92 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



Food of young. — Among the 399 stomachs already discussed were 

 those of 16 nestlings. They consisted of one brood of 3 about 2 days 

 old; 3 broods, 9 in all, about 10 days old; and one brood of 4, probably 

 2 weeks old. The three youngest ones had been fed entirely on animal 

 food, mostly grasshoppers, caterpillars, and spiders, with a few bugs. 

 The 9 next in age had been fed animal matter to an average extent 

 of 92 percent, to 8 percent of vegetable food. The animal food 

 differs in proportions, not in constituents, from that taken by the 

 adults. It is composed mainly of grasshoppers and caterpillars, 

 with a few beetles, bugs, and wasps. The vegetable matter contains 

 a little fruit, but the greater part is made up of wads or tangles of 

 vegetable fibers. In one stomach the tangle consisted of horsehair. 

 The same fact has been noted with the young of other species. The 

 four that were 2 weeks old had been fed 95 percent of animal food 

 and 5 percent of vegetable matter. The animal part is not so largely 

 composed of grasshoppers, caterpillars, and spiders as with the 

 younger birds, but beetles, wasps, and ants are more prominent. 

 All of them contained remains of the beetle Diabrotica soror to an 

 average extent of nearly 33 percent. Every one of these 4 stomachs 

 contained a tangle of vegetable fibers, which constituted the whole 

 of the vegetable food except one seed. 



Some observations were made upon the feeding of nestlings of this 

 species. It was found that the young are not fed as often as those 

 of some other species, but probably get more at each feeding. The 

 parent visiting the nest to feed the young gives food to all of them 

 before leaving, and evidently regurgitates it from the gullet for this 

 purpose. As the result of watching two nests for several hours, the 

 maximum number of feedings in one hour was found to be 6, but 

 from 2 to 4 was nearer the average. During the intervals between 

 the feedings the parents could be seen hopping about on the ground 

 and in the shrubbery searching for food, with which they appeared to 

 gorge themselves, for caterpillars and other insects could be seen 

 projecting from their bills. Both parents took part in the feeding, 

 though when the nestlings were very young one bird stayed near or 

 upon the nest until the other came, when they exchanged work. 



SUMMARY. 



The little animal food the California towhee eats is mostly of an 

 injurious character. While eminently a ground feeder, it does not 

 eat more of the predaceous ground beetles (Carabidse) than other 

 birds less terrestrial in their habits, and no more than a due propor- 

 tion. In its vegetable food it probably does little, if any, damage. 

 The amount of fruit eaten is small, and is mostly either damaged or 

 wild. While it eats considerable grain, the great bulk is taken in the 

 fall and winter months. Probably it does not visit the harvest fields 

 much, for although a ground frequenter, it likes the presence of trees 



