124 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION. 
are usually ‘ound in clusters, so that the robin is able to make a meal 
very easily. ‘To give some hint of what a voracious feeder the robin is, it 
is only necessary to say that from the stomach of a single robin | took 
168 o: these Bibio larve ; and other observers have recorded a still larger 
number. Considering the abundance of the robin and the fact that this 
could not be more than half a day’s food, it is easily seen how he must 
reduce the numbers of the insect. The robin readily adapts himself to 
varying circumstances, and seems always to choose that food which is 
most abundant and most easily procured. In March, when insecis were 
difficult to obtain, he fed on theasparagus. When the Bibio larvee became 
numerous, he took them in large numbers. When Agonoderus and the 
species of Aphodius became sufficiently abundant to attract his attention, 
they entered largely into his diet, and when the small fruits came he did 
not scruple to take his share—a very indefinite quantity. I should not 
neglect to say that in their season he fed to more or less extent upon wire- 
worms. cut-worms and May beetles. 
A few words to call attention to the variety of insect and other food 
may hui ve out of place. Im the stomichs eximined were found 
caterpillars ofall sorts, from the smooth Geometrids or Span-worms, and 
Noctuids (cut-worms) to the more hairy kinds, such as the walnut cater- 
pillar, Datana angus, and even the common brown caterpillar, /yrrharc- 
tia isabella. Coleoptera of several families were noted, Staphyl:nidx, Derm- 
estide, Curabidx, Scarabeidxe, Lampyridx, Elat:ridz, Otiorhynchidx, Cur- 
culionidx, Nitidulidz, Chrysomelide and Buprestidx. There were iound 
adult and pupal Hymenoptera, adult and larval Diptera, Coleoptera 
and Lepidoptera, adult and nymphal Heteroptera, Homoptera and Or- 
thoptera, adult Neuroptera (Agrione, a small dragon fly), Arachnida 
(species of spiders), Mollu-ca (small snails of several species), Crustacea 
(sow-bugs) and Myriapoda. This large range of animal tood, together 
with the fact that a great majority of the fruits, cultivated and uxcultivat- 
ed, which have a juicy nutritious portion, are included in the dietary of 
the robin, shows how nearly omniverous he is in feeding habits. 
In regard to the place and manner in which he searches for food, I 
have observed that he is a ground feeder. He may most often be seen on 
freshly plowed grounds, lawns, pastures, meadows, and in woodland 
searching for insects in the soil, grass or leaves. His vegetal food is taken 
from the plants on which it grows. But I have never seen the robin 
searching for insect food except upon the ground, and have not found 
any exclusively tree-feeding species of insects in the stomachs which 
I have examined, with the single exception of the larve of the Walnut 
Moth (Datana angusit), and even these were very probably taken by the robin 
while crawling on the ground. The robin does not follow the plow so 
