30 POOD OF THE FLYCATCHERS. 



Average number of feedings per hour, 14. After the first hour's 

 feeding on the morning of June 27, the mother bird was accidentally 

 shot, but the father carried on the feeding to a successful issue, and 

 the young left the nest about noon on the 28th. 



Summary. — In its animal food the ash-throat destroys a great 

 number of harmful insects and a few beneficial ones, so that the 

 balance is greatly in the bird's favor. Its vegetable food has abso- 

 lutely no economic interest. 



PHOEBE. 



(Sayornis jyhozbe.) 



There are but few birds hi the United States more endeared to the 

 rural and village population than the common phcebe (PI. IV). Its 

 habit of associating itself with man and his works, its trustful dis- 

 position, and the fact that it is never seen to prey upon any product 

 of husbandry have rendered it almost sacred. It is distributed over 

 the eastern United States as tar west as central Texas, northern New 

 Mexico, and Nebraska, and extends north mto British America, 

 where it spreads farther west than it does in the United States. It 

 breeds in the whole of this region except the southern parts of the 

 Gulf States. It spends the winter in the Gulf States and beyond our 

 southern boundary. It is not generally a bird of the forest, but lives 

 about farms and gardens, where it chooses a nesting site in crannies 

 of buildings or walls, under bridges, in quarries, or in other similar 

 sheltered places. As the bird is very partial to the vicinity of water, 

 a bridge naturally becomes a favorite nesting place, and from this 

 habit it is often spoken of as the "bridge phcebe." As the phcebe 

 is in such close association with man and spends a large portion of 

 the year in fields and gardens, it follows that its food is likely to be 

 of considerable economic interest. For its investigation ;;70 stomachs 

 were available, collected in 19 States, tin* District of Columbia, and 

 Canada. They represent every month in the year and are fairly well 

 distributed. 



The food was found to consist of 89.23 per cent of animal matter 

 to 10.77 of vegetable. The animttl portion is composed of insects, 

 with some spiders and myriapods, a gordius, and one bone of a tree 

 frog. The vegetable part is made up of small fruits or berries, with 

 a few seeds, all of them probably of wild species. 



Animal food. — Useful beetles, consisting of tiger beetles (Ciein- 

 delidao, piedaceous ground beetles (CarabidaO, and ladybirds 

 (Coecinellida), amount to 2.68 per cent. Other beetles, belonging 

 to 21 families that were identified, make up 12.05 per cent. They 

 appear to be eaten very regularly in every month, but the most are 

 taken in spring and early summer. May is the month of maximum 

 consumption with 2:5. 07 per cent. Beetles altogether amount to 



