30 
FARMERS* BULLETIN 755 . 
Bees, wasps, and ants are eaten to the extent of 12.81 per cent of the yearly food, 
which is the lowest record but one for this item among birds of the flycatcher tribe. 
As a rule this kind of food constitutes one of the most important elements of the fly¬ 
catchers’ diet, as these insects, excepting ants, being almost constantly on the wing 
during daylight, are peculiarly adapted to these birds’ methods of feeding. Those 
eaten by the scissor-tail are 
mostly of the larger kinds, 
i. e., bees and wasps, with 
very few of the smaller para¬ 
sitic species. 
Bugs (10.17 per cent of 
the diet) were found in 47 
stomachs. At least nine 
families were identified, 
but stinkbugs were most 
abundant and were found 
in 22 of the 47 stomachs. 
In two stomachs was iden¬ 
tified that disagreeable 
pest, the squash bug, a 
creature not classified by 
entomologists in the stink- 
bug family, but if disgust¬ 
ing odor were the chief re¬ 
quisite, it is well qualified 
for that honor. Most of 
the other bugs identified 
are harmful. Flies (3.8 per 
cent), found in the stom¬ 
achs taken in April, May, 
and September only, do 
not seem to appeal to this 
flycatcher; in 8 of the 14 
stomachs they were identi¬ 
fied as robber flies. 
Grasshoppers and crick¬ 
ets, evidently a favorite 
diet of the scissor-tail, were 
found in goodly quantity 
in the food of ever}' month 
except April. The aver¬ 
age for the year is 46.07 per 
cent—the highest for any 
B 21 56-5 1 flycatcher. Theonestom- 
Eig. 15.—Scissor-tailed flycatcher. Length, about 14 inches. ac fl taken in October con¬ 
tained these insects to the 
extent of 86 per cent, but it is probable that the month of maximum consumption is 
July, when they attain 65 per cent. As this bird is said seldom to alight upon the 
ground, these insects must be captured during their flights or jumps. In general, 
grasshoppers and crickets are eaten most by ground-feeding birds, as the meadow¬ 
lark, while flycatchers take bees, wasps, etc. With this bird the rule seems reversed. 
Of 128 stomachs, 88 contained grasshoppers or crickets and 8 held no other food. 
Caterpillars, with a few moths, constitute a small but rather regular article of diet 
with the scissor-tail (4.61 per cent for the year), and were found in the stomachs of 
