24 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. 
For instance, a single casting of a young cardinal, covered with 
its thick, chalky, and gelatinous layers, was preserved, and from it 
were taken the following: One insect egg, the leg and scutellum of a 
scarabeid beetle, head and other remains of a leaf-hopper, bits of a 
snail, and 11 seeds and the core of a mulberry. From the remainder 
of the total quantity the following were identified: Seventeen rose- 
beetles (Macrodactylus subspinosus, fig. 14), 2 other scarabeids, 1 
click beetle (Zimonius sp.), 1 caterpillar hunter (Calosoma seru- 
tator, fig. 7), 1 leaf-hopper (Jassidz), 8 grasshoppers, 1 spider, 1 
dragon fly, many bits of snail, 17 blackberry seeds (Rubus sp.), and 
221 seeds of mulberry (Morus rubra). The only beneficial species in 
the above list is the caterpillar hunter, while among the injurious 
forms, four in number, the rose-beetle is very important. This in- 
sect’s habits, as well as its occasional overwhelming abundance, have 
been described on a preceding page. 
The infestation of the insect about the District of Columbia in 1906 
was especially severe. Not only roses were attacked by the insects, 
but elder blossoms were covered, and around the basswoods their 
humming was as loud as of a swarm of bees. Frequent attempts were 
made to discover whether the cardinal feeds upon them, but no oppor- 
tunity was afforded until the above-mentioned nestlings were discov- 
ered at the extreme end of the rose-beetle season. The fact that so 
many were taken at that time is good evidence that special search 
was made for them. 
Among the food given to the inmates of a nest under observation in 
1907, the following were identified by sight:. A chrysalis, a caterpillar 
or sawfly larvee, a horsefly, and a grasshopper. From a small quan- 
tity of excrement were recovered bits of snail, grass seed, a small 
caterpillar, ground and click beetles, and 3 rose-beetles. The cap- 
ture of the latter is again significant, as they were very scarce up to 
that time. This fondness for rose-beetles distinguishes the bird as 
an important guardian of the plants the insects attacks. 
SuMMARY. 
Examination of nearly 500 stomachs of cardinals shows that the 
_ bird’s diet is about three-tenths animal and seven-tenths vegetable. 
The cardinal has been accused of pilfering certain grains, notably 
corn, to an injurious extent, which charge the evidence from stomach 
examination neither proves nor disproves. But in view of the fact 
that only 8.73 percent of the total food is grain, and that more than 
half of that amount is waste, the loss is greatly overbalanced by the 
destruction of weed seeds alone, which compose more than half of the 
vegetable food. Moreover, some of the weeds consumed are espe- 
cially destructive to grain crops. 
In securing its insect food the cardinal injures us in 1 case and 
benefits us in 15. In other words, considering the animal food alone, 
