- COMMON BIRDS OF SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. 
29 
Ants (3.68 per cent) were eaten in May, June, and July. Naturally, these were the 
winged forms, though a few wingless ones may occasionally have been taken. Other 
hymenopterans, as bees and wasps, are taken much more frequently (14.67 per cent). 
True bugs form the largest item of diet of the martin and consist for the most part of 
the larger flying species, as stinkbugs, shield bugs, and leaf-legged bugs, with some 
tree-hoppers. They are found in the food of every month and in all amount to 41.41 
per cent. The great bulk of the bug tribe are noxious insects and include some of the 
worst pests of agriculture. 
1'lies are eaten to the extent of 7.2 per cent, and consist largely of the long-legged 
crane flies, or ‘ ‘ daddy longlegs, ” so called. Lepidopt.erans are represented in the stom¬ 
achs of most birds by their larvae, commonly known as caterpillars; but the martin, 
taking its food on the wing, catches the adult insects, the moths, or butterflies. Most 
of the moths eaten, however, are very small, so that they form only 1.25 per cent 
of the food. Butterflies were found in only one stomach. Grasshoppers and crickets 
(3.58 per cent) are eaten principally in May and June, instead of August, which, with 
most birds, is the usual month for eating grasshoppers. 
A somewhat peculiar article of the martin’s diet is the remains of large dragonflies, 
found in 29 of the 56 stomachs examined. Six stomachs were entirely filled with these 
rather formidable looking creatures. As dragonflies feed upon mosquitoes and other 
small insects, the martin can not be considered as doing man a service by eating them. 
Besides insects a few spiders also were eaten. 
Among the harmful insects destroyed by the martin may be mentioned the clover 
leaf weevil, found in a number of stomachs, one of which contained upward of 40 indi¬ 
viduals. An engraver beetle, a form that does great damage to timber, was found 
in one stomach and the cotton boll weevil in another. Several stomachs contained 
honey bees, but all were males or drones.— f. e. l. b. 
SCISSGR-TAILED FLYCATCHER . 1 
The scissor-tailed flycatcher (fig. 15) is found chiefly from central and eastern Texas 
and Oklahoma to southern Kansas during the months from April to October, and 
casually in western Louisiana, western Arkansas, and southwestern Missouri. It 
occasionally wanders to far-distant sections, and in winter moves farther south and 
with few exceptions retires beyond the southern boundary. Like the kingbird, it 
prefers for nesting sites open country, and it seems to be best suited with prairies or 
rolling land with scattered trees. In settled territory it takes kindly to orchards and 
even gardens in the near vicinity of buildings. While generally a quiet bird living 
on good terms with its neighbors, it displays some of the aggressive spirit of the king¬ 
bird as regards crows and hawks, and whenever they appear near its nest attacks 
them with great vigor. 
The following discussion of this bird’s food is based upon examination of the con¬ 
tents of 128 stomachs rather irregularly distributed over the seven months from April 
to October. All are from Texas except one from Florida, which is considerably 
outside of the bird’s usual range. The stomach contents were divided between 96.12 
per cent animal food, practically all insects and spiders, and 3.88 per cent vegetable, 
chiefly small fruits and seeds. 
Of the animal food, beetles (13.74 per cent) form a rather constant article of diet. 
Less than 1 per cent belong to theoretically useful families. The others are prac¬ 
tically all harmful. The well-known 12-spot.ted cucumber beetle, which is often 
very injurious to the cucumber, as well as to squash vines, corn, clover, beets, beans, 
peas, and asparagus, was found in one stomach. Snout beetles, or weevils, occurred 
in a number of stomachs, and the well-known cotton boll weevil in four. Most of 
the beetles are consumed in May, and the least in June, but as only two stomachs 
were taken in the latter month the record is subject to revision. 
i Muscivoraforficata. 
