140 
The Food of Birds. 
spiders and twelve per cent, of thousand-legs. Ants 
amounted to fifteen per cent., Lepidoptera to nineteen 
per cent., including a few Phalaenidae, and Diptera only to 
three — chiefly the larvae of Bibio. Coleoptera make thir- 
ty per cent, of the food, eleven per cent, being Carabidae. 
Dyschirius glohulosus , Platynus, Evarthrus, Pterosticlius, 
Amara, Anisodactylvs discoidens, Bradycellus and Sten- 
olophus are mentioned in my notes. Four per cent, are 
water-beetles, five per cent, scavenger-beetles, two per 
cent, curculios and two per cent, plant-beetles. Leaf- 
chafers and spring-beetles amount to one per cent, each 
• — flie latter chiefly of the genus Melanotus. Lixus con- 
cavus and Listronotus incequalipennis occur among the 
curculios, and Chrysomela suturalis, Gastrophysa dis- 
similis and Plagiodera viridis among the plant-beetles. 
Eight per cent, of the food was Hemiptera, nearly all of 
which were predaceous. Podisus spinosus was the only 
species determined. Grasshoppers (Tettix and Tettigi- 
dea) make seven per cent, of the food. Respecting the 
number of beetles eaten by this bird, we have to remem- 
ber that it passes us at the time of that great outpouring 
of insect life connected with the pairing of the spring 
Coleoptera which we have already seen to have a very 
significant relation to the food of birds. It. rides north- 
ward, in fact, on the crest of this Coleopterous wave, and 
we find the same excess of predaceous Coleoptera in its 
food which occurs in the food of the other thrushes at the 
same season. Concerning the two October specimens 
taken in northern Illinois I need only say that they had 
eaten ants, caterpillars, Carabidae, curculios, Pentatomi- 
dae and Orthoptera, spiders, Iulidac and the larvae of 
Bibio. The habits of this bird suggest that the principal 
drain on the numbers of predaceous beetles may be due 
to the depredations of the migrants, at the season of the 
greatest exposure of these insects ; and that the complete 
destruction of resident birds would affect the number of 
these carnivorous insects mucli less than would at first 
seem likely. The reader curious to see the points in 
which this species contrasts with the other thrushes, may 
consult the table of the food of the family on page 147. 
