THE WINTER FOOD OF THE CHICKADEE 
93 
dis stria ) ; adult flies (Diptera), .06; puparia of flies, .09; lepidopter- 
ous pupae, .05 ; insects undetermined, .27 ; seed of Polygonaceae, .02 ; 
bud scales .01 ; undetermined material, .13. 
No. 3. Stomach full. Eggs of aphides, .35; spider eggs and web, 
.22 ; larvae, believed to be those of the codling moth, .12 ; other lepi- 
dopterous larvae, .06 ; undetermined insects, .09 ; insect larvae, .03 ; 
spider, .04; bud scales, .03; undetermined material, .06. 
No. 4. Eggs of American tent caterpillar (Clisiocampa Americana ), 
.06; spider, .16; cocoon of spider, .11 ; aphid eggs, .04; eggs of fall 
canker worm, .02; beetles. .03; sumach fruits, .44; bud scales, .08; 
undetermined material, .06. 
No. 5. A large noctuid larva, .44; insect eggs (Reduviidae?), 19; 
aphid eggs, .06 ; insect iarvae, .08 ; sumach fruits, .07 ; bud scales, 
.06; undetermined material, .10. 
The next specimen was taken March 11 at 10:30 a. m. in a growth 
of birch. It contained: aphid eggs, .24; geometrid larva, .12; beetles, 
.09; hymenopterous cocoons, .12; spiders and their web, .09; lich- 
ens, .05 ; bud scales, .11 ; and undetermined material, .18. 
On March 26th a chickadee was shot at 8 =30 a. m. It was one of 
a flock that was apparently emerging for the first time that day from 
a small grove thickly set with pine trees. There was very little food 
in the stomach, all of which appeared to be undigested material from 
the food of the day before. The only recognizable elements were bud 
scales, spider’s silk and pieces of the legs of insects and spiders. 
On March 26th, five chickadees were shot in a sugar orchard, and in 
apple trees near by. One of them had in its bill when killed the 
abdomen and part of the wings of the moth represented natural size in 
Fig. 10 and known to entomologists as Scopelosoma indirecta. 
The food contents of these specimens were as follows : 
No. 1. — Moth, .90 ( Scopelosoma ) ; eggs, probably from the abdomen 
of moth, .02 ; aphid eggs, .02 ; cocoon of spider, .03 ; undetermined, .03. 
No. 2. — Moth, .27; beetles, .12; spiders, .14; small white egg of 
an insect, .01 ; small hymenopterous insect, .01 ; bark, .12; undeter- 
mined vegetable tissue, .26; feathers, .or ; undetermined material, .06. 
No. 3. — Noctuid moth, .61; bug ( Rednviidce ), .03; spider, .16; 
web of spider, 04 ; undetermined arthropods, .12; undetermined veg- 
etable matter, .04. 
No. 4 . — Three insect larvae, probably lepidopterous, .28; small 
beetles, .05 ; bark-lice ( Coccidce ), apparently oyster-shell bark-louse 
[Mytilaspis pomornni), .or ; aphid eggs, .01 ; spider, .06; bud scales, 
.23; bark, .14; undetermined vegetable matter, .22. 
No. 5. — Two lepidopterous larvae, .38; lepidopterous pupa, .32; 
dipterous larvae .14; undetermined adult arthropods, .08; lichen, .01 ; 
bud scales, .02; undetermined vegetable matter, .03; feather, .02. 
The last specimens of the winter were taken by Mr. Dearborn at 
1 1. 00 a. m. on March 29th. They were feeding near the ends of high 
branches of a large chestnut tree at Northfield, Merrimack Co., New 
Hampshire. Apparently comparatively little food had been taken that 
morning, the stomach of the first specimen containing 44 per cent, of 
bud scales, probably largely left over from the day before, and 30 per 
