474 
ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF OUR BIRDS. 
From tlie stomach of one Robin were taken seven cut-worms, 1.25 inches long, 
six other caterpillars, varying from three-fourths to one inch long, two small 
curculios and five grape seeds. 
From the stomachs of three young Robins — all of the same brood — were 
taken respectively, (1) one wire-worm, one grub-worm, one caterpillar, several 
beetles, and a pellet of grass; (2) one wire-worm, three larvae, one ground beetle, 
one lamellicorn beetle, and a small pellet of grass; (3) one grub-worm, one cat¬ 
erpillar, several small seeds and a pellet of grass. 
The food of the Robin, as indicated by others, is as follows: 
“Its principal food is berries, worms and caterpillars; berries, those of the 
sour gum and poke berry” (Wils.); “ Chiefiy insects — especially worms — and 
berries” (Cooper); “Worms, insects, berries, and fruits” (De Kay); “Grubs and 
catei’pillars, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs of locusts, harvest-flies, and of beetles, 
the apple-worm when it leaves the apple, cut-worms, silk-worms ” (Samuels); 
“Larvae of Bibionidae” (Packard); “Larvae of Dryocampa senatorial' (A. J. 
Cook). Prof. S. A. Forbes concludes, from an examination of the contents of 
41 stomachs, that 78 per cent, of the food was insects; 2 per cent, myriapods and 
spiders, and 28 per cent, grubs. Twelve per cent, were caterpillars, 7 per cent, 
beneficial beetles (Harpalinae), 6^ per cent, noxious beetles, 8 j)er cent, orthoptera 
and 1^ per c^t. noxious myriapods. This record, he concludes, indicates fully 
as much injury as good done by these forty-one birds. 
2. Turdus mustelinus, Gm. WOOD THRUSH. Group I. Class b. 
This rich-voiced songster, though a summer resident, is far from being com¬ 
mon at present, even during the migrations. Its favorite haunts are the osier 
and alder thickets which embrace the winding streams of our low, deep woods, 
but during the fall and spring, more open woods and groves are visited by it. 
Like the Robin it is terrestrial in its habits, and appears to obtain its food in a 
similar manner; but its secluded retreats forbid any direct relation to agricult¬ 
ural interests at present. There are indications, however, that its habits are 
changing, and that it is becoming more familiar. 
In the Germantown (Pa.) Telegraph for May 8, 1878,1 occurs the following 
from the pen of its editor: 
“ But within the last five years it (Wood Thrush) has appeared in our gardens, 
builds its nest and rears its young. Last year they had considerably increased 
upon our premises, notwithstanding much of the cover had been cut away; and 
already this season they have made their appearance quite numerously and have 
begun to entertain us with their charming song. They have also become quite 
tame, fully as much so as the Robin or Catbird. This, too, in the very face of 
our colony of House Sparrows.” If these are facts, by due encouragement and 
protection we may hope to have the Wood Thrush much more abundant and 
familiar than it now is. 
Of two specimens examined, one had eaten two ants, fragments of beetles, 
and one caterpillar; the other had eaten fruits and beetles. 
Its food, according to Wilson, consists of lichens, berries, caterpillars and 
beetles. Audubon states that it eats berries, small fruits, and occasionally in¬ 
sects and various lichens. 
Prof. S. A. Forbes says of the contents of the stomachs of twenty-two birds 
which he examined, that “ seventy-one per cent, of their food consisted of in- 
1 From an article clipped from a Boston paper and kindly sent me by Dr. Brewer. 
