90 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
but more than four-fifths of the whole was contained in the stomachs 
of broods 7 and 8. The average percentage for these two broods was 
over 22 percent, or about three times that of the whole. Again, 
Hemiptera, in the stomachs of broods Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, amount 
to an average of less than + percent, but in brood No. 8 the average 
per stomach is over 53 percent of the food. Spiders were found in 
nearly every stomach of broods 1 to 4, while the other four broods 
contained very few. These facts indicate that birds exercise com- 
paratively little choice as to the exact nature of their food, but take 
that which is nearest to hand. With a brood of hungry young inces- 
santly clamoring for supplies little opportunity is afforded the busy 
parents to select precisely the kind of insects best adapted to the 
wants of the young. Nature teaches that insect food and not vege- 
table is needed and the gaping mouths are filled with the nearest, 
obtainable supply. 
In addition to the examination of stomachs of nestling thrushes 
field observations were made on the feeding of the young by the par- 
ent birds. Two nests of this species in the town of Hayward, Cal., 
were observed during several days in June and July, 1901. Each 
nest was watched for two one-hour periods on as many days as pos- 
sible, and the number of times that the young were fed was carefully 
noted. 
It may be said, to begin with, that the stomachs of young birds are 
kept constantly full during the hours of daylight. 
Nest No. 1 was situated on a tree on the bank of a small creek on 
the edge of an orchard. When first observed, there were three young 
in the nest, apparently about five days old. This nest was watched 
for one hour from 9.40 a. m. on June 30, and the young were fed 
six times, but, as both parent birds came to the nest once with food 
in their beaks and went away without feeding the young, it is prob- 
able that they were not quite satisfied as to the intentions of the 
observer. At 4.25 p.m. of the same day another hour was spent in 
watching the nest, and the young were fed 11 times. On July 1, 
beginning at 8.30 a. m., 7 feedings occurred in one hour. This nest 
was not again watched until July 3,at 840.a.m., when the young 
were fed 8 tines during the hour. In the afternoon of the same day, 
beginning at 3 o’clock, 12 feedings were observed in one hour. The 
last observation of this nest was made on July 5, beginning at 9 a. m. 
In an hour 13 visits with food were noted. In the case of this brood 
there were 57 feedings in six hours, or an average of 94 feedings per 
hour. As there were three young, each one must have been fed a lit- 
tle more than three times per hour. 
Nest No. 2 also contained three young, but they were only about 
2 days old when first visited. The first observation was on June 80, 
