14 
BULLETIN 619/ U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
state. Swallows can not easily avail themselves of this food, for cater- 
pillars are not readily taken on the wing. All but one of the lepi- 
dopterans eaten by the barn swallow were taken in the adult state and 
amount to only 2.39 per cent of the food. Nearly all were secured in 
October, and in no other month did they form as much as 1 per cent. 
Grasshoppers and crickets are a favorite food for many insectivo- 
rous birds , and in many instances are evidently carefully sought 
after, but they form only 0.51 per cent of the food of this swallow. 
Grasshoppers are frequently upon the wing and will rise in front 
of one walking through grassy fields and often fly several rods. 
While not a general rule, some species are capable of making long- 
sustained flights. Flycatchers probably capture them in mid-air, 
and swallows might take them in the same way if they cared for 
them. The greatest consumption by this swallow (2.54 per cent) 
occurs in August. 
Other insects of more or less importance serve to a certain extent 
as food for the barn swallow. These are dragonflies (4 per cent), 
found in 26 stomachs, May flies (Ephemerida) found in 13, spiders 
in 9, and snails in 9. Dragonflies, though large and conspicuous in- 
sects, are not taken by many birds, as they are very agile, but fly- 
catchers and swallows seem to capture them easily. 
Summary.-^- There seems to be little reason for criticizing the food 
of the barn swallow, as the bird eats neither fruit nor grain and 
does not injure the farmer's crops in any way. It feeds upon many 
injurious insects and destroys some of the worst of the farmer's pests. 
It is cheerful and companionable and a pleasant adjunct to rural life. 
Following is a. list of insects identified in stomachs of barn swal- 
lows and the number of stomachs in which found : 
ORTHOPTERA. 
Conocephalus sp 
HEMIPTERA. 
Oeresa bubalis . — 
Bntylia sin,uata 
Stictojcephala lutea 
Campylenchia curvata 
Ophiderma sp 
Thyreocoris- pulicaria 
Amnestus pusillus 
Geotomus sp 
Pangceus sp 
Blissus leueopterus .- 
Myodocha serripes 3 
Sinea diadema 1 
COLEQPTERA. 
El&phrus ruscarius 1 
Bembidium variegatum 1 
Amara sp_ 1 2 
Cnemidotus 12-punctatus . — 1 
Cnemidotus sp ' 1 
Helophorus lineatus 1 
coleoptera — continued. 
Sphceridium, scarabwoides 
Gryptopleurum minutum 
Heterocerus tristis 
Atheta sp_ 
Philonthus hepaticus 
Philonthus siegwaldi 
Philonthus sp 
Boletobius sp . 
Olophrum obtectum 
Phaiacrus penicillatus 
Hippodamia convergent 
Scymnus loewii , 
Scymnus sp 
Aulonium sp 
Dermestes fasciata , 
Dermestes sp 
Hister abbreviatus 
Hister bvmaculatus 
Hister americanus 
Hister subrotundus . 
Dendrophilus punctulatus 
Saprinus pennsylvanicus 
Saprinus assimilis 
