8 BULLETIN 1355, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
each. year. As with the leaf beetles, any check on these forms is to 
be welcomed, and a percentage as high as 2.7 is to be considered 
favorable to the bird. Nearly a third of the individual birds had 
taken this kind of food. 
Under the heading of weevils are grouped all members of the 
suborder Rhynchophora, commonly known as curculios, billbugs, 
bark beetles, and the like. Weevils or their remains were detected 
in 141 of the stomachs and formed 1.13 per cent of the yearly suste- 
nance. This percentage is small, but the average size of individuals 
among the Rhynchophora also is small, much smaller than in the 
preceding groups, and it is probable that the number cf individuals 
represented is very large. Little good can be said of weevils. Wnile 
many species have not yet" come into direct conflict with man, their 
pernicious habits have been demonstrated by those which have; 
and although the percentage of these beetles eaten by the red-eye is 
relatively small, their consumption must be considered a favorable 
economic tendency. 
Other miscellaneous beetle material formed less than 1 per cent 
(0.78) of the red-eye's food. It would be difficult to determine the 
economic status of these beetles as a whole. Certain families, as 
the ground beetles (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Stapyhlinidae) , are 
usually considered beneficial. The checkered beetles (Cleridae) are 
beneficial and are now believed to be one of the most efficient checks 
on boring beetles. On the other hand, the forms which may be 
called injurious are few; for instance, the deathwatch or drug-store 
beetles (Ptinidae) and meal worms (larvae of Tenebrionidae) . 
Remi'ptera. — Each year approximately 7.03 per cent of the food 
eaten by a red-eyed vireo is composed of stink-bugs (Pentatomidae). 
This f amity of insects includes the well-known harlequin cabbage 
bug, and several other species injurious to man. In fall, when other 
bugs and wasps become scarce, the red-eye eats a considerable 
number of stink-bugs, the quantity taken in September forming 16.15 
per cent of the total food, and during September and October they 
are third in the list. The number of birds selecting this form of diet 
also is large, a total of 158, or over a fourth of those examined. 
The rest of the true bugs make up 8.33 per cent of the annual 
food, but the frequency of their appearance in the stomachs is exactly 
the reverse of that of the stink-bugs. In April the percentage is very 
high, 20.26, and from then on it diminishes steadily, until in October 
it is 0.29 per cent. Among the species identified from stomachs are 
squash bugs, cicadas, scale insects, leaf hoppers, and assassin bugs. 
Hemipterans appear attractive to this bird, and it was found that of 
the stomachs examined 250 contained the remains of at least one 
bug. The small bulk percentage of this item is due mainly to the 
fact that most of the plant-infesting bugs are of small size. 
Hymenoptera. — Over half (321) of the stomachs contained the 
remains of some species of the order which includes the wasps, bees, 
ants, and most of the insect parasites. Of these forms, ants are the 
most injurious and were taken by 93 of the birds. The remainder of 
the group is for the most part beneficial, as in it are found innumer- 
able minute parasitic forms which do much to prevent the earth 
from being overrun with insects. Fortunately, the majority are so 
small as to avoid the notice of birds. . The wild bees, wasps, and 
arger ichneumon flies, which are of service in the pollination of 
