104 BIRDS OF A MAEYLATTD FARM, 



parasitic wasps {TipMa inornata and Ichneumonidse), and 3 percent 

 jointworm-flies and larvee of saw-flies. The bugs were scale insects, 

 leaf -hoppers, and true bugs, including Lygseidce^ Sinea diadema and 

 Podisus. In several instances warblers had fed on the eggs of bugs. 



Some differences naturalh^ appeared between the food of the purely 

 arboreal species and that of the more terrestrial. AVater-thrushes took 

 ground-beetles. Mar3'land 3^ellow-throats secured more grasshoppers 

 than were taken b}^ arboreal warblers. The 3'ellow-breasted chat, 

 larger than the other species, ate such large beetles as Ligyrus and 

 Euphoria. It also fed on larvee of gTound-beetles, which are outside 

 the feeding range of strictly arboreal warblers. In a chat's stomach 

 elderberries were found, and in the stomachs of two myrtle warblers 

 collected in February was the fruit of red cedar. The arboreal 

 warblers other than the mja^tle warbler are probably almost purely 

 insectivorous. 



Most of the warblers of the genus Dendroica destroy immense quan- 

 tities of insects. As an illustration of their value in this regard an 

 extract is quoted from a letter concerning the palm warbler received 

 by the Biological Survey from Mr. Robert H. Coleman: 



I counted the number of insects he caught in a minute and found it varied from 

 40 to 60 per minute. He spent at least four hours on our piazza, and in that time 

 must have gathered in about 9,500 insects. 



MOCKINGBIRDS, CATBIRDS, THRASHERS, AND WRENS. 



The mockingbird {Miraus j^oJyglottos^ fig. 38) was usually seen at 

 Marshall Hall only in fall and spring, but during 1902 a pair nested 

 near the cow barn. In the middle of November, 1899, two stomachs 

 were collected. One contained the skin and 25 seeds of pokeberries 

 and another 31 of the same seeds, the leg of an ant, and the remains of 

 a larval ground-beetle. The bird's selection of ants and ground-beetles 

 shows affinity in food habits with its nearest relative, the catbird. 

 Both species are highly frugivorous, and where abundant in fruit- 

 growing districts may do some harm. 



The catbird {Galeoscoj^tes cardinensis) is the most numerous bird 

 during the breeding season on the Brj^an farm at Marshall Hall. The 

 examination of 74 stomachs, collected from May to August, inclusive, 

 showed that 11 percent of the food consisted of animal matter and 59 

 percent of vegetable matter. The latter part comprised the following 

 fruits: Cultivated cherries, wild black cherries, black raspberries, 

 dewberries, blackberries, strawberries, mulberries, pokeberries, elder 

 berries, blueberries, and the berries of sassafras, woodbine, and cat- 

 brier. Of the animal matter, snails and thousand-legs composed 

 1 percent, spiders 2 percent, parasitic wasps 1 percent, ants 6 percent, 

 caterpillars 6 percent, beetles 10 percent, May-flies 11 percent, and 

 miscellaneous insects 1 percent, including grasshoppers, bees {Halictus 



