9 ° 
THE WINTER FOOD OF THE CHICKADEE 
eaten largely of the small bud-like materials already noted, making 58 per 
cent, of the food in one and 37 per cent, in the other case. The other 
food elements of the first were aphid eggs, 24 per cent. ; undetermined 
insects or their allies, 4 per cent., and undetermined material, 14 per 
cent. The stomach of the second specimen contained very little food, 
a caterpillar making 
33 per cent., unde- 
termined insects 8 per 
cent., grit 5 per cent., 
spiders 4 per cent., 
and undetermined 
material 13 percent. 
Four chickadees ta- 
ken February 17th 
while feeding in a 
mixed growth of birch 
and pine had eaten 
chiefly aphid eggs, 
these constituting 62 
per cent, of the en- 
tire food of the first 
specimen, 52 of the 
second, 46 of the 
third, and 61 of the 
fourth. In addition, 
one bird had eaten 
the eggs of the com- 
mon American tent 
caterpillar to the ex- 
tent of 16 per cent., 
and another had eaten 
a few specimens of a 
small flea beetle 
known to science as 
Prasocuris varipes. (Fig. 9.) The other food elements were certain 
small round bodies of unknown origin, eggs of insects, bud scales, and 
seeds of birch. 
Another chickadee feeding in an apple tree February 17th had eaten 
60 per cent, of the skins of sumach berries, 28 per cent, of aphid eggs, 
3 per cent, of the eggs of bugs of the family 
Reduviidce, and 2 per cent, of bud scales, while 
7 per cent, was not determined. Still another 
killed on the same day in a clump of small pinfe 
trees had taken aphid eggs 19 per cent., bud 
scales 49 per cent., feathers 1 per cent., a spider, 
2 per cent., and undetermined material 29 per 
cent. 
Three chickadees were shot in an apple or- 
chard February 19th, at 3 : 30 p. m. Their food was estimated as fol- 
lows : 
Fig. 6. Egg-sacs of Spiders on loose bark. 
Fig. 
The Codling 
Moth. 
