62 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
baffled recognition. The most interesting Lepidoptera were the 
pupee of the codling moth, found in 11 stomachs, 4 of which belonged 
to adults, while the ethwee 7 were from nestlings, whose food will be 
discussed farther on. An orchardist told the writer that at one time 
his trees became infested with cankerworms, which swarmed all over 
the orchard and were rapidly destroying the leaves, when the black- 
birds came in great numbers from all quarters and fed upon the 
worms until they were practically exterminated. 
Grasshoppers and crickets were taken from April to November, 
inclusive, and amount for the whole year to 3.5 percent of the diet. 
In June they constitute over 15 percent of the food of that month, 
but only a moderate percentage was eaten in the other months. It 
is rather remarkable that birds which feed so much on the ground 
should eat so few of these insects, but this species appears to be 
mainly a vegetable eater, and to get the larger part of its animal 
food in April, just at its reproductive season, before grasshoppers 
are abundant. 
Following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs of the 
Brewer blackbird: 
COLEOPTERA. 
Trizna scitula. Diabrotica soror. 
Trixna longula. Diachus auratus. 
Bradycellus rupestris. Gastroidea sp. 
Scymnus lacustris. Blapstinus pulverulentus. 7 
Dermestes mannerheimi. Blapstinus rufipes. 
Saprinus obscurus. Apocrypha dyschirioides. 
Anchastus cinereipennis, Anthicus punctulatus. 
Aphodius rugifrons. Sitones sp. 
Aphodius granarius. 
HEMIPTERA. 
Saissetia olex. 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
Heliothis obsoleta. Carpocapsa pomonella, 
Veg getable jfood—The vegetable food reaches its maximum of 95 
percent in December, when animal food is least plentiful. It may be 
divided into fruit, grain, and weed seed. Fruit was caten in May, 
June, and July, not a trace appearing in any other month. It was 
fennel in 63 stomachs, of which 37 contained cherries (or what was 
thought to be such); 2, strawberries; 3, blackberries or raspberries; 
and 21, fruit pulp or skins not further identified. The percentages 
for each month were 14 for May, 22 for June, and 15 for July, an 
average of 17 percent for each of the three months, or of a little more 
than 4 percent for the whole year. This certainly is not a bad 
showing, and if the bird does no greater harm than is involved in its 
fruit eating, it is well worth protecting. 
