I 
The Food of Birds. 
133 
greatest number and activity of the beetles, and tlie dim- 
inution in July coincides with the period of the greatest 
abundance cf the small fruits. One-half the insects eaten 
are beetles, which stand at one-fourth of the food in 
April and June, rise to one-half in May and fall to about 
one-eighth in July and August. Half the beetles of the 
year are Scarabaeidae, chiefly June beetles and Euryomia, 
all taken previous to July. Nearly one-fourth of the 
beetles are Carabidae, which remain at about five per 
cent, of the food, except in May, when they rise to ten 
per cent. Although the ratios of spring-beetles and 
snout-beetles are but two per cent., the numbers eaten 
are of some significance. My notes show that these birds 
were eating each at the daily rate of about li curculios, 
and consequently had averaged a total of about 250 to 
each thrush for the season. The brown thrush takes ants 
more freely than the robin, but eats comparatively few 
caterpillars ; seven per cent, of each were found in the 
food of the year. Diptera are taken in very trivial quan- 
tity and Hemiptera in moderate number only. This bird 
eats thousand-legs more freely than the robin, especially 
in the early spring. In the garden it plays a part very 
similar to that of the other thrushes, but is less mischiev- 
ous, on the whole. Its average of the edible fruits for 
June, July and August is thirty-eight percent, as against 
sixty per cent, of the robin, and forty-nine per cent, of 
the catbird. It relishes the whole list of garden fruits, 
and later in the season resorts, like the other thrushes, 
to the wild fruits of the woods and thickets. Compared 
with the robin, this bird is seen to be especially peculiar 
in the copropliagous habit already mentioned as dis- 
tinguishing it from all the other thrushes. It takes about 
one-half as many Lepidoptera, about half as many again 
Coleoptera, nearly twice as many Carabidae and three 
times as many leaf-chafers; but eats comparatively few 
grapes and cherries. From the catbird it is further dis- 
tinguished by taking half as many ants, a trivial number 
of Diptera, twice as many Coleoptera and twice as many 
Carabidae, five times as many leaf-chafers and more 
spring-beetles, snout-beetles, Hemiptera and Orthoptera. 
