64 FOOD OF THE FLYCATCHEKS. 



LEAST FLYCATCHER'. 



(Empidonax minimus.) 



The least flycatcher is one of the smallest of the group and one 

 of the most domestic, though, owing to its unobtrusive habits, it is 

 not so well known as the noisier phcebes and kingbirds. In its 

 breeding season it is found over the eastern portion of the United 

 States and Canada as far west as the Kocky Mountains and in a few 

 cases as far south as Texas and North Carolina. It frequents the 

 open country and prefers orchards and the vicinity of buildings to 

 thick woods. When not molested by the English sparrow, it finds 

 congenial surroundings in villages and the suburbs of larger towns. 

 Orchard trees, or the shade trees on lawns, afford nesting sites quite 

 to its taste, for as a usual thing it does not build very high. It is a 

 typical flycatcher in food habits, but like most others of the family 

 it does not take all of its food upon the wing. The writer has seen 

 one scrambling about on the trunk of a tree and catching insects 

 from the bark like a creeper. 



For the determination of the food of the least flycatcher 177 

 stomachs were available. They were collected from 13 States, the 

 District of Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, and were taken 

 within the months from April to September. They are fairly evenly 

 distributed through the 6 months, but fewer were taken in April and 

 more in May. The food consisted of 97.83 per cent of animal matter 

 and 2.17 of vegetable. 



Animal food. — Useful beetles, in this case mostly ladybird beetles 

 (Coccinellidae) with a few predaceous ground beetles (Carabidae), 

 amount to 1.41 per cent. They were eaten in every month except 

 June, the most in September. Coccinellidse appeared in 25 stomachs, 

 only 3 families (Chrysonielidae, Scarabaeidae, and weevils) being found 

 in more and these not in many more. As this family is not especially 

 abundant in the eastern part of the country, it is hard to explain 

 how the bird gets so many unless it seeks for them. The aggregate 

 in bulk does not appear large, but a good many individuals are taken, 

 and 10 species were identified. Qurabidae were found in 13 stomachs. 

 Beetles belonging to various families, but all harmful, amount to 

 19.94 per cent. Among these are some rather noted pests. The 

 cotton-boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) was found in 6 stomachs 

 taken in Texas. In all, the stomachs contained 22 individual weevils. 

 The striped squash beetle (Diabrotica vittata) and the 12-spotted 

 cucumber beetle (D. 12-punctata) were both identified, as well as the 

 imbricated clover weevil (Epicserus imbricatus) and the plum cur- 

 culio (Conotrachelus nenupliar). All of these do much damage every 

 year. 



