70 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



present, but broken up beyond recognition. It is curious that the 

 oriole should find these insects. During the greater part of their 

 larval life they are concealed within the apple. When ready to 

 pupate they crawl out and at once seek some place of concealment, 

 such as a crevice in bark or among clods or rubbish, where they can 

 undergo their changes. To find them, therefore, birds must hunt 

 for them. This would be very natural work for woodpeckers, tit- 

 mice, creepers, and nuthatches, but it seems a surprising habit for 

 an oriole. 



Grasshoppers probably do not come much in the oriole's way. 

 They were eaten, however, to the extent of a little more than 3 per- 

 cent. In June they rise to somewhat more than 11 percent, which 

 is the maximum. August is the month in which most birds eat the 

 greatest quantities of grasshoppers, but none of the orioles collected 

 in that month had eaten any. In spite of the fact, however, that 

 grasshoppers are eaten so sparingly, 2 stomachs, both taken in June, 

 contained nothing else, and another had 97 percent of them. 



Various insects and spiders, with a few other elements, make up 

 the rest, of the animal food, a little more than 5 percent. Spiders do 

 not form any important percentage of the oriole's food, but are prob- 

 ably eaten whenever found. They were identified in 44 stomachs, 

 but no great number appeared in any. The scales of a lizard were 

 found in one stomach and the shell of a snail in another. Eggshells 

 occurred in 8 stomachs, and one egg was apparently eaten when fresh. 



Eggshells are often seen in birds' stomachs and in most cases are 

 supposed to be empty shells, which have been thrown from the nest. 

 In the examination of the stomachs of over 200 species of birds, 

 eggshells have been found in some of the stomachs of a great majority 

 of the species. While most of these may have been empty shells, 

 some of the cases are very questionable, and it is probable that occa- 

 sionally individuals of most species of birds yield to the temptation 

 to eat a fresh egg when a favorable opportunity occurs. 



Vegetable food. — Practically all of the vegetable food consists of 

 fruit, which amounts to a little more than 9 percent. Other vege- 

 table matter aggregating less than 2 percent is largely rubbish, prob- 

 ably taken accidentally. Fruit was eaten in the four months from 

 May to August inclusive. The maximum quantity was taken in 

 July, when it amounted to nearly 40 percent. It was found in 67 

 stomachs, of which 16 contained cherries; 11, figs; 5, blackberries or 

 raspberries; 1, elderberries; and 34, fruit pulp not further identified. 

 One stomach was entirely filled with the pulp and seeds of figs. 

 While this is a high percentage of fruit, most of which is of cultivated 

 varieties, it is probably well paid for by the destruction of harmful 

 insects. It is doubtful if any fruit grower would be willing to sacri- 



