338 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



and finally brought their fledged young. The young birds stood 

 in a row on the topmost rail of the fence, and were fed with the 

 beetles which their parents gathered. When a careful inspection 

 was made a few days later, not a beetle, old or young, could be 

 found; the birds had swept them from the field and saved the 

 potatoes. 



" It is not easy to advise measures either for increasing the 

 numbers of this bird or inducing it to take up its residence on 

 the farm. Naturally it inhabits thin, open woods or groves, and 

 the change from such places to orchards would be simple — in 

 fact, has already been made in some parts of Pennsylvania and 

 Ohio. In New England the bird is somewhat rare, and perhaps 

 the best that can be done here or elsewhere is to see that it is 

 thoroughly protected." (Beal, " Some Common Birds in their 

 Relation to Agriculture.") 



TANAGERS. 



Tangaridce. 



The Scarlet Tanager (Piranga erythromelas) is known occa- 

 sionally to take fruit, but this only incidentally. Those taken in 

 May and August, Dr. Judd writes, have fed exclusively on insects. 

 " Its food consists mostly of insects of which it takes a varied 

 assortment. The stomachs of various specimens have been found 

 to contain ants, ichneumon-flies, including what was thought to 

 be the large Thalessa lunator, many caterpillars, crane-flies and 

 other Diptera, curculios, click beetles, leaf chafers, and various 

 other beetles, grasshoppers, a few bugs, an occasional dragon-fly 

 or spider, and several harvest spiders. A single Nebraska speci- 

 men shot in the autumn of 1874 contained thirty-seven locusts. 

 Three nestlings less than a week old, examined by Professor 

 King, had eaten four caterpillars, one fly, one small grasshopper, 

 one bug, besides undetermined fragments." (Weed and Dear- 

 born, " Birds in their Relation to Man.") 



SWALLOWS. 



HirundinidcB. 



The Swallows, among which the Purple Martin (Progne 

 subis subis) is included, are all strictly insectivorous and may be 

 discussed together. 



