FOOD OF ROBINS AND BLUEBIRDS. 



25 



Pokeberries (Phytolacca decan- 



dra) 23 



Red bay (Persea borbonia) 2 



Currants (Ribes sp.) 1 



Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) 1 



Blackberries or raspberries (Rubus 



sp.) 19 



Rose haws (Rosa sp.) 1 



Wild black clioi-rios (Prunus sero- 



tina) 4 



Chokedherries (Primus virginiana). 4 

 Bird cherries {Primus pennsylva- 



nica) . 1 



Otber cherries (Prunus sp.) 1 



Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)- 10 



Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) .22 



Dwarf sumac (Rhus copallina) 11 



Poison sumac ('Rhus remix) 2 



Poison ivy (Rhus radicans) 19 



Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine) 3 



Deciduous holly (Ilex decidua) 1 



Black alder (Ilex verticillata) 2 



Ink berry (Ilex glabra) 35 



Other holly (Ilex sp.) : _ 1 



Strawberry bush (Euonymus amer- 



icanus) 2 



Roxbury wax work (Celastrus 



scandens) 1_ 6 



Purple haws (Condalia sp.) 1 



Woodbine (Pscdera qui nquefolia) - 31 



Sarsaparilla (Aralia sp.) 1 



Flowering dogwood (Cornus flor- 



ida) 30 



Bough-leaved dogwood ( Cornus as- 



pertfolia) 11 



Panicled cornel (Cornus panicu- 



lata) 4 



Alternate-leaved cornel ( Cornus al- 



terni folia) 2 



Other cornels (Cornus sp.) 2 



Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) 4 



Huckleberries (Gaylussacia sp.) 4 



Blueberries ( Vaccinium sp.) : 15 



Persimmons (Diospyros virgini- 



ana) 1 



Night shade (Solatium sp.) 1 



Button weed (Diodia teres) 1 



Partridge berry (Mitchella re- 

 pens) 1 



Tree cranberry (Viburnum opu- 



lus) 1 



Arrow wood (Viburnum sp.) 1 



Black elderberries ( Sambucus cana- 

 densis) __• 23 



Ragweed (Ambrosia sp.) 6 



Fruit not further identified 19 



Vegetable refuse or rubbish 2S 



Seeds not further identified 10 



Mast 1 



Summary. — Exariiination and analysis of the food of the eastern 

 bluebird fully justifies the high esteem in which the bird is held. It 

 does not prey upon any product of husbandry or in any way render 

 itself injurious or annoying. During spring and early summer, when 

 strawberries, cherries, and other small fruits are at their best, the 

 bird subsists upon insects to the extent of five-sixths of its food, and 

 in this period it eats more insects than at any other time of the 

 year; in short the fruit-eating period of the bluebird is from late fall 

 to early spring, when insects are scarce and waste fruit is available. 

 The one point that has been urged against the bird is that it destroys 

 a number of predaceous beetles. The harm done in this, however, 

 is more apparent than real. 



WESTERN BLUEBIRD. 



(Sialia mexicana subspecies.) 



The western bluebird (Sialia mexicana occidentalis) , a subspecies 

 of the Mexican bluebird (Sialia mexicana mexicana), occupies the 

 Pacific coast from central California to Washington, and east to 



