SPARROW FAMILY. 89 
food. It was found in moderate quantities in stomachs collected 
from September to February inclusive, and in April also it reached 
25 percent, with a trace in June. February was the month in which 
most was eaten, 46.5 percent. It was found in only 22 stomachs, 
but 8 of them were completely filled with it. Leaf galls and some 
unidentified vegetable matter make up a little more than 3 percent, 
and complete the vegetable food. 
SUMMARY. 
The spotted towhee is not numerous enough to inflict any great 
damage, whatever its food habits. Should it become very abundant 
it might do harm to fruit; but it is so shy that the more the country 
is cleared and settled the more rare is it likely to become. 
CALIFORNIA TOWHEE. 
(Pipilo crissalis and senicula.) 
In rural communities on the Pacific coast, the California towhee 
occupies a place similar to that of the robin in the east. It is quite 
domestic in habits, and not only is it a familiar sight about orchards 
and gardens, but it often builds its nest in the shrubbery and vines 
around the house. Its habits are somewhat more terrestrial than 
those of the robin, and the fruit it eats is largely that which it finds 
on the ground. Like the spotted towhee, it forages much under 
bushes and vines, scratching among the rubbish for food; however, it 
does not confine itself to such places, but frequents also the open 
ground, looking for insects and seeds. At such times a pair are 
almost invariably seen together. The species does not migrate. 
One or other of its subspecies inhabits most of the valley and foot- 
hill country of California west of the Sierra Nevada and San Jacinto 
mountains. 
For the study of the bird’s food 399 stomachs were available, col- 
lected in every month, with a fair number in each month. The first 
analysis gives 14.26 percent of animal food to 85.74 of vegetable. 
The animal food consists of insects and a few spiders, millepeds, and 
snails. The vegetable part is made up of fruit, grain, weed seeds; 
and a few miscellaneous substances. 
Animal food.—The largest item of the animal food consists of bee- 
tles, which amount to 5 percent. The predaceous ground beetles 
(Carabide) were found in 30 stomachs, and were the only useful 
beetles eaten. Weevils, or snout beetles, were found in 55 stomachs, 
of which 1 contained 15. Among them was identified one speci- 
men of Calandra oryza, the rice weevil, an insect that does much harm 
to rice. A decidedly harmful species of chrysomelid beetle (Diabro- 
tica soror) was found in 43 stomachs. All the other beetles, which 
belong to several families, are harmful. While beetles were eaten in 
every month except December, the great bulk were taken from April 
