16 
The Regulative Action of Birds upon Insect Oscillations. 
Summary of the Family. 
The nine flycatchers taken had eaten only insects, of which 
nearly half were Coleoptera, and the remainder were about 
equally distributed between the Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, and 
Diptera. Canker-worms make fifteen per cent, of the whole, and 
Anomala hinotata seventeen per cent. The Scarabaeidae include 
all but ten per cent, of the Coleoptera. 
CUCULIDJE. Cuckoos. 
CoCCYZUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS, Wils. BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 
Three-fourths of the food of a single specimen shot consisted 
of canker-worms, other caterpillars making an additional twenty 
per cent. Anomala hinotata was the only remaining element. 
PIClDiE. Woodpeckers. 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, L. Red-headed Woodpecker. 
This bird was abundant in the orchard, evidently nesting in the 
trees, although but four specimens were shot. Two of these had 
eaten corn, which amounted to twenty per cent, of the food. 
Fifteen per cent, was canker-worms, and twenty-four per cent. 
Carabidae (eaten by two of the birds), including Calosoma, Scar- 
ites, and several Harpalids. Twenty-nine per cent, of Scarabaesi- 
dae embraced a Canthon and some specimens of Anomala hino- 
tata. Melanotus and other spring-beetles were also eaten by two 
of the birds. 
COLAPTES AURATUS, L. FLICKER. 
A single specimen, killed in 1881, had fed only on ants, the 
usual aliment of the bird. 
COLUMBIDiE. Doves and Pigeons. 
Zenaidura carolinensis, L. Mourning Dove. 
Several mourning doves were seen, and a single specimen was 
taken. Three-fourths of the food of this was corn, and the 
remainder the seeds of some leguminous plant. 
