The Food of Birds. 
103 
fifty-five per cent, of cherries and raspberries. The loss 
falls chiefly upon the Diptera and Coleoptera, the former 
dropping from eleven per cent, to less than one, and the 
latter from forty-four per cent, to fifteen. Among the 
families of Coleoptera we see from the table that it is the 
Scarabaeidae which benefit chiefly by this diversion of the 
robin ’s activities; for, while the other families remain 
about as before, this family drops from twenty-two per 
cent, in the preceding month to one in this. 
Taking up the details of the food of the thirteen June 
robins, ranging from the 10th to the 29th, all shot at Nor- 
mal, we first notice the larger percentage of ants. These 
have hitherto occurred in but trifling numbers — (three 
per cent, in the preceding month) — but are now more 
than twice as common in the food. This fact is doubtless 
due to the same cause as the still greater relative abun- 
dance of the ants in June in the food of the bluebird — to 
the abundance of the winged perfect forms of some spe- 
cies at this time. Caterpillars stand at seventeen per 
cent., seven per cent, being cutworms. Carabida^ form 
six per cent, of the food. Among the adults were Callida 
punctata , Cratacanthus dubius, Agonoderus and Aniso- 
dactylus. Wireworms were again numerous, four per 
cent, being eaten by seven of the birds. Forty-seven per 
cent, of the food of these birds was cherries and eight 
per cent, raspberries. 
July. 
The fourteen July birds were evidently reveling in the 
fruit garden, raspberries, blackberries, and currants 
forming seventy-nine per cent, of the food.* 
On the other hand, but twenty per cent, of the food was 
insects and one per cent, was spiders. The caterpillars 
furnish only four parts of the food, and beetles but nine 
parts, of which two-thirds were Carabidae. Evarthrus, 
Pterostichus and Amara were noticed among these. 
Scarabaeidae, Elateridae, and Rhynchophora each one per 
cent., a mere trace of Hemiptera, four per cent, of Or- 
thoptera (chiefly crickets), eaten by two of the birds, and 
* I have not ordinarily attempted to distinguish raspberries from black - 
berries in the stomachs of birds, but have set down either one or the 
other, according - to the advancement of the season. 
