SPAEROW FAMILY. 87 



first analysis of the food gives 24 percent of animal matter to 76 of 

 vegetable. Dead leaves, bits of twigs, rotten wood, and other rub- 

 bish are very common in the stomachs, and probably are swallowed 

 accidentally with more nutritious morsels. 



Animal food. — -Beetles are the largest item of animal food, and 

 amount to a little more than 10 percent. Although the larger part 

 of the towhee's living is gleaned from the ground, only 4 stomachs 

 contained the remains of predaceous ground beetles, and 2 others 

 the remains of ladybirds (Coccinellidse). Weevils were found in 26 

 stomachs, and in 13 stomachs were the remains of that harmful 

 chrysomalid beetle Diabrotica soror. Besides these were fragments 

 of elaterids, buprestids, and cerambycids, all of which in the larval 

 state bore into trees and other plants and do great mischief. Hymen- 

 optera amount to 6 percent of the diet, but are eaten rather irregu- 

 larly. They are mostly taken in summer, but some appear at all 

 times of the year. They were found in 39 stomachs, of which 25 

 contained ants, and 14, wasps and bees. 



Bugs (Hemiptera) amount to 14 percent, and are distributed among 

 several families; but the only point that merits mention is that the 

 black olive scale was found in 4 stomachs and an unidentified scale 

 in 1. The spotted towhee does not appear to care for grasshoppers. 

 They form only 1.7 percent of the year's food, and are eaten very 

 irregularly. In June they reach a little more than 11 percent, in 

 August they amount to only 6 percent, and few were found in other 

 months. Caterpillars aggregate 3.5 percent of the food. They are 

 eaten rather irregularly, without much regard to season, but the 

 greatest number, 12 percent, were taken in April. A few flies, some 

 other insects, spiders, millepeds, and sowbugs (Oniscus) make up 

 about 3 percent, the remainder of the animal food. These last are 

 just what the bird would be expected to get by scratching among 

 underbrush. 



Vegetable food. — Fruit was eaten in every month from May to 

 November inclusive, with a good percentage in each month. Janu- 

 ary also shows 11.7 percent, but this was either wild or waste. The 

 average for the year is 17.7 percent. The month of greatest consump- 

 tion was November, when it amounted to 53.6 percent. All of it 

 was in the shape of fruit pulp, not further identifiable. At that time 

 of year it could have been of no value. Fruit pulp, identified only 

 as such, was found in 23 stomachs. Rubus seeds and pulp (rasp- 

 berries or blackberries) were found in 23 stomachs; cherries, grapes, 

 and figs in 1 each. Elderberries (Sambucus glauca) were found in 6 

 stomachs, snowberries (Symphoricarpos racemosus) in 3, and black 

 twinberries (Lonicera involucrata) in 1. The fruit eaten in June and 

 July was almost entirely Rubus fruit, which may have been either 

 wild or cultivated, except in one case, where the seeds of Logan 



