WOOD PEWEE. 45 



The following discussion of the food of the wood pewee is based 

 upon the examination of 359 stomachs taken in 20 States of the 

 Union, the District of Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, and. 

 Nova Scotia. They were collected in the months from March to 

 October and are well distributed over that time. 



The food was found to consist of 9S.97 per cent of animal matter 

 to 1.03 of vegetable. ■ The animal food is made up of insects, spiders, 

 and millepeds; the vegetable, of berries and seeds. 



Animal food. — Carabidse and Coccinellidae, or ground beetles and 

 ladybirds, amount to 3.62 per cent of the food, and this is probably 

 too high, for only 2 stomachs were taken in March, and 1 of these 

 was nearly half full of these beetles, and therefore raised the average 

 for the whole season of eight months. Other beetles constitute 

 10.61 per cent of the food, and include, among others, such harmful 

 species as the clover-leaf weevil (PTiytonomus punctatus), the plum 

 curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar), the corn weevil (SpJienopJiorus 

 zese), and the rice weevil (Calandra oryzse), besides 6 species of the 

 Scolytidae, a family which includes some of the worst enemies of forest 

 trees. Between 30 and 40 of these tree destroyers were found in 1 

 stomach. Beetles belonging to at least 27 families were eaten. 

 They were contained in 220 stomachs and in 5 there was no other 

 food. 



Hymenoptera constitute 28.20 per cent of the food, and are eaten 

 largely in every month except March, when only 2 somewhat excep- 

 tional stomachs were taken; in fact, were this month omitted, the 

 percentage for the season would rise to 32.15, which is probably 

 much nearer the truth. As has been before observed, the flycatchers 

 take a considerable number of useful parasitic species among the 

 Hymenoptera which they eat. The wood pewee is probably the 

 worst sinner of the family in this respect. In midsummer these 

 useful insects constitute a very # considerable proportion of the hymen- 

 opterous food and in June amount to about one-third of it. It is 

 safe to say that about one-fourth of the Hymenoptera eaten by the 

 wood pewee are of parasitic species. This, however, is probably not 

 so great a fault as may at first appear, and does not necessarily con- 

 demn the bird. Two worker honeybees were identified, 1 in each of 

 2 stomachs. Hymenoptera were found in 261 stomachs, and 10 

 stomachs contained nothing else. 



Diptera amount to 29.98 per cent of the seasonal diet and are the 

 most regular and constant constituent of the food. A very con- 

 siderable percentage is eaten in every month, and in September, 

 which is the month of least consumption, Diptera still amount to 15 

 per cent. In May they aggregate 44.47 per cent, a figure that may 

 be considered as fairly reliable, for 83 stomachs were collected in 

 that month. Diptera were found in 190 stomachs and were the sole 

 contents of 22. Among others, there were recognized the horseflies 



