13 
The Regulative Action of Birds upon Insect Oscillations. 
Zamelodia ludoviciana, L. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 
Only two were seen, and both were killed. A very few canker- 
worms were found (five per cent.) with fifty-eight per cent, of 
other caterpillars. About half the fifteen per cent, of Coleoptera 
were Rhynchophora, the remainder being Anomala binotata , one 
of the Lampyridae, and undetermined specimens. One-fifth of 
the food consisted of seeds not recognized. 
Passerina cyanea, L. Indigo Bird. 
This bird, noted as common in 1881, was by far the most abun- 
dant species in the orchard at the second visit. Eighteen speci- 
mens were shot, two in the first and the remainder in the second 
year. Although this bird is one of the typical finches, only three 
per cent, of its food consisted of seeds, chiefly Setaria and Com- 
positae. Canker-worms made fifty-nine per cent., eaten by all the 
birds but one, and other caterpillars an additional eight per cent. 
With the exception of a trace of Hymenoptera, the remainder of 
the food consisted entirely of beetles, about one-third of which 
were Anomala binotata. 
Summary of the Family. 
Only seven per cent, of the food of the forty-seven members ol 
this family (commonly called seed-eaters) consisted in fact of 
seeds; and insects made up all but two per cent, of the remain- 
der. The most interesting items on the general list are canker- 
worms forty per cent., predaceous beetles (Carabidae) two per cent., 
and Anomala binotata six per cent. 
ICTERIDiE. Blackbirds. 
Molothrus ater, Bodd. Cowbird. 
A single wandering specimen of this bird contained only Scar- 
abaeidae, including Aphodius, and a few other Coleoptera, with 
about sixty per cent, of corn and some seeds of Polygonum and 
other plants. 
Ageljeus phceniceus, L. Red-winged Blackbird. 
Two specimens of this bird, which were also accidentally in the 
orchard, had fed about equally upon insects and upon wheat and 
