NUTHATCHES AND TITMICE. 73 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable contingent of the food, -18 percent, 

 is made up of various substances, but may be arranged in three cate- 

 gories — fruit, poison-oak seeds, and other vegetable matter. Fruit, 

 identified by seeds, pulp, and skins, amounts to a little more than 20 

 percent of the whole food. Few direct complaints, however, have been 

 lodged against the wren tit on the score of damaging fruit, and yet 

 this record is nearly twice that of the linnet — the bird against which 

 the heaviest charges are made by the orchardist. The reason for 

 this difference is probably not far to seek. There are undoubtedly 

 a hundred linnets in California to one wren tit. This again illus- 

 trates the point before made, that the mischief done by birds usually 

 results from a superabundance of the individuals of a particular 

 species, all uniting simultaneously to attack some particular product. 

 Moreover, the fruit consumed by the wren tit consists largely of wild 

 varieties — such as elder berries (Sambucus), snow berries (Symphori- 

 carpos), coffee berries (Rhamnus), twinberries (Lonicera involu- 

 crata), and others of a similar character. Seeds of blackberries or 

 raspberries (Rubus) were found in a few stomachs, but these may 

 have been either wild or cultivated. 



As the seeds of poison oak (Rhus diversiloba) occurred in many 

 stomachs a separate account of them was kept. From August to 

 February, inclusive, they form a constant and important element of 

 the diet. For these seven months they constitute more than one- 

 fourth of the food, and the average for the year is over 16 percent. 

 It seems natural enough that the wren tit should eat these seeds, as 

 they are abundant and easily accessible. The fact is to be deplored, 

 however, as they are not destroyed in the stomach, but either pass 

 through or are regurgitated in condition to germinate. The seeds 

 apparently are eaten for the sake of the rather thin layer of dry white 

 pulp that surrounds them. Xo doubt this is very ~ nutritious, as in 

 winter poison-oak seeds are a common article of diet for many species 

 of birds. The rest of the vegetable food, over 11 percent, is made up 

 of a few weed seeds, leaf galls, and rubbish. Xone of it has special 

 economic significance. 



FOOD OF YOUNG. 



Among the stomachs examined were those of a brood of 5 nest- 

 lings about two weeks old, and therefore nearly ready to leave the 

 nest. The results are of interest as showing that the wren tit fol- 

 lows the usual rule and feeds its young entirely on animal food. 

 The largest item is caterpillars, which amount to 63 percent of the 

 contents. Spiders, with their cocoons and eggs, are next in import- 

 ance, with 15.6 percent. Bugs, mostly leaf-hoppers, form 12.2 per- 

 cent. Beetles of the May-beetle family, with a trace of eggshell, 



