Part 2

_Animal food._--Predacious ground beetles (Carabidæ) amount to 0.82 per cent. They are evidently not a preferred food. Beetles in general comprise 14.67 per cent of the food, but no family or other group appears to be distinguished except the Carabidæ, which are conspicuous by their absence. Weevils, or snout beetles, amount to 2.49 per cent, and one stomach contained a specimen of the notorious plum curculio (_Conotrachelus nenuphar_). A number of other harmful beetles were noted, but none are so well known as the plum destroyer. Ants make up 10.35 per cent and are eaten with great regularity. Hymenoptera other than ants amount to only 3.26 per cent, but are eaten regularly throughout the season. Hemiptera (bugs) were eaten to a small extent (1.30 per cent) in the first four months, but they are not seen after July. Exactly the same may be said of Diptera, which total only 0.85 per cent.

Lepidoptera (caterpillars) are, next to Hymenoptera, the favorite insect food. They were eaten in goodly quantities in every month except October. The average for the season is 11.91 per cent. Grasshoppers appear to some extent in every month except April, the greatest consumption taking place in October (24 per cent), but as only small numbers are eaten in the earlier months the aggregate for the year is only 4.91 per cent. A few other insects of various orders amount to 0.98 per cent. Spiders (6.34 per cent) are eaten regularly and constantly through the season, except that none were taken in October. A few sowbugs, snails, etc. (2.70 per cent), complete the quota of animal food. Following is a list of insects identified and the number of stomachs in which found:

HYMENOPTERA.

_Tiphia inornata_ 1

COLEOPTERA

_Elaphrus ruscarius_ 1 _Anisodactylus harrisi_ 1 _Anisodactylus_ sp 1 _Pterostichus lucublandus_ 1 _Hydrobius fuscipes_ 1 _Ips fasciata_ 1 _Byrrhus murinus_ 1 _Dolopius lateralis_ 2 _Limonius æger_ 1 _Corymbites cylindriformis_ 1 _Corymbites spinosus_ 1 _Corymbites tarsalis_ 1 _Corymbites hieroglyphicus_ 1 _Podabrus flavicollis_ 1 _Telephorus bilineatus_ 2 _Telephorus_ sp 1 _Onthophagus_ sp 2 _Atænius cognatus_ 1 _Aphodius_ sp 3 _Dichelonycha_ sp 2 _Serica sericea_ 1 _Lachnosterna hirticula_ 1 _Lachnosterna_ sp 13 _Chrysomela pulchra_ 3 _Chlamys plicata_ 1 _Typophorus canellus_ 1 _Graphops simplex_ 1 _Graphops_ sp 1 _Calligrapha philadelphica_ 1 _Œdionychis quercata_ 1 _Microrhopala vittata_ 1 _Hormorus undulatus_ 1 _Phyxelis rigidus_ 1 _Otiorhynchus ovatus_ 1 _Neoptochus adspersus_ 1 _Cercopeus chrysorrhœus_ 2 _Barypithes pellucidus_ 2 _Sitones_ sp 2 _Phytonomus nigrirostris_ 2 _Conotrachelus nenuphar_ 1 _Conotrachelus posticatus_ 1 _Tyloderma_ sp 1 _Monarthrum mali_ 1 _Xyloteres politus_ 1

DIPTERA.

_Bibio_ sp 1

_Vegetable food._--The vegetable portion of the food of the species is made up of fruit, with a few seeds and a little miscellaneous matter more or less accidental. Fruit collectively amounts to 35.30 per cent, of which 12.14 per cent was thought to be of cultivated varieties and so recorded, while the remainder, 23.16 per cent, was quite certainly of wild species. This percentage of cultivated fruit is more than three times the record of the wood thrush, while the wild fruit eaten is correspondingly less, as the sum total of the fruit consumed is very nearly the same with both birds. From this percentage of domestic fruit one might infer that the veery was, or might be, a serious menace to fruit growing, but no such complaints have been heard, and it is probable that the species is not numerous enough to damage cultivated crops. A close inspection, however, of the fruit eating of the veery removes all doubts. The cultivated fruit, so called, was in every case either strawberries or _Rubus_ fruits, i. e., blackberries or raspberries, and as both of these grow wild and in abundance wherever the veery spends its summer, it is probable that all of the fruit eaten was taken from wild plants, though 12.14 per cent has been conventionally recorded as cultivated.

Besides fruit, the veery eats a few seeds of grasses and weeds and a few of sumac, but none of the poisonous species were found in the stomachs. These seeds (7.25 per cent of the food) were eaten so irregularly as to suggest that they are merely a makeshift taken for want of something better. Rubbish (0.18 per cent), consisting of decayed wood, bits of leaves, plant stems, etc., completes the vegetable food.

Following is a list of the items of vegetable food and the number of stomachs in which found:

Yew berries (_Taxus minor_) 1 Pigeon grass seed (_Chætochloa_ sp.) 1 Rush grass seed (_Sporobolus minor_) 1 False Solomon's seal (_Smilacina_ sp.) 1 Greenbrier berries (_Smilax_ sp.) 2 Hackberries (_Celtis occidentalis_) 1 Poke berries (_Phytolacca decandra_) 3 Spice berries (_Benzoin æstivale_) 2 Service berries (_Amelanchier canadensis_) 3 June berries (_Amelanchier_ sp.) 9 Mountain ash (_Pyrus americana_) 1 Crab apples (_Pyrus_ sp.) 1 Strawberries (_Fragaria_ sp.) 3 Blackberries or raspberries (_Rubus_ sp.) 8 Wild black cherries (_Prunus serotina_) 1 Bird cherries (_Prunus pennsylvanica_) 1 Chokecherries (_Prunus virginiana_) 1 Staghorn sumac (_Rhus hirta_) 2 Dwarf sumac (_Rhus copallina_) 1 Three-leaved sumac (_Rhus trilobata_) 1 Other sumac (_Rhus_ sp.) 1 American holly (_Ilex opaca_) 1 Woodbine berries (_Psedera quinquefolia_) 1 White cornel (_Cornus candidissima_) 2 Alternate-leaved cornel (_Cornus alternifolia_) 3 Rough-leaved cornel (_Cornus asperifolia_) 1 Dogwood berries (_Cornus_ sp.) 2 Sour gum berries (_Nyssa sylvatica_) 1 Huckleberries (_Gaylussacia_ sp.) 1 Blueberries (_Vaccinium_ sp.) 4 Snowberries (_Symphoricarpos racemosus_) 2 Black elderberries (_Sambucus canadensis_) 2 Red elderberries (_Sambucus pubens_) 4 Other elderberries (_Sambucus_ sp.) 3 Fruit pulp not further identified 4

_Summary._--It is hardly necessary to make a summary of the food of this bird in order to bring out its good points, for it seems to have no others. The animal food includes less than 1 per cent of useful beetles, and the remainder is either harmful or neutral. In the matter of vegetable food there seems to be no chance for criticism, as nature evidently supplies all it needs. The bird has never been harmed, but has been held in high esteem for sentimental reasons; let it also be valued and protected for its economic worth.

GRAY-CHEEKED AND BICKNELL'S THRUSHES.

(_Hylocichla aliciæ aliciæ_ and _Hylocichla aliciæ bicknelli_.)

The gray-cheeked thrush (_H. a. aliciæ_) is found in migration over all the Eastern States, but breeds farther north, beyond our limits. Bicknell's thrush (_H. a. bicknelli_), a closely related form, while having somewhat the same general range, breeds farther south and nests in the mountains of northern New York and New England. Both subspecies have the same general habits as other forms of the genus so far as haunts and choice of residence are concerned, but their far-northern range excludes them from coming into contact with cultivated crops. The species does not seem to be very abundant anywhere, and consequently only a few stomachs have been received for examination. In all they number but 111 and are very irregularly distributed in time. None were taken in August and only one in July and two in June. From so scanty and unevenly distributed material it is impossible to draw final conclusions, but we can get some idea as to the nature of the bird's food and its economic importance.

The first analysis of the food gives 74.86 per cent of animal matter to 25.14 per cent of vegetable. This is the most animal food found in the stomachs of any bird of the genus _Hylocichla_ and the largest but two of any of the thrushes.

_Animal food._--Beetles collectively amount to about one-third of all the food (33.32 per cent). Of these, 2.83 per cent are the useful Carabidæ. The rest belong to harmful families, such as the Scarabæidæ, Elateridæ, and the weevils, or snout beetles. Ants amount to 16.34 per cent and are eaten very regularly--the most in the early part of the season. Hymenoptera other than ants, as wasps and bees, were eaten to the extent of 5.60 per cent, and with the ants make 21.94 per cent, placing this food next in rank to beetles. As in the case of ants, most of the bees and wasps were eaten in the first three months of the season. No honey bees were found. Lepidoptera (caterpillars) were third in order of abundance (8.81 per cent). No special pest was discovered, but all caterpillars may be considered as harmful. A few grasshoppers were found in the stomachs taken in April and May, and more in those collected in September and October. They do not appear to be a favorite food and amount to only 1.72 per cent. Other insects, as flies, bugs, and a few others, collectively amount to 2.89 per cent. Among these, it is of interest to note in one stomach the remains of the famous seventeen-year locust (_Tibicen septemdecem_), rather large game for so small a bird. Spiders are freely eaten by the gray-cheeked thrush in spring, and sparingly in fall. For the season they constitute 5.77 per cent of the food. A few other animals, as crawfish, sowbugs, and angleworms (0.41 per cent), complete the animal food.

Following is a list of the insects identified and the number of stomachs in which found:

HYMENOPTERA.

_Lophyrus_ sp 1 _Aphænogaster tennesseense_ 1

COLEOPTERA.

_Cychrus andrewsi_ 2 _Cychrus_ sp 2 _Dyschirius hispidus_ 1 _Hister sedecimstriatus_ 1 _Phelister vernus_ 1 _Epuræa rufa_ 3 _Stelidota 8-maculata_ 1 _Byrrhus murinus_ 1 _Eucinetus morio_ 1 _Monocrepidius vespertinus_ 1 _Agriotes limosus_ 1 _Corymbites signaticollis_ 1 _Podabrus flavicollis_ 1 _Telephorus bilineatus_ 1 _Onthophagus_ sp 1 _Atænius strigatus_ 1 _Atænius ovatulus_ 1 _Atænius_ sp 3 _Aphodius ruricola_ 1 _Aphodius inquinatus_ 3 _Aphodius_ sp 1 _Serica_ sp 1 _Lachnosterna_ sp 10 _Anomala_ sp 1 _Leptura sphæricollis_ 1 _Leptura mutabilis_ 1 _Chrysomela pulchra_ 4 _Blapstinus metallicus_ 1 _Helops micans_ 1 _Hormorus undulatus_ 1 _Otiorhynchus ovatus_ 1 _Cercopeus chrysorrhœus_ 2 _Pandeletejus hilaris_ 1 _Sitones_ sp 1 _Hylobius pales_ 1 _Desmoris constrictus_ 1 _Bagous sellatus_ 1 _Anthonomus sycophanta_ 1 _Conotrachelus posticatus_ 2 _Acalles clavatus_ 1 _Acalles_ sp 1 _Cryptorhynchus ferratus_ 1 _Sphenophorus melanocephalus_ 1

HEMIPTERA.

_Tibicen septendecem_ 1 _Nezara hilaris_ 1

_Vegetable food._--A few _Rubus_ seeds were recorded as cultivated fruit, but they were found in only two stomachs and probably were wild, as the gray-cheeked thrush does not live where it is likely to come in contact with cultivated blackberries or raspberries. In any case they amount to only 0.15 per cent. Wild fruits of 18 different species (23.98 per cent) make up nearly one-fourth of the whole food--in fact, the vegetable food, other than wild fruit, is insignificant. Wild berries supplement the regular food, which consists of insects and spiders.

The following list shows the fruits and seeds identified and the number of stomachs in which found:

False spikenard (_Smilacina racemosa_) 1 Greenbrier berries (_Smilax_ sp.) 2 Bayberries (_Myrica carolinensis_) 1 Poke berries (_Phytolacca decandra_) 2 Crab apples (_Pyrus_ sp.) 1 Wild black cherries (_Prunus serotina_) 5 Blackberries or raspberries (_Rubus_ sp.) 2 Sumac berries (_Rhus_ sp.) 1 Black-alder berries (_Ilex verticillata_) 1 Wild grapes (_Vitis_ sp.) 5 Wild sarsaparilla (_Aralia_ sp.) 1 Flowering dogwood (_Cornus florida_) 5 Rough-leaved dogwood (_Cornus asperifolia_) 2 White cornel (_Cornus candidissima_) 1 Dogwood (_Cornus_ sp.) 1 Sour gum (_Nyssa sylvatica_) 2 Black nightshade (_Solanum nigrum_) 1 Dockmackie (_Viburnum acerifolium_) 1 Arrowwood (_Viburnum_ sp.) 1 Elderberries (_Sambucus canadensis_) 3 Fruit not further identified 6

_Summary._--In the food of the gray-cheeked thrush the only useful element is a small percentage (2.83) of useful beetles. The remainder of the animal food is composed of either harmful or neutral elements. The vegetable food, drawn entirely from nature's great storehouse, contains no product of human industry, either of grain or fruit. Whatever the sentimental reasons for protecting this bird, the economic ones are equally valid.

OLIVE-BACKED AND RUSSET-BACKED THRUSHES.

(_Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni_ and _Hylocichla ustulata ustulata_.)

The olive-backed thrush and its relative, the russet-backed, occupy the whole of the United States at some time during the year. The olive-back breeds north of our northern border, except in the higher mountains, and the russet-back on the Pacific coast nests as far south as southern California. The habits of birds of this species resemble those of others of the genus in living in swamps and woodlands rather than in gardens and orchards. The russet-back on the Pacific coast, however, seems to have become quite domestic, and wherever a stream runs through or past an orchard or garden, or the orchard is near thick chaparral, this bird is sure to be found taking its toll of the fruit and rearing its young in the thicket beside the stream. During the cherry season it takes a liberal share of the fruit, but its young, then in the nest, are fed almost entirely on insects. The eastern subspecies, on the contrary, does not come in contact with domestic fruit or any other product of husbandry. A great number of the subspecies nest far north of the region of fruit raising.

For this investigation 403 stomachs of the olive-backed thrush were available, collected in 25 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Florida, Louisiana, and Texas represent the most southern collections and New Brunswick, Ontario, and Northwest Territory the most northern. In California 157 stomachs were obtained, which, with those taken in Oregon and Washington, fairly represent the Pacific coast region. The whole collection was fairly well distributed over the nine months from March to November. The food consisted of 63.52 per cent of animal matter to 36.48 per cent of vegetable.

_Animal food._--Beetles of all kinds amount to 16.29 per cent. Of these 3.14 per cent are the useful Carabidæ. The others belong to harmful or neutral families. Weevils or snout-beetles (Rhynchophora) amount to 5.29 per cent, a high percentage for such insects. One Colorado potato beetle (_Leptinotarsa decemlineata_) was found in a stomach taken on Long Island. Hymenoptera collectively aggregate 21.50 per cent. Of these, 15.20 per cent are ants--a favorite food of _Hylocichla_. The remainder (6.30 per cent) were wild bees and wasps. No honeybees were found. Caterpillars, which rank next in importance in the food of the olive-back, form a good percentage of the food of every month represented and aggregate 10.30 per cent for the season.

Grasshoppers are not an important element in the food of thrushes, as they chiefly inhabit open areas, while _Hylocichla_ prefers thick damp cover, where grasshoppers are not found. An inspection of the record shows that most of the orthopterous food taken by the olive-back consists of crickets, whose habits are widely different from those of grasshoppers, and which are found under stones, old logs, or dead herbage. The greatest quantity is taken in August and September. The average for the season is 2.42 per cent.

Diptera (flies) reach the rather surprisingly large figure of 6.23 per cent. These insects are usually not eaten to any great extent except by flycatchers and swallows, which take their food upon the wing. The flies eaten by the olive-back are mostly crane flies (Tipulidæ) or March flies (_Bibio_), both in the adult and larval state. Crane flies are slow of wing and frequent shady places. The larvæ of both groups are developed in moist ground, and often in colonies of several hundred. With these habits it is not surprising that they fall an easy prey to the thrushes.

Hemiptera (bugs), a small but rather constant element of the food, were found in the stomachs collected every month, and in July reach 11.11 per cent. They were of the families of stinkbugs (Pentatomidæ), shield bugs (Scutelleridæ), tree hoppers (Membracidæ), leaf hoppers (Jassidæ), and cicadas. Some scales were found in one stomach. The total for the season is 3.76 per cent. A few insects not included in any of the foregoing categories make up 0.48 per cent of the food. Spiders, with a few millipeds, amount to 2.22 per cent, the lowest figure for this item of any bird of the genus _Hylocichla_. Snails, sowbugs, angleworms, etc. (0.32 per cent), complete the animal food.

Following is a list of insects identified and the number of stomachs in which found:

HYMENOPTERA.

_Camponotus pennsylvanicus_ 1 _Tiphia inornata_ 1

COLEOPTERA.

_Cychrus nitidicollis_ 1 _Cychrus stenostomus_ 1 _Notiophilus æneus_ 1 _Pterostichus sayi_ 1 _Pterotichus lustrans_ 1 _Amara interstitialis_ 1 _Triæna longula_ 1 _Agonoderus pallipes_ 1 _Silpha ramosa_ 1 _Staphylinus cinnamopterus_ 1 _Tachyporus californicus_ 1 _Chilocorus orbus_ 1 _Scymnus_ sp 1 _Hister americanus_ 1 _Ips quadriguttatus_ 4 _Cytilus sericeus_ 1 _Agriotes stabilis_ 1 _Podabrus flavicollis_ 2 _Podabrus modestus_ 2 _Silis lutea_ 1 _Telephorus carolinus_ 1 _Telephorus bilineatus_ 5 _Telephorus divisus_ 2 _Onthophagus hecate_ 1 _Onthophagus striatulus_ 1 _Onthophagus tuberculifrons_ 2 _Onthophagus_ sp 4 _Atænius abditus_ 1 _Aphodius hamatus_ 1 _Aphodius fimetarius_ 6 _Aphodius inquinatus_ 7 _Aphodius_ sp 6 _Geotrupes_ sp 1 _Dichelonycha elongata_ 2 _Lachnosterna hirticula_ 1 _Lachnosterna_ sp 12 _Anomala undulata_ 1 _Anomala_ sp 1 _Euphoria fulgida_ 1 _Donacia emarginata_ 1 _Hæmonia nigricornis_ 1 _Syneta pallida_ 1 _Leptinotarsa decemlineata_ 1 _Gastroidea_ sp 1 _Galerucella decora_ 1 _Diabrotica soror_ 1 _Diabrotica_ sp 1 _Gonioctena pallida_ 1 _Luperodes bivittatus_ 1 _Opatrinus notus_ 1 _Blapstinus metallicus_ 1 _Blapstinus mæstus_ 1 _Blapstinus_ sp 1 _Otiorhynchus ovatus_ 1 _Thinoxenus_ sp 1 _Cercopeus chrysorrhæus_ 1 _Barypithes pellucidus_ 1 _Sitones flavescens_ 1 _Sitones_ sp 1 _Phytonomus punctatus_ 2 _Pachylobius picivorus_ 1 _Conotrachelus posticatus_ 1 _Micromastus elegans_ 1 _Acalles clavatus_ 1 _Cryptorhynchus bisignatus_ 1 _Rhinoncus pyrrhopus_ 1 _Balaninus_ sp 3 _Sphenophorus parvulus_ 1 _Sphenophorus_ sp 1 _Scolytus muticus_ 1

LEPIDOPTERA.

_Edema albifrons_ 1

TRICHOPTERA.

_Phryganea californica_ 1

HEMIPTERA.

_Myodocha serripes_ 1 _Sinea diadema_ 1

This list of insects contains a considerable number of injurious species and some that at various times and places have become decided pests. Such are the Colorado potato beetle (_Leptinotarsa decemlineata_), the spotted squash beetle (_Diabrotica soror_), the cloverleaf weevil (_Phytonomus punctatus_), and the various species of _Lachnosterna_, the parent of the destructive white grubs. Many others are plant feeders and may increase to such an extent as to inflict great damage upon agriculture.

_Vegetable food._--The vegetable food of the olive-backed thrush consists of small fruit. The bird has a weak bill and can not break through the tough skin of the larger kinds. In the cherry orchards of California the writer many times observed the western subspecies of this bird, the russet-back, on the ground pecking at cherries that had been bitten open and dropped by linnets and grosbeaks. Blackberries and raspberries have a very delicate skin and are successfully managed by weak-billed birds, so that all the records of domestic fruit eaten by the eastern form relate to these berries, and it is probable that in most cases the fruit was not cultivated. The total of cultivated fruit for the season is 12.63 per cent of the whole food, but if we consider the eastern subspecies alone this item would practically disappear. Wild fruit (19.73 per cent) is eaten regularly and in a goodly quantity in every month after April. Weed seeds and a few miscellaneous items of vegetable food (4.04 per cent) close the account.

Following is a list of vegetable foods so far as identified and the number of stomachs in which found.