SUMMARY. 
In summing up it is evident that so far as its natural food is con- 
cerned the wren tit does little or no harm, as coccinellid beetles, the 
only really useful insects it eats, are consumed very sparingly. Its 
vegetable diet presents two points for criticism. It eats a moderate 
amount of fruit, and were the bird as abundant as the lnnet the harm 
it would do in orchards would perhaps more than counterbalance the 
good. The wren tit, however, naturally is a denizen of dense shrub- 
bery, and as this is cleared away for farms and orchards the species 
is likely to diminish in numbers rather than increase, unless its habits 
raclically change. The consumption of the seeds of poison oak is an 
unfortunate habit, since it aids in the dissemination of this poisonous 
plant, already too common and widespread. All things considered, 
the wren tit for the present is to be classed as beneficial. 
CALIFORNIA BUSH TIT. 
(Psaltriparus mininus californicus.) 
(Frontispiece. ) 
The bush tit is one of the smallest species of the family, and 
although its name implies that it is partial to bushes, it more often 
is seen in large oaks and ‘frequently on the tops of the highest. trees. 
It shows the same indifference to the presence of man as the rest of 
the family, and frequently may be observed scrambling over orchard 
trees in search of its favorite food and paying no attention to the 
observer, That it does not prey upon fruit to an appreciable degree 
appears from the fact that Jess than 1 percent of its food for the year 
consists of fruit. Insects that live on trees, however, constitute 
four-fifths of its food, and most of these are harmful. 
In the investigation of the food of this bird 353 stomachs were 
examined. They were collected in every month of the year, although 
April is represented by but a single one and March by only six. The 
greater number were taken during the growing months, when fruit 
and grain abound, and the fact that in these months the bird ate 
almost none of these products speaks volumes in its favor. The first 
analysis of the food of the year gives nearly 81 percent animal mat- 
fer, composed entirely of insects and spiders, to 19 percent of vege- 
(able. As the bush tit inhabits the same range during the year, 
monthly variations in the kind and proportions of food are only 
