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



of this splendid family.' " (Weed and Dearborn, " Birds in their 

 Relation to Man.") 



Of the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) Mr. Chapman 

 says : " Professor Forbes writes, after examining the contents of 

 twenty-two birds of this species : ' Seventy-one per cent of their 

 food consists of insects, and twenty per cent of fruit, a small ratio 

 of spiders and mollusks, and an unusually large percentage of 

 Myriopoda making up the remainder.' After discussing in detail 

 the bird's economic relations, the same author adds : ' Its ad- 

 vances, therefore, are to be cordially encouraged by the gardener 

 and farmer — a fact which must be especially agreeable to every 

 lover of bird music, who has learned to recognize the full, clear, 

 rich, exquisite strains of this songster.' " (Chapman, " The 

 Economic Value of Birds to the State.") 



The stomachs of three Gray-cheeked Thrushes (Hylocichla 

 alicicB alicicz) collected in May were found by Dr. Judd to contain 

 sawfly larvse, ants, caterpillars, May-flies, ground beetles, weevils, 

 and scarabasid beetles; while two Olive-backed Thrushes 

 {Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni) , also collected in May, had eaten 

 ants, wasps, ground beetles, darkling beetles, and ground spiders. 



Regarding the Hermit Thrush (Hylocichla guttata pallasi), 

 Professor Forbes reports as follows on the food contents of 

 the stomachs of twenty-one Hermit Thrushes : " Eighty-four per 

 cent of the food consisted of insects, four per cent of spiders, 

 and twelve per cent of thousand-legs. Ants amounted to fifteen 

 per cent, Lepidoptera to nineteen per cent, including a few 

 Phalasnidse, and Diptera only to three — chiefly the larvse of 

 Bibio. Coleoptera make thirty per cent of the food, eleven per 

 cent being Carabidse." (Forbes, "The Food of Birds": Bull. 

 3, Illinois State Laboratory of Nat. Hist.) 



Tlje food of the Wilson's Thrush (Hylocichla fuscescens 

 fuscescens) is doubtless similar to that of our other Thrushes; 

 but, were its only claim on our regard its " clear, bell-like notes, 

 resonant, distinct, yet soft and of indescribable sadness," it would 

 still well deserve protection. 



The American Robin (Planesticus migratorius migratorius) 

 needs no introduction. "With the exception of the English 

 Sparrow and possibly the Crow, the economic status of no Amer- 

 ican bird has been discussed so fully and freely as that of the 



