4 BULLETIN 280, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
are a standard article of diet. They were found in the stomachs 
collected in every month of the year but four, and a greater number 
of stomachs would probably show them in every month. The one 
stomach taken in May contained the maximum (72 per cent). The 
total for the year is 12.95 per cent. Ants are eaten to the extent of 
4.71 per cent, while other Hymenoptera, as bees and wasps, make 
up less than half of 1 per cent. Diptera (flies) are represented 
by a mere trace in the stomachs. Observers who have seen this bird 
in its native haunts testify that it takes a considerable portion of its 
food on the wing. In view of this fact it seems curious that the two 
orders of insects most active on the wing (Hymenoptera and Dip- 
tera) should be so scantily represented in the food. Hymenoptera 
are a standard diet with flycatchers and would seem to be the natu- 
ral food of any bird that feeds upon the wing. 
Hemiptera (bugs) were found to the extent of 3.51 per cent of the 
total food. All were contained in three stomachs taken in March, 
June, and July. In the July stomach four cicadas, or dog-day flies, 
constituted the whole contents. Grasshoppers amount to less than 1 
per cent and all other insects to but a trifle. Spiders were eaten to 
the extent of 2.94 per cent of the food and were found in the stomachs 
taken in seven of the twelve months, and judging from their dis- 
tribution they are eaten whenever available. A hair snake (G@ordius) 
was found in one stomach. Following is a list of insects identified 
and the number of stomachs in which found: 
COLEOPTERA. HEMIPTHRA. 
AIOE CREEL CGS ae aes a pt Be ee | Platypedia. ouinani = eee } 
FAIL OCA SES Pee eae ee ee ee ee 1 
IB ULOTATALSE SP = a tee a ene ee 1 
Vegetable food—rThe vegetable portion of the food of Myadestes 
is 64.10 per cent of the whole, and 58.70 per cent of this, or more than 
half the whole food, is classified as wild fruit or berries. These 
were found in stomachs collected in every month. From the even dis- 
tribution of this food through the year and from the quantity eaten 
it is evidently a favorite article of diet. Nothing was found in any 
of the stomachs that could be identified as cultivated fruit, with the 
possible exception of a mass of fruit pulp found in one. A few 
seeds of poison ivy and sumac, with fragments of flowers and a few 
weed seeds, complete the vegetable food. Following is a list of fruits, 
seeds, etc., identified, and the number of stomachs in which found: 
Rocky Mountain cedar (Juniperus sco- | Wild cherries (Prunus sp.)_--__.____ 1 
DULOVIM ) era eee ay ae ae 3 | Sumac berries (Rhus sp.)_-__-______ 1 
Western cedar (Juniperus monosper- Poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron)_____ 1 
ULL Sa IS cle PE lad ee tL | Waxwork (Celasirus sp) 1 
Other cedars (Juniperus sp.) ~~~ ~____ 2 | Madrona berries (Arbutus menziesii) _ 5 
Hlackberries (Celtis occidentalis) _____ 1 Honeysuckle berries (Lonicera sp.) --- it 
Douglas hackberries (Celtis douglasii) — 1 | Elderberries (Sambucus sp.)-------_- it 
Service berries (Amelanchier sp.) ~__- 1 | Fruit not further identified__._._______ 3 
Rose haws (Rosa sp.) 2 
