76 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
rise barely above 1 percent. They were contained in 66 stomachs, 
of which 48 held ants and 18 contained wasps and bees. Parasitic 
species were noted in several stomachs. 
Hemiptera amount to one-half of 1 percent, and were identified in 
11 stomachs, of which 5 contained black olive scales; 2, leafhoppers; 
3, stinkbugs; and 1, a tree hopper. Caterpillars are the largest item 
of animal food and amount to about 3.5 percent. Most of them were 
eaten in July, when they constituted 37.5 percent of the food, but as 
only 2 stomachs were collected in that month, this record can not be 
taken as final. 
Vegetable food.—Fruit amounts to 4.5 percent. It was eaten rather 
irregularly, but most of it from March to July, inclusive. A mere trace 
was found in stomachs taken in September and October. Elder- 
berries were found in 5 stomachs, blackberries or raspberries in 38, 
figs in 3, cherries in 2, and in 1 a small berry not positively identi- 
fied. The cherries were unripe and only partly grown. A little pulp 
was noticed that might have been from some larger fruit. The great 
bulk of it was taken in May, June, and July. Grain aggregates 8.6 
percent. It was contained in 69 stomachs, as follows: Oats in 56, 
wheat in 7, barley in 5, and corn in 1. Most of it was eaten in the 
three winter months, a little in the fall and spring, but practically 
none insummer. Only 3.5 percent was eaten in March, which would 
seem to indicate that this bird does not devour the newly sown grain. 
Like many other fringilline birds, white-crowned sparrows subsist 
largely on weed seed. It is eaten freely in every month, and amounts 
to 74 percent of the yearly food. June is the month of least consump- 
tion, 33 percent, but that is the month when the most insects and fruit 
are eaten. The 1 stomach taken in August was entirely filled with 
this food, and it was over 90 percent of the contents of those taken in 
September and October. Of the 516 stomachs only 38, or a little 
more than 7 percent, contained no weed seed. 
Following is a list of the species identified and the number of 
stomachs in which each was contained: 
Sunflower (Helianthus sp.)......00.220 0000 ccc ce cece cee ce ccecececceceeeeeeeees 3 
Lesser tarweed (Hemizonia fasciculata)... Si anced ag al Naa kg aba an ofa to ont eN ig 1 
Tarweed.(:Madia: sativa) <ctagahsle te scse yo heb eepetica ute nae Ex erect tatedeh Wage 34 
Mayweed (Anthemis cotula)...- 2.02... o ooo ce ccc ee ccncccunssseeeees 75 
Bur thistle (Centaurea melitensis)........00.0 000000 c ccc cece ceeececcueeeeceeees 38 
Sow thistle (Sonchus asper).....2...0 00-000 c cece ccc ccc ccc cece cecccceseseeeees 4 
Prickly lettuce (Lactuca scariola)........0.2-. 0000 cccccccccuceccceeceeeeeecsees 1 
Nightshade (Solanum MANTEL) escent reverse eteekaoe a tose ital RNeasy a eee 70 
SOM na (CUSs1a 8p.) ssa Arca cso see Lact ena ps talatan Sarah core abd oad deintig agusaree aces 7 
MAUPIN GLAD US AD Vicia arm aee aetesabesas seie tees cick feces ees late al la abet cer 1 
Clover (Dry lim Sp) ear ox fd yee alread ness ood oak Lcca th eid che cledteclaeeusitntes 1 
Mountain lilac (Ceanothus sp.).....2.20c0cecceccceccccccccccccccceceeeeececeees 1 
Porson, ole (Mhup diiprailoba), <a s ic ccoiatcnumnn-cxweceawecpewecendicencccsenae 12 
Alfilaria (Erodium cicutariwm).......c.ccecccccccccceccccccecececcccceeeccceees 45 
