LEAST FLYCATCHEK. 65 



Hymenoptera are the largest item of insect food. They are eaten 

 steadliy and regularly during every month in which stomachs were 

 collected. April was the month of greatest consumption and June 

 of the least. The average for the six months is 41.10 per cent. 

 Hymenoptera of all kinds were found in 117 stomachs. Of these, 27 

 contained parasitic species and 42 contained ants. Three stomachs 

 were entirely filled with ants and 4 with other Hymenoptera. Para- 

 sitic species were eaten to the average extent of 11.66 per cent per 

 month, but were taken very irregularly, and in June none at all were 

 eaten. This percentage is higher than is desirable and is probably 

 due to the small size of the bird, which leads it to select small insects 

 for its food. 



Hemiptera are eaten throughout the season, but in widely varying 

 quantities. Beginning with 4.67 per cent in April, they increase 

 slightly in May, and rise suddenly to 32.74 per cent in June, after 

 which they drop to nearly their former level and so continue through 

 the season. The average for the six months is 11.12 per cent. While 

 a few of the larger forms, like the Pentatomidae, are eaten, the bulk 

 of this item is made up of Membracidse (tree hoppers), Jassidse (leaf 

 hoppers), with a few Capsidse (leaf bugs), and others of the smaller 

 species. Most of these are probably picked from leaves, trunks, and 

 branches of trees, though a few may be taken on the wing. 



Diptera amount to 11.34 per cent of the food and are eaten with 

 considerable regularity from April till August, when they drop sud- 

 denly to 1.50 per cent. They rally a little in September, but evi- 

 dently their season ends with July. Most of them were too badly 

 mangled for further identification, but a few were crane flies (Tipulidse) . 



Orthoptera are not extensively eaten by the least flycatchers, prob- 

 ably because they are rather large insects, and do not as a rule visit 

 the flycatchers' haunts. Most that were eaten belong to the Tettix 

 group or are the young of the larger species. They begin with a 

 fraction of 1 per cent in May and increase to August, when they 

 attain a maximum of 9.58 per cent and then disappear. The average 

 for the season is 2.59 per cent. 



Lepidoptera, in the forms of moths and caterpillars, are eaten in 

 every month of the season. Beginning with 0.67 per cent in April 

 they rise gradually to 10.97 in July and do not fall much below that 

 figure during the remainder of the season. They were found in 47 

 stomachs, of which 21 contained the adult moths and 28 held cater- 

 pillars. Some of the caterpillars were identified as cutworms (Noc- 

 tuidse), but no special pest was noted. The average consumption for 

 the season was 7.27 per cent. Ephemerids found in one stomach, 

 dragon flies found in 3, and an unidentified insect in 1, make up 

 0.95 per cent. One stomach was entirely filled with a large dragon 



