GNATCATCHERS. 87 
investigation of this bird’s diet 157 stomachs were examined. The 
birds came from various points about San Francisco Bay, and on the 
coast from Monterey to Santa Cruz, except one migrant which was 
taken in the southern part of the State. Only 6 stomachs were 
collected in April, 5 in October, and 7 in November. In the remain- 
ing four months 139 were taken, and as they are fairly evenly dis- 
tributed the results for these months may be looked upon as reason- 
ably reliable. Examination of the food shows 52 percent of animal 
matter to 48 percent of vegetable. 
animal food—The greatest quantity of animal food was eaten in 
the first and last parts of the season—in fact, the six stomachs col- 
lected in April contained no trace of vegetable food. The animal 
matter decreases in each month up to September, in which month 
only 17 percent was eaten. From this month it increases, and ends 
with 62 percent in November. Too much reliance should not be 
placed upon the latter figures, as they were obtained from entirely 
too few stomachs, and are likely to be modified by the examination of 
more material. The animal portion of the food is mostly insects and 
spiders, with some earthworms and sowbugs (Oniscus). 
Useful beetles (Carabidee, Coccinellide, etc.) amount to less than 
3 percent of the food of the year. Most of them are eaten at the 
beginning of the season before other insects are common. Other 
beetles, all more or less harmful, constitute 11 percent of the year’s 
food, and are eaten chiefly the first of the season, decreasing toward 
fall but with a slight increase at the end. They are pretty evenly 
distributed among the more common families, and no decided prefer- 
ence is evident for any. It is probable that the thrush eats any 
beetles that come in its way, and does not make special effort to find 
a particular kind. 
Caterpillars form somewhat more than 8 percent of the food, and 
while they are eaten in every month of the thrush’s stay, they are 
taken much more freely previous to August. During and after that 
month they cease to be an important element of the diet. The average 
consumption of the first four months of the season is a trifle over 15 
percent. Ants and wasps (Hymenoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), flies 
(Diptera), and grasshoppers (Orthoptera) are eaten by the thrush, 
although little preference is shown for any one of these except for 
Hymenoptera in the shape of ants. These are eaten with remarkable 
regularity throughout the season, and form about 16 percent of the 
food. This is the largest insect element in the food of the thrush, 
and the regularity with which ants are eaten would seem to indicate 
that they are highly esteemed and especially sought for. 
While these insects do not often make themselves pests by directly 
attacking fruits and crops, they aid and abet the work of other insects 
in a way which renders them as bad as the worst of those directly 
