82 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
The following families of Hemiptera were recognized in the stom- 
ach contents: Assassin-bugs (Reduviide), lace-bugs (Tingitide), 
leaf-bugs (Capside), leaf-hoppers (Jasside), tree-hoppers (Membra- 
cide), jumping plant-lice (Psyllide), plant-lice (Aphidide), and 
scale-insects (Coccide). Stink-bugs (Pentatomide), which are the 
most universally eaten by birds of any Hemiptera, are entirely want- 
ing. Evidently it was not lack of opportunity that, prevented the 
kinglets from eating the last-named insects, for other birds collected 
at the same time and place had partaken of them freely. From the 
human point of view it is not strange that birds should reject them, 
for to us their odor is vile and their taste nauseous. It will be 
noticed that the Hemiptera selected by the kinglet are mostly species 
of small size, but happily they are the very ones that are the most 
harmful to the interests of man. The tree-hoppers, the leaf-hoppers, 
and the jumping plant-lice, when abundant, are pests, and often do 
great harm to trees and smaller plants, while the plant-lice and scale- 
insects are the worst scourges of the fruit grower—in fact, the preva- 
lence of the latter has almost risen to the magnitude of a national 
peril. As has been before pointed out, it is these small and seemingly 
insignificant birds that most successfully attack and hold in check 
these insidious foes of horticulture. 
Beetles of various families and species were eaten by the kinglet to 
the extent of 13 percent of the season’s food. They belong to species 
that are more or less harmful, with the exception of a number of 
ladybirds (Coccinellide), which from their habit of feeding on plaut- 
lice are eminently useful. The damage done by the destruction of 
these useful beetles, however, is small, since they aggregate less 
than 2 percent of the whole food. Singularly, nearly all were in 
stomachs obtained in February. In this month 8 percent of these 
beetles were eaten, while in no other month was so much as 2 percent 
taken. Another curious fact is that almost all of these belong to the 
genus Scymnus, which is made up of minute black creatures which 
one might think would pass unnoticed by birds. On the contrary, 
the sinall and insignificant individuals of this genus appear to be 
eaten inuch oftener than the larger and more showy species. While 
the eating of ladybugs by kinglets or other birds is to be deplored, 
it must be acknowledged that little harm is done so long as the num- 
bers destroyed are as moderate as the above figures imply. 
Of the harmful beetles eaten the weevils are perhaps the most 
interesting. One stomach contained 20 individuals, which seems 
a large meal in view of the size of the bird. Many of the weevils 
belong to the family of engravers (Scolytide), which live under the 
bark of trecs and are forest pests. Another beetle found in many 
stomachs is Votowus alameda, an insect that lives on trees, but which 
does no harm so far as known, One stomach contained the remains of 
