SPARROW FAMILY. 89 



food. It was found in moderate quantities in stomachs collected 

 from September to February inclusive, and jn April also it reached 

 25 percent, with a trace in June. February was the month in which 

 most was eaten, 46.5 percent. It was found in only 22 stomachs, 

 but 8 of them were completely rilled with it. Leaf galls and some 

 unidentified vegetable matter make up a little more than 3 percent, 

 and complete the vegetable food. 



SUMMARY. 



The spotted towhee is not numerous enough to inflict any great 

 damage, whatever its food habits. Should it become very abundant 

 it might do harm to fruit ; but it is so shy that the more the country 

 is cleared and settled the more rare is it likely to become. 



CALIFORNIA TOWHEE. 



(Pipilo crissalis and senicula.) 



In rural communities on the Pacific coast, the California towhee 

 occupies a place similar to that of the robin in the east. It is quite 

 domestic in habits, and not only is it a familiar sight about orchards 

 and gardens, but it often builds its nest in the shrubbery and vines 

 around the house. Its habits are somewhat more terrestrial than 

 those of the robin, and the fruit it eats is largely that which it finds 

 on the ground. Like the spotted towhee, it forages much under 

 bushes and vines, scratching among the rubbish for food ; however, it 

 does not confine itself to such places, but frequents also the open 

 ground, looking for insects and seeds. At such times a pair are 

 almost invariably seen together. The species does not migrate. 

 One or other of its subspecies inhabits most of the valley and foot- 

 hill country of California west of the Sierra Nevada and San Jacinto 

 mountains. 



For the study of the bird's food 399 stomachs were available, col- 

 lected in every month, with a fair number in each month. The first 

 analysis gives 14.26 percent of animal food to 85.74 of vegetable. 

 The animal food consists of insects and a few spiders, millepeds, and 

 snails. The vegetable part is made up of fruit, grain, weed seeds, 

 and a few miscellaneous substances. 



Animal food. — The largest item of the animal food consists of bee- 

 tles, which amount to 5 percent. The predaceous ground beetles 

 (Carabidse) were found in 30 stomachs, and were the only useful 

 beetles eaten. Weevils, or snout beetles, were found in 55 stomachs, 

 of which 1 contained 15. Among them was identified one speci- 

 men of Calandra oryza, the rice weevil, an insect that does much harm 

 to rice. A decidedly harmful species of chrysomelid beetle (Diabro- 

 tica soror) was found in 43 stomachs. All the other beetles, which 

 belong to several families, are harmful. While beetles were eaten in 

 every month except December, the great bulk were taken from April 



