Prairie heN. 15 
destroys also the potato beetle { Le ptinotarHa decemlineata) ^ in both 
adult and larval stages, and the injurious l-i-spotted <'ucunil>er 
l)eetle {Diahroticd IJ-punctdtd). The stomach of a bird collected by 
II. P. Attwater, Novenilx'r 7, 18J)8, in Aransas County, Tex., contained 
16 of these latter insects. Among other leaf-eating beetles eaten may 
be mentioned Chn/somela pulrhra^ Chrysoniela suturaUff, Difionycha 
(/Kuiqiier'ittdtd^ Monoxid puncticollix^ and Ginphop^ pnhescens. The 
injurious May beetles {Lachnostema sp.) also are destroyed, as well 
as weevils (Therestcnn/s humerdlix and other species). Like many 
other birds, the prairie hen is partial to ground beetles. It has been 
known to take such kinds as Anisodactylus r^nsticus^ Agonoderus 
pdUlpes^ Anidi'd sp., and Chlanius sp. It probal)ly feeds also cm the 
different abundant species of Ihiipdlux. Ladybirds are at times de- 
btroyed, as was attested by remains of Ilippodamia convergens con- 
tained in one stomach. 
Miscellaneous insects are eaten in small numbers, but are inter- 
esting because they include a number of the worst insect foes, such as 
the cotton worm {Alahdmd drgillacea) .'^ the army worm {IleJiophUd 
unipunctd), several species of cutworms, the yellow bear caterpillar 
(Diacrisia virginica), cankerworms {Geometridce) ^ the Angoumois 
grain moth {Sitotroga cerealella). and the chinch bug {Blissus 
lencopferus) . The bird's habits of eating chinch bugs has been re- 
ported by B. F. Gault, of Chicago, and Prof. F. M. Webster, of 
the Bureau of Entomology. Other bugs, including stink bugs {Ed.s- 
chistuti sp.) and the tree hoppers {Stictocephalus sp.) make part of 
the food. In addition to ants, such as Formica exsectoides^ the prairie 
hen occasionally eats other Hymenoptera, including Tiphid inonuitd 
and gall insects contained in the galls of Cynipidae. In its liking for 
galls and their contents the bird resembles the ruffed grouse and the 
British pheasant. 
Further study of the food habits of the prairie hen will unquestion- 
ably add largely to the foregoing enumeration of insects, but our pres- 
ent knowledge, incomplete as it is, shows the general character of its 
insect food, and establishes the value of the species as a destroyer of 
insect pests. 
Vegetable Food. 
From October to April, inclusive, the prairie hen takes little but 
vegetable food. This element amounts to 85.89 percent for the year. 
Fruit constitutes 11.79 percent; leaves, flowers, and shoots, 25.09 per- 
cent; seeds, 14.87 percent; grain, 31. 0() percent, and miscellaneous 
vegetable material, 3.08 percent. 
Like the bobwhite and the ruffed grouse, the prairie hen is fond of 
rose hips, and the abundant roses of the prairie yield 11.01 percent 
a Fourth Rep. U. S. Eut. Commission, p. 88, 1885. 
