ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF OUR BIRDS. 
561 
the Bluebird, marks much of its prey upon the ground, and falls directly upon 
it. By this habit it is fitted for a wider usefulness and a greater abundance. 
Its places of nesting — under old sheds, beneath porches and bridges, under the 
eaves of houses, under slightly projecting ledges, and under overhanging, rocky 
cliffs — are familiar to many. 
How it is imposed upon by the Cowbird has already been told. 
Food: Of thirty-seven specimens examined, nine had eaten twenty-seven 
hymenoptera; four, seven ants; one, a wasp; four, fifteen ichneumon-flies; four, 
four chrysididm; twelve, thirty-five lepidoptera; seven, eighteen caterpillars; 
seven, sixteen moths; one, a butterfly philodicej; fourteen, forty-nine 
beetles; one, a ground beetle; one, a tiger-beetle; one, a lady-bird fCoocinella 
9-notataJ; two, nine leaf-chafers; one, a leaf-beetle fChrysomelaf J; one, two 
squash-beetles fDiahrotica vittataj; one, two Diabrotica duodecim-punctata; 
one, a curculio; seven, twenty-seven diptera; three, three crane-flies; four, 
twenty Mucidm; twelve, seventeen orthoptera, crickets and grasshoppers; one, 
a spider; three, two hundred and fifty-eight insect eggs; three, four small 
dragon-flies; one, a caddis-fly; one, a leaf-hopper fEnchenopaJ; one, a heterop- 
terous insect (one of the Corisioe); and one, dogwood berries. From the stom¬ 
ach of one Pewee were taken ten ichneumon-flies — among them a Lampronota 
varia and four other species — one large moth, having a body 1.25 of an inch 
long, four smaller moths, and one caddis-fly. An ichneumon-fly, which another 
specimen had eaten, belonged to the genus Comi^tus (?). In the stomachs of six 
young birds were found fifteen flies (Miicidoe,J, two hymenopterous insects, two 
grasshoppers, three crickets, one caterpillar and three moths. 
Smilax berries and “bees” (Wilson). Insects in the spring and summer; in 
the winter, berries of various kinds (Samuels). Of five specimens examined, 
two had eated hymenoptera; one^ lepidoptera; four, beetles; two, diptera; 
and one, hemiptera (Forbes). 
131. CoNTOPUS BOREALIS (Sw.), Bd. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 
Group II. Class a. 
Reported to have been quite common at one time near Racine, but later to be 
quite rax’e (Hoy). Not an uncommon migrant in Northeastern Illinois. It is a 
woodland species, and Nuttall found it quarrelsome. I think I observed this 
species at River Falls, June 2, 1882. 
Food: Wasps, bees, and similar insects (Brewer). One specimen examined 
had eaten wasps (Forbes). 
132. CoNTOPUS VIRENS (LiNN.), Cab. WOOD PEWEE. Group I. Class b. 
No Flycatcher is sa abundant in Central Wisconsin as this species; even in 
the deep woods of Clark and Chippewa counties its prolonged whistle proclaims 
its abundance there. With us it is as yet a retiring species, keeping closely 
within the woods and groves, or, at most, venturing upon their borders. At 
Ithaca, N. Y., however, it is becoming much more familiar. There it breeds in 
orchards, about dwellings and in the city. According to Nuttall, it displays at 
times a tyrannical disposition. 8o far as I have observed, it is perfectly peace¬ 
able and allows other birds to pass it unmolested. Nearly all of its food is taken 
upon the wing, and when in the woods it usually selects some small opening 
between the tree-tops for its hunting-grounds. 
Food: Of forty-one specimens examined, eighteen had eaten sixty-six small 
beetles, among them seven metallic-green beetles and several lamellicorns; four- 
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