BLACKBIRD, ORIOLE, AND MEADOWLARK FAMILY. 69 
caterpillars and other leaf-haunting insects. When fruit trees are in 
bloom they are constantly busy among the blossoms, and probably 
save many of them from destruction. 
For the investigation of the food of the Bullock oriole 162 stomachs 
were available. They were taken in the five months from April to 
August inclusive, and probably give a very fair idea of the food for 
those months. Analysis of the contents shows about 79 percent of 
animal matter to 21 of vegetable. i 
Animal food.—The animal food consisted mainly of insects, with a 
few spiders, a lizard, a mollusk shell, and eggshells. Beetles amounted 
to 35 percent, and all except a few ladybugs (Coccinellide) were 
harmful species. The coccinellids were found in 9 stomachs, but the 
percentage was insignificant. Many of the beetles were weevils, and 
quite a number belonged to the genus Balaninus, which lives upon 
acorns and other nuts. Ants were found in 19 stomachs, and 1 
contained nothing else. Hymenoptera other than ants were found 
in 56 stomachs, and entirely filled 2 of them. Including the ants, 
they amount to nearly 15 percent of the food of the season. The 
month of maximum consumption was April, when they reached over 
29 percent of the monthly food. 
One of the most interesting articles of food in the oriole’s dietary is 
the black olive scale (Saissetia olex). This was found in 45 stomachs, 
and amounted to 5 percent of the food. In one stomach these scales 
formed 87 percent of the contents; in another, 82; and in each of 
two others, 81 percent. In one of these 30 individual scales could 
be counted. Scales were evidently a standard article of diet. They 
were eaten regularly in every month of the oriole’s stay except April. 
Hemiptera other than scales are eaten quite regularly. They amount 
to a little more than 5 percent of the food. The month of greatest 
consumption was July, when they formed over 13 percent. They 
were mostly stinkbugs, leafhoppers, and tree hoppers. Plant lice 
(Aphidide) were found in one stomach. 
Lepidoptera, in the shape of moths, pup2, and caterpillars, are the 
largest item of the oriole’s animal food. April, the month of the 
bird’s arrival from the South, is the month of greatest consumption, 
‘nearly 63 percent. The month when the fewest are taken is July, 
not quite 8 percent. This also is the month when the Baltimore 
oriole eats the fewest caterpillars. For the Bullock oriole the average 
consumption during its summer stay is a little more than 41 percent 
against 34 percent by the Baltimore. Perhaps the most interesting 
point in connection with the Lepidoptera is the eating of the pupe 
and larve of the codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella). ‘These were 
found in 23 stomachs, which shows that they are not an unusual 
article af diet. No less than 14 of the pupa cases were found in one 
stomach, and as they are very fragile, many others may have been 
