WESTERN ROBIN. 93 



percent. As in the case of the russet-back thrush, one stomach of the 

 hermit contained the bones of a salamander. 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable food is made up of two principal 

 components — fruit and seeds. The former amounts to 29 percent 

 of the whole, and is composed of wild species, or of old fruit left on 

 trees and vines. A few stomachs contained seeds of raspberries, 

 which, of course, must have been old, dried-up fruit. Seeds of the 

 pepper tree and mistletoe were the most abundant and, with some 

 unidentifiable pulp and skins, make up the complement of fruit. The 

 hermit thrush eats more seeds than the russet-back, but does not 

 stand high as a weed destroyer. Seeds of all kinds amount to 14 

 percent of the food, but only a few are usually reckoned as weed seeds. 

 The most abundant seed was poison oak {Rhus diversilopa) , which 

 was found in a number of stomachs. While this plant is not usually 

 classed among weeds, it is really a weed of the worst description, 

 since it is out of place no matter where it is. It is unfortunate that 

 birds in eating the seeds of this plant do not destroy them, but only 

 aid in their dissemination. * 



SUMMARY. 



On the whole, the food of the hermit thrush is remarkably free 

 from useful products, destruction of which is a loss to mankind. The 

 worst that can be said of the bird is that it eats and scatters the seed 

 of poison oak, but it does not do this to a marked degree. 



WESTERN ROBIN. 



(Merula migratoria propinqua.) 



In most of the valleys of California the robin is a winter resident 

 only, and would be of little economic importance did it not possess 

 a voracious appetite, the satisfaction of which occasionally leads to 

 lamentable results. Of its summer food we know almost nothing, 

 except what may be inferred from its list of edibles while in the 

 valleys, and by comparison with the diet of its eastern relative. The 

 two birds are so nearly alike that probably in the same environment 

 they would eat practically the same things. 



In investigating the food of the western robin 74 stomachs were 

 examined. They were taken in every month from September to 

 June, inclusive, except May. This number is entirely too small to be 

 used as a basis for final conclusions, but it suffices to give a hint as to 

 the differences, if any there be, between the food of the eastern and 

 western races. Only one stomach was taken in each of the months of 

 September, October, and June. The others are well distributed 

 through the remaining months. Discarding returns from the three 



