18 



BULLETIN 124», U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGPJCULTURE. 



Conclusions. — The evidence from stomach examination is stron^lv 

 in the pine siskin's favor. Buds are occasionally eaten locally, but 

 the vegetable food appears to be made up largely of seeds of weeds 

 and other noncultivated plants. In its destruction of aphids. scale 

 insects, and caterpillars the bird renders such valuable service as to 

 entitle it to higher rank economically than most of the species treated 

 in this bulletin. 



items of the pine siskin, identified to the genus or species, as determined 

 by the examination of 291 stomachs. 



[The figures indicate the number of stomachs in which the items icere found.] 



Vegetable Food. 



Pinaceae. Portulacaeeae. 



P i h u s v i r g i n \ ana < scrub Monti a sp. 7 water - chick- 

 pine i 2 weed i 2 



Tsuga canadensis (hemlock >_ 37 Rosaeeae. 



Pseudotsuga mueronata Rutins sp. (blackberry) l 



(Douglas fir) 1 Fabaceae. 



Poaceae. TrifoUum sp. (clover) 1 



Chaetochloa sp. (foxtail Geraniaceae. 



grass) T Erodium sp. (alfilaria) 7 



Betulaceae. Oleaceae. 



Betula sp. i birch "i or \ ,, Syringa vulgaris i lilac ) 1 



AJnus sp. i alder i / Ambrosiaceae. 



Ulmaceae. Ambrosia elatior 27 



Vim us sp. (elm I 2 Menthaeeae. 



Polygonaceae. Xepeta cataria (catnip) 1 



Polygonum sp. (smartweed)_ 1 Asteraceae. 



Amaranthaceae. Helianthus sp. (sunflower) 2 



Amaranthus sp. i pigweed i __ 4 >•: ecto sp. (ragwort) 29 



Silenaceae. 



Alsine sp. i chickweed | 3 



SUene sp. (catchfly) 1 



Ammal Food. 



Ooecidae (scale insects). Gorcnlionidae (weevils). 



>aissetia oleae (black olive Phutonomus posticus (alfalfa 



scale i 7 weevil) 1 



Aphididae (plant-lice). 



8 iphoco r u n e sp. ( srain 

 aphid) 1 I 



SNOW BUNTING (Plectrophenax nivalis). 

 .Plate IV.. 



The snow bunting, or snowflake. is an easily recognized winter 

 sparrow in northern United States, the distinct black-and-white or 

 brown-and-white appearance being totally unlike any other member 

 of the family. It breeds in the far North and appears regularly in 

 winter only in the Northern States, where it is often found asso- 

 ciated in flocks with shore larks and longspnrs. 



Very little has been written concerning the food of the snow 

 bunting, writers usually confining themselves to the statement that 

 the bird is fond of weeds or grass seeds. Doctor Judd's account 

 of the food of this bird 19 was based on an examination of 46 



■ The relation of sparrows to agriculture 

 1901. 



- Pept. Agr.. Biol. Surv. Bull. No. 15. 



