AUTUMN FOOD OF THE MYRTLE WARBLER 
1 2S 
forming 52 per cent, of the stomach contents, the remainder being flies ( Dip - 
tern), 22 per cent., eggs, of flies, 4 per cent., a chalcid fly, 1 per cent., and 
undetermined insects, 2 1 per cent. 
Food in Spring 
On March 15, 1900, four birds were observed at Durham, and one was 
shot at 3 p. m. The intestines contained many of the little black kernels 
which are embedded in the wax of bayberries, while the stomach was nearly 
filled with a large caterpillar — a lepidopterous larva — which formed 85 per 
cent, of the total contents. There was, also, a small insect larva 4 per cent., 
2 small bugs ( Capsidae ), 2 per cent., 1 small four-winged fly ( Hymenoptera ), 
1 per cent., and a bayberry seed, 6 per cent. 
A specimen taken Maya showed that the spring food consists very largely 
of insects, the stomach being filled with insect pulp, of which 68 per cent, 
was undeterminable, while the remainder was identified as follows : 4 flies 
(Vip/era), 15 per cent., 3 bugs {Capsidae), 9 per cent, 2 hymenopterous flies, 
6 per cent., 1 spider, 2 per cent., 1 aphid, trace. There were neither seeds 
nor gravel in the stomach. 
SUMMARY 
It is evident, from these results, that the Myrtle Warbler is 
well named, as in autumn it finds a large proportion of its 
diet in the fruit of the waxberry myrtle. But this fact does 
not prevent it from being of considerable use as a check upon 
insect life, even in autumn, when 30 per cent, of its food con- 
sists of insects, while it is evident, from the limited study 
made of the spring food, that during the spring migration 
when the supply of myrtle berries has been to a considerable 
extent exhausted, the ration of insect food is greatly increased, 
and the insects taken include some of the sorts like the aphides 
or plant lice, against which man especially needs protection. 
The vegetable food of the myrtle warbler has no economic 
value, and the bird eats various sorts of destructive insects, so 
that it is a fair conclusion to say that these modest little war- 
blers are deserving of man’s continual protection. These 
studies furnish additional evidence of the value of birds in 
general, and of the wisdom of protecting them and encourag- 
ing their presence on the farm and about the home grounds. 
