24 FOOD OF THE FLYCATCHERS. 



The total for the year is 14.67. Had any stomachs been collected in 

 August, the grasshopper month, there is little doubt that this record 

 would have been considerably raised. A few dragon flies and some 

 spiders make up the balance of the animal food, 2.85 per cent. 



Vegetable food. — Although Cassin's kingbird eats more vegetable 

 food than any other flycatcher, there is very little variety to it. 

 Grapes, apparently of cultivated varieties, were found in 9 stomachs, 

 olives in 2, elderberries in 1, blueberries (Vaccinium) in 1, and pulp 

 not further identified in 4. With the exception of some grapes 

 found in 1 of the March stomachs, all the fruit was eaten in the 

 months from September to January, inclusive. 



Summary. — In the choice of its animal food Cassin's kingbird does 

 but little harm, as it eats only a few predaceous or parasitic insects, 

 nor, so far as this investigation shows, does it attack honeybees. In 

 selecting its vegetable food it shows considerable fondness for culti- 

 vated fruits, but no bird so thoroughly insectivorous as this fly- 

 catcher will ever become a menace to fruit culture. 



CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 



(Myiarclius crinitus.) 



The crested flycatcher (PI. Ill) occupies practically all that por- 

 tion of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and extends 

 northward into southern Canada. It is somewhat more of a bird of 

 the forest than the kingbirds, but, like them, frequents the open 

 country and delights in orchards, especially if they be old with many 

 hollow trees to serve as nesting sites. While extending over a vast 

 area of country it is very irregularly distributed, being abundant in 

 some portions and rare or wholly wanting in others. In winter it 

 leaves the United States almost wholly, a few individuals only 

 remaining in southern Florida and Texas. 



For the investigation of the food of this bird 265 stomachs were 

 available, which were obtained during the 6 months from April to 

 September, inclusive. They were collected in 20 States, the District 

 of Columbia, and Canada. In the first analysis the food divides into 

 93.70 per cent of animal matter to 6.30 per cent of vegetable. 



Animal food. — Beetles constitute 16.78 per cent of the food, and of 

 these 0.24 per cent are useful species. The remainder are mostly of 

 an injurious character, some of them very harmful. The notorious 

 cotton-boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) was found in 2 stomachs 

 taken in Texas, the strawberry weevil (A. signatus) in 1, and the 

 plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) in 2. Besides these pests 

 were the locust leaf miner (Odontota dorsalis) and species of Balanin us, 

 winch have been discussed in previous pages. While the record does 

 not indicate any special preference for the harmful beetles, it does 

 show that they are eaten as often as the average of the different 



