THE FOOD OF THE ROBIN. 117 
Coleoptera, 53 were found in 19 stomachs. 
Orthoptera, 9 were found in 6 stomachs. 
Spiders, 2 were found in 2 stomachs. 
Myriapods, 1 was found in 1 stomach. 
Earthworms, 2 were found in 2 stomachs. 
Detrimental species, 60 were found in 29 stomachs, 
Beneficial species, 10 were found in 6 stomachs. 
Unknown species, 56 were found in 17 stomachs. 
The conclusions at which this gentleman arrives are very favorable 
for the robin. He says, ‘in its method of obtaining food and in the 
situation from which its food is gleaned, the robin performs a very im- 
portant work, and one for which few other birds are so well adapted. So 
important is this work that the quantity of small fruits whichit consumes : 
is but a stingy compensation for the service which it renders, and I know 
of no bird whose greater abundance is likely to prove of more service to 
the country. Its eminently terrestrial habits, its fondness for larve of 
various kinds, and its ability to obtain those which are hid en beneath 
the turf, give it a usefulness in destroying cutworms in the larval state, 
which no other bird possesses in the same degree, and for this feature of 
its economy alone its greater abundance should be encouraged.” 
The author seems to me to draw his conclusions a little too con- 
fidently, considering that they are based on the examination of only 
thirty-seven stomachs. Moreover, he himself states elsewhere in the same 
paper that we can not conclude that a bird is beneficial or injurious in a 
general sense from the fact that they possess one particular good or bad 
habit, and in this connection he instances the case of the Bobolink, whose 
habits at the South have earaed him the bad name of Rice Bird, while 
with us he is almost wholly insectiverous. -Just as we would err in con- 
cluding that the Bobolink should be destroyed because of its rice-eating 
propensities, so would we err in concluding that a greater abundance of 
the Robin should be encouraged in consequence of his destruction of cut- 
worms. In short, the criticism which I have to offer upon that part of 
Mr. King’s paper which relates to the robin is not on the work done, but 
on the conclusions drawn from that work. I can not believe that such 
far-reaching generalizations are safely based on the examination of so 
small a number of robins. 
It may be of interest to add some general statements as to the robin’s 
food by other authors: 
“Ftgs principal food is berries, worms and caterpillars; berries, those 
of the sour gum and poke berry ” (Wilson) ; “Chiefly insects—especially 
worms—and berries” (Cooper); ‘‘ Worms, insects, berries and fruits” 
(DeKay) ; “ Grubs and caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs of locusts, 
