OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 



43 



shows a very decided fondness for hive bees, but not the special 

 preference for drones manifested by kingbirds. Five stomachs taken 

 near an apiary at Kiverside, Cal., contained 25 honeybees, or an 

 average of 5 to each stomach, and 2 stomachs contained nothing 

 else. In 1 of these were 8 workers and in the other 4 drones. Alto- 

 gether in the 5 stomachs there were 16 drones and 9 workers, a 

 number which seems to indicate that where bees are abundant the 

 bird selects drones. From this record it appears that the olive-sided 

 flycatcher would be a menace to the bee-keeping industry were it 

 abundant in the thickly settled portions of the country. 



Diptera (flies) were found in 3 stomachs in July and 1 in Septem- 

 ber. The amount for the season (April to September) is 0.88 per 

 cent. Hemiptera (bugs) were eaten in May and June and to a less 

 extent in July and August. The average for the season is 3.25 per 

 cent, all contained in 5 stomachs. Stinkbugs, cicadas, and tree 

 hoppers were the only families identified. Grasshoppers in the diet 

 of this bird were found in only 2 stomachs, 1 taken in May and 1 in 

 July. They constitute 3.36 per cent of the food of the 2 months, or 

 1.12 per cent for the whole season of 6 months. 



Lepidoptera, in the shape of moths, were found in 5 stomachs, 

 and entirely filled 2 of them. They were all taken in the 3 months 

 of June, July, and August, and amount to 4.13 per cent of the food 

 for the season. All of them were adult moths and no trace of a 

 caterpillar was found in any stomach. This presents the extreme 

 case where the adults are eaten to the complete exclusion of the 

 larvae, but it is evident that Lepidoptera are not a favorite food 

 with the olive-side. Dragon flies were found in 4 stomachs collected 

 in August and September. They amount to 1.77 percent and complete 

 the quota of animal food. 



The following is a list of the insects identified in the stomachs : 



HYMENOPTERA. 



Apis mellifera 16 



Bombus virginicus 1 



Bombus sp 1 



Xylocopa virginica 1 



Vespa maculata 3 



Tiphia inornata 1 



Camponotus pennsylvanicus 1 



Ichneumon sp 1 



COLEOPTERA. 



Amara californica. . 



Elater behrensi 



Elatersp 



Melanotus longulus. 



Buprestis aurulenta 1 



Melanophilafulvoguttata 1 



Onthophagus sp 1 



Aphodius fimetarius 3 



HEMIPTERA. 

 Cicada sp 2 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



Anthonomus grandis 1 



Balaninus sp 1 



Dendroctonus validus 1 



Aphodius sp 



Dichelonycha sp 



Euphoria sepulchralis 

 Asemum mcestum 

 Acmxops proteus 



