-ORNITH

| Fuertes
QL Issued September 25, 1912.
698 Seo ORR Nw MENT OF AGRICULTURE.
.B36

ee | FARMERS’ BULLETIN No. 506.

FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS
OF FOREST, FARM, AND GARDEN.

BY

EF. Bo: BEAL ann W. L. McAQEE,
Biological Survey.

 

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1912,
LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA, NEW YORK
FOGRT E>

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U.S. DerarrMent or AGRICULTURE,
Bureau or Brotocican Survey,
Washington, D. C., May 14, L912.

Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith and to recommend for
publication as a Farmers’ Bulletin a report on the food of some
well-known birds of the forest, farm, and garden, by F. E. L. Beal
and W. L. McAtee, assistants in the Biological Survey. These
birds to the number of 20 have been selected because of their
economic importance to the farmers and fruit growers of the re-
spective regions they inhabit. With the exception of three species
of sapsuckers, all the birds treated of are beneficial, and it is for the
best interest of the farmer that he should be able to recognize these
common birds at sight, so that he may protect the beneficial kinds
and, when necessary. destroy the others. To facilitate identification,
a number of illustrations are included.

Respectfully,
Henry W. Wensuaw,
Chief Biological Survey,
Hon. James Wison,
Secretary of Agriculture.
506

oO
CONTENTS.

PTALOA WC tON as. a 5 Ya sled Spseas ue iciius Sidhe s aeOe Bly AUGER EAR Ue cook CaS AG ERAS
Three-toed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus and Picoides americanus)........----
California woodpecker ( Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi) ............-2-+-+++--+
Lewis woodpecker (Asyndesmus lewist)..... 2-222-220-0000 eee eee eee ee
Red-bellied woodpecker (Centurus carolinus).......-.----20-20-00202-0eeeeee
Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius, Sphyrapicus ruber, and Sphyrapicus thyroideus). .
Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris and Calypte anna).........--.-------++---
Arkansas kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) .........22--2022-0 0220222 e eee
Ash-throated flycatcher (Mytarchus cinerascens) .......2...----200--020-20--
Western yellow-bellied flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)..........-..-.--+----
Horned lark (Otocoris alpestris)......-..-- 200-2200. 2 eee eee eee eee eee

Chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina)
Junco or snowbird (Junco hyemalis) .

White-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) ........-.-.2.22000cecc cee eee
Southern butcher bird (Lantus ludovicianus)..........-...2+22++----2+-- eens
Audubon warbler (Dendroica auduboni) ....-...------+2--+20-2 200222 e eee
Ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula)....-..-..-.--2--0--0--0--0222--+5

506
ILLUSTRATION &.

Fic. 1, Arctic three-toed woodpecker ...............2.00000020200 2000 ee eee eee
2: California wood peckétscccigcce saa caices aca aaa dieneeeaiuashees seed
3. Red-bellied wood pecker .ciecse occ. esate og s sisicisisierstemmosgoiie daae sia wales
4. Yellow-bellied sapsucker ...<....2-2ceeeese pewunccedeseyeebateescess
5: Ruby-throated hummingbird» 2.25: 2: 2222segeencseueiseiees eexesies
6: Annis hummingbirds. ss.<¢sesyese0 eSeses ieee Meee ess
7. Arkansas kingbird . 2.0002 se esse segeees.s258e saxeeSdeewdadee sees
8. Ash-throated flycatcher.............2-2.---2-02-2-0--2002202222022025-
9. Western yellow-bellied flycatcher ..........-..-2...--2220----2------

10, Horted! LaRosa sicsciceeic ek ewe ee Eee Ce emer tanuaet ss ee

Ah. (Chip pins SPATOW acoseaiink beet ci25c2cdce da ates Addeneeiiiotarss

12) JUnCo OM snOW DINE: vocccucseoadaes tooo 38S 4 face eee Leona iibenes

13. White-crowned sparrow.....2..2.222222505520504 454s Mead aaweeeacue ss

14. Southern butcher bird ..s..scscaseseeecreesies ce eeu Peuenceeseeney

15: Aeadubon-warbler: casceccecacaccccd Oe aes we po aa EAs

16: Ruby-crowned kinglet...............- eer tee ear EA ea Seah

506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS OF THE FOREST,
FARM, AND GARDEN.

INTRODUCTION.

Besides the more common birds of the farm and garden treated in
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 54 there are others less famiharly known, or
known only over a smaller area of country. Many of these are of
great economic importance in the region they inhabit and are well
worth investigation and study. In the following pages the food of
twenty species is discussed in its relation to economic interests.
The twenty species consist of 8 woodpeckers, 2 hummingbirds, 3 fly-
catchers, 1 horned lark, 3 sparrows, 1 butcher bird, 1 warbler, and 1
kinglet. Nearly 5,000 stomachs of these birds have been examined,
and the general and most important results are embodied in these
pages. Two species, the chipping sparrow and southern butcher bird,
are found over the whole country in the breeding season, but migrate
to more southern lands on the approach of winter. The snowbird,
white-crowned sparrow, and ruby-crowned kinglet, on the con-
trary, make the United States their winter home, but retire farther
north or to high mountain regions in the breeding season. The
horned larks in some of their numerous geographical races occur at
some time of the year in nearly all parts of the country, though
their distribution in winter is very irregular and uncertain. With
the exception of the sapsuckers, all of these species are more bene-
ficial than injurious. As the sapsuckers do much damage, they
should be clearly distinguished from the other woodpeckers, which
are chiefly beneficial.

THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS.

(Picoides arcticus and Picoides americanus.)

The three-toed woodpeckers are residents of the Boreal zones of
North America, in Alaska, Canada, the extreme northeastern United
States, and in the mountains of the Western States, south to north-
ern New Mexico and to central California. The two species, the
Arctic three-toed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) and the American
three-toed woodpecker (Picotdes americanus), including the sub-
species of the latter, are so similar in food habits that they may be

506
5
6 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

treated together. All are residents of coniferous forests, from which
they sometimes wander a short distance in winter.

The great bulk of the food of these birds consists of the larve
of wood-boring beetles or moths. These are eaten with great regu-
larity throughout the year, but somewhat more in the colder months
than in summer. Unfortunately only 28 stomachs of Picotdes are-
ticus (fig. 1) and 23 of P. americanus were available for examina-
tion. In the first analysis the food divides into 88.69 per cent of
animal matter to 11.31 of vegetable for arcticus, and 94.06 per cent
of animal to 5.94
of vegetable for
americanus. » The
largest item for
both species is
wood-boring cole-
opterous larvee.
These amount to
64.25 per cent with
arcticus and 60.66
with americanus.
Caterpillars, which
in this case are
mostly wood-bor-
ing species, amount
to 12.28 and 14.45
per cent for the
two birds, respec-
tively. This brings
the total of wood-
boring larve, in-
cluding both cater-
pillars and beetles,
up to 77.13 per cent
for arcticus and
75.11 per cent for
americanus, or
more than three-fourths of the food of each species. Stomachs con-
taining 15 to 20 of these grubs are common and one held 34. Prob-
ably the stomach is filled several times each day, and it does not seem
unreasonable to assume that a bird will eat 50 of these insects every
24 hours for 6 months and at least 25 daily for the other half of
the year. At this rate one bird will annually destroy 13,675 of these
destructive grubs. Beetles other than wood borers amount to 3.41
per cent for arcticus and 10.39 for americanus. Ants constitute 6.35

per cent of the food of arcticus and 8.29 of that of americanus.
506

 

 

 

 

 

Fic, 1.—Arctie three-toed woodpecker.
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 7

Most of them are taken in spring and summer and none in winter.
A few other insects and spiders amount to less than 1 per cent for
each species and make up the remainder of the animal food.

Vegetable food—The vegetable food of both species may be in-
cluded in four items: Fruit, mast, cambium, and rubbish. Fruit
skins were found in only 1 stomach of americanus and mast in but
1 of arcticus. Cambium, or the inner bark of trees, appeared in 10
stomachs gf arcticus and 8 of americanus. Rubbish, principally
rotten wood, occurred in 9 stomachs.

Summary.—The foregoing discussion of the food of the two species
of Picoides shows that these birds act as “ conservators of the forest ”
in the strongest sense, as three-fourths of their food consists of the
direct enemies of forest trees. It is unfortunate that in most places
three-toed woodpeckers are not very nu-
merous, and for this reason they should be.
protected and encouraged in every way
possible.—F. E. L. B.

CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER.
(Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi.)

The California woodpecker (fig. 2) is
distributed throughout most of the oak-
covered mountain and foothill region of
California, northern Lower California,
and western Oregon. It lives generally
wherever large oaks are abundant, and
from these it gets much of its living. A
peculiar habit has attracted much atten-
tion among nonscientific observers—that
of drilling holes in tree trunks or large
branches, in each of which is placed an
acorn or other nut. Where this bird is
abundant all dead trunks or branches of
any size, and many live ones, are punctured with these holes, fre-
quently less than an inch apart. When trees in the proper condition
are not numerous enough it attacks buildings and drills holes in the
cornices of houses or spires of churches; also it bores into telephone
and telegraph poles and fence posts.

For the laboratory investigation of the food of the California wood-
pecker 84 stomachs were available. The food was found to consist
of 22.59 per cent of animal matter to 77.41 per cent of vegetable.

Animal food.—Beetles constitute the smallest item of the animal
food. They amount to less than 3 per cent and are distributed among
several families, with no preference shown for any one. In July,
the only month in which they are at all prominent, they reach 14.76

506

 

Fic. 2,—California woodpecker.
8 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

per cent. No wood-boring larvee were found. Ants amount to 8.09
per cent of the food. In the one stomach taken in March they con-
stitute 50 per cent of the contents, but in no other are they an impor-
tant element. Other Hymenoptera amount, to 7.34 per cent, and
more than half of these were contained in stomachs taken in August,
in which month they aggregate 37.33 per cent. A few black olive
scales and other bugs, some flies, and grasshoppers make - the re-
mainder of the animal food—4.49 per cent.

Vegetable food.—Grain, fruit, and mast are the three tems that
compose the vegetable aad, One stomach taken in January con-
tained nothing but corn, and another collected in December con-
tained nothing but a few corn hulls. This is the whole grain record
and is of no economic interest. The average for the year is but little
more than 1 per cent. Fruit amounts to a little less than 23 per
cent. Most of it was the pulp of the larger cultivated varieties. The
largest amounts were eaten in August and September, when they
reached 59.84 and 54 per cent, respectively. Seeds of elderberries
(Sambucus) were found in two stomachs and was the only fruit
positively identified.

The principal item of food of the California woodpecker is
acorns. This amounts to 53.30 per cent of the yearly diet and was
found in 58 stomachs, or 69 per cent of the whole, and 28 contained
nothing else. It is eaten in every month and attains its maximum
of 98.58 per cent in November and its minimum of 29.47 in July.
The question has been raised as to whether the bird stores the acorn
for the sake of its meat or for the grub which may frequently
develop therein. The examination of the stomachs removes all
doubt, for while acorns are eaten frequently, larve are almost
entirely wanting. Where almonds are largely cultivated and this
bird is abundant it exhibits a strong liking for this nut and stores
it instead of acorns in its holes. In some cases it has been found
necessary to shoot the birds whenever they entered the orchard in
order to save the crop.

Summary.—The foregoing shows that the food of the California
woodpecker is not of much economic importance. It does not prey
extensively upon the products of industry, except occasionally upon
almonds, and its insect diet contains practically no useful species.
Its worst sin is its propensity to puncture the cornices and casings
of buildings and telegraph and telephone poles in order to store its
nuts for winter use. This is a serious injury and will justify the
destruction of the bird if no other remedy can be devised.—F. E. L. B.

LEWIS WOODPECKER.
(Asyndesmus Terwisi.)

The Lewis woodpecker is irregularly distributed over that part of
the United States west of the western edge of the Great Plains, north
506 :
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 9

to southwestern Canada and south to northern Mexico. Itis by nature
somewhat shy, not greatly addicted to visiting orchards or other
cultivated areas.

In Oregon and Washington complaints have been made that the
bird does damage to apples. Only twice was the writer able to find
cases of serious injury. An orchard situated close to a river on the
far side of which was a large area of wild land was so persistently
visited by Lewis woodpeckers when early apples were ripening that
the pickers had to shoot the birds in order to save the crop. One
evening a number of boxes, filled ready for market, were left in the
erchard. In the morning it was found that the woodpeckers had
pwled out the wrapping paper from the cracks of several of the
boxes and pecked the fruit so that it was necessary to open and
repack them.

For the investigation of this bird’s food 59 stomachs were avail-
able. They are so irregularly distributed over the year as to make
a satisfactory study of the food impossible. Animal matter amounts
to 87.48 per cent and vegetable to 62.52 per cent.

Animal food.—Predaceous beetles were eaten to the extent of 6.72
per cent, and, as is usually the case, appear to have been taken
mostly in the spring and early summer. Other beetles amounted to
2.40 per cent and were all eaten in the five months from June to
October. Among them were several blister beetles (Meloide).
There is nothing in the stomachs to indicate that this bird ever digs
into wood, decayed or otherwise, in search of beetle larve.

Ants were eaten most in summer and in April. June appears to
be the month of maximum consumption, while May shows none.
The average for the year is 11.87 per cent. Other Hymenoptera
reach 11.57 per cent. Hemiptera, or bugs, seem to be taken very
sparingly, and those chosen were of the larger species. They amount
to 1.36 per cent. Grasshoppers are eaten—not many in August, more
in July, and most in September, with a trace in October. The aver=
age for the year is 3.20 per cent. No caterpillars or Lepidoptera
of any form were found in this bird’s stomach. A few spiders
amount to less than 1 per cent.

Vegetable food._-Corn was found in one stomach taken in August
and constituted 62 per cent of its contents, but amounted to only
0.46 per cent of the food of the year. No other grain was found.
Pulp and skins of fruit, probably cultivated, were noted in March,
the three summer months, and October. The aggregate for the year
was 10.90 per cent. Wild fruit was identified in 26 stomachs, all
taken in July, August, and September. In the former it amounted
to over 63 per cent of the food and the average for the year was
14.65 per cent. Six genera (Amelanchier, Ilex, Crategus, Cornus,
Prunus, and Sambucus) were identified. Mast (acorns) was the

50679°—Bull. 506—12——2
10 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

largest item of food. It was found in 20 stomachs and constitutes
34.46 per cent of the diet. One stomach taken in December con-
tained 75 per cent of this food. Seeds of poison oak (Rhus diversi-
loba) and a weed (Amaranthus) made up 2.05 per cent, the remain-
der of the vegetable food.

Summary.—The anima] food of this birdshas no special significance
either way. It does not damage grain, but has a pronounced taste
for fruit, which at present is gratified mostly by wild species, but
if these are ever replaced by cultivated species in the bird’s range
it will probably turn its attention to the domestic varieties—
Fr, E. L. B.

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

(Conturus carolinus.)

The red-bellied woodpecker (fig. 3) ranges over the eastern United
States as far west as central Texas and eastern Colorado and as far

 

Fic, 3.—Red-bellied woodpecker.

north as New York, southern Ontario, Michigan, and southern
Minnesota. It breeds throughout this range and appears to be
irregularly migratory. It appears to go north of its breeding range
sometimes to spend the winter. Four stomachs, collected in Novem-
ber and December, were received from Canada, and in eight years’
residence in central Towa the writer found the species abundant
every winter, but never saw one in the breeding season. It is rather
more of a forest bird than some of the other woodpeckers, but is
frequently seen in open or thinly timbered country. In the northern
part of its range it appears to prefer deciduous growth, but in the
South is very common in pine forests.
506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 11

In Florida the bird has been observed to eat oranges to an injuri-
ous extent. It attacks the overripe fruit and pecks holes in it and
sometimes completely devours it. The fruit selected is that which
is dead ripe or partly decayed, so it is not often that the damage 1s
serious. The bird also sometimes attacks the trunks of the orange
trees as well as others and does some harm.

For the investigation of the food of the red-bellied woodpecker
271 stomachs were available. In the first analysis the food was
found to consist of 30.94 per cent of animal matter to 69.06 of vege-
table. The former consists of insects and spiders, with a few tree
frogs and lizards, while the latter may be considered as made up of
grain, fruit, and mast.

Animal food.—Predatory beetles amount to 0.86 per cent and con-
sist of some of the larger genera. Other beetles, all more or less
harmful, aggregate 9.32 per cent of the food. Six species of weevils
or snout beetles were identified and 14 individuals were taken from
one stomach. There were also a number of wood-boring larvae,
which must have been dug out of the wood, thus benefiting the
forest. Beetles form a pretty steady article of diet, and, starting
with 3.62 per cent in January, they increase with fair regularity to
May, when they attain the maximum of 27.57 per cent, from which
they slowly decrease to 1 per cent in December.

Ants are eaten to the extent of 6.45 per cent of the food and are a
fairly constant article of diet. The most are taken during the warmer
months. Evidently this bird does not dig all the ants which it eats
from decaying wood, like the downy woodpecker, but, like the
flickers, collects them from the ground and the bark of trees. Other
Hymenoptera amount to 1.45 per cent. Orthoptera (grasshoppers,
crickets, cockroaches, etc.) constitute 5.89 per cent of the food. They
were found in 51 stomachs, grasshoppers in 27, eggs of cockroaches
in 15, crickets in 8, and a mantis (devil’s rearhorse) in 1. Two
stomachs contained the eggs of grasshoppers. Cockroaches were
represented entirely by their egg cases (odtheca). Hemiptera, or
bugs, amount to 1.86 per cent of the food and form a small but fairly
regular constituent of the monthly diet. Scales were found in one
stomach, but most of the bugs eaten were of larger species and the
majority were Pentatomide, or stink bugs. Caterpillars were taken
with considerable regularity and averaged 2.88 per cent of the diet.
A few of them were identified as wood borers. Spiders and millipeds,
with a few doubtful insects and small vertebrates, made up 2.29 per
cent, the remainder of the animal food. Spiders are eaten at all
times, but in trifling quantities. Small tree frogs were found in 9
stomachs and remains of lizards in 2.

Vegetable food.—Corn was the only grain found. It was contained
in 39 stomachs and rather irregularly distributed through the year.

506 :
12 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

The great bulk was eaten in the three winter months and in March
and September. The total for the year is 8.99 per cent. Fruit
amounts to.27.28 per cent and forms a notable percentage of the
food in every month. The month of greatest consumption is August,
with 64.10 per cent, while April shows the least, 7.50 per cent. The
larger part of this consists of wild fruit, of which 28 species were
identified. What was thought to be apple pulp was found in one
stomach, cultivated grape in one, and blackberry or raspberry in one.
No great preference was shown for any one species of wild berry, but
mulberries, woodbine, fox grapes, and sour gum were most commonly
found.

Mast amounts to 30.70 per cent and is the largest item of food.
Acorns, beechnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans make up most of this item.
It was found in 178 stomachs and is eaten throughout the year, except
in the three summer months. The greatest consumption appears to
be in November, when it reaches 67.05 per cent of the month’s food,
and it does not fall much below this figure until spring. This record
of mast eating is the largest of any bird of the family, except the
California woodpecker. Poison ivy seeds amount to 2.15 per cent
and are eaten in every month from August to February, inclusive.

Summary.—Only one element in the food of the red-bellied wood-
pecker has much economic significance. The bird shows a decided
taste for fruit and may do injury, as it has in the Florida orange
groves. The contents of the stomachs, however, show that wild
fruits are preferred, and probably only when these have been re-
placed by cultivated varieties is any mischief done.—F. E. L. B.

SAPSUCKERS.
(Sphyrapicus.)

Of the 23 species of woodpeckers of the United States three only
are properly classed as sapsuckers. These birds have short, brushy
tongues not adapted to the capture of insects, while the other wood-
peckers have tongues with barbed tips which can be extended to
spear luckless borers or other insects whose burrows in the wood
have been reached by their powerful beaks. The sapsuckers prac-
tically do not feed on wood borers or other forest enemies. Their
chief insect food is ants. About 15 per cent of their diet consists of
cambium and the inner bark of trees, and they drink a great deal
of sap.

The parts of the tree injured by sapsuckers are those that carry
the rich sap which nourishes the growing wood and bark. It is evi-
dent, therefore, that the bird’s attack on trees may have serious
results. When a small proportion of the bark and cambium are re-
moved, the vitality of the tree may only be lowered, or branches

506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 13

here and there may be killed. When the injury is more extensive,
as it often is, the tree may be completely girdled, and of course dies.
Holes made by sapsuckers go clear through the bark and often into
the wood. Generally they are made in rings, or partial rings, around
the trunk or limbs, but they often fall into vertical series, and they
may be either vertically or horizontally connected. This type of
woodpecker work is familiar to everyone who has been much in
orchards and woods.

Sapsucker pecking disfigures ornamental trees, giving rise to pitch
streams, gummy excrescences, and deformities of the trunks. Small
fruit trees, especially apple, are often killed, and whole young or-
chards have been destroyed by these birds. Sapsuckers are known to
attack no fewer than 258 kinds of trees, shrubs, and vines in the
United States, 63 of which are often seriously injured and 32 have
been killed,

However, the killing of trees outright is by no means the greatest
damage done by sapsuckers. Indeed, in the aggregate these birds
inflict much greater financial loss by producing defects in the wood
of the far larger number of trees which they work upon but do not
kill. Blemishes reducing the value appear in the lumber from such
trees and in the various articles into which it is manufactured. These
defects consist of distortion of the grain, formation of knotty growths
and cavities in the wood, extensive staining, fat streaks, resin de-
posits, and other blemishes. All of these result from injuries to the
cambium, their variety being due to differences in the healing.

Hickory trees are favorites of the sapsucker and defects in the
wood, though severe, may be used to illustrate the general character
of this form of damage and also the resulting loss. Blemishes in
hickory due to sapsucker work consist of open black checks, varying
in size up to two by four inches, sometimes walled with rotten wood
or partly filled with spongy growth, and frequently connected with
gnarly fissures, up to two inches in length, which usually extend to-
ward the bark. These are surrounded by brown or black stains,
called iron streaks, which penetrate more or less wood adjoining the
wound and follow the grain sometimes for many feet, making condi-
tions favorable for checking and rendering the wood harder to work.
The abundance and extensiveness of stains and gnarly growth in
hickory spoil the wood for many of its most important uses. A
large proportion of hickory trees are attacked by sapsuckers, and it
is estimated that about 10 per cent of the merchantable material is
left in the woods on account of bird pecks. On this basis the an-
nual loss on hickory is about $600,000. To this must be added the
loss on timber graded out by the manufacturer and that suffered by
the manufacturer himself because of culling out a certain proportion

506
14 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

of the finished product on account of the appearance of bird pecks
unnoticed before.

It has been found that sapsucker work unfits for use such impor-
tant ornamental woods as mahogany, black walnut, white oak, yellow
poplar, chestnut, cherry, sweet gum, and hard maple; that it seriously
blemishes woods prized for particular qualities, such as ash, bass-
wood, cypress, red cedar, holly, buckeye, dogwood, and _ hickory;
and that it sometimes destroys the value of wood even for heavy
construction, as southern bassweod, Engelmann spruce, and western
hemlock. Defects due to sapsucker work have been found: in the
wood of 174 species of trees. In 90 of these they at times become so

 

Fic. 4.—Yellow-bellied sapsucker.

serious as to spoil the appearance or workability of the wood, and in
22 species they render the wood useless, except for coarse construc-
tion or for fuel.

It is evident that sapsuckers do not deserve protection. One of
the three species—Williamson’s sapsucker—on account of its prefer-
ence for mountainous regions, takes little or no part in the damage
above detailed. The other two species, bird for bird, are probably
equally injurious. The red-breasted supsucker lives west of the
Rocky Mountains and is the only woodpecker of that region that
has the whole head and throat red. The yellow-bellied sapsucker
(fig. 4) of transcontinental range is the only woodpecker having the

506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 15

front of the head (i. e., from bill to crown) red in combination with
a black patch on the breast. From 4 to 11 species of woodpeckers
other than sapsuckers occur in various sections of the United States.
A majority of woodpeckers seen are not sapsuckers and great care
should be taken to distinguish them.

The method of destroying sapsuckers that threatens least. danger to
other birds is poisoning. Mix thoroughly an eighth of an ounce of
powdered strychnine (the alkaloid) with one pint of honey or other
thick sirup. Apply to the injured tree just above rows of fresh
punctures. Poison may. be administered also by putting small
pinches of the powdered strychnine directly into the freshest sap
pits—W. L. M.

 

HUMMINGBIRDS.

Hummingbirds are popularly supposed to live upon the nectar of
flowers, and unquestionably this substance forms an important part
of their food. Close observation has shown, however, that these little
birds do not visit flowers wholly for the purpose of gathering honey,
nor do they obtain all their food from flowers. The writer has
observed them hovering in front of a cobweb, picking off insects and
perhaps spiders entangled in the net. They have also been observed
to capture their food on the wing, like flycatchers. Stomach exami-
nation shows that a considerable part of their food consists of in-
sects and spiders, with sometimes a very little vegetable matter.

Only one species of hummingbird inhabits the eastern part of the
United States. This is the ruby-throat (Archilochus colubris) (fig.
5), which is more or less common almost everywhere in that region.
The writer has seen 100 of these tiny creatures hovering about the
flowers of a buckeye tree, and this number was maintained all day
and for many days, though the individuals were going and coming
all the time.

Tn order to obtain definite knowledge as to the food of humming-
birds in general, and the ruby-throat in particular, 59 stomachs of
this species were examined. Although the humming birds are the
smallest of the avian race, their stomachs are much smaller in propor-
tion to their bodies than those of other birds, while their livers are
much larger. This would indicate these birds live to a considerable
extent upon concentrated sweets, as stated above, and that the insects,
spiders, etc., found in the stomachs do not represent by any means
all their food. The quantities of food found in these tiny stomachs
are so minute and the insects comprising them are so small that iden-
tification is very difficult and uncertain, but it is believed that the
following statements do not contain any serious errors.

The animal food formed 94.32 per cent of the whole, and what was
taken for vegetable matter made up the remainder, 5.68 per cent.

506
16 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

Animal food.—The principal item of insect food was small Hymen-
optera, of which a large proportion are probably parasitic species.
They amount to 36.32 per cent of the food, and next to spiders are
the largest constituents of the animal diet. Hemiptera stand next
to Hymenoptera
among the insects
eaten and amount
to 8.88 per cent of
the food. Many of
these appear to be
minute leaf hoppers
(Jasside) or mem-
bers of some closely
allied family. Dip-
tera (gnats) were
found.in only a few
stomachs. They
amount to only 2.57
per cent of the
food. The largest
component of the
ruby-throat’s food,
however, is spiders,
which amount to
43.46 per cent of the
stomach contents.

Vegetable food.—
Four stomachs held
what was thought
to be fruit pulp,
one contained plant
hairs felted into a
solid mass, one held
what appeared to
i .

Alt be pieces of a seed,

and one contained a

Fic, 5.—Ruby-throated hummingbird. few bits of rubbish.

Altogether, vegetable food amounts to 5.68 per cent of the whole,
and it is doubtful if any of it is taken intentionally.

As a representative of the western members of this family, the
Anna hummer (Calypte anna) (fig. 6) has been selected. Of this
species 111 stomachs were examined, and in some respects the food
was found to differ noticeably from that of the ruby-throat. The
largest item of animal food is Diptera (gnats or small flies), which

506

“%
Ce

 

 

 
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 17

amount to 45.23 per cent and replaces the spiders so characteristic of
the ruby-throat’s diet. Hymenoptera, on the other hand, are nearly
the same (35.03 per cent) as in the other species. Hemiptera (bugs)
amount to 17.80 per cent, or nearly double what the ruby-throat had
eaten. The Anna hummer had eaten spiders to the extent of only
2 per cent. A few
bits of beetles were
found in both spe-
cies; also ai few
fragments of what
was supposed to be
the skin of a cater-
pillar. Only a trace
of vegetable matter,
presumed to be fruit
pulp, was found in
the stomachs of the
Anna.

Summary. — The
food of these two
representatives of
the hummingbird
family, it appears,
possesses but little
economic interest,
and that little is
mostly in the wrong
direction. The Hy-
menoptera eaten are
probably largely
parasitic species and
so to be reckoned
as useful, while the
Diptera and spiders
may be considered
as neutral, although
it is possible that
some of the former
may be of the gall-
gnat family and so be harmful. The Hemiptera eaten are probably
mostly of injurious species. On the other hand, hummingbirds do
no harm to any product of husbandry and, as they are beautiful and
interesting creatures, their preservation may well be urged on purely
sentimental grounds.—F. E. L. B.

50679°—Bull. 506—12——3

 

 

 

P| |
th

Fie. 6.—Anna hummingbird.
18 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

ARKANSAS KINGBIRD.

(Tyrannus verticalis.)

The Arkansas kingbird (fig. 7) occupies during the breeding season
the western portion of the United States from the Pacific Ocean
eastward as far as Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas, though stragglers

have been taken at points eh farther east.

 

  

xl
2

wk

‘

 

Fic, 7.—Arkansas kingbird.

 

  

It extend northward

into southern Brit-
ish America, where
it breeds, but in
winter it retires
southward entirely
beyond the bound- °
aries of the United
States. It isa bird
of the open country
and avoids forests.
A hilly country
with frequent trees
for nesting sites
appears to be the
most satisfactory
location. It is said
that it takes kindly
to civilization and
will live in the
vicinity of gardens
and buildings and
in some cases will
place its nest upon
the structures of
man, but in general
it is at present
far less domestic
than its eastern
relative.

For the investi-
gation of the food
of the Arkansas
kingbird 109 stom-
achs were available.

The food was found to consist of 90.61 per cent of animal matter

to 9.39 per cent of vegetable.

Animal food.—Beetles of all kinds amount to 17.02 per cent of the
food and include 5.47 per cent of useful species, mostly Carabidee

506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 19

(ground beetles) and Cicindelide (tiger beetles). The remainder,
11.55 per cent, are all either harmful or neutral. Hymenoptera (bees
and wasps) are the largest item of animal food and amount to 31.38
per cent. They form a good percentage of the food in every month
except August, when they are partially replaced by grasshoppers.
Honey bees (.1pis mellifera) were found in 5 stomachs. In all there
were 31 bees, of which 29 were males, or drones, and 2 were workers.
This bird has been accused of eating honey bees to an injurious extent,
but this seems hardly borne out by stomach examination. Hemiptera
(bugs) amount to 5.36 per cent of the food. They belong to the
families of stink bugs, leaf bugs, cicadas, and shield bugs. Diptera
(flies) constitute 0.55 per cent of the diet. Evidently this flycatcher
does not catch many flies. Lepidoptera, in the shape of adult moths
and caterpillars, amount to 7.31 per cent and, when eaten at all, form
a good percentage of the food, but they are entirely absent from the
diet of several months.

Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) stand next to Hymenoptera
in the diet of the Arkansas kingbird, and form 27.76 per cent of the
year’s food. August is naturally the month of greatest consumption,
when they amount to 61.58 per cent of the diet. It is a curious fact
that several western species of flycatchers—birds that feed mostly on
the wing—eat more grasshoppers than do those ground feeders, the
meadow lark, and blackbirds. The orthopterous food consists mostly
of grasshoppers, with very few crickets. Dragonflies and a few
other insects, millipeds, and spiders, the bones of tree frogs in 3
stomachs, and eggshells, apparently of domestic fowl, make up the
remainder of the animal food, 1.23 per cent.

Vegetable food.— Vegetable food amounts to 9.39 per cent, but pre-
sents very little veriety. Only 4 fruits and a few seeds were found.
Seeds and skins of elderberries (Sambucus) were found in 11 stom-
achs, woodbine (Psedera) in 2, hawthorn (Crategus) in 1, and an
olive in 1, with skins and pulp not further identified in 2.

Summary.—The vegetable food of the Arkansas kingbird is of
slight economic interest. Its only animal food that is open to criti-
cism is the useful beetles, but these are more than counterbalanced by
the harmful insects eaten.—F. E. L. B.

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER.
(Myiarchus cinerascens.)

The ash-throated flycatcher (fig. 8) occupies the western part of
the United States from the Pacific Ocean as far east as Texas and
Colorado and as far north as Washington. Like the kingbirds, it
is a bird of the open parklike country and is particularly partial
to the vicinity of abandoned ranches, in whose buildings it is pleased

306
20 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

to build its nest, while it forages in the orchard and about the
deserted garden and cattle yards. Normally it makes its nest in
natural cavities in trees and in the abandoned holes of woodpeckers.
In the determination of this bird’s food only 90 stomachs were
available, all taken in the months from April to December, in-
=y clusive. So few

SS : SS stomachs, spread
over so long a
time, can but give
general ideas as
to the food, and
conclusions drawn
therefrom must be .
considered as only
tentative. The
stomach contents
were found to con-
sist of 92.32 per
cent of animal
matter to 7.68 per
cent of vegetable.
Animal food.—
Among the fly-
catchers the ash-
throat is one of
the lesser eaters of
beetles. Beetles
aggregate only
7.26 per cent, and,
of these, 2.15 per
\ cent can be consid-
AAS ered as of useful

 

‘N
SASS ee species. These last
2 SSNS ZS Ses consist of preda-
- SS ceous ground bee-
tles (Carabide)
found in 3 stom-
achs, and a lady-
bird (Coccinel-
lide) found in 1 stomach. Other beetles, belonging to 7 different
families, were found in 60 stomachs, or two-thirds of the whole num-
ber. Hymenoptera amount to 26.94 per cent and are the largest
item of animal food. Wild bees and wasps make up the bulk of this
item, with a few of the parasitic species. No honey bees were found.
506

 

Fic. 8.—Ash-throated flycatcher.
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 21

Hemiptera (bugs) amount to 20.11 per cent. Among them were
many of those queer beechnut-shaped little bugs called tree hoppers
(Membracide). Stink bugs (Pentatomide) were found in 13 stom-
achs, cicadas in 18, jumping plant lice (Psyllidz) in 7, shield bugs
(Scutellerida) in 1, leaf hoppers (Jasside) in 7, anne bugs
(Reduviide) in 1, and negro bugs (Corimelrenide) in 1.

Diptera (flies) amount to 12.83 per cent of the food. Those iden-
tified belong to the house-fly family (Muscide), the Syrphide,
and the robber flies (Asilide). Altogether Diptera were found in
24 stomachs. Lepidoptera (moths and their larvae) amount to 17.11
per cent of the seasonal diet and were found in 29 stomachs. Of
these, 22 contained caterpillars and 7 held moths. Orthoptera (grass-
hoppers and crickets) were eaten in the first four months—i. e., from
April to July—and a few in December. The total is only 5.14 per
cent. Raphidians, dragonflies, and spiders together make 2.93 per
cent, the balance of the animal food. Dragonflies were found in 6
stomachs and spiders in 17.

Vegetable food.—The vegetable food of the ashy-throat can all be
summed up in two words—fruit and’ seeds. Elderberries (Sam-
bucus) were found in 5 stomachs, Cissus in 1, black nightshade
(Solanum) in 1, fruit not identified in 2, and seeds unknown in 3.

Summary. —In foraging for its aateaal food the ashy-throat de-
stroys a great many harms insects and a few useful ones, so that
the bulanes is decidedly in favor of the bird as a useful economic
factor, The vegetable food has no economic interest.—F’. E. L. B.

WESTERN YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.
(Empidonar difficilis.)

The western yellow-bellied flycatcher (fig. 9) occupies the western
part of the United States from the Pacific coast eastward as far as
the eastern foothills of the Rockies and as far north as Alaska. It
is found in its summer range about 8 months of the year and during
winter. in Mexico. While somewhat fond of the darker shades of the
forest, it takes kindly to the open when other conditions suit, and
since the advent of civilization and the planting of orchards it finds
these places quite to its mind as foraging grounds. The nest is
usually under cover, but that appears to be the only condition. A
hollow tree, a bracket under the porch of a house, a beam under a
bridge, a crevice among the roots of an overturned tree, or under the
overhanging turf of the bank of a stream are probably fair samples
of locations.

For the study of this bird’s food 150 stomachs were available.
They were taken in every month from March to October and are very
fairly distributed in time, but not so well in space, as most of them

506
22 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

were taken in California. The food was found to consist of 99.31
per cent animal matter to 0.69 per cent of vegetable.

Animal food.—Useful beetles amounted to 2.45 per cent of the food
and consisted of predaceous ground beetles (Carabide) found in
8 stomachs, and ladybirds (Coccinellide) in 24. This would seem
to indicate that
this bird has a de-
cided taste for coc-
cinellids, though
the percentage was
not large. Other
beetles amounted
to 5.94 per cent,
and were eaten
quite regularly
through the sea-
son. The weevil
genus Balaninus,
or the nut destroy-
ers, was found in 8
stomachs, and sev-

" eral other harmful

“uj | species were iden-
YP tified. Hymenop-
tera amounted to
38.76 per cent and
were found in 121
stomachs, of which
7 contained no
other food. They
were mostly wasps
and bees, though
ants were found in
19 stomachs and
entirely filled one
of them. But few
parasitic species
were found.

Hemiptera were
found in 53 stomachs, of which 2 contained nothing else. They
amounted to 8.44 per cent of the food and consisted of stink bugs,
tree hoppers, and leaf hoppers. The 2 stomachs that contained
Hemiptera alone were entirely filled with stink bugs. Diptera
were the second largest item of food and were eaten in everv

month and more regularly than any other. They were found in 67
506

of

my)

wy
‘i

 

 

 

Vic, 9.—Western yellow-bellied flycatcher.
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 23

stomachs and in 5 there was nothing else. They aggregated: 31.27
per cent of the food. Lepidoptera amounted to 6.59 per cent of
the diet. They consisted of moths found in 8 stomachs and cater-
pillars found in 31. It is worthy of note that larve of the codling
moth (Carpocapsa pomonelia) were found in 3 stomachs and were
probably contained in a number of others, but not recognizable.
It is not impossible that some of the adult moths were of this species
also, but too badly crushed for identification. Orthoptera were
found in 2 stomachs and amounted to 0.62 per cent of the food.
Raphidia and a few unidentified insects made up 0.71 per cent.
Spiders were contained in 20 stomachs and amounted to 4.48 per
cent, the remainder of the animal food.

Vegetable food.—Vegetable matter was found in 19 stomachs. In
1 were a few seeds of Rubus (blackberry or raspberry), in 9 were
seeds of Sambucus (elderberry), and in 2, skins of fruit not further
identified ; in 1, a seed of tar weed (Jfadia), and in 7, rubbish.

Summary.—In the foregoing discussion of the food of the western
yellow-bellied fly-catcher it is evident that its good qualities far out-
weigh the bad—if indeed it can be said to have any bad ones. It
eats predaceous beetles, but the percentage is so small that no great
harm can be done. The other insects are mostly those that we are
glad to lose. On the other hand, the bird is too small to injure fruit
or grain, and it is of a confiding and domestic nature, inclined to
live about the abodes of man, where it can do the most good.—
F, E. L. B.

HORNED LARK.

(Otocoris alpestris.)

Horned larks (fig. 10) are small but hardy birds which frequent
the open country and never live in forests. They range over prac-
tically the whole United States and are easily recognized by the con-
spicuous black mark across the breast and the small pointed tufts of
dark-colored feathers behind the eyes. These are often erected and
cause the appearance referred to in the common name. These birds
nest early, often before all the snow has disappeared, and they have a
joyous flight song in the mating season.

The food of horned larks, exclusive of those of southern Cali-
fornia, consists of 20.6 per cent of animal and 79.4 per cent of
vegetable matter. Not quite a sixth of the vegetable food is grain,
mostly waste, though some sprouting grain is pulled. This is the
most serious charge against the birds and is sustained, but it must
be admitted that practically all the complaints were made years ago,
when broadcast sowing was the rule. Recent correspondence shows
that drilled grain is practically safe from injury.

506
24

FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

Weed seeds are by far the largest single component (63.9 per cent)
of the food of horned larks, and over 10 per cent of the 1,154 birds
examined had eaten them, no fewer than 206 individuals having fed
on them exclusively. Conspicuous among the weed seeds eaten are
those of the foxtail grasses, smartweeds, bindweeds, amaranth, pig-

 

 

 

           

 

———_——

Fic, 10.—IYlorned lark.

weeds, purslane,
ragweed, and crab
and barn grasses.
Horned larks are
among the most
efficient weed-de-
stroying birds.

The insect food
of these birds in-
cludes such pests
as May beetles and
their lJarve, the
white grubs, leaf
beetles injurious to
strawberries, cab-
bage, melons, and
sugar beets, clover-
leaf and clover-
root weevils, po-
tato-stalk borers,
nut weevils, bill
bugs, and the
chinch bug.
Grasshoppers are
a favorite food;
cutworms are eaten
freely.

The proportion
of animal matter
in the diet of the
nestlings is about
four times as large
as in the adults.
In the nestling

state, therefore, horned larks are almost entirely beneficial and the,
number of insect pests they consume is very great.

The horned larks of California differ markedly in food habits
from those of other parts of the country, being almost entirely vege-
tarian and, although the number examined constitutes a little more

506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 25

than a fifth of the total, they consume half of all the grain eaten by ,
the whole group. From this it might appear that the California
birds are decidedly injurious, but it must not be forgotten that oats,
which make up the bulk of their grain food, grow wild throughout
the State, and it
is probable that
a great part of
the oats consumed
comes from the
wild plants, the de-
struction of whose
seed is a benefit.—
W.L. M.

CHIPPING SPAR-
ROW.

(Spizella passerina.)

The chipping
sparrow (fig. 11)
occupies __ practi-
cally the whole of
the United States
and part of Can-
ada during the
breeding season.
It winters in the
Southern States
and southward.
This bird has en-
deared itself to
the people of the
country by its gen-
tle and confiding
manners, and by
the fact that it
does no mischief.
Orchards, shade
trees about houses, and open groves are its favorite haunts, and in
such places it builds its nest. The bird usually lines its nest with
coarse hair, a habit that has earned for it the rather common name,
“hair bird.”

For the investigation of the food of this bird some 300 stomachs
were available. They were collected from all parts of the United

506

 

 

 

Fic. 11.—Chipping sparrow.
26 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

States and probably give a fair idea of the annual food of the
“chippy.” In the first analysis the food divides into 38 per cent of
animal to 62 per cent of vegetable matter. Specimens from the
west coast give a higher percentage of animal matter. From Cali-
fornia 96 stomachs gave 45 per cent of animal food to 55 per cent
of vegetable. In June the animal food rises as high as 93 per cent
of the whole.

Beetles amount to 11 per cent of the food and consist of various
families. In one stomach were found the remains of 30 snout beetles
or weevils. Hymenoptera aggregate 11.8 per cent and in June at-
tain to 67.5 per cent. They are represented mostly by ants, with a
few wasps. Hemiptera (bugs) are eaten to an average extent of
7.5 per cent. They consist of stink bugs, leafhoppers, plant lice,
and scales. Of the latter the black olive scale (Saissetia olew) was
noted. Diptera (flies) do not seem to be a favorite food with the
chipping sparrow. The aggregate per month is only 3 per cent.
Caterpillars are evidently the favorite animal food, as they were
eaten to an average extent of 14.2 per cent, or more than any other
insect. They are eaten in every month and in May attain to 43.25
per cent of the food. Two stomachs contained pupe of the codling
moth. Grasshoppers appear in one stomach and, with a few spiders
end some bits of eggshells, make up the remainder of the animal
food.

Vegetable food.—Grain in the shape of oats constitutes about 4
per cent of the food of the eastern “chippies,” but only 1 per cent
for the western ones. In either, the amount is insignificant and is
probably all waste grain. A mere trace of fruit was found in one
stomach taken in June. Weed seed is eaten in every month of the
year and amounts to 53 per cent of the year’s food. In September it
rises to 98 per cent, is but a little less in August, and practically
keeps up to that mark till insects appear in the spring.

Summary.—This brief review of the food of the chipping sparrow
emphasizes and confirms what almost everybody knew before—that
the food habits are all good; that the bird does not attack any pro-
duct of husbandry and does destroy many harmful insects. The
bird is well worthy of the welcome and protection which it every-
where receives.—I’. E. L. B.

JUNCO OR SNOWBIRD.

(Junco hycmatis,)

The junco or snowbird (fig. 12) is known as a breeding bird in the
United States only near the northern border and elsewhere in the
mountains. In fall it migrates southward and spreads over the whole
country, where it remains during the winter, so that in most places
it is known as a winter species. In the investigation of its food more

506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 27

than 500 stomachs were examined. The food consists of 23 per cent
of animal matter to 77 per cent of vegetable. This is the average
diet for the year, but stomachs taken in the summer show a higher
percentage of animal matter. Thus 65 stomachs collected in North
Carolina and Cali-
fornia in the three
summer months
show 49 per cent
of animal matter.

Animal food.—
Beetles amount to
6 per cent, and
with the exception
of two ladybirds
(Coccinellide) not
a useful species was
identified among
them. Weevils
make up the bulk
of the item, and a
species of scolytid
or engraver beetle
(Phleosinus punc-
tatus) was found
in one stomach.
Hymenoptera are
represented mostly
by ants, with a few
wasps, amounting
in all to a little
more than 2 per
cent of the food.
Caterpillars are
apparently the fa-
vorite insect food,
forming 9.4 per
cent of the diet.
One.stomach taken
in California in August contained 67 per cent of them. Bugs, grass-
hoppers, a few other insects, and spiders make up the remainder of
the animal food, 7.3 per cent.

Vegetable food.—Seeds of blackberries or raspberries, with a little
fruit pulp, were found in a few stomachs taken in the fall. This
was so late in the season that they probably had no economic value.

506

wht
\\

a

 

Fic. 12.—Junco or snowbird.
28 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

Grain amounts to 8 per cent of the food. Oats, wheat, barley, and
corn were identified. None of it was taken in a harvest month,
though some may have been collected from newly sown fields in
spring. The principal item of the junco’s food, however, is weed
seed. This amounts to 61.8 per cent, is eaten in every month, and in
September amounts to 95 per cent.

Summary.—The insect food of the junco is composed almost
entirely of harmful species, of which caterpillars form the largest
item. Juncos do no damage to fruit or grain. They eat large
quantities of weed seed, thereby rendering service to agriculture.
They should be

bag rigidly protected.—
F. E. L. B.
\ / WHITE - CROWNED
\ 4 SPARROW.

(Zonotrichia leuco-
phrys.)

The white-
crowned sparrow
(fig. 18) in one or
other of its three
subspecies, is found
in winter over most
of the southern
and central United
States west of
Ohio, and casually
or in migration
considerably far-
ther east. It
breeds far to the
north or well up
in the mountains.
These sparrows frequent valleys, brushy hillsides, highways, and
cultivated fields. Something more than 600 stomachs of the three
forms have been examined, but the summer months are sparsely
represented. The first analysis of the contents gives 7.4 per cent of
animal food to 92.6 per cent of vegetable.

Animal food.—Beetles, practically all of harmful species, amount
to 1.4 per cent of the food. In June they reach nearly 8 per
cent, but in the other months are insignificant. Hymenoptera

amount to 1.9 per cent, reaching over 16 per cent in June, but in
506

 

   

 

 

 

Fic, 13.—White-crowned sparrow.
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 29

the other months rising barely above 1 per cent. The most of them
are ants with a less number of wasps and bees and a few parasitic
species. Hemiptera amount to one-half of 1 per cent and were
found in 11 stomachs, of which 5 contained black olive scales. The
others were stink bugs, leafhoppers, and tree-hoppers. Caterpillars
are the largest item of animal food and aggregate about 3.5 per cent.
Most of them were eaten in July, when they constituted 37.5 per
cent of the food.,

Vegetable food.—Fruit amounts to 4.5 per cent. It consists of
elderberries, blackberries or raspberries, figs, and cherries. In Cali-
fornia this bird has been accused of eating buds from fruit trees to
an injurious extent, but nothing was found in the stomachs to sub-
stantiate this charge. Grain aggregated 8.6 per cent, and was found
in 69 stomachs, as follows: Oats in 56, wheat in 7, barley in 5, and
corn in 1. It was mostly eaten in the three winter months, and so
had no pecuniary value. Only 3.5 per cent was taken in March,
which would indicate that not much was taken from newly sown
fields.

Like many others of the sparrow family, the white-crown subsists
largely upon weed seed, which is eaten freely in every month and
‘ amounts to 74 per cent of the annual food. Over 90 per cent of all
the stomachs contained weed seed, and one was entirely filled with it.
Over 30 species were identified, and several stomachs contained as
many as 9 different species. The favorite variety appears to be the
rough pigweed (Amaranthus retroflecus), which was found in 208
stomachs.

Summary.—Neither the farmer nor the fruit grower has much to
fear from the white-crowned sparrow. On the contrary, the bird
destroys some harmful insects and a vast number of seeds of noxious
weeds. The fruit eaten is mostly wild and the grain either waste or
volunteer. There is very little to substantiate the accusation that
the bird destroys fruit. buds.—F. E, L. B.

SOUTHERN BUTCHER BIRD.

(Lanius ludovicianus.)

The southern butcher bird (fig. 14), or loggerhead shrike, in some
of its numerous forms, is found over much of the United States and
is especially common on the Pacific coast. All the forms retire
southward at the approach of winter and in many localities are
replaced during the cold season by the northern butcher bird (Z.
borealis), which comes down from the north and winters in the
United States. The butcher bird resembles a bird of prey in form
of beak and to a certain extent in food habits, but has no such talons:

as enable the true birds of prey to seize their victim and hold it
506
30 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

securely while tearing it in pieces. Whenever butcher birds capture
prey that must be torn apart, they press it firmly down into a sharp
crotch, where it can readily be dissected. When food is abundant,
surplus captures are hung, until needed, on thorns, sharp twigs,
splinters, or the
barbs of wire
fences.

Like birds of
prey and some
other birds, the
butcher bird habit-
ually disgorges the
indigestible part of
its food after di-
gesting the nutri-
tive portion. The
bones and hair of
mice are rolled into
compact pellets in
the stomach before
being disgorged.

For the investi-
gation of the food
of the southern
butcher bird 124
stomachs of the
western subspecies
and 88 of the east-
ern were examined.
The western birds
showed 2.5 per cent
of vegetable sub-
stances in their
stomachs, but the
eastern ones con-
tained nothing but
animal matter.

Animal food.—
The animal portion of the food of western butcher birds consists
of insects 88 per cent, spiders and a few snails 2 per cent, and
vertebrates 12 per cent. The stomachs of the eastern forms show
insects 68 per cent, spiders 4 per cent, and vertebrates 28 per cent.
The difference is undoubtedly due to climate, the western bird being

506

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FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 31

able to find insects all the year round, while the eastern one gets
very few during the winter. The largest item of insect food is
Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets), which constitute 43 per cent
of the stomach contents in the western bird and 39 per cent in
the eastern one. They are eaten in every month of the year and in
August and September reach nearly 70 per cent. Ordinary grass-
hoppers form the great bulk of this item of food, but a good many
crickets are eaten, especially the brown and striped so-called “ wood
crickets.” One group of these is especially noticeable—a group of
large soft-bodied monsters of the genus Stenopelmatus, many of
which live under dead leaves, stones, and rubbish and do not often
voluntarily show themselves by the light of day.

Beetles collectively are second in importance in the butcher bird’s
insect food, amounting to 16 per cent for the western bird and some-
what more for the eastern. Of these about 7 per cent are ground
beetles (Carabide) and carrion beetles (Silphide), and the re-
mainder are harmful species. Most of the beetles eaten are the large
species, but the butcher. bird does not disdain small game, and a
number of small leaf beetles and weevils were noted. Ants and
wasps amount to a little more than 11 per cent in the food of the
western subspecies and 3 per cent in that of the eastern one. In
both, wasps far outnumber ants. Moths and caterpillars amount to
7 per cent for the western bird and 4 per cent for the eastern one.
One western stomach was entirely filled with the remains of 15 moths,
a most unusual occurrence, for adult Lepidoptera are but sparingly
eaten by birds. Bugs and flies are eaten occasionally. In one
stomach remains of robber flies (Asilide) were detected. These two
orders and a few other odd insects constitute 5 per cent of the food.

Spiders and several kindred creatures form 2 per cent of the food
of the western form, but though not eaten in any great quantities
they appear in a good many stomachs. In one stomach was found
one of those bristly and uncanny monstrosities of the animal world
known as jointed spiders (Solpugida). The lingual ribbon of a
snail was found in one stomach, and bits of what appeared to be the
limbs of small crustaceans in several. In the eastern form, spiders
amount to 4 per cent of the food. The vertebrate part of the butcher
bird’s food amounts to 12 per cent for the western bird and 28 per
cent for the eastern one. It is made up of remains of mammals,
birds, and reptiles. Of these, mammals, in the shape of mice and
sometimes shrews, are by far the most numerous, and form a very
important item in the diet of the eastern bird but less so in case of
the western one. Comparatively few birds are taken. The reptiles
are mostly lizards eaten by the western shrike.

506
32 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

Summary.—While the southern butcher bird eats a few birds and
some useful insects, its diet is on the whole very much in its favor,
as its consumption of grasshoppers far outweighs the harm to birds
and beetles. As a feature of the landscape, and as lending anima-
tion to rural scenes, the shrike in California is a pronounced success
and, while not so numerous in the East, it is just as attractive and
is doing the same good by its food habits.—F. E. L. B.

AUDUBON WARBLER.
(Dendroica auduboni.)

The Audubon warbler (fig. 15) is well distributed over the western
United States east to the Great Plains, breeding in the mountains
and descending in
winter to the val-
leysand plains. It
is one of the most
abundant of the
western species and
may be considered
as typical of the
genus, especially in
the matter of food.
In the winter sea-
son it is a fre-
quenter of or-
chards, gardens,
and dooryards,
where it pursues its
business of insect
hunting with an
assiduity worthy of
all praise. At this
season it is very
familiar and easily
approached.

In the investiga-
tion of the food of
the Audubon war-
bler 383 stomachs
were examined. The contents were found to be made up of 84.74
per cent of animal food to 15.26 of vegetable.

Animal food.—The largest item of animal food is Hymenoptera
(wasps and ants), which aggregate 26.19 per cent of the whole. By
far the greater number of these are ants and, as plant lice were

506

 

 

 

 

 

Fie. 15.—Audubon warbler.
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 33

also eaten, it is probable that many of the ants are of species that
take care of plant lice. The other members of this order are rapid
fliers and are probably mostly taken on the wing. Diptera (flies)
were eaten to the extent of 16.42 per cent, which is a large record for
any bird except a swallow or flycatcher. Like the Hymenoptera,
most of them must have been taken on the wing in mid-air. Mem-
bers of two families were identified: Muscide, the family of the
common housefly, and crane flies or daddy longlegs (Tipulide).
Most of the Diptera were of the smaller species, commonly known as
gnats, which fly in swarms and are rather sluggish. Hemiptera
(bugs) collectively amount to 19.61 per cent, of which a little more
than 4 per cent are scales and plant lice. The black olive scale
(Saissetia olew) and the greedy scale (.spidiotus rapax) were found
in 15 stomachs. Plant lice were contained in 39 stomachs and from
their numbers would appear to be a favorite food. Several stomachs
were entirely filled with them, and the stomachs in which they were
found contained an average of 71 per cent in each. The remainder
of the hemipterous food, over 15 per cent, is made up of stinkbugs,
leafhoppers, and tree-hoppers, with some unidentified remains.

Caterpillars form a small but rather regular article of diet with
the Audubon warbler. They amount to 14.22 per cent, though this
figure includes a few adult moths and a few chrysalides. Beetles
of all kinds aggregate 6.70 per cent and, except a few carrion and
ladybird beetles, are of injurious species. Snout beetles, or weevils,
were the most important. A few other insects and some spiders,
in all 1.60 per cent, make up-the rest of the animal food.

Vegetable food.—The vegetable food of the Audubon warbler
consists of fruit, weed seed, and a few miscellaneous substances.
As the bird does not visit the fruit-growing regions during the fruit
season, it can not injure cultivated crops. Most of the fruit it eats
is wild and of no value, though in the fall it probably feeds to some
extent upon the belated products of the orchard. The total of fruit
eaten is less than 5 per cent, most of which is taken in fall and early
winter. The largest item of vegetable diet, however, is weed seed.
This is eaten to the extent of 9.16 per cent of the food and is taken
in nearly every month, but especially in winter. One of the most
important seeds eaten by the Audubon warbler is that of the poison
oak (Rhus diversiloba). Usually this bird does not eat the whole
seed, but only the waxy outer coating, and hence does not materially
aid in the distribution of these noxious plants. In addition to the
foregoing, rubbish to the extent of 2 per cent was found.

Summary.—Evidently this bird is a valuable asset in the garden
and orchard. The great bulk of its food, both animal and vegetable,
is composed of elements whose destruction is a benefit to the
farmer.—F, E. L. B.

506
34 FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS.

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET.

(Regulus calendula.)

The ruby-crowned kinglet (fig. 16) is known on the Pacific coast
most commonly as a winter visitant, though it breeds in summer on
the high mountains. In the eastern United States it is usually seen

 

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Fic, 16.—Ruby-crowned kinglet.

chiefly in migra-
tion as it passes
beyond our north-
ern border to
breed; but it also
winters in the
Southern States.
For the investi-
gation of the food
of this kinglet 294
stomachs were
available. The
food consists of 94
per cent of animal
matter to 6 per
cent of vegetable.
The animal food
consists of insects,
spiders, and pseu-
doscorpions; the
vegetable, of fruit
and weed seeds.
Animal food.—
Hymenoptera in
the shape of wasps
and ants appear
to be the favorite
animal food and
aggregate 32.42
per cent of the
whole. Hemip-
tera (bugs) are
next in impor-
tance, and consti-

tute 25.72 per cent of the diet. They include assassin bugs, lace
bugs, leaf bugs, leaf hoppers, jumping plant lice, plant lice, mealy
bugs, and scale insects. All except the first of these are harmful and
some of them are pests when abundant, and being of small size are

not easily dealt with by human devices.
506
FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIRDS. 35

Beetles of various families and species were eaten by the kinglet
to the extent of 13 per cent of the food. With the exception of a few
ladybirds all are of more or less harmful species. Of these the
weevils or snout beetles are the most interesting. One stomach con-
tained 20 individuals, which seem a large meal in view of the small
size of the bird. Many of the weevils belong to the family of en-
gravers (Scolytide), which live under the bark of forest trees and
do much michief. Lepidoptera, both larve (caterpillars) and adult
forms (moths and butterflies) constitute only a small part of the
kinglet’s diet. While a few caterpillars are eaten, most of the lepi-
dopterous food consists of the minute cocoons of tineid moths, a
family of immense size, with wide distribution, and destructive
habits. They are largely leaf miners and do much damage to fruit
and forest trees. Lepidoptera aggregate only 3 per cent of the
food.

Diptera (flies) constitute 16.93 per cent of the whole food, but
are very unevenly distributed. The greatest amounts were found
in stomachs taken in January and February. A number of stomachs
were nearly filled with these insects, which had probably been found
hibernating in some cranny. Two stomachs contained remains of
grasshoppers and these, with 2 per cent of spiders and pseudoscor-
pions, make up the remainder of the animal food.

Vegetable food—Fruit was found in the stomachs of kinglets to
the amount of less than 1 per cent and most of it was elderberries
(Sambucus). Weed seed also was found to the extent of less than
1 per cent. The great bulk of the vegetable food was the seeds of
poison oak and leaf galls, which together: amount to something more
than 4 per cent.

Summary.—As the food of the kinglet consists so largely of in-
sects and these are mostly of noxious species, it follows that this bird,
small as it is, is an important factor in keeping the great flood of
insect life within proper limits. Its vegetable food contains no
useful elements and its small size, which precludes the possibility of
doing much harm to the products of industry, just fits it to cope
with those minute pests against which man often finds himself so
powerless.—F. E. L. B.

506

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