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SANTA CRUZ

BIRDS

A MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION

OF THIRTY-SEVEN PAMPHLETS

ABOUT BIRDS

COLLECTED AND PRIVATELY

BOUND BY

ALVIN SEALE

1914

TABLE OP C0NTI;NTS. ^^

A-BSAL- Pood Of the woodpsoKars of the United

States.
B-HKNSHAW~ Does it pay tliefarmer to protect

bird.s?
C-MoATKR-lndex to papers relating to the food

of birds.
D- KALMBACH- Birds in relation to the al:"-alfa

weevil.
E- McATEE- Birdf^ enemies of the codling moth.
F-By IT.?;. Dept. of Agr. -English sparrow as a

Pest.

G-McATEE-Vanishing shorehirds.
H-0" OKI- Distribution and ?rifrT»ation 01" TTortlr

American Herons and^ their alll* : .
I-McATlE-Some conijaon Oaiae, Aquatic, ^^jxd

"Rapacious Birds in relation to man.
J-McATEE-FivO l>Vf)OTtBr:t wild-Ouck :^ood3.
K-HENSHAV/-Our laid-Paci^ic Bird reservation.
li-DILI.-Report on conditions on the Hawaiian

Bird reservation with list of the bifds
■'^'ound on Lays an.
M~B RYAN- Report on conditions on Laysas'i, with
recoimaendations -^ov protecting the
Hawaiian Islf^nds reser^/ation.
N-COOKE-Distribution of the American Egrets.
O-'DrARBORN-Pirn'. houses and how to build theiu
P-00'"tKE- The ;aig"^atory jiiovenents o "* blTviR in •

"elation to the weather,
Q-McA"" ~ P^an*« -^isejul to attract birds and

protects '":^ult.
R-OBER^^OT.S"^R-Description of a new melospi^^a -r^ror

Calii-'orjiia.
f!-RILEY- DeR^^--i')+ --^^^ ^^ " r^s ^v >

Canada.
^APTjEMING-a ne^- teal f*rom the Andaman Islands.
T-MEARNS- Description of a .new subspioies of

the painted bunting from the Interior.
U~BANGS- A new swi^t -^roii palistlne.
V-GRI HELL-A new blue grosbeaX "^rom naii^^ornia...

W-BANGS Descriptions of new Aiiierii?an# birds,

X-BARBOTTR — Notes 0}i. some birds '^:co.\ the Tsla-vl
of Grenada.

y-RTLEY Description of a new Dryonastes '^ro: . .

China.

TABLlil OF rjONTl^NTS

a-BA .:; - A new Pant all ^7*on the Ohathaja islands.
AA-RIDCIWAY- Diagnoses oj some new t^oTnus o-^
picidae.

BR-BATIGS Two new bird.s froia the Island of

Molokal.

GO-BAKr>Fi A new bel L-'oiM .^Ton AncXland Island.

DD-BANOS Two ne'rT woodpecXej^s froii the Isle o:^*

PlneSf Te'^t Jji/lles.

"FIJI- RILEY On the najie end synono)-]-/ o-r the

Ant it lean sV-^.:>-n'itn"iOd Hav-^K.

FP-BANGS ^Kew or rare Mrds from Western Colombia

GG-BANGR Unrecorded specimens of two rare

Hawaiian birds.
RH-MUIR and ^JiBRHAW-A new bird ^^rom the Island of

CerBm, Moluccas .
II~MUIB and KERSHA^~A nev/ bird i"rom the Island of

C er am , ? lUl o cc a s .
JJ-HIUG-AY — Diagnoses of new fonas of Micropodidae
and Tronhilldae.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from

Microsoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/birdsnniscellaneoOOsealrich

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Bull. 37, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate I

BiUEUKER & KESSLER CO LITH PHIL*

Hairy AND Downy Woodpeckers.

Issued May 24, 1911.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— BULLETIN No. 37

HENRY W. HENSHAW, CkUf

A

FOOD_OFJJE WOODmCKERS OF THE
^ UNITED STATES

BY

F. E. L. BEALl_

Assistant, Biological Survey

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1911

LEHER OF TRANSMirrAL.

U. S. Department of Agriculture,

Biological Survey,
WasUngton, D. (7., December 23, 1910.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for pubUcation as
Bulletin No. 37 of the Biological Survey, a report on the Food of the
Woodpeckers of the United States, by F. E. L. Beal, assistant, Bio-
logical Survey. The diminished supply of timber and its greatly
increased cost render the conservation of our remaining forests
exceedingly important. It has been estimated that within the
United States insects destroy trees and lumber to the value of upward
of $100,000,000' annually. As boring insects are the natural enemies
of trees, so birds are their natural allies. Of all birds that further the
welfare of the forest, woodpeckers are the most important, many of
them indeed being specially adapted to dig into wood in order to
reach insect larvae safe from all other enemies. While most wood-
peckers are thus highly beneficial, the sapsuckers are injurious, since
they subsist to a considerable extent on the cambium or inner bark
of trees. This bulletin is meant to serve a practical end by describ-
ing the food habits of the several species, and by pointing out the
extent to which each is beneficial or injurious, so that the forester,
the farmer, and the orchardist may know friend from foe.
Respectfully,

H. W. Henshaw,
Ohief, Biological Survey.
Hon. James Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture.

3

I

CONTENTS

Page.

Introduction 7

Hairy woodpecker 13

Downy woodpecker 17

Red-cockaded woodpecker 22

Nuttall woodpecker 23

Three-toed woodpeckers 25

Yellow-bellied woodpecker or sapsucker 27

Red -breasted sapsucker 31

Williamson sapsucker 32

Pileated woodpecker 33

Red-headed woodpecker 35

California woodpecker 43

Lewis woodpecker 45

Red-bellied woodpecker 47

Flicker 52

Red-shafted flicker 59

Ivory-billed woodpecker 62

Other woodpeckers 63

5

I

LLUSTRATIONS

Plate I. Hairy and downy woodpeckers Frontispiece.

II. Yellow-bellied sapsucker 32

III. Red-headed woodpecker 32

IV. California woodpecker 40

V. Lewis woodpecker 40

VI. Flicker 48

TEXT FIGURES.

Fig. 1. Tongues of woodpeckers .^ 8

2. Special development of tongues of woodpeckers 8

3. Wood from which woodpecker has extracted insect 9

6

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS.

(Picidse.)

INTRODUCTION.

During the last few decades much interest has been aroused in the
preservation and extension of forest areas within the United States,
and large sums of money have been spent on our National Forests.
Meanwhile scientists have been studying means to combat the insect
enemies of forests, which in some cases have threatened the total
destruction of large tracts. There is probably no species of land
plant that has not at least one insect enemy, and the trees of the forest
furnish food and homes for legions. In the Fifth Report of the United
States Entomological Commission over 400 species of insects are
reported to feed on the oak, and the opinion is expressed that this
number is far below the total. In the same work about 80 species
are said to feed on the elm, 170 on the hickory, 41 on the locust, 100
on the maple, 105 on the birch, 186 on the willow, and 165 on the
pine; and in each case the list is confessedly incomplete.

On this point Dr. Hopkins has said:

The results of investigation lead to the conclusion that the annual loss from insect
work on forest trees, and their crude or finished products, amounts to at least
$100,000,000.

No period in the life history of a tree is exempt from insect attack, and every part,
from the smallest roots to the terminal buds, leaves, flowers, and fruit, may be infested
by one or many species. The seed in the ground, the tender shoots of both roots and
stems, and the young seedling to the matured tree, may be attacked by special ene-
mies which injure or destroy different parts of the entire plant. In fact, living, dis-
eased, dead, or decaying, a tree may be the home of hundreds of species and thousands
of individuals of insect life.^

Wherever the Dendrodonus beetles have been found in standing timber, the work
of woodpeckers has been more or less common, and in some trees quite a large percent-
age of the beetle broods has been destroyed by the birds. The evidence gathered in
Maine a few years ago indicates quite conclusively that the birds were rendering a
most valuable service as a natural check to the multiplication and destructive work of
the eastern spruce beetle. The work of birds is common in sections where species 1
[Dendrodonus hrevicomis], 9 [D. monticolx], and 10 [D. ponderosae], and other western
species are prevalent. Yet birds evidently render the greatest service where but few
trees are being killed, since their concentrated work may prevent an abnormal increase
of the beetles; but where many hundreds or thousands of trees are being killed, the
limited number of birds can have little or no effect. Therefore, while the birds are
among the foresters' valuable friends, they can not, even with the utmost protection,
always be relied upon to protect the forest from its enemies. ^

1 From manuscript of lecture on Forest Insects and Their Destructive Work, by Dr. A. D. Hopkins, in
charge of Forest Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agric.

2 Uopkins, A. D., BuU. 83, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agric, Part I, pp. 27-28, 1909.

7

8

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

Fig. 1. — Tongues of woodpeckers.

From these considerations it is at once apparent how important
must be any agency that restrains or Hmits this great army of tree
destroyers. Of all birds that further the welfare of trees, whether

of forest or orchard, woodpeckers are the
most important. The value of their work
in dollars and cents is impossible to cal-
culate, but careful study of their food in
both field and laboratory has brought out
many facts of practical importance.

Woodpeckers are essentially arboreal in
their habits and obtain the greater part of
their food from trees. Their physical con-
formation eminently adapts them to this
mode of life. Their legs are rather short
and stout, and the toes are furnished with
strong, sharp claws. With the exception
of the genus Picoides, all North American
Avoodpeckers have four toes, two of which
point forward and two backward. To
further aid in maintaining themselves on
the trunks of trees, their tails are com-
posed of stiff feathers terminating in sharp
spines, which can be pressed against the
bark and so serve as a prop to hold the bird in an upright position
while it is at work. Woodpeckers are thus enabled to cling easily
to the trunks and branches and to strike effective blows with their
beaks upon the bark
or wood

As much of the food
of woodpeckers is ob-
tained from solid wood,
Nature has provided
most of them with a
stout beak having a
chisel - shaped point,
which forms an ex-
ceedingly effective
wood-cutting instru-
ment. But the most
peculiar and interest-
ing point in the anat-
omy of these birds is the tongue. This is more or less cylindrical
in form and usually very long (Rg. 1, a). At the anterior end it
generally terminates in a hard point, with more or less barbs upon
the sides (fig. 1, h). Posteriorly the typical woodpecker tongue is

Fig. 2.— Special development of tongues of woodpeckers.

INTRODUCTION. , 9

extended in two lono^, slender filaments of the hyoid bone whicli curl
up around the back of the skull and, while they commonly stop
between the eyes, in some species they pass around the eye (fig. 2, h),
but in others enter the right nasal opening and extend to the end of
the beak (fig. 2, a). In this last case the tongue is practically twice
the length of the head. Posteriorly this organ is inclosed in a muscu-
lar sheath by means of which it can be extruded from the mouth to
a considerable length, and used as a most effective instrument for
dislodging grubs or ants from their burrows in wood or bark. Hence,
while most birds have to be content with such insects as they find on
the surface or in open crevices, the woodpeckers devote their energies
to those larvae or grubs which are beneath the bark or even in the
heart of the tree. They locate their hidden prey with great accuracy
and often cut small holes directly to the burrows of the grubs. In

Fig. 3.— Wood from which woodpecker has extracted insect.

figure 3 the grub had eaten a burrow through the heart of a maple
sapling, but its position was accurately determined by the bird, which
then cut through the soHd live wood until it reached the burrow and
extracted the insect.

In the United States, exclusive of outlying possessions, there
are about 45 species and subspecies of this family, most of which are
of decided economic importance. As a family they are much less
migratory than most other birds, and a majority of the species occupy
the same range throughout the year, which adds materially to their
value to farmers. Their food consists so largely of wood-boring
grubs, hibernating insects, and insects' eggs and pupae that their
su])phes do not fail even in the coldest weather.

The present paper is based upon the examination of 3,453 stom-
achs of woodpeckers representing 16 species and nearly twice as
many subspecies, taken in all i)arts of the United States, with a few
from Canada. In the following table the species are arranged in the

10

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

order of the average amount of animal food contained in their
stomachs.

Name of species.

Three-toed woodpecker (Picoides americanus)

Arctic three-toed woodpecker {Picoides arcticus)

Williamson sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus)

Red-cockaded woodpecker (Dryobates borealis)

Nuttall woodpecker {Dryobates nuttalli)

Hairy woodpecker {Dryobates villosus)

Downy woodpecker {Dryobates pubescens)

Pileated woodpecker {Phloeotomus pileatus)

Red-breasted sapsucker {Sphyrapicus ruber)

Red-shafted flicker ( Colaptes cafer)

Flicker ( Colaptes auratus)

Yellow-bellied sapsucker {Sphyrapicus varius)

Lewis woodpecker {A sy'ndesmus lewisi)

Red-headed woodpecker ( Melanerpes erythrocephalus) .

Red-bellied woodpecker ( Centurus carolinus)

California woodpecker ( Melanerpes f. bairdi)

Total....
Average.

Number of
stomachs.

23

28

17

76

53

382

723

80

34

183

684

313

59

443

271

84

3,453

Per cent of

animal

food.

94.06
88. 69
86. 67
81.06
79.41
77. 67
76.05
72.88
68. 92
67.74
60.92
49.31
37.48
33.83
30.94
22.59

64. 26

Per cent of

vegetable

food.

5.94
11.31
13.33
18.94
20.59
22.33
23.95
27.12
31. 08
32.26
39.08
50.69
62.52
66.17
69.06
77.41

35.74

It is not probable that these relations are absolute in every, case.
The position of Sphyrapicus ruber above the two species of Colaptes
is perhaps accidental, and the examination of a few stomachs more or
less would be likely to change slightly the relative positions. The
vegetable food, of course, stands in an inverse ratio to the animal.
Mineral matter (sand) is not taken largely by woodpeckers. The
most is found in the stomachs of the dickers, but it is probably picked
up accidentally with ants, of which these birds eat great numbers.
Ants constitute the largest item of animal food — 28.41 per cent,
considering the whole 16 species collectively — and are actually the
largest item in the stomachs of 8 species. The Williamson sapsucker,
the red-cockaded woodpecker, and the two flickers take the highest
rank in this respect. Beetles stand next in importance, and amount
to 20.42 per cent. These two items together form nearly half the
food. The remainder of the animal food is composed of insects,
with a few spiders, millepeds, and sowbugs, and occasionally a sala-
mander, tree frog, lizard, or snail. In the following table is given tlie
average percentage of ants and beetles in the stomach. The species
are arranged in the order of their rank as ant eaters.

Name of species.

Per cent of
ants.

Per cent of
beetles.

Williamson sapsucker {Sphyrapicus thyroideus)

Red-cockaded woodpecker '{Dryobates borealis)

Red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer)

Flicker ( Colaptes auratus) -.

Red-breasted sapsucker {Sphyrapicus ruber)

Pileated woodpecker {Phloeotomus -pileatus)

Yellow-bellied sapsucker {Sphyrapicus varius)

Downy woodpecker {Dryobates pubescens)

TIairy woodpecker {Dryobates villosus)

Lewis woodpecker {Asyndesmus lewisi)

Three-toed woodpecker {Picoides americanus)

Nuttall woodpecker {Dryobates nuttalli)

California woodpecker ( Melanerpes f.fiairdi)

Red-bellied woodpecker ( Centurus carolinus)

Arctic three-toed woodpecker {Picoides arctictis)

Red-headed woodpecker ( Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Average

85.94

56. 75

53.82

49.75

42.49

39.91

34.31

21. 36

17.10

11.87

8.29

8.19

8.09

6.45

6.35

5.17

0.13
11.02

6.55

5.14

4.02
22.01

6.02
21.55
41.42

9.12
71.05
28.86

2.67
10.18
67. 66
18.85

28.49

20.39

INTRODUCTION. 11

If the 16 species of woodpeckers herein discussed were arranged
in the order of their usefulness according to their food, they would
stand about as at top of page 10, except that the 3 species of Sphy-
rapicus, owing to their sap-sucking propensities, might be placed
at the foot of the column. It is unfortunate that so few stomachs
of the three or four species nearest the top have been received, but
probably those examined were in no way exceptional. The 2
species of Picoides are among the most useful birds, especially in the
forest, of which they are preeminently the conservators. More than
60 per cent of the animal food of these two birds consists of the larvae
of wood-boring beetles, which they dig from the bark and wood of
trees. The two species Dryohates puhescens and D. villosus do not
fall far behind in this good work, and several others eat very appre-
ciable quantities of wood borers. Among the beetles eaten by the
different birds are naturally some useful species, such as the preda-
ceous ground beetles (Carabidas) or tiger beetles (Cicindelidge) . The
redhead eats useful beetles to the extent of 7.34 per cent of its diet,
the Lewis woodpecker, with 6.7 per cent, stands next on the list of
offenders in this respect, followed by the red-shafted flicker with
3.9 per cent, and the eastern flicker with less than 2 per cent. No
other species had eaten so much as 1 per cent of these beetles. What-
ever sins woodpeckers may commit, the destruction of useful beetles
is not one of them.

Nearly all the vegetable food, except a few seeds, including some
grain, can be included under three items — fruit, cambium, and mast.
The greatest interest attaches to the cambium, which is a jellyHke
substance found just under the bark of growing trees and from which
both wood and bark are formed. The smaller species of wood-
peckers have been accused of pecking the bark from fruit and forest
trees to an injurious extent in order to get this substance. While
nearly all members of the family eat some cambium, the only ones
that really do much harm by the habit appear to be the yellow-
bellied sapsucker {SpJiyrapicus varius) and others of the same genus.
With the yellow-bellied sapsucker cambium amounts to about 17 per
cent of the annual food and in April reaches 48 per cent. As the
substance is often semifluid, probably much passes almost immedi-
ately out of the stomach, leaving only the harder and less easily
digested part, so that a much larger amount is eaten than is shown
by stomach examination.

In obtaining the cambium the bird sometimes denudes the tree of
its bark over a considerable area, and so ruins it for any economic
use except fuel; at other times a series of single punctures are made
in lines extending around the tree, and as new layers of wood grow
over these, the indentation at each puncture becomes less and less
pronounced. If, after some years, this timber be cut and sawed,

12 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

a tangential or circular cut across the punctures gives a bird's-eye
appearance very sirnilar to that which Nature produces in some
niaples. A radial cut through the punctures gives the curly look
often found in niany woods. It frequently happens, however, that
water enters at the punctures and causes a slight decay, which usually
disfigures the wood by niaking a dark stain, though occasionally the
effect is ornamental.

With the possible exception of the crow, no birds have been subject
to so much adverse criticism as the woodpeckers. When they are
seen scrambling over fruit trees and fresh holes are found in the bark,
it is concluded that they must be doing harm. But woodpeckers,
except a few species, rarely disfigure a healthy tree, but when they
find a tree infested by wood-boring larvse, they locate the insects
accurately, draw them out, and devour them. If in succeeding
years the burrows formerly occupied by the larvae are used by a
colony of ants, they in turn are dug out and destroyed.

The following are sarnples of testimony by Dr. Hopkins and other
eminent entomologists to the persistent and effective work of wood-
peckers in destroying wood-boring beetles and other insect enemies
of trees:

As has already been stated, woodpeckers are the most important enemies of the
bark beetle, and appear to be of inestimable value to the spruce-timber interests of
the Northeast. Indeed, I feel confident that in the many hundreds of infested trees
examined at least one-half of the beetles and their young had been destroyed by the
birds, and in many cases it was evident that even a greater proportion had perished
from this cause alone.

Estimating 100 beetles to the square foot of bark in the average infested tree, and
an average of 60 square feet of infested bark, it is possible for each tree to yield an
average of 6,000 individuals; 100 trees, 600,000, and so on. It is therefore plain
that, if one-half or two-thirds of this number are destroyed by the birds and other
enemies, the amount of timber the remainder can kill will be lessened. This is all
the more apparent when it is remembered that it is only when the beetles occur in
great numbers that they can overcome the resistance of the living trees. ^

Birds contribute their share, also, in destroying larvae and pupae. The work of
woodpeckers was found upon most of the trees which had been killed by Dendroctonus
hrevicomis, and these birds had evidently destroyed a large percentage of the insects
in some of the trees. ^

As natural enemies of this insect [the maple borer, Plagionotus speciosus] it is prob-
able that various species of woodpeckers render the greatest service. At Huntington,
Mass., I have seen the hairy woodpecker, the downy woodpecker, and the flicker
feeding upon white larvae taken from beneath the bark of maples infested by this
borer. ^

Woodpeckers do much good by hammering holes in the bark of infested cotton woods
and devouring the young carpenter worms [larvae of Cossus populi]. We certainly
ought to protect these feathered friends of ours instead of allowing every small boy in
the country to shoot them whenever he pleases,^

1 Hopkins, A. D., Bull. 28 (new ser.), Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 23, 25-26, 1901,

2 Webb, J. L., Bull. 58, Part II, Bureau of Entomology, U, S. Dept. Agric, p. 27, 1906.
' Kirkland, A. H., in Mass. Crop Report for June, 1897, p. 32, 1897.

* Doten, S. B., Bull. 49, Nevada Agric. Exper. Sta., p. 12, 1900.

HAIRY WOODPECKER. 13

I have found no parasite of this larva [Hepialus argenteomaculatus], but I have seen
that the woodpeckers are its deadly foes. In April, 1886, I had a favorable oppor-
tunity to search for the borer and was astonished at the scores removed by these birds.
They often drill through a deep layer of wood; often two holes are made one above
the other, the purpose being obvious. The morsel is evidently located, or its burrow
rather, by sounding, as I noticed many instances in which a row of punctures sur-
rounded the base of the alder. The destroyers are sometimes mistaken, for I found
their drillings, evidently made in search of this larva, in sound wood in which there
were no borers, but these were few compared with the successful trials.

Is it the activity of these birds that prevents the abundance in the forests of certain
borers, e. g. Aegeria acerni, whilst the same insect is often destructively abundant in
the ornamental maples of cities and villages? ^

HAIRY WOODPECKER.

{Dryohates villosus subspp.)

The hairy woodpecker (frontispiece), in one or another of its various
forms, inhabits the whole of temperate North America, but is rare
over some extensive areas. It is a rather restless, noisy bird, as com-
pared with its smaller relative, the downy, and makes itself conspicu-
ous by loud calls and rapid flights from tree to tree. It is eminently
arboreal in its habits and gets most of its food from trees. While
sometimes found in the midst of a dense forest, it prefers the outer
edge of the woodland or groves or orchards. In the latter it is quite
at home, especially if the trees be old and neglected, for then they
usually offer decayed knots and Hmbs where wood borers establish
their colonies. The bird is not migratory, unless witliin very narrow
limits, and where it occurs at all can usually be found the year round.
It nests in a cavity which it excavates in a partly decayed trunk or
branch. While often seen in the orchard, the hairy does not go there
for fruit. More than three-fourths of its food consists of animal
matter, and less than a fourth of the remainder is fruit, mostly of
wild species.

In the investigation of the food of the hairy woodpecker detailed
below, 382 stomachs were examined. They were obtained from 33
States and Territories, the District of Columbia, and Canada, and
were taken in every month of the year. They undoubtedly embrace
all the recognized subspecies, but as some of them were collected before
all the forms had been defined, they can not now be distinguished.
However, as the food of the various subspecies does not differ mate-
rially, the species has been treated as a whole. In the first analysis
the food divides into 77.67 per cent of animal matter and 22.33 of
vegetable. The animal food consists of insects, with a few spiders
and millepeds; the vegetable part is made up of fruit, seeds, and a
number of miscellaneous substances. This ratio of animal to vege-
table does not vary greatly during the year, the greatest difference

i KeUicott, D. S., Insect Life, 1, 251, Feb., 1889,

14 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

occurring in June, when the stomachs show 90 per cent of animal to
10 per cent of vegetable food. There is, however, no regular increase
or decrease as the seasons change, such as is noted in birds that sub-
sist upon flying insects and summer fruits. The wood-boring larvae
upon which this bird so largely feeds can be obtained at all times of
the year, and the same is true of most of the vegetable food.

Animal food. — The largest item in the annual diet of the hairy
woodpecker consists of the larvae of cerambycid and buprestid beetles,
with a few lucanids and perhaps some other wood borers. These
insects constitute over 31 per cent of the food and are eaten in every
month of the year. The greatest amount is taken in December, when
it reaches 41 per cent of the whole; and in May, the month of least
consumption, it still amounts to over 21 per cent. This shows how
earnest these birds are in their efforts to procure this kind of food.
In summer, insects and small fruits abound — enough to satisfy
appetite and in variety apparently suited to every taste — but the birds
still search for and obtain these wood-boring grubs to the extent of a
fifth or more of their daily food, at the cost of hours of hard labor in
digging them from the tree. One stomach contained 100 of these
larvae and 83 and 50, respectively, were taken from two others. Of
the 382 stomachs, 204, or 53 per cent, contained these grubs, and 27
of t]jiem held no other food. Other beetles amount to a little more
than 9 per cent. They are distributed among a number of families,
but are nearly all more or less harmful.

Weevils (Rhynchophora), or snout beetles, aggregate a little more
than 3 per cent, and are mostly represented by the curculios (Cur-
culionidae) and engraver beetles (Scolytidae). One of the former,
Dorytomus mucidus, seems to be a favorite, as it was found in a num-
ber of stomachs, of which one contained 109 and another 63 indi-
viduals. The engravers were found in 18 stomachs. One contained
50 adults and 25 larvae; another, 21 adults and 10 larv^. They were
of such species as Tomicus cselatus and Polygra])hus rufipennis. Of
the latter, 17 individuals were taken from one stomach. A few cara-
bids, or predaceous ground beetles, were also found. The average
amount of these useful insects consumed is sixty one-hundredths of
1 per cent (0.60). The month of greatest consumption is March,
when they are eaten to the extent of 2.46 per cent of the whole food.
Evidently this bird does little harm by eating useful beetles.

Ants stand second in importance in. the diet of the hairy wood-
pecker. They amount to a little more than 17 per cent, and are
eaten in every month. In January, which is the month of greatest
consumption, they reach more than 27 per cent and nearly the same
in February. They are apparently eaten the least in November,
when they aggregate somewhat more than 10 per cent, but this may
be accidental, as both October and December show higher percent-
ages and July practically the same. In a general way these insects

HAIRY WOODPECKER. 15

are eaten most in winter and early spring, but every month has a
good percentage. Hymenoptera other than ants are taken very
irregularly and in small quantities. In September somewhat more
than 5 per cent were eaten, but stomachs taken in May and December
contained none at all, and the average for the year is but a little more
than 1 per cent. In one stomach were found sawfly larvae, insects
which do not appear to be eaten extensively by birds.

Caterpillars are the next most important item of the hairy's food.
They amount to a little less than 10 per cent, and were found in
every month. The greater number were taken in August, when they
aggregated nearly .19 per cent, while March showed the least, a little
less than 2 per cent. Many of them were wood-boring species dug
out from the wood, like the beetle larvae. Prof. F. M. Webster states
that he has seen a hairy woodpecker successfully peck a hole through
the parchment-like covering of the cocoon of a Cecropia moth and
devour the contents. On examining more than 20 cocoons in a
grove of box elders, he found only 2 uninjured.

Bugs (Hemiptera) are evidently not a favorite food, as they were
found only to the extent of 2.41 per cent for the year. June ap-
pears to be the month of greatest consumption, with somewhat less
than 8 per cent, but four months show none at all, and bugs are very
irregularly distributed through the rest of the year. Plant-lice
(apliids) were found in 2 stomachs and scales in 4. One of the
latter was identified as the cherry or plum scale (Eulecanium cera-
sifex). Orthoptera, that is, grasshoppers, crickets, and cockroaches,
are rarely eaten by the hairy. A few eggs, probably those of tree
crickets, and the egg cases (ootheca) of cockroaches, constitute the
bulk of this food. These with a few miscellaneous insects amount to
a little more than 2 per cent for the year. Spiders with their cocoons
of eggs, including one jointed spider (Solpugidse), and a few millepeds,
were eaten to the extent of about 3.5 per cent, which completes the
quota of animal food.

The following is a list of insects identified in the food of the hairy
woodpecker:

COLEOPTERA.

Agonoderus pallipes. Nyctobates pennsylvanica.

Ipsfasciatus. Upis ceramboides.

Melanotus cribricollis. Boletotherus bi/urcus.

Chrysobothris sp. Boletophagus corticola.

Cymatodera undulata. Dendroides sp.

Lachnosterna sp Dorytomus mucidus.

Ergates sp. Tomicus ccelatus.

Asemum mcestum. Polygraphus rufipennis.
Eleodes sp.

HYMENOPTERA.

Ant (Camponotus pictus).

16 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

DIPTERA.

Bluebottle fly (Phormia sp.).

HEMIPTERA.

Plum and cherry scale (Eulecanium cera- Harvest fly (Tibicen rimosa).
si/ex).

Vegetable food. — The vegetable food of the hairy woodpecker may
be considered under four heads: Fruit, grain, seeds, and miscellane-
ous vegetable substances. Fruit amounts to 5.22 per cent of the food,
and was contained in 54 stomachs, of which 13 held what was diag-
nosed as domestic varieties, and 41 contained wild species. Rubus
seeds (blackberries or raspberries) were identified in 4 stomachs, and
were counted as domestic fruit, but it is perhaps more probable that
they were wild. Strawberry seeds (occurring in 1 stomach) and
pulp (thought to be apple) were the only other cultivated varieties
that could be distinguished with a reasonable degree of certainty.
Evidently the hairy woodpecker does no damage by preying upon
orchard or garden products. Of wild fruit 18 species were identified.
It constitutes the great bulk of the fruit eaten, and is nearly all of
varieties not useful to man.

Corn was the only grain discovered in the food. It was found in
10 stomachs, and amounted to 1.37 per cent. In 2 stomachs taken
in August and September it was still in the milk, but all the rest was
eaten in winter, so it must have been waste. Seeds of various plants
had been eaten by 18 birds, but most of them were of little economic
value. The seed of poison ivy and poison sumac (Rhus radicans and
R. vernix) were found in 17 stomachs, and as they usually pass
through the alimentary canal uninjured, the birds do some harm by
scattering the seeds of these noxious plants. The total percentage
of seeds of all kinds is 4.50.

Cambium, or the inner bark of trees, was identified in 23 stomachs.
Evidently the hairy does but little damage by denuding trees of their
bark. Mast, made up of acorns, hazelnuts, and beechnuts, was found
in 50 stomachs. It was mostly taken in the fall and winter months,
and appears to be quite a favorite food during the cooler part of the
year. Dr. Merriam says that in northern New York the hairy wood-
pecker, like the other woodpeckers of the Adirondack region, feeds
largely on beechnuts. In late fall, winter, and early spring following
good yields of beechnuts, the nuts form the principal food of the
woodpeckers. When grubs and ants are taken from decayed or de-
caying trees, bits of rotten wood, dead leaves, and other rubbish are
eaten with them. Such material was found in 72 stomachs, though
in most cases the percentage was small. Cambium, mast, and rub-
bish together constitute a little less than 1 1 per cent of the food.

DOWNY WOODPECKER. 17

The following is the list of fruits and seeds identified in the
food :

P'oxtail grass (Ixophorus sp . ) . Jimeberry (Amelanchier canadensis) .

Bayherry seed (Myricacarolinensis). Northwestern Juneberry {Amelanchier
Hazelnut ( Corylus sp . ) . alnifolia) .

Beechnut (Fagus americanus) . Chokeberry {Aronia sp.).

Acorn (Quercus sp . ) . Strawberry ( Fragaria sp . ) .

Mulberry ( Morus rubra). Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana).

Sassafras berry {Sassafras sassafras) . Black or rum cherry {Prunus serotina) .

Spice berry {Benzoin benzoin). Woodbine berry {Parthenodssus quinque-
Pigweed {Amaranthus sp.). folia).

Pokeberry {Phytolacca decandra). Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia).

Vervain ( Verbena sp.). Sumac {Rhus glabra).

Blueberry ( Vacdnium sp.). Poison sumac {Rhus vernix).

Elderberry {Sambucus canadensis). Poison ivy {Rhus radicans).

Sour gum {Nyssa sylvatica). Black mustard {Brassica nigra).

Flowering dogwood ( Cornus florida) . Barberry {Berberis sp . ) .
Rough-leaved dogwood {Cornus asperi- Magnolisi {Magnolia foetida).
folia).

Summary. — The foregoing analysis of the food of the hair}^ wood-
pecker shows that it is a bird from which the orchardist and forester
have nothing to fear and much to gain. The quantity of useful insects
or economic produce which it eats is insignificant. On the other
hand, the number of destructive larvae which it devours must have
a very sensible effect in reducing the abundance of these pests.

DOWNY WOODPECKER.

(Dryobates puhescens subspp.)

The downy woodpecker (frontispiece) is the smallest member of
the family in the United States. With its various forms it occupies
practically the whole country and extends north into British America
and as far as Alaska. To the ordinary observer it is but a miniature
edition of the hairy, as the plumage is practically the same. It is also
a quieter bird and probably the least wary and suspicious member of
the family. When busy in search of food, it pays httle attention to
human intruders, and often the first intimation of its presence is a
gentle tapping on a dead branch or knot only a few yards away, where
a colony of ants or some wood-boring larvae have established them-
selves.

Like the hairy, it does not migrate, and may be found on its range
at any time during the year. Owing, perhaps, to the absence of so
many other birds and the leafless condition of the trees, it seems to
be most conspicuous in winter. After the summer visitors have gone
southward, the downy has a habit of associating with a mixed com-
pany of titmice, creepers, nuthatches, and sometimes a few kinglets,
who seem to be bound together by a community of interest in the
75713°— Bull. 37—11 2

18 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

matter of food, for they all forage over the bark of the trunks and
branches of trees and eat practically the same things.

The following are samples of testimony as to the good work of the
downy :

The downy woodpecker, which is so common in Montana and which is so often
seen in our orchards, is the fruit-grower's friend. Besides picking up miscellaneous
pests it locates burrows of this borer [flat-headed apple-tree borer, Chrysohoihris femo-
ratd] and extracts them in considerable numbers. In the older orchards of Montana
scarcely a tree can be found that does not bear the marks of woodpeckers, a large
proportion of which are made by this species.^

Mr. E. D wight Sanderson, in speaking of the work of the downy
woodpecker, says:

He is the arch enemy of the codling moth and were it not for his good offices in
destroying the larvae in the winter your apple crop might frequently be a failure. ^

Prof. Samuel Aughey examined four stomachs of the downy wood-
pecker in Nebraska, all of which contained grasshoppers.

The late Dr. Townend Glover, entomologist of the Department of
Agriculture, states that the stomach of a downy woodpecker shot
in February ''was filled with black ants." He states further:

On one occasion a downy woodpecker was observed by myself making a number
of small, rough-edged perforations in the bark of a young ash tree, and upon examin-
ing the tree when the bird had flown it was found that wherever the bark had been
injured the young larvae of a wood-eating beetle had been snugly coiled underneath,
and had been destroyed by the bird.^

In the laboratory investigation of the food of the downy wood-
pecker 723 stomachs were examined. They were collected in 33
States, the District of Columbia, and Canada. They are quite regu-
larly distributed over the 12 months of the year, and probably repre-
sent fairly the average annual food. This is made up of 76.05 per
cent of animal matter to 23.95 per cent of vegetable.

Animal food. — Beetles taken collectively amount to 21.55 per cent,
and are the largest item of the food. Of these, a little less than 14
per cent are wood-boring larvae, principally cerambycids, with some
buprestids. They were found in 289 stomachs, or about 40 per cent
of all, and 10 contained no other food. This is only about half the
amount found in the stomachs of the hairy woodpecker, and shows
that the downy pecks wood much less than the hairy. These larvae
are eaten at all times of the year, though the most are taken in the
cooler months. In November they constitute 20 per cent of the
food, which is the maximum, though in the other fall months and
in the winter and spring months they do not fall far below. In June
the minimum of 4.5 per cent was eaten. The economic value of the
destruction of these larvae is very great.

1 Cooley, R. A., Bull. 51, Montana Agric. Exper. Sta., p. 226, 1903.

2 Bull. 131, New Hampshire Agric. Exper. Sta, p. 18, 1907.

3 U. S. Commissioner of Agric, Kept, for 1865, pp. 37-38, 1866.

DOWNY WOODPECKER. 19

Weevils amount to a little more than 3 per cent, but appear to be
a rather favorite food, as they were found in 107 stomachs, and 4
contained 50, 36, 34, and 33 adult individuals, respectively, while in
another were 100 in the pupal stage. The engravers (Scolytidse)
were identified in 12 stomachs. Other beetles aggregate a little less
than 5 per cent of the food, and are all more or less harmful except
a few carabids, which amount to 0.80 per cent for the year.

Ants are eaten by the downy to the extent of 21.36 per cent of its
diet, and are taken more regularly than any other element of the
food. October, with 9.85 per cent, appears to be the month of
minunum consumption, but it is doubtful if this would always hold,
as every other month shows at least twice this amount. Hymenop-
tera other than ants are eaten very sparingly by the downy. They
aggregate only 1.18 per cent, and in June, the month of greatest
consumption, amount to only 2.45 per cent, while none were found
in the 28 stomachs taken in May.

Ilemiptera, or bugs, were found in 111 stomachs, and constitute
8.57 per cent of the food. Scales, or bark lice, were found in 41
stomachs and aphids, or plant lice, in 20. A collection of 10 stomachs
taken in Maine in March contained from 90 to 100 per cent of scales,
the average for 10 stomachs being 93.10 per cent. This would seem
to indicate that where these insects abound, the birds collect and
feed upon them almost exclusively. Scales and plant lice together
amount to 2.85 per cent of the yearly food. Four genera and two
species of scales were identified. Bugs of various other species reach
a little less than 6 per cent.

Caterpillars appear to be a very acceptable food for the downy
woodpecker, as they constitute 16.50 per cent of the yearly diet. A
large proportion of them are of the wood-boring species, and were
evidently dug out of the wood, the same as the beetle larvae. Others
are surface feeders taken from leaves and bark. In this connection
the greatest interest attaches to the pupae and larvae of the codling
moth, generally recognized as the worst pest of the apple orchard.
These insects, in one stage or the other, were identified in 8 stomachs.
Wliile this is a small number, the wonder is that the bird gets them at
all. The eggs are minute, and as soon as they hatch the larvae bore into
the fruit, where they feed in security, though it is claimed by some
observers that w^oodpeckers sometimes dig them out. When full
g.rown, they leave the apple and crawl into some cranny, where they
change to pupae. It is in this condition, i. e., as larvae full grown or
pupae, that they are secured by the birds. One stomach of the
downy contained 18, and another 16 of these grubs. As the adult
moth flies by night and lies hidden during the day, it is probably not
often taken by birds. In any case, it would be hard to identify in
the stomachs. Various insects, including grasshoppers and flies,

20 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

make up about 2 per cent of the food. Grasshoppers, though so
acceptable to many birds, were found in only 2 stomachs of the
downy. On the other hand, eggs of grasshoppers, crickets, katydids,
and cockroaches were identified in 48 stomachs, mostly taken in the
fall and winter. Eleven stomachs from Kansas collected in December
deserve special notice. Eight of them contained the eggs of grass-
hoppers to an average extent of 10 per cent of all the contents.
Seven stomachs taken in Illinois in March contained grasshoppers'
eggs to an average of over 46 per cent of the whole food. This is evi-
dence of valuable service and emphasizes the fact that this bird
resorts to the ground for food in case of necessity.

Miscellaneous insects amount to but 2.80 per cent, but among them
is one that deserves particular notice. This is the immature form of
the dobson (Corydalis cornutas), a large aquatic insect of nocturnal
habits, seldom seen except when it approaches a bright light. The
larvae are commonly known as hellgramites, and are usually found
under stones in the beds of streams, though sometimes seen among wet
rubbish near water. How a woodpecker could obtain these creatures
is a mystery, but 1 stomach of the downy contained the remains of at
least 4 of the larvse, and in another was 1 in the pupal stage.

Spiders, millepeds, pseudoscorpions, sowbugs, and a few snails
aggregate 4.09 per cent, and complete the quota of the animal food.

The following is a list of insects identified in the food :

COLEOPTERA.

Amara sp. Platydema sp.

Gynandropus hylacis. Helops sereus.

Stenolophus sp. Notoxus alamedx. '

Ipsfasciatus. Pandeletejus hilaris.

Tenebrioides bimaculata. Dorytomus mucidus.

Dolopius lateralis. Dorytomus brevicollis.

Melanotus sp. Desmoris constrictus.

Chrysobothris sp. Gymnetron teter.

Catorama sp. Conotrachelus naso.

Aphodius inquinatus. Cryptorhynchus ferratus.

Elaphidion sp. Centrinus sp,

Rhagium lineatum. Balaninus sp.

Oberea sp. Xyloterus bivittatus.

Diachus auratus. Hylesinus aculeatus.

Gastroidea cyanea. Piezocorynus mixtus.
Melasoma californica.

HYMENOPTERA.

Ants ( Camponotus marginatus and C. pennsylvanicus) .

LEPIDOPTERA.

Tent caterpillar (Malacosoma sp.). Codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella).

Cotton boUworm {Heliotkis obsoletus).

DOWNY WOODPECKER. 21

HEMIPTERA.

False chinch bug (Piesma cinerea). Oak scale (Kermes sp.).

Red bug (Largus succinctus). Olive scale (Saissetia olese).

White scale (Aspidiotus sp.). Plum and cherry scale (Eulecanium cera-

sifex).

ORTHOPTERA.

Large meadow grasshopper (Orchelimum glaherrimum) .

NEUROPTERA.

Dobson (Corydalis cornuta).

Vegetable food.— Fruii was eaten to the extent of 5.85 per cent of
the whole food. Most of it is of useless wild varieties. Ten species
were identified by their seeds, of which the Rubus fruits, i. e., rasp-
berries or blackberries, might have been cultivated, but probably
were not. They were found in only 1 stomach. A number of
stomachs contained fruit pulp, which could not be further identified
and may have been cultivated. Corn was found in 20 stomachs,
most of it taken in the winter and early spring months, so that it
was waste grain, except that found in 2 stomachs in August and
September, which was probably in the milk. A few other stomachs
held what was thought to be grain of some kind, but w^as too finely
ground for further identification. Grain of all kinds aggregates
1 .66 per cent.

The poison Rhuses (Rhus radicans, R. vernix, R. diversiloha, and
R. toxicodendron) seem to afford a favorite winter food for many
birds. While the seeds themselves are so thoroughly protected by
a hard, horny coating that they are seldom broken in the stomachs,
they are overlaid by a white waxy pulp, which easily comes off, and
is probably very nutritious. These seeds were found in 86 stomachs
of the downy woodpecker, and they amount to 5.93 per cent of the
food. Unfortunately they germinate freely after they have been
voided, and probably these birds are the most efficient agents in
distributing these noxious plants. Mast, i. e., acorns, beechnuts,
chestnuts, hazelnuts, chinquapins, with a few other smaller seeds,
amounts to 8.20 per cent of the food. This food is eaten in every
month — the most in January and the least in July. A little cambium
and some rubbish make up the remainder of the vegetable food,
2.31 per cent. The charge sometimes made that the downy injures
trees by eating the inner bark is disproved. It eats cambium rarely
and in small quantities.

The following seeds and fruits were found in the downy's food:

Bayberry (Myrica carolinensis) . Sorrel {Rumex sp.).

Hornbeam (Ostrya mrginiana). Smartweed {Polygonum sp.).

Beech (Fagus americanus) . Pokeweed (Phijtolacca decandra).

Oak {Quercus sp.). Blackberry or raspberry (Rubus sp.).

22 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

Mountain ash (Sorbus americana). Alternate-leaved dogwood {Cornus aUer-

Juneberry {AmelancJiier canadensis) . nifolia).

Poison ivy {Rhus radicans). Mullein ( Verbascum thajpsus).

Toisonook (Rhus diversiloba). FAderherry {Sambucus canadensis):

Woodbine (Parthenodssus quinquefolia) . Sunflower {Helianthus sp.).

Flowering dogwood ( Cornus fiorida) . Blueberry ( Vaccinium sp . ) .
Rough-leaved dogwood {Cornus asperi-
folia).

Summary. — The foregoing discussion of the food of the downy
woodpecker shows it to be one of our most useful species. The
only complaint against the bird is on the score of disseminating the
poisonous species of Khus. However, it is fortunate that the bird
can live on this food when it is difficult to procure anything else.
The insect food selected by the downy is almost all of species econom-
ically harmful.

BED-COCKADED WOODPECKER.

(Dryobates borealis.)

The red-cockaded woodpecker is an inhabitant of the Lower
Austral zone of the Southeastern States from southern Virginia to
eastern Texas and southern Missouri. Pine woods are its favorite
haunts, and a large percentage of its food is obtained from pine trees.
No complaints have yet been heard that this bird harms crops or
forest trees, nor do the contents of its stomach indicate that such is
the case. So far as known, it does not frequent orchards or cultivated
land.

In the investigation of this bird's food 76 stomachs were available,
taken in the four States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
They were collected in every month except June and July. Of the
total food 81.06 per cent was composed of insects, and the remainder,
18.94 per cent, of vegetable matter, mostly seeds of conifers.

Animal food. — Useful Coleoptera, i. e., carabids, were found in 7
stomachs, and amount to 0.53 per cent of the whole food. Other
beetles, a large part of them the larvse of wood-boring species, aggre-
gate 10.49 per cent of the annual diet. Of these a number were
weevils or snout beetles. Of the two identified beetles in the list
which follows, the first belongs to the Chrysomelidos or leaf-eating
beetles; the other, Trogosita virescens, is one of the most beneficial
species, since it preys upon the more destructive bark beetles and
bark-boring grubs. Ants are evidently the favorite food. They were
eaten in every month of which we have a record, and amount to a good
percentage in each. December, with a percentage of 27.43, was
apparently the month of least consumption, and September shows the
maximum of 79 per cent, but we have hardly enough data to obtain
final figures. The average for the year is 56.75 per cent, a record
which is exceeded by that of only one other bird yet studied.

NUTTALL WOODPECKEE. 23

Hemiptera are eaten to the extent of 8.16 per cent of the food, and
a good proportion of them are scales or bark Uce. The others are
mostly pentatomids or soldier-bugs. Nearly all were taken in the
five months from December to April, inclusive, and two-thirds of them
in December and January. These insects, and especially the penta-
tomids, are lovers of warm weather and sunshine, and many of them
live on fruit. It seems probable that this bird gets them from their
hibernating places. Grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, caterpillars,
white ants ( Termes) , and spiders make up the rest of the animal food,
5.13 per cent. The cockroaches were in the form of their egg cases
(ootheca) .

The following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs:

COLEOPTERA.

Gastroidea sp. Trogosita chloridea.

Trogosita virescens. Tomicus cacographus.

HYMENOPTERA.

Ant (Camponotus socius). Ant (Cremastogaster laeviuscula).

HEMIPTERA.

Green tree bug {Nezara hilaris).

Vegetable food. — The greater part of the vegetable food consists of
mast, mostly composed of the seeds of conifers. They were found in
26 of the 76 stomachs, and appear to be a somewhat regular article of
diet, especially in the colder months. The total amount for the year
is 11.13 per cent. Fruit pulp, poison-ivy seeds, bay berry seeds, seeds
not identified, cambium, and rubbish each occurred in a few stomachs,
and altogether amount to about 8 per cent of the food. Fruit pulp
was found in 5 stomachs, but none of it could be further identified.
Cambium was contained in 4 stomachs, and seeds of poison ivy in 1.
Evidently this food has little economic interest.

The following seeds were identified in the food:

Bayberry (Myrica carolinensls). Magnolia { Magnolia foetida).

Poison ivy (Rhus radicans). Pine {Pinus sp.).

Summary. — From this brief review of the food of the red-cockaded
woodpecker it is evident that it does little if any damage by eating
products of husbandry, and that it does good work in the forest by
devouring wood-boring larvae. No doubt it aids in distributing the
seeds of the pines upon which it feeds.

NUTTALL WOODPECKER.

(Dryobates nuttalli.) '

This bird is much like the downy in its quiet demeanor, its lack
of fear of man, and its unobtrusive industry in searching for food.
It is only a trifle larger than the downy, and its foraging and nesting

24 "POOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

habits are similar. Its range is practically confined to California,
though it extends slightly beyond the boundaries at the northern
and southern ends of the State.

The food of the Nuttall is much like that of the downy, the principal
difference being in the relative proportions of the constituents. Only
53 stomachs of the Nuttall were available for examination — entirely
too few to furnish final results, but enough to give an idea of the
general character of the food. In the first analysis the food divides
into 79.41 per cent of animal matter and 20.59 of vegetable. This
differs but little from the record of the downy.

Animal food. — The largest item in the diet of the Nuttall consists
of beetles of several families. The total for the year is 28.86 per
cent. Of these the useful Carabidie are barely represented. The
remainder are divided among about a dozen families, of which the
very harmful Cerambycidse and Elateridse in the larval stage are the
most prominent. Ants amount to 8.19 per cent and are unevenly
distributed, and the indications are that the stomachs are entirely
too few to give trustworthy data on this item. Ilymenoptera other
than ants were eaten to the extent of 3.50 per cent. This again is
not a reliable result, as nearly all of them were found in one stomach
taken in December. Hemiptera, or bugs, amounted to 14.76 per
cent. A few of these were scales and plant lice, but the majority
were of the larger species. Two stomachs contained each between
30 and 40 box-elder bugs {Leptocoris triinttatus). These insects
have a way of becoming very abundant at times and making a
nuisance of themselves by invading buildings in search of winter
quarters. Caterpillars stand third in the dietary of the Nuttall
woodpecker and are eaten more regularly than any other food except
beetles. They amount to 14.21 per cent. No special pest was iden-
tified, but some were evidently wood-boring species. A few flies,
raphidians, pseud oscorpions, spiders, and millepeds make up the
rest of the animal food, 9.89 per cent.

Following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs of the
Nuttall:

COLEOPTERA.

Glyptoscelis albidus. Blapstinus sp.

Gastroidea sp. Balaninus sp.

HEMIPTERA.

Sinea diadema. Leptocoris trivittatus.

ISOPTERA.

White ant (Termes sp.).

Vegetable food. — Fruit was eaten to the extent of 8.49 per cent.
It was found in 15 stomachs, of which 2 contained rubus seeds;
5, elderberries; and the rest, pulp not further identified, except that

THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS. 25

in 1 stomach it was thought to be apple. Flower buds were found
in 1 stomach. Poison oak (.Rhus diversiloha) was noted in 9 stom-
achs, mast in 5, cambium in 2, and rubbish, etc., in 5. Altogether
they amounted to 12.10 per cent, and made up the quota of vegetable
food. None of them was eaten to a sufficient extent to be of any
economic interest.

The following fruits were found in the stomachs:

Blackberry or raspberry (Rubus sp.). Poison oak (Rhus diversiloha).

Elderberry (Sombucus glauca).

Summary. — In its animal food the Nuttall woodpecker is beyond
criticism. Practically all of the insects eaten are either pests or of
no positive benefit. While some fruit is eaten, it consists largely,
and perhaps entirely, of wild varieties. Probably the worst that
can be said of the bird is that it helps in the distribution of poison-
oak seeds.^

THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS.

{Picoides arcticus and P. americanus.)

The three-toed woodpeckers are residents of the Boreal zones of
North America, in Alaska, Canada, the northeastern United States,
and in the mountains of the Western States, south to southern New
Mexico and to central California. The two species, including the
two subspecies of americanus, are so similar in habits that they may
be treated together. All are residents of coniferous forests, from
which they sometimes wander a short distance in winter. The
trunks of scaly-barked conifers, such as spruces, hemlocks, tama-
racks, and lodgepole pines, are their favorite hunting grounds, and
here they excavate burrows in which they rear their young and find
shelter at night.

In their choice of food these two species are as closely allied as in
other respects. The great bulk consists of the larvae of wood-boring
beetles or moths. These are eaten with great regularity throughout
the year, but somewhat more in the colder months than in summer.
In the dead of winter, when all insect Hfe is apparently quiescent,
these birds still obtain their daily food. FHes and bees no longer
sport in the sunshine; butterflies and flowers are replaced by sleet
and snow ; the beetles are either dead or snugly ensconced in crevices
in the bark, awaiting the return of warmth, while the larvae repose in
their burrows of solid wood, apparently safe from all disturbance.
But undaunted by cold and undeterred by hard work, our intrepid
little friends tear open the secure retreats in the bark, or chisel into
the sohd wood, and feast upon the luckless insects.

Unfortunately only 28 stomachs of Picoides arcticus and 23 of P.
americanus were available for examination. There are few birds

1 Another species of Dryobates (Z). arizonae), of which no stomachs have been received, Inhabits the
mountains from northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico south into Mexico.

26 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

which eat more of the pests of the forests than do the three-toed
woodpeckers; and while we have no doubt determined the principal
food factors, there are many minor questions for the solution of
which additional material is necessary.

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 with both
species is wood-boring coleopterous larvae. These amount to 64.25
per cent with arcticus and 60.66 with americanus. Caterpillars,
which in this case are mostly wood-boring species, amount to 12.88
and 14.45 per cent for the two bird respectively. The total of wood-
boring larvae, including both caterpillars and beetles, is 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 containing 15
to 20 of these grubs are very common, and one held 34. Probably
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. If this assumption be true, the birds of these
two species must destroy an immense quantity of wood-boring insects,
even if they do not cause any perceptible diminution in their num-
bers. Beetles other than wood-borers amount to 3.41 per cent for
arcticus and 10.39 for americanus. A considerable proportion of
these were weevils, including quite a number of engravers (Scoly-
tidae). They are, however, eaten so irregularly as to indicate that
they are taken only incidentally and are not sought, as are the wood-
boring grubs. Ants constitute 6.35 per cent of the food of arcticus
and 8.29 of that of americanus. None of these were taken in winter,
and most of them were eaten in spring and summer. The Picoides
do not belong to the ant-eating group of woodpeckers. 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. — Vegetable matter constitutes 11.31 per cent of the
stomach contents of arcticus and 5.94 per cent of that of americanus.
It can all be included in four items: Fruit, mast, cambium, and
rubbish. Fruit skins were found in only 1 stomach of americanus
and mast in but 1 stomach of arcticus. Cambium was found in 10
stomachs of arcticus and 8 of americanus. Tliis indicates that these
birds do some pecking at the bark of living trees for other purposes
than getting insects, but no complaints have yet been made, from
which we infer that little or no damage is done; in fact the amount
contained in tlie stomachs is not large, a little less than 10 per cent.
Rubbish, consisting principally of rotten wood, was found in 9

YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER OR SAPSUCKER. 27

stomachs. Where a bird pecks wood as much as do these, it is no
wonder that some of it is swallowed with the grubs that are embed-
ded therein.

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. Three-fourths of their food consists of the
direst enemies of forest trees. In the Report on Forest Insects by
the United States Entomological Commission, some 25 species of
cerambycid and buprestid beetles are noted as preying upon the ash
tree and 35 upon the pine. Since the family Cerambycidae contains
upward of 7,500 species, of which 600 are found in America, since all
pass their larval stage within the substance of some tree or woody
plant, and since many remain in the larval state two or three years,
evidently they inflict upon forest trees and other plants an immense
amount of damage. Probably there are not many other agencies
more destructive to timber than this family of beetles. Nor is timber
safe even after it has been cut. Logs lying in the miU yard or forest
may be ruined in a single season if these creatures are not prevented
from depositing their eggs. So long do some of these larvae live in the
wood that tliey sometimes emerge after it has been converted into
furniture and passed into household use. A very efhcient check upon
the undue increase of these insects is found in the woodpeckers,
especially the two species of Picoides. In orchards, or in parks, it
may be easy to combat insect enemies by insecticides or other arti-
ficial means, but in the forest this is more difficult and expensive, and
it behooves the forester to take advantage of all helpers which Nature
has provided; among these, insectivorous birds must take high rank.
It is unfortunate that in most places three-toed woodpeckers are not
as numerous as many other species, and for this reason they should be
protected and encouraged in every possible way.

YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER OR SAPSUCKER.

(Sphyrapicus varius and subsp.)

The yellow-bellied woodpecker or sapsucker (PI. II) is probably
the most migratory of all our woodpeckers. It breeds throughout
the whole of southern Canada from ocean to ocean and thence south-
ward to northeastern California, western Texas, northern Missouri,
northern Ohio, and Massachusetts, and in the mountains south to
North Carolina. It winters from near the southern limit of the
breeding range south to Mexico, Cuba, and Costa Rica.

It is to this species that the term sapsucker is most often and most
justly applied, for it drills holes in the bark of certain trees and
drinks the sap. It feeds also on cambium, insects, and wild fruits
and berries.

28 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

In writing of the habits of these woodpeckers in northern New
York, in 1878, Dr. Merriam states:

They really do considerable mischief by drilling holes in the bark of apple, thorn-
apple, and mountain ash trees in such a way as to form girdles of punctures, some-
times 2 feet or more in breadth (up and down), about the trunks and branches.
* * * The holes, which are sometimes merely single punctures, and sometimes
squarish spaces (multiple punctures) nearly half an inch across, are placed so near
together that not infrequently they cover more of the tree than the remaining bark.
Hence, more than half of the bark is sometimes removed from the girdled portions,
and the balance often dries up and comes off. Therefore it is not surprising that
trees which have been extensively girdled generally die, and mountain ash are much
more prone to do so than either apple or thornapple trees, due, very likely, to their
more slender sterns.^

The late Frank Bolles has pubhshed some interesting detailed
observations respecting the food habits of the sapsucker. His
conclusions are:

That the yellow-bellied woodpecker is in the habit for successive years of drill-
ing the canoe birch, red maple, red oak, white ash, and probably other trees, for the
purpose of taking from them the elaborated sap, and in some cases parts of the cam-
bium layer; that the birds consume the sap in large quantities for its own sake and
not for insect matter which such sap may chance occasionally to contain; that the
sap attracts many insects of various species, a few of which form a considerable part
of the food of this bird, but whose capture does not occupy its time to anything like
the extent to which sap drinking occupies it; * * * that the forest trees attacked
by them generally die, possibly in the second or third year of use.-

Mr. Bolles shot 8 sapsuckers in July and August, 1890. Their
stomachs ''were well filled with insects." Some of these were
examined by Mr. Samuel H. Scudder, who states:

The insects in the different stomachs are in all cases almost exclusiyely composed of
the harder chitinous parts of ants. In a cursory examination I find little else, though
one or two beetles are represented, and No. 4 must have swallowed an entire wasp of
the largest size, his head and wings attesting thereto.^

Mr. Bolles proved by experiment that concentrated sap (saturated
with sugar) is not sufficient to sustain life, even with the addition of
a small percentage of insects. The logical inference is that sap,
while liked by the birds and consumed in large quantities, holds a
subordinate place as an article of food.

J. Maurice Thompson says of the sapsucker:

Its food is sap or juices of green trees. It eats nothing else. ^ ^ ^ The principal
trees from which it obtains its food are the maples, hickories, cedar, apple, pear,
southern pine, and swamp ash.^

In speaking of this species Dr. Hopkins mentions the finding of
a small pitch pine tree that had recently died from injuries by wood-
peckers. The bird evidently attacks the healthy tree for the sole

1 Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, IV, 3-5, January, 1879.

2 Auk, VIII, 270, July, 1891.

3 Auk, VIII, 269, July, 1891.

< Appleton's Journal, VIII, 631, Dec. 7, 1872.

YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER OR SAPSUCKER. 29

purpose of feedin^^ on the inner bark. Thus, instead of destroying
insects, it made the conditions favorable for the attack of bark beetles
and other insects which had bred in the bark and wood in considerable
numbers. To anticipate the possible conclusion that the woodpecker
intended to thus trap the insects and return to eat them, Dr. Hopkins
added that at the time the observations were made, the insects had
not been molested.^

This investigation of the food of the yellow-bellied sapsucker is
based upon examination of the contents of 313 stomachs, collected in
24 States, Canada, and the District of Columbia, and distributed over
12 months of the year. Of this food 49.31 per cent is animal matter
and 50.69 vegetable. This is the first species discussed in which the
vegetable part of the diet is greater than the animal. This is true
of 5 of the 16 species under consideration.

Animal food. — Useful beetles, i. e., predaceous ground beetles and
ladybirds (Coccinellidse), are eaten by the sapsucker to the extent of
only 0.91 per cent of the whole food. Other beetles amount to 4.54
per cent, and are made up of weevils, dung beetles (ApJiodius), and
click beetles, with a few cerambycid larvae. Ants amount to 34.31
per cent of the whole food, or 69 per cent of the animal part. They
are evidently favorite food, being eaten quite regularly through the
year, although the months from May to August, inclusive, show the
highest percentages, averaging over 68 per cent. Other Hymenoptera
amount to 2.64 per cent, and are very irregularly taken. October
appears to be the month of greatest consumption, with 15.07 per cent.
Hemiptera are eaten very sparingly. Scales (Coccidse) were found in
two stomachs, and in one were identified as the plum scale (Eulecan-
ium cerasifex) ; these, with a few stink bugs, amount to a little less
than 1 per cent for the year. A few miscellaneous insects and spiders
aggregate 5.44 per cent. The insects consist of May flies, stone fhes,
grasshoppers, crickets, tree hoppers, caterpillars and moths, and
flies (Diptera). A few eggs were found, probably those of the tent
caterpillars ( Malacosoma) .

The following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs :

COLEOPTERA.

Coccinella 9-notata. Aphodius inquinatus.

Coccinella sanguinea. Dichelonycha sp.

Adalia bipunctata. Xanthonia 10-notata.

Anatis sp. Diabrotica 12-punctata.

Lxmophlxus biguttatus. Canifa pallipes.

Onthophagus sp. Pandeletejus hilaris.

Aphodius fimetarius. Balaninus sp.

HYMENOPTERA.

Vespa maculata. Pimpla sp.

Vespa arenaria.

1 Hopkins, A. D.. Bull. 56, West Virginia Agric. Exper. Sta., p. 355, 1890.

30 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

HEMIPTERA.

Plum or cherry scale (Eulecanium cerasi/ex).

LEPIDOPTERA.

Tent caterpillar (Malacosoma sp.).

Vegetable food. — The two • principal items of vegetable food are
fruit and cambium. Twenty-two species of wild fruit and two of
cultivated were identified. In general the least fruit is eaten in spring
and summer and the most in fall and winter. Altogether it was found
in 118 stomachs, noiie in May and the most, 71.26 per cent, in Novem-
ber. It was evidently mainly berries left on the bushes. Seeds of
Rubus fruit, which may be either wild or cultivated, were found in two
stomachs, and two contained what was thought to be apple pulp. The
total of the fruit is 28.06 per cent of the food, but evidently has little
economic interest. The apple was probably the only cultivated
variety and this was eaten only twice. Cambium, or the inner bark of
trees, was eaten every month, but mostly in winter and spring. The
greatest, consumption is in April, 48.95 per cent, and the least in
November, 1.53 per cent. It was found in 127 stomachs and was the
entire contents of 12. The average for the year is 16.54 per cent,
which is exceeded by only two items — fruit and ants. The subjects
of cambium and sap sucking have been discussed on a previous page.
Mast, poison Rhus seeds, mullein, and rubbish collectively make up
the remaining 6.09 per cent. Mast was found in 15 stomachs, and is
evidently not specially sought. Poison ivy seed was contained in
seven stomachs and poison sumac in one, so the sapsucker does little
harm by distributing the seed of these noxious plants. ^ Rubbish was
found in 48 stomachs. It was mostly bits of the outer bark of trees,
evidently swallowed when pecking for cambium.

The following fruits and seeds were found in the food :

Red cedar ( Juniperus mrginiana). Black alder {Ilex verticillata).

Greenbrier (Smilax sp.). Burning bush (Euonymus americanus) .

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) . Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia).

Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras). Virginia creeper (Parthenodssus quinque-

Blackberry or raspberry {Rubus sp.). folia).

Shad or service berry {Amelanchier cana- Flowering dogwood {Cornus florida).

densis). Sour gum {Nyssa sylvatica).

Choke cherry {Prunus mrginiana). Blueberry ( Vacdnium sp.).

Black cherry {Prunus serotina). Black nightshade {Solanum nigrum).

Poison sumac {Rhus vernix). Mullein ( Verbascum thapsus).

Poison ivy {Rhus radicans). Red-berried elder {Sambucus pubens).

American holly (Jki: opam). Elder {Sambucus sp.).

Ink berry {Ilex glabra). Poke berry {Phytolacca decandra).
Swamp holly {Ilex decidua).

Summary. — In the animal food of the yellow-bellied sapsucker,
ants are the most important item, and while of no great economic

KED- BHKASTKl) ^APSUCKEK. 31

interest they must be reckoned in the bird's favor. On the other
hand, the damage this sapsucker inflicts in eating the cambium and
sap of trees is so serious that it more than counterbalances any good
that the bird does in other directions. Investigations show that the
damage to timber, especially in the Southern States, is extensive and
serious.^

RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER.

{Sphyrapicus ruber and subsp.)

The red-breasted sapsucker is confined to the Pacific coast region,
and ranges from central Lower California in winter, north in summer
through California, Oregon, and Washington to Alaska. Naturally
it seems to be a forest bird, but it takes kindly to orchards and
ranches. It is migratory to a slight extent, but summers as far
south as the San Bernardino Mountains. It makes, however, a
minor migration in many localities by descending the mountains to
the valle3^s, in which it winters.

Speaking guardedly of this bird, Maj. Charles Bendire says:

I am inclined to think that this species does not indulge in the habit of girdling
trees for the sap and the soft inner bark (cambium) to the same extent that Sphyra-
picus varius does; at any rate, not during the breeding season. ^

On the other hand, Prof. Cook, of Claremont, California, gives the
following direct testimony:

Sphyrapicus ruber is the sapsucker of southern California. It taps fruit trees, espe-
cially prune and apricot, and evergreens. Its mischief seems much more serious
than that of its congener of the East, as trees are frequently killed by reason of its
punctures, although these latter are more distant and less numerous. I never knew
a tree to be killed by the sapsuckers in Michigan. The evil in California is wrought
in summer, 'when the dry season has enfeebled the tree, and this is a possible expla-
nation of the more serious harm to the trees of this region.^

In the face of this conflicting testimony we may infer that the
habits of the bird vary with the locality.

In Oregon the writer observed trees of white birch and mountain
ash growing in a viUage yard which were badly injured by this bird.

Only 34 stomachs of this species were available for examination,
and none were taken in the months from April to August, inclusive,
while 29, or five-sixths of all, were collected in October, November,
and December. Only some general ideas of the food can be expected
from so little material.

In the first anah^sis we find practically 69 per cent of animal food
to 31 of vegetable.

Animal food. — This species is a much greater insect eater than
8. varius. Ants, the largest item, amount to 42.49 per cent. They

1 A bulletin upon this subject is in preparation by W. L. McAtee.

2 Bendire, Maj. Charles, Life Histories of North American Birds, II, 94, 1895.

3 Cook, A. J., Auk, XIII, 85, 1896.

32 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

were eaten freely in every month in which stomachs were taken
except February, and 4 stomachs contained nothing else. Other
Hymenoptera aggregate a little more than 7 per cent. Beetles of all
kinds amount to only 4 per cent, and none of them are of useful
species. The greater number belong to the family Chrysomelidse, or
leaf-eaters. DiacTius auratus was the only one identified. One
stomach contained the remains of Rhinosimiis pallipes, a member of
the Pythida?, a small and rather rare family. Caterpillars were
found in 2 stomachs, locust eggs in 1, and a caterpillar formed the
entire contents of 1. All these amount to 15 per cent, and make up
the rest of the animal food.

Vegetable food. — Of the vegetable food, fruit constitutes 12.69 per
cent. Berries of the pepper tree {Schinus molle) were found in 8
stomachs, cascara (Rhamnus californicus) in 1, pulp not further
identified in 3, and figs in 1. Only the last is of any economic import-
ance. Seeds of poison oak were found in 4 stomachs, wax myrtle
( Myrica californica) in 1 , and unidentified seeds in 1 . Seeds altogether
amount to 5.96 per cent. Cambium was found in only 6 stomachs,
but aggregated 11.13 per cent, which is three-fourths as much as was
eaten by S. varius. Nearly all that had taken it at all had eaten a
good percentage. Stomach examinations alone do not enable us to
settle the status of the bird, for which more material and some field
observation will be necessary.

Summary. — It appears that the red-breasted sapsucker attacks and
injures trees, but whether it is as destructive as its eastern relative is
not yet known, and more material and further observations are
necessary to settle the question.

WILLIAMSON SAPSUCKER.

(Sphyrapicus thyroideus.)

The Williamson sapsucker is a bird of mountains and evergreen
forests. Its range extends from the eastern slope of the Rocky
Mountains westward to the Pacific, and from Arizona and New
Mexico northward to British Columbia; south in winter to Mexico.
The bird is likely to be of little economic interest except in connection
with forests. Only 17 stomachs of this species have been received by
the Biological Survey, and all but 2 of these were collected in the
months from June to September, inclusive. Conclusions based on the
examination of so little material must be considered as only tentative.
In the first analysis of the food it divides into 87 per cent of animal
matter and 13 of vegetable.

Animal food. — Of the animal food a mere trace was shown of click-
beetles (Elateridae) and less than 1 per cent of crane flies (Tipulidae).
The remainder, 86 per cent, consists entirely of ants, with which 7
stomachs were entirely filled. This record places this bird at the

Bull. 37, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate II

•»&<

.-%*qi,l,^_

^iuisOyotux Tiioftes

SREUKF.a 8.. iiESaixK CO LJ;H ?H1L4.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

^^

Bull. 37. Biological Survey, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate III

PKEUKf ?. 8, KESSiXK CO LilH PHIL*

Red-headed Woodpecker (Adult and Young

PILEATED WOODPECKER. 33

head of the woodpeckers in ant eating, but the material is too scanty
to warrant final conclusions.

Vegetable food . — Fruit pulp in 1 stomach and rubbish in another,
each amounted to less than 1 per cent of the year's food. Cambium
occurred in 5 stomachs, and formed the bulk of the vegetable food,
12.55 per cent of the whole.

Summary. — These results would indicate a very limited diet for this
bird, but it is altogether probable that a greater number of stomachs
would materially modify these figures. They show, however, that
the bird eats ants and cambium, if they are not conclusive as to what
it does not eat.

PH.EATED WOODPECKER.

{Phlceotomus pileatus and subspp.)

The pileated woodpecker, logcock, woodcock, or cock of the woods,
as it is variously called, is the largest member of the family now living
in the United States, except the ivory-billed woodpecker, which is
very rare. The logcock is essentially a forest bird, and is rarely found
except in rather extensive tracts of timber. It is usually shy and
retiring, difficult to approach, and better known b}^ its work than by
sight. Its large size, loud voice, and habit of hammering upon dead
limbs combine to make it a conspicuous inhabitant of the forest. Its
strength is wonderful, and it is hard to believe that a bird can so com-
pletely destroy a stump or log. Strips of decayed wood 2 feet long,
4 inches wide, and an inch thick are often torn from a stump and
thrown several yards away.

Woodpeckers signal each other by hammering upon a dead and
hollow limb or trunk of a tree, or upon the metallic cornice of a build-
ing. The pileated is an adept at such telegraphing, and its tattoo on
a particular^ resonant piece of timber can be heard for more than a
mile.

The pileated woodpecker seems to be distributed over the United
States in general, and north to Canada, but is absent from some large
areas, particularly in the southwestern United States, even where
there are extensive forests and other conditions apparently suited to
its tastes. It is not migratory in the usual sense, but in winter
wanders extensively, usually accompanied by its mate, which leads
to the belief that it mates for life.

In the laboratory investigation of this bird's food 80 stomachs
were available. They were collected in 14 States, the District of
Columbia, and Canada, and are distributed in every month, though
May is represented by only 1. The animal food amounts to 72.88
])er cent and the vegetable to 27.12. The former consists principally
of beetles and ants, and the latter of wild fruits.
75713°— Bull. 37—11 3

34 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

Animal food. — Beetles amount to 22.01 per cent. Nearly all were
in the larval stage, and evidently were dug out of dead and decaying
wood. They belong to the Cerambycidse, the Buprestidae, and the
Elateridae, all of them wood-borers, with some Lucanidae and Scara-
baeidse, many species of which breed in rotting timber. Carabidse,
or useful ground-beetles, were found in only 6 stomachs and amount
to a small fraction of 1 per cent.

Ants aggregate 39.91 per cent and constitute more than half of the
animal food. They were found in 48 stomachs, and in one, 2,600
were counted; in another, 2,080; and in a third, 2,000. They are
mostly of the larger species that live in decaying timber. These two
items, beetles and ants, make up the bulk of the animal food, 61.92
per cent. It is evident that they are the objects of the bird's search
when he is foraging over the trunks of dead trees or logs, and that
other insects are taken only incidentally. Flies, caterpillars, frag-
ments of cockroaches and their Qgg cases (ootheca), bits of grass-
hoppers, some sawflies, and white ants, no one of which amounts to a
respectable percentage, aggregate 10.96 per cent, the balance of the
animal food.

The following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs:

COLEOPTERA.

Anisodactylus sp. Upis ceramboides.

Allorhina nitida. • Chalcophora sp.

Cyclocephala sp.

HYMENOPTERA (ANTS).

Camponotus pennsylvanicus. Cremastogaster Ixviuscula.

Camponotus herculeanus.

LEPIDOPTERA.

Caterpillar {Scolecocampa lihurna).

VegetaUe food. — The largest item of vegetable food, and in fact the
only one of importance, is wild fruit, which amounts to 22.56 per cent,
and of which 19 species were identified. This is probably eaten in
every month, but in the stomachs examined none was found in April,
May, or June ; but as only 6 stomachs were collected in those months,
the record is not conclusive. The only part of the fruit which can
possibly have any economic interest is some Rubus seeds found in 1
stomach and some unidentified seeds in 5, but probably these were wild
like the others. Seeds of poison ivy (or poison oak), poison sumac,
dwarf sumac, a little cambium, and mast, with some rubbish, alto-
gether amount to 4.56 per cent and complete the vegetable food.

The following vegetable food was found in the stomachs :

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 35

Greenbrier (Smilax glaiica) . Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia) .

Cat brier (Smilax rotundifolia) . Woodbine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) .

Laurel-leaved greenbrier (Smilax lauri- Flowering dogwood ( Cornus florida) .

folia). Rough-leaved dogwood (Cornus asperi-
Jl3ickhervy (Celtis occidentalis) . folia).

Sassafras berry (Sassafras sassafras). Sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica).

Blackberry or raspberry (Rubus sp.). Tupelo gum (Nyssa aquatica).

Dwarf sumac (Rhus copallina). Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) .

Poison sumac (Rhus vernix). Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginica).

Poison ivy (Rhus radicans). Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis).

American holly (Ilex opaca). Larger withe-rod ( Viburnum nudum).

Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine). Black haw ( Viburnum prunifolium) .

Summary. — The food of the pileated woodpecker does not interest
the farmer or horticulturist, for it is obtained entirely from the forest
or the wild copses on its edge. This bird does not visit either the
orchard or the grain field, and all its work in the forest helps to con-
serve the tmiber. Unfortunately the bird is so scarce in many places
that it is an object of curiosity, and the man or boy with a gun never
lets pass a chance to shoot one, although its flesh is unfit for food.
In fall and winter it may often be seen in the market in Washington,
and probably in cities farther south. Maj. Bendire relates that once
when short of provisions he attempted to eat one, but found it
extremely unpalatable. Its killing should be strictly prohibited at all
times.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

(Melanerpes erythrocephalus.)

The handsome redhead (PI. Ill) inhabits suitable localities through-
out most of southern Canada and the United States east of the
Rocky Mountains, but is rare in New England and northeastward.
It is a familiar bird on telegraph poles and fence posts and feeds
largely on insects found upon these bare surfaces, but the vegetable
matter in its stomach shows that it forages elsewhere also.

Fifty years ago Giraud stated that on Long Island the red-headed
woodpecker arrives early in April, and during the spring ''subsists
chiefly on insects. In summer it frequents fruit trees, ripe cherries
and pears seeming to be a favorite repast. In the fall it feeds on
berries and acorns, the latter at this season forming a large portion
of its food." 1

In its fondness for mast it resembles its relative, the California
woodpecker. In the northern part of its range, where the oak is
replaced by the beech, the redhead makes the beechnut its principal
food. Dr. C. Hart Merriam has given much testimony under this
head. 2 He states that in northern New York, where it is one of the

1 Giraud, J. P., Birds of Long Island, p. 180, 1844.

2 Birds of Connecticut, p. 66, 1877; Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, III, 124, 1878; Mammals of the Adiron-
dacks, p. 226, 1884.

36 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

commonest woodpeckers, it subsists almost exclusively on beechnuts
during the fall and winter, even picking the green nuts before they are
ripe and while the trees are still covered with leaves. He has shown
that these woodpeckers invariably remain throughout the winter
after good nut yields and migrate whenever the nut crop fails. He
says: ''Gray squirrels, red-headed woodpeckers, and beechnuts were
numerous during the winters of 1871-72, 1873-74, 1875-76, 1877-78,
1879-80, 1881-82, 1883-84, while during the alternate years the squir-
rels and nuts were scarce and the woodpeckers altogether absent;"
and adds that in Lewis County, N. Y., '' a good squirrel year is synony-
mous with a good year for Melanerjyes, and vice versa." In early
spring following a nut year, when the melting snow uncovers the
ground, they feed on the beechnuts that were buried during the win-
ter. On April 5, 1878, at Locust Grove, N. Y., he shot 6 whose
gizzards contained beechnuts and nothing else.

In an interesting article in the Auk/ Mr. O. P. Hay says that in
central Indiana during a good beechnut year, from the time the nuts
began to ripen, the redheads were almost constantly on the wing,
passing from the beeches to some place of deposit. They hid the
nuts in almost every conceivable situation. Many were placed in
cavities in partly decayed trees; and the felling of an old beech was
certain to provide a feast for the children. Large handfuls were
taken from a single knot hole. They were often found under a patch
of raised bark, and single nuts were driven into cracks in the bark.
Others were thrust into cracks in gateposts; and a favorite place of
deposit was behind long slivers on fence posts. In a few cases grains
of corn were mixed with beechnuts. Nuts were ofteri driven into
cracks in the ends of railroad ties, and the birds were often seen on the
roofs of houses pounding nuts into the crevices between the shingles.
In several instances the space formed by a board springing away
from a fence was nearly filled with nuts, and afterwards pieces of
bark and wood were brought and driven over the nuts as if to hide
them from poachers.

In summer Dr. Merriam has seen the redheads ''make frequent
sallies into the air after passing insects, which were almost invariably
secured." He has also seen them catch grasshoppers on the ground
in a pasture.

Dr. A. K. Fisher saw several red-headed woodpeckers feeding on
grasshoppers in the streets at Miles City, Mont., in the latter part of
July, 1893. Several of the birds were seen capturing these insects
near the hotel throughout the greater part of the forenoon. From
a regular perch on top of a telegraph pole or cottonwood they
descended on their prey, sometimes eating them on the ground, but
more often returning to their former post to devour them.

I Auk, IV, 194, 195, 1887.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 37

The following interesting observation was made by Dr. G. S. Agers-
borg, of Vermilion, S. Dak. :^

Last spring, in opening a good many birds of this species with the object of ascer-
taining their principal food, I found in their stomachs nothing but young grass-
hoppers. One of them, which had its headquarters near my house, was observed
making frequent visits to an old oak post, and on examining it I found a large crack
where the woodpecker had inserted about 100 grasshoppers of all sizes (for future
use, as later observation proved), which were put in without killing them, but they
were so firmly wedged in the crack that they in vain tried to get free. I told this to
a couple of farmers, and found that they had also seen the same thing, and showed
me posts which were used for the same purpose. Later in the season the wood-
pecker whose station was near my house commenced to use his stores, and to-day
(February 10) there are only a few shriveled-up grasshoppers left.

The late Mr. Charles Aldrich, of Webster City, Iowa, states that
he saw a red-headed woodpecker catching grasshoppers on the prairie
half a mile from timber. In Nebraska grasshoppers were found in
4 out of 6 stomachs examined by Prof. Samuel Aughey.

Besides taking fruit and grain, this woodpecker has been accused
of destroying the eggs of other birds and even of killing the young;
and from Florida comes a report that it enters poultry houses and
sucks the eggs of domestic fowls. Mr. Charles Aldrich, of Webster
City, Iowa, says that a red-headed woodpecker was seen to kill a
duckling with a single blow on the head, and then to peck out and
eat the brains. ^ In view of such testimony, remains of eggs and
young birds were carefully looked for in the stomachs examined, but
pieces of eggshell were found in only 4.

A very unusual trait has been recorded by Dr. Howard Jones, of
Circleville, Ohio. He has seen the red-headed woodpecker steal the
eggs of eaves swallows, and in cases where the necks of the nests
were so long that the eggs were out of reach, the woodpecker made
a hole in the walls of the nest and so obtained the contents. In a
colony of swallows containing dozens of nests, not a single brood of
young was raised. One of the woodpeckers also began to prey upon
hens' eggs, and was finally captured in the act of robbing the nest of a
sitting hen.^

The redhead has been accused of doing considerable damage to
fruit and grain, and both charges are fairly well sustained. In
northern New York Dr. Merriam has seen it peck into apples on the
tree, and has several times seen it feed on chokecherries (Prunus
virginiana).

Mr. August Jahn, of Pope County, Ark., writes that it has damaged
liis corn to the amount of $10 or $15, and Dr. J. R. Mathers, of Upshur
County, W. Va., says that the same species feeds on cherries, straw-
berries, raspberries, and blackberries, and that its depredations are

1 Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, III, 97. 1878.

2 Am. Nat., VI, 308, May, 1877.

3 Ornithologist and Oologist, VIII, 50, 1883.

38 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UI^ITED STATES.

sometimes serious. According to Mr. Witmer Stone, of Germantown,
Pa., red-headed woodpeckers have been observed to strip a black-
berry patch of all of its fruit. Mr. W. B. McDaniel, of Decatur County,
Ga., also reports that the sapsucker and redhead eat grapes and
cherries, the loss being sometimes considerable. These examples
show the nature of the testimony contributed by eyewitnesses, the
accuracy of whose observations there is no reason to doubt. That
the stomach examinations do not reveal more damaging evidence
against the species is not surprising, for a person seeing a bird eating
his choice fruit, or in some other way inflicting damage, is more
impressed by it than by the sight of a hundred of the same species
quietly pursuing their ordinary vocations. Thus an occasional act
is taken as a characteristic habit.

In the food investigation of the redhead 443 stomachs were exam-
ined. They were collected in 27 States, the District of Columbia,
and Canada, and represent every month, though fewer were taken
in the colder season, as the bird is inclined to migrate, and remams
in the north only when an abundance of food is assured. Of the
stomach's contents, animal matter amounts to 33.83 per cent and
vegetable to 66.17.

Animal food. — Beetles amount to about 19 per cent of the food.
Of these, 7.34 per cent consist of predaceous ground beetles and
tiger beetles, with a few ladybird beetles, all of which are useful.
This is the highest percentage of useful insects eaten by any of the
woodpeckers. Among the species taken are the fire ground-beetle
(Calosoma calidum) and the searcher (C. scrutator), both predaceous
species of large size and vile odor.

Passalus cornutus, one of the staghorns, a large species, was also
found, as well as a pair of mandibles belonging to Prionus imbri-
cornis, one of the largest species in the United States. The remain-
der of the beetle food is made up of various families, of which the
May beetles (Scarabseidae) are the most prominent. They amount
to 6.31 per cent and are mostly flower-beetles {Eui)horia) or closely
alHed genera. A preference for large beetles is a pronounced char-
acteristic of this woodpecker. Weevils were found in 99 stomachs
and as many as 12 were counted in one. Such harmful species as
Epicderus imhricatus, PTiytonomus punctatus, and SpJienopJiorus 2ex
were identified in several stomachs. The beetles eaten by the red-
head are mostly adults, and such species as creep over the bark of
trees or on bare fences or telegraph poles, where the bird loves to
forage. Unhke the hairy, downy, and three-toed woodpeckers, the
redhead eats very few beetle larvae or other grubs, or ants that live
in wood or other places of concealment. Apparently it is not so
fond of pecking wood as are the other species, but on the other hand
it has been known to peck holes in telegraph and telephone poles

BED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 39

until they were so weakened as to break down, thereby causing
*' considerable damage." ^

Ants amount to 5.17 per cent of the food of the redhead, which is
the lowest record but one of all the woodpeckers. The greatest
number are eaten in June and July, when they aggregate a little
more than 14 per cent in each month. As they are mostly taken
in the warmer months, it is almost certain that they are captured
in the open, not dug out of decaying trees or logs. Hymenoptera
other than ants amount to 1.63 per cent. These are of course bees
and wasps, and, as this bird is quite skillful in catching insects upon
the wing, probably it takes most of them in the air.^ In one stomach
was found one worker honey bee. Parasitic species were identified
in a few stomachs. Like the ants, most of the wasps were taken
in midsummer.

Hemiptera, or bugs, are a small but rather regular constituent of
the food. They aggregate only 1.89 per cent of the yearly diet,
but include some interesting species. A collection of 6 stomachs
was received from Ames, Iowa, at a time when a brood of 17-year
locusts {Tihicen septendedm) was out. These insects had been
eaten by every one of the birds, and they averaged 52 per cent of
the stomachs' contents. Field observation, as well as stomach
examination, shows that cicadas are eaten in their season by all
kinds of insectivorous birds big enough to manage such large insects.
Cicadas were found in 10 stomachs, but not all were identified as
the 17-year species. Scales (Coccidae), or bark lice, were found in
17 stomachs, and in 5 they were identified as the plum or cherry
scale (Eulecanium cerasifex). In 1 stomach this species amounted
to 60 per cent of the contents. This shows that the bird forages to
some extent among the smaller branches and twigs of live trees.
A few individuals of several other famihes of bugs were found, of
which Pentatomidae, or stinkbugs, were the favorites.

Orthoptera, in the shape of grasshoppers, crickets, and cock-
roaches and their eggs, were eaten very sparingly throughout the
year; but in August, the grasshopper month, the redhead takes
to the ground, where it feeds quite freejy upon these insects. They
aggregate 21.17 per cent of its diet in August, and in September 9.53
per cent, amounting in the two months to two-thirds of the grass-
hoppers taken in the year. The average for the year is 3.58 per cent.
There is much testimony that many grasshoppers are stored up for
future use. They do not, however, constitute a very large element
of the food after September. The redhead may share the instinct

1 Buchler, M. H., Pennsylvania Telephone Co., in letter to Biological Survey, dated Harrisburg, Pa.,
March 19, 1895.

2 See Merriam, Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, III, 126, July, 1878; also Forest and Stream, IX, 451, January

17, 1878.

40

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

of its California cousin and store up much food that it never eats,
thus contributing to the welfare of pilferers of the food.

Lepidoptera, that is, caterpillars, are apparently not a favorite
food of the redhead. A few were eaten in the months from April to
October, inclusive, but in May only do they reach 10 per cent of the
food. The average for the year is 1 .63 per cent. One harmful species,
the wheat-head army worm {Heliophila alhilinea), was identified in
one stomach, which contained about a dozen specimens. Dragon-
flies, spiders, and millepeds, bits of a crayfish, eggshells, and a few
bits of bone and hair of some small rodent, altogether make up the
remaining 1 per cent.

The following insects were identified in the stomachs of the red-
head :

COLEOPTERA.

Cicindela sp.
Carabus sp.
Calosoma scrutator.
Calosoma calidum.
Pasimachus depressus.
Scarites subterraneus.
Pterostichus sayi.
Pterostichus sp.
Amara fulvipes.
Galerita janus.
Chlxnius sp.
Geopinus incrassatus.
Agonoderus pallipes.
Anisodactylus discoideus.
Anisodactylus nigrita.
Anisodactylus sp.
Tropisternus sp ,
Sphxridium scarabxoides.
Necrophorus sp.
Creophilus villosus.
Staphylinus vulpinus.
Staphylinus maculosus.
Coccinella 9-notata.
Ipsfasciatus.
Melanotus Jissilis.
Passalus cornutus.
Phanxus carnifex.
Canthon Ixvis.
Canthon sp.
Onthophagus sp.
Atxnius cognatu^.
Aphodius fossor .
Aphodius fimetarius.
Aphodius ruricola.

Apis mellifera.
Vespa maculata.

Aphodius inquinatus.
Aphodius sp.
Bolboceras farctus.
Dichelonycha sp.
Macrodactylus subspinosi
Lachnosterna sp.
Anomala sp.
Allorhina nitida.
Euphoria fulgida .
Euphoria inda.
Euphoria sepulchralis.
Prionus imbricornis.
Elaphidion sp.
Nodonota tristis.
Gastroidea cyanea.
Melasoma scripta.
Diabrotica 12-punctata.
Eleodes tricostata.
Meracantha contracta.
Corymbites cylindricollis.
Dicer ca obscura.
Dicer ca sp.
Chrysobothris sp.
Ptinus dubius.
Ceruchus piceus.
Epicauta sp.
Epicxrus imbricatus.
Sitones sp.

Phytonomus punctatus.
Hylobius pales.
Balaninus sp.
Sphenophorus zex.
Sphenophorus sp.

HYMENOPTERA.

Ophion sp.
Camponotus sp.

Bull. 37, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate IV

/sOuisQc/ayvz. V^erjfh.

BREUKra tk KESSLER CO LITH FHIL*.

California Woodpecker.

Bull. 37, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate V

w^im

SREVHEB. Sl KESSLER CO LITH PHiL*

Lewis Woodpecker.

BED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 41

HEMIPTERA.

Nezara hilaris. ' Tibicen sp.

Sinea diadema. Eulecanium cerasifex,

Tibicen septendecim.

LEPIDOPTERA.

^A^leat-head army worm (Heliophila albilinea).

Vegetable food. — Some grain is eaten by the redhead from May to
September. In August and September it amounts to 21.73 and
19.67 per cent, respectively. The average for the year is 4.25 per
cent. Corn was identified in 64 stomachs and oats in 2. The
former was in most cases immature or in the milk, and was more or
less mixed with corn silk. Domestic fruit was found in 175
stomachs — that is, if the seeds of blackberries and raspberries and
the pulp without seeds were all of domesticated varieties. Black-
berries and raspberries were identified in 42 stomachs, domestic
cherries in 15, strawberries in 7, and apples in 9. Cultivated fruit
was all taken in the months from April to September, inclusive, with
the maximum of 16.76 per cent in July. The average for the year
is 3.30 per cent. The above account undoubtedly does the bird
great injustice, as probably most of the Rubus fruit (blackberries
and raspberries) was obtained from wayside thickets, and it is almost
certain that much of the unidentified pulp contained in 102
stomachs was from wild species. The strawberries also were as
likely to be wild as cultivated. Wild fruits were found in 100
stomachs, and 17 species were identified. They were eaten in
every month, the most in the colder ones. February appears to be
the month of maximum consumption with 50 per cent, but the
record is based on only 9 stomachs. The average for the year is
16.90 per cent. Anthers of flowers should perhaps be included in
this item. They were found in 4 stomachs.

Mast is evidently a favorite food of the redhead. It appears in
the stomachs of every month except March, but as only 3 were
taken then the exception is probably accidental. The most was
eaten in the four months from October to January, inclusive, and
the average for those months is 55.22 per cent, and for the year
23.26 per cent. The great bulk of this is acorns, but some other
nuts and large seeds are included. This, record for mast eating is,
as far as knoAvn, exceeded by only a few birds, notably the Cali-
fornia woodpecker and the jays.

Mscellaneous vegetable matter amounts to 18.30 per cent. This
is made up of cambium, found in 5 stomachs, poison-ivy seeds in 7,
several other Rhus seeds, and a number of weed seeds. The great
bulk of this item, however, is a mass of hard woody granules of
very irregular shape and undetermined origin. They were found

42 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

in 90 stomachs, and one contained notliing else. They have a
resemblance to the woody granules in pear pulp, but are larger and
more irregular. It is possible that they are derived from the pulp
of some wild fruit. If so, their percentage should be added to the
fruit pulp. They have been found in the food of other woodpeckers,
but in comparatively small quantities.

The following fruits and seeds were identified :

Bristly greenbrier (Smilax hona-nox). Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia).

Mulberry (if orits rw6ra). Woodbine (Parthenocissus quinque folia) .

Dock {Rumex sp.). Flowering dogwood (Cornus Jlorida) .

Lambs qusLrteY8{Chenopodium album). Rough-leaved dogwood (Cornus asperi-
Shadbush or service berry (Amelanchier folia).

canadensis). Panicled dogwood (Cornus candidissima).

Bird cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica) . Sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica).

Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). Huckleberry (Gaylussacia sp.).

Black cherry (Prunus serotina). Black nightshads (Solanum nigrum).

Dwarf sumac (Rhus copallina). Black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis).

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra). Red elderberry (Sambucus pubens).

Poison ivy (Rhu^ radicans). Ragweed (Ambrosia sp.).
Fox grape ( Vitis vulpina).

Summary. — No species of woodpecker in this country, with the
possible exception of the yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus
varius), has been the subject of so much adverse criticism as the red-
head. It has been accused of eating nearly every variety of culti-
vated fruit from strawberries to oranges, of pecking corn from the
ear, of eating the eggs of poultry and pigeons, of pecking open the
skulls and devouring the brains of young poultry, and of destroying
the eggs or young of eaves swallows and other birds. These accusa-
tions are well grounded, but the habits are probably only local.
These reports have been received from hundreds of localities, but in
thousands of other places where the bird abounds no such acts have
been observed. Stomach examination confirms to some extent the
corn-eating habit, and to a less degree the fruit-eating, but fails
entirely to show that the bird habitually eats young birds or eggsJ
Where this bird has done appreciable harm, it has probably been due
to new and unusual conditions likely to be temporary. In its animal
food the redhead does a little harm theoretically by its destruction
of predatory beetles, but the harmful species eaten are enough to
balance this. On the whole, there seems to be no reason to condemn
this woodpecker except under very unusual conditions, and the man
who claims to have killed 527 of them in four years did himself and
neighbors a very doubtful service.

1 Eggshells have been found in some stomachs of nearly every species of bird yet examined by the writer.
They are undoubtedly, in most cases, old shells eaten for the lime.

CALIFORNIA WOODPECKEB. 43

CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER.

{Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi.)

The California woodpecker (PL IV) is distributed throughout most
of the oak-covered mountain and foothill region of California, north-
ern Lower California, and southern Oregon. It lives generally wher-
ever large oaks are abundant, and from these it gets much of its living.
Wherever it occurs it is commonly abundant, and its strongly con-
trasted colors and loud cries attract much attention as it flies from
tree to tree. A peculiar habit has drawn much notice from non-
scientific observers — that of drilling holes in tree trunks or large
branches, in each of which it places an acorn. Where this bird is
abundant all dead trunks or branches of any size, and many live ones,
are punctured with these holes, frequently less than an inch apart.
So zealous is the bird in this work that often wjien trees in the proper
condition for puncturing are not numerous enough, it attacks build-
ings and drills holes in the cornices of houses or in the spires of
churches; also it bores into telephone and telegraph poles and fence
posts, and sometimes uses natural cavities. But the woodpecker
does not get the benefit of all the acorns it lays up, for the jays have
learned where they can easily obtain food in winter, and are not back-
ward about robbing the woodpecker's larder, thus causing endless
quarrels. Probably rats, mice, and squirrels also help themselves to
these supplies.

For the laboratory investigation of the food of the California
woodpecker 84 stomachs were available. They were taken in every
month except February, April, and May — the larger numbers in June
and July, when the chances for the bird to do mischief are greatest.
The food was found to consist of 22.59 per cent of animal matter to
77.41 per cent of vegetable. This is the highest percentage of vege-
table matter yet found in the stomach of any woodpecker, though the
red-bellied (Centurus carolinus) comes very close to it. Most other
woodpeckers eat more animal than vegetable food.

Animal food. — Beetles constitute the smallest item in 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
per cent. No wood-boring larvae were found. This seems to indi-
cate that this bird uses its wood-pecking powers, not to find insects,
but only to make places for storing food. Ants amount to 8.09 per
cent of the food. In one stomach taken in March they constitute
50 per cent of the contents, but in no other do they reach 11 per
cent. The specific name of this hiv A, formicivorus , is not well chosen,
for it eats fewer ants than most other species of woodpeckers. Other
Hymenoptera amount to 7.34 per cent. More than half of these

44 FOOD OF WOODPECKEES OF UNITED STATES.

were contained in stomachs taken in August, when the}^ aggregate
37.33 per cent. A few bugs, flies, and grasshoppers, with some
fragments of caterpillars, make up the remainder of the animal
food — 4.49 per cent. One stomach contained a few black olive
scales.

Vegetable food. — Grain, fruit, and mast are the three items that form
nearly all the vegetable food. One stomach taken in January con-
tained nothing but corn, and in another collected in December were
a few corn hulls. This is the whole of the grain record, and is of no
economic interest. The average for the year but slightly exceeds 1
per cent. Fruit amounts to a little less than 23 per cent, and was
found in nearly every month in which stomachs were taken. Most
of it was evidently the pulp of the larger cultivated varieties, though
that found in stomachs collected in the winter months could have no
economic value. Seeds of the elderberry (Sambucus) were found in
two stomachs and were the only fruit positively identified. The
largest amounts were eaten in August and September, when they
reached 59.34 and 54 per cent, respectively. While this is rather a
high percentage of fruit eaten, complaints against the bird are not
general, and the damage done to fruit over most of its range is
probably comparatively small.

The principal item of the food of the California woodpecker is
acorns. This amounts to 53.30 per cent of the food of the 3^ear,
and was found in 58 stomachs, or 69 per cent of the whole, and 23
contained nothing else. It was eaten in every month when stomachs
were taken except August, but as only 3 were collected in that
month the record is not reliable. In November, when 12 stomachs
were taken, acorns amounted to 93.58 per cent of the average con-
tents. In June, when fruit and insects are abundant, it averaged
in 12 stomachs 79.25 per cent. In July the least was eaten — 29.47
per cent. This was made up by the animal food, which attained the
highest percentage in that month. The question has been raised
whether the bird stores the acorn for the sake of its meat or for the
grubs which may frequently develop therein. The examination of
the stomach contents removes all doubt, for while acorns are eaten
freely larvae are almost entirely wanting.

In certain localities where almonds are largely cultivated and tliis
bird is abundant it exhibits a strong liking for these nuts. Under these
conditions it is sometimes necessary to shoot every woodpecker that
appears in the orchard in order to save even a reasonable part of
the crop. Such conditions are likely to occur wherever large groves
of oaks occur in close proximity to the orchards and this bird is
correspondingly numerous. While the necessity for applying so
drastic a remedy is unfortunate, it can be said that it is not so deplor-
able as it would be in the case of some other more conspicuously
useful species.

LEWIS WOODPECKER. 45

Summary. — The foregoing discussion shows that the food of the
Cahfornia woodpecker is not of much economic importance. On the
other hand, the bird can not be charged with destroying useful insects
or many products of husbandry. While it eats considerable fruit,
especially almonds, in fact twice as much as the linnet, it does not
habitually infest orchards, and in most localities is not numerous
enough to be a serious nuisance. The few insects which it takes
are nearly all of harmful species, while the acorns wliich make up
the bulk of its diet may be considered of little value. The trees
used for storehouses are usually either dead or partly so, and when
alive are little harmed by the punctures, which do not usually go
through the bark. Wlien, however, holes are made in buildings,
telegraph or telephone poles, or fences, they are a real injury, and it is
fortunate that such cases ar^ local and exceptional. From the
esthetic point of view, however, a strong plea for the bird's protec-
tion may be made. It is an interesting and picturesque species,
and where it does not make itself conspicuous by reason of the
damage it does it may well be allowed to live.^

LEWIS WOODPECKER.

{Asyndesmus lewisi.)

The Lewis woodpecker (PL V) is irregularly distributed over that
part of the United States west of the eastern slope of the Rocky
Mountains, north to southwestern Canada, and south to northern
Mexico. In many localities within its range it is rare or absent, while
very abundant in others. It is by nature somewhat shy, not greatly
addicted to visiting orchards and cultivated areas.

In Oregon and Washington complaint has been made that the bird
does some damage to apples. Only twice was the writer able to find
cases of serious damage. 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 the early apples were ripening,
that the pickers were obliged to shoot the birds. One evening a num-
ber of boxes filled ready for market were left in the orchard. In the
morning it was found that the woodpeckers had pulled out the papers
and pecked the fruit so that it was necessary to open and repack
several boxes. In the other case the orchard was in the foothills and
almost completely surrounded by evergreen forests, from which the
birds came and to which they retreated when alarmed.

Dr. Merriam, speaking of Fall River Valley, California, says of
this bird: ''Common everywhere and eating apples in several of the
orchards." Also at Fort Jones: ''Evidently eating apples."

1 Besides the California form, bairdi, treated of in these pages, there is at least one other, aculeata, within
the limits of the United States. Its range is in the southern Rocky Mountains from central western Texas
to northora Arizona. No stomachs of this subspecies have been received, but probably its food habits
do not differ from those of the other form.

46 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

Messrs. Grant and Ferry, writing from Klamath Hot Springs,
Oregon, say: ^'Abundant in flocks first part of September. Per-
sons with guns stationed in orchards * * * to destroy these
birds, kill 25 to 50 of them per day for from one to two weeks."

Mr. J. E. McLellam says they ^' never come in great numbers unless
there is a good crop of mast, when they come in swarms. They hoard
similar to the California woodpecker." Quite a number o*f apple
growers interviewed by the writer testified that the bird destroyed
some apples, but none of them considered the loss of any importance.
As the orchards increase in area, the damage will probably become
less.

Mr. W. Otto Emerson, of Haywards,Cal.,in a letter to the Biological
Survey, dated March 14, 1909, says of this bird:

Several cases have come under my observation when in the fall months of Septem-
ber and October the California and Lewis woodpeckers have made their appearance in
canyon apple orchards and went into them picking open the apples for the codling
moth worms they contained, going all over the trees and taking such fruit as had a
wormhole in it. In one orchard of about 2 acres in extent at Sunol, this county
(Alameda), near the Niles Canyon, I counted 23 bodies of the Lewis woodpeckers and
9 of the California tied up to the limbs by the legs to frighten off the birds. The owner
did not seem to know what the woodpeckers were after * * ^ till I called his
attention to the condition of his wormy fruit.

For investigation of this bird's food only 59 stomachs were availa-
ble. They were collected in five States from Montana and Wyoming
westward to the Pacific coast. They are so irregularly distributed
over the year as to make systematic study of the food impossible,
but we liaay learn some of the elements which compose it. Animal
matter amounts to 37.48 per cent and vegetable to 62.50 per cent.

Animal food. — Predaceous beetles were eaten to the extent of 6.72
per cent, and, as is usually the case, the most appear to have been
taken in spring and early summer. They were made up of Carabidse
and Coccinellidse (ladybird beetles). Of the former, the genus
Pasimachus was recognized, and of the latter, two species, Hvppo-
damia convergens and H. Id-maculata, were identified. Other beetles
amount to 2.40 per cent and were all eaten in the ^ye months from
June to October. Among them were several Meloidae, or blister
beetles, not usually supposed to be very palatable. One specimen
of a water beetle (PJiilJiydrus diffusus) was also identified.

There is nothing in the stomachs to indicate that this bird ever
digs into wood, decayed or otherwise, in search of beetle larvae. Ants
were eaten most in summer and in April, and June appears to be the
month of maximum consumption, while May shows none. The
average for the year is 11.87 per cent, but this can not be considered
final. 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

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 47

eaten — not many in August, more in July, and most in September^
with a trace in October, while the eastern birds eat the most of these
insects ia August. The average for the year is 3.20 per cent. No
caterpillars or Lepidoptera in any form were found in this bird's
stomach. A few spiders amount to less than half of 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 supposed to be of cultivated varieties were noted ia
March, the tliree summer months, and October. There is no cer-
tainty that all this w^as cultivated fruit, and in any event that taken
in March could hardly have had any economic value. The aggregate
for the year is 10.90 per cent. "Wild fruit was identified in 26 stomachs,
all of them 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
is 14.65 per cent. Six genera — AmelancJiier, Ilex, Crataegus, CornuSj
Prunus, and Samhucus — were identified. Mast, or acorns, is the
largest item of food. It was found in 20 stomachs and constitutes
34.46 per cent of the diet. None was found in July, but in all the
other months in which stomachs were taken it amounted to a good
percentage. The one stomach taken in December contained 75 per
cent of this food. Seeds of poison oak (Rhus diver siloha) and a weed
{Amaranthus) make up 2.05 per cent, the remainder of the vegetable
food.

Summary. — It is hardly possible to draw definite conclusions from
so little material, especially when distributed over so large a territory.
While the bird, eats some useful beetles, probably it does no serious-
harm in this way. It is not likely to damage grain. Evidently,
however, it has a pronounced taste for fruit, which at present is grati-
fied mostly by wild species; but if the wild fruit-bearing shrubs and
trees in its range should ever be replaced by cultivated varieties, it
would doubtless turn to cultivated fruits. Further investigation in
both field and laboratory are necessary in order to fix definitely the
economic status of the Lewis woodpecker.

BED-BELLIED WOODPECKEB.

(Centurus carolinus.)

The red-bellied woodpecker ranges over the eastern United States
as far west as central Texas and eastern Colorado, and as far north
as New York, southern Ontario, southern Michigan, and southern
Minnesota. It breeds throughout this range and appears to be
irregularly migratory. Very strangely, it often goes north of its
breeding range to spend the winter. Four stomachs, collected in
November and December, have been received from Canada, and in
eight years of residence in central Iowa the writer found the species

48 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

abundant every year during the 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 seen frequently in open or thinly timbered
country. In the northern part of its range it appears to prefer
deciduous growth, but in the south is quite common in pine forests.
There is some evidence that this bird is occasionally injurious to
the horticulturist. Dr. B. H. Warren says:

In various sections of Florida, where the red-bellied woodpeckers are exceedingly-
numerous, in fact by odds the most abundant of all the woodpeckers, the common
names of "orange sapsucker" and "orange borer" are universally applied to them.
On making inquiry of farmers and others, I learned that the names were given because
these woodpeckers "sucked the sap" of orange trees and fed on oranges. Supposing
these statements were wrongfully made, I at first gave but little attention to them.
When, however, I visited Welaka, Palatka, Volusia, Deland, and other places where
numerous orange trees were thriving, I was informed by the orange growers that the
red-bellied woodpeckers oftentimes destroyed large numbers of oranges when they
had matured and were ready for picking; also, that ''they damaged the orange trees
by boring holes in them and sucking the sap. ' ' I had but little opportunity of making
a careful study of this orange-eating habit, so greatly talked about, owing to the fact
that when I first visited these localities it was late in February, or after the oranges
had been picked and shipped north. In the month of March, 1885, I camped a few
days at Bluffton, near Volusia, in an orange grove owned by Mr. Bird, of New York
City. This grove contained about 30 acres of trees, which were loaded with fruit,
then being picked for market. Through the kindness of Mr, Bird and his overseer,
Mr. Curtis, I collected 26 red-bellied woodpeckers in this orange grove. Eleven of
these birds had fed to a more or less extent on oranges.

Three of the 11 stomachs taken from specimens killed in the forenoon, soon after
daylight, contained only orange pulp. Eight stomachs showed, in addition to orange
pulp, insects and berries. The stomachs of the remaining 15 birds contained no
traces of oranges, but revealed chiefly insects, a few berries, and seeds. I examined
two dozen or more oranges which had been attacked by tlie woodpeckers, and found
that all had been bored about midway between the stem and blossom end. These
holes, always round, varied greatly in size. The birds usually, I think, pick off the
skin from a space dbout the size of an ordinary 5-cent piece, and then eat out the pulp.
In an orchard at Hawkinsville, near Deland Landing, on the St. Johns River, I often-
times, in the month of April, 1885, found oranges which had been evidently overlooked
when the crop was gathered, and in most instances observed that they were bored.
In this orchard on one occasion I saw a red-bellied woodpecker eating an orange. He
evidently recognized the fact that it was about the last of the season, as he had enlarged
the opening sufficiently so that his head was almost entirely hidden in the yellow
skin, from the sides of which he picked the few remaining particles of pulp. I was
shown orange trees that these "sapsuckers" were said to have bored. These borings,
however, did not appear to injure the trees, as they seemed to me to be equally as
flourishing as other trees whose trunks showed no marks of a woodpecker's bill.

Mr. William Brewster has made some observations on this point.

He says:

As corroborating Dr. Warren's account ^ in his late report on the birds of Pennsyl-
vania, it may be worth while to state that when at Enterprise, Fla., in February,
1889, I observed a red-bellied woodpecker eating the pulp of a sweet orange. He flew
down to the ground and, hopping along rather clumsily, approached an orange, and

» Warren, B H., Birds of Pennsylvania, ed. 2, pp. 174-175, 1890.

Bull. 37, Biological Survey, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate VI.

%tii^oss^ j^eftec.

Flicker (Adult Male).

KED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 49

for several minutes pecked at it in a slow deliberate way. When I showed myself
he at once took flight and sought shelter in the dense foliage of the trees above. Upon
examining the orange I found that it was decayed through the whole of one side. In
the sound portion were three holes, each nearly as large as a silver dollar, with narrow
strips of peel between them. The pulp had been eaten out quite to the middle of the
fruit. Small pieces of the rind were thickly strewn about the spot. Upon searching
closely I discovered several other oranges that had been attacked in a similar manner.
All were partially decayed and were lying on the ground. 1 was unable to find any
on the trees which showed any marks of the woodpecker's bill. The owner of this
grove was surprised when I called his attention to the above facts, which were quite
new to him. Nor had any of the other orange growers in the neighborhood any knowl-
edge of this orange-eating habit of the red-bellied woodpecker.^

Mr. Mortimer also gives testimony upon this habit of the bird:

During February and March, 1889, while gathering fruit or pruning orange trees, I
frequently found oranges that had been riddled by this woodpecker and repeatedly
saw the bird at work. I never observed it feeding upon fallen oranges. It helped
itself freely to sound fruit that still hung on the trees, and in some instances I have
found 10 or 12 oranges on one trt?e that had been tapped by it, "VMiere an orange
accidentally rested on a branch in such a way as to make the flower end accessible
from above or from a horizontal direction the woodpecker chose that spot, as through
it he could reach into all the sections of the fruit, and when this was the case there
was but one hole in the orange; but usually there were many holes around it. It ap-
peared that having once commenced on an orange the woodpecker returned to the
same one repeatedly, until he had completely consumed the pulp, and then he
usually attacked another very near to it. Thus I have found certain clusters in which
every orange had been bored, while all the others on the tree were untouched. An
old orange grower told me that the "sapsuckers," as he called them, never touch any
]3ut very ripe oranges and are troublesome only to such growers as reserve their crops
for the late market. He also said that it is only within a very few years that they
have shown a taste for the fruit, and I myself observed that, although red-bellies were
very common in the neighborhood, only an individual, or perhaps a pair, visited any
one grove. In one case a pair took up their station in a dead pine near a grove and
made excursions after the fruit at all hours of the day, being easily located by the noise
they kept up.^

Dr. B. H. Warren states that the stomachs of three red-beUied wood-
peckers captured in winter in Chester and Delaware Counties, Pa.,
contained black beetles, larvae, fragments of acorns, and a few seeds
of wild grapes. The stomachs of eight adults from the St. Johns River,
Florida, contained red seeds of two species of palmetto, but no insects.
Tv\ o additional stomachs from the same locality contained palmetto
berries, fragments of crickets (Nemohius and Orocharis saltator), a
palmetto ant (Camponotus escuriens), and numerous joints of a
myriapod, probably Julus.^

Dr. Townend Glover found in the stomach of a red-bellied wood-
pecker killed in December '^ pieces of acorns, seeds, and gravel, but no
insects. Another, shot in December, contained wing cases otBuprestis,

1 Brewster, William, Auk, VI, 337-338, 1889.

2 Mortimer, D. Auk, VII, 339-340, 1890.

3 Birds of Pemisylvania, ed. 2, pp. 174, 178, 1890.

75713°— Bull. 37—11 4

50 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

and a species of wasp, or Polistes, acorns, seeds, and no bark. A
third, shot in May, was filled with seeds, pieces of bark, and insects,
among which was an entire LacJinosterna, or Maybug."^

For the investigation of the food of the red-bellied woodpecker 271
stomachs were available. They were collected in 17 States and
Ontario, and represent every month in the year, though but few were
taken in June and July. In the first analysis the food was found to
consist of 30.94 per cent animal matter to 69.06 of vegetable. 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 (Carabidse) amount to 0.86 per
cent, and consist of some of the larger genera like Pasimachus and
Calosoma. They were probably found on the bark of trees. 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 indi-
viduals were taken from one stomach. There were also quite a
number of wood-boring larvae, which the birds must have dug out
from 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 eaten during the
wajmer months, though none were found in the two stomachs taken
in June, which is probably accidental. Evidently this bird does not
dig all of the ants it eats from decaying wood, like the downy wood-
pecker, but, like the flickers, collects them from the ground and the
bark of trees. Other Hymenoptera amount to 1.45 per cent, and
while these insects are known to be great lovers of warmth and sun-
shine, most of them are eaten in fall and spring, and many even in
winter, when they are usually less numerous. Orthoptera (grass-
hoppers, crickets, etc.) constitute 5.83 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 rear-horse) in 1. Two
stomachs contained the eggs of grasshoppers, which indicates that
this bird occasionally forages on the ground. Cockroaches were
represented entirely by their egg cases (ootheca). These insects
extrude their eggs, not singly like most other creatures, but packed
together in a case somewhat like the clip of cartridges used for some
modern breech-loading rifles. These cases are probably found by birds
in crevices of the bark of trees. Orthoptera are eaten throughout the

1 United States Agric. Rept. for 1865, p. 38, 1866.

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 51

year, but in quantities varying greatly from month to month. In a
general way, however, more were eaten in the summer season.

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 Pentatomidse or stink-bugs. Cater-
pillars were taken quite regularly, and average 2.88 per cent of the
diet. A few of them were identified as wood-borers. Spiders and
millepeds, with a few doubtful insects and small vertebrates, make
up 2.29 per cent, the remainder of the animal food. Spiders were
eaten at all times, but in trifling quantities. Small tree frogs were
found in 9 stomachs and remains of a lizard (Anolis carolinensis) in 2.
One stomach contained the lingual ribbon of a snail.

The following is a list of the insects identified:

COLEOPTERA.

Calosoma wilcoxi. Lachnosterna sp.

Pasimachus depressus. Nodonota puncticollis.

Pasimachus sp. Ilylohius pales.

Catogenus rufus. Lixus sp.

Ipsfasciatus. Dorytomus mucidus. ■

Trogosita virescens. Pseudomus truncatus.

Melanotus sp. Cryptorhynchus obUquus.

Passalus cornutus. Balaninus sp.

Dichelonycha sp. Cratoparis lunatus.

HEMIPTERA.

Nezara hilaris.

Vegetable food. — Corn was the only grain found in the food of the
red-bellied woodpecker. It was contained in 39 stomachs, rather
irregularly distributed through the year, but none in the three sum-
mer months, April, or November. The great bulk was eaten in the
three winter months and in March and September. In September it
was undoubtedly from the green ear in the field, but the rest must
have been waste. The total for the year is 3.99 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 23 species were
identified. What was thought to be apple pulp was found in one
stomach, cultivated grape in one, and blackberry or raspberr}^ in one.
Fruit pulp not further identified occurred in 15 stomachs and may
have been of cultivated varieties. No great preference is shown for
any one species of wild berry, but mulberries, woodbine, fox grapes,
and sour gum were found in the most stomachs.

Mast amounts to 30.70 per cent and is the largest item of food.
Acorns, beechnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans make up most of this

52 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

item. It is eaten throughout the 3^ear except during the three sum-
mer months. It was found in 178 stomachs, and the greatest con-
sumption appears to be in November, when it reached 67.05 per cent
of the month's food, and it does not fall much below this figure until
spring. This record for mast eating is the largest of that of any bird
of this family except the California woodpecker. In most cases where
birds eat much mast they habitually store up nuts and seeds for
future use. The writer has been able to find but one reference to such
a habit in this bird. W. L. Dawson, in Birds of Ohio, page 357, 1903,
says it '^lays up frugal stores of mast and corn." This seems quite
probable, in view of what is found in the stomachs. Poison ivy
seeds amount to 2.15 per cent and are eaten in every month from
August to February, inclusive.

The following fruits and seeds were found in the stomachs:

Short-leaved pine (Pinus mitis). Poison ivy (Rhus radicans).

Other pine seeds (Pinus sp.). American holly (Ilex opaca).

Saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata). Swamp holly (Ilex decidua).

Date palm (Serenoa sp.). Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia).

Greenbrier (Smilax glauca). Fox grape ( Vitis vulpina).

Bristly greenbrier (Smilax hona-nox). Woodbine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) .

Other greenbrier (Smilax sp.). Prickly pear (Opuntia sp.).

Bayberry (Myrica carolinensis) . Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis).

Hackberry (Celtis ocddentalis) . Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) .

Red mulberry ( i/orits ruftra) . Rough-leaved dogwood (Cornus asperi-

Smartweed (Polygonum sp.). folia).

Pokeberry (Phytolacca decandra). Panicled dogwood (Cornus candidissima).

(Sassafras sassafras). Sour gum. (Nyssa sylvatica).

Blackberry or raspberry (Ruhus sp.). Huckleberry ( Vaccinium sp.).

Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina). Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis).

Sumac (Rhus glabra). Ragweed (Ambrosia sp.). ■

Summary. — Only one element in the food of the red-bellied wood-
pecker has much economic significance. The bird evinces a decided
taste for fruit, and sometimes injures orchards, as in Florida orange
groves. The contents of the stomachs, however, show that wild
fruits are the favorites, and probably only when these have been
replaced by cultivated ones is any mischief done. Orange pulp was
not positively identified in any stomach, though quite a number were
collected in Florida during the orange season. Only a little of the
grain eaten is taken when it is a loss to the farmer. In its animal
food the bird is almost entirely beneficial, as the insects eaten are
largely noxious.

FLICKER.

(Colaptes auratus subspp.)

The flicker (PL VI), known also as the golden- winged woodpecker,
yellow-shafted woodpecker, high-holder, yellow-hammer, pigeon
woodpecker, and hairy-wicket, is one of the most widely distributed
and best known species in the United States. This is one of the few

FLICKER. 53

woodpeckers whose flesh is considered palatable, and a few years ago
large numbers were shot for market every fall when wild black
cherries were ripe. The bird is so fond of this fruit that when feedmg
in the trees it loses its natural shyness and is easily approached and
killed. Fortunately it is now protected by law in most of the States,
and it should be in all. It is a bird of the open country rather than
of the forest. It is much more wary than the hairy or downy. It
visits the orchard regularly, but does not make serious inroads on
the fruit, and it forages much upon the groiuid — in fact, in spite of
its liking for tall trees, the flicker is the most terrestrial of American
woodpeckers.

This species is distributed over the whole of the eastern United
States and north to Canada and Alaska, and is replaced in the West
b}^ the red-shafted flicker. The two forms meet on the Great Plains
and along the eastern edge of the Rocky Moimtain region and
intermingle in all degrees of hybridism. Typical specimens of either
species are frequently taken far within the range of the other, as, for
instance, a perfect Colaptes auratus was collected by the writer a few
miles east of Hay wards, Cal., while typical C. cafer collaris can be
taken every winter at Ames, Iowa. With the possible exception of
the yellow-bellied woodpecker, the eastern flicker is the most migra-
tory American species. In winter it is rarely seen in New England
and only in small numbers in the other northern States. As it
breeds abundantly in Canada, it becomes very numerous in the
northern tier of States in fall when migrating. At this time it sub-
sists largely upon wild cherries and other wdld fruits.

The flicker rears from 6 to 10 young in each brood. The nest is
built in a cavity excavated in a partially decayed tree, and is often
quite elaborate, but in some cases it is in a hole caused by natural
decay, where little or no preparatory work is required. The young
find their voices very early in life, and by the time they are a week old
make a great outcry ever}^ time they receive a visit from their parents
or even hear approaching footsteps.

Complaints have been made that the flicker eats com and culti-
vated fruit to an injurious extent, but the charges are not very
specific, and the stomach contents do not indicate extensive depre-
dations of this kind.

For the investigation of the food of the eastern flicker, 684 stomachs
were available. They were collected in 35 States, the District of
Columbia, and Canada, and are very evenly distributed through the
year. The food consists of 60.92 per cent of animal matter to 39.08
of vegetable. In addition the stomachs contain considerable fine
sand, which is probably not taken to aid digestion, but is swallowed
accidentally with some kinds of food, notably ants. Quite a quantity
of vegetable rubbish is taken in the same way.

54

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

Animal food. — Predaceous ground beetles (Carabidse) form a small
but very constant element of the flicker's food. Among those eaten
are some of the larger and more predatory genera, such as Calosoma,
Scarites, and Pterostichus. The total amount eaten in the year is
only 1.62 per cent of the food, and in August, the month of greatest
consumption, it rises to only 3.79 per cent. Other beetles are found
in the food of every month, but in rather irregular amounts. The
aggregate for the year is 3.52 per cent. The favorite food of the
flicker, however, is ants. They form the largest item of animal food,
not only in the aggregate but in every month. The total for the
year is 49.75 per cent of the food. They were found in 524 of the 684
stomachs, i. e., in 76 per cent of the whole, and there were 98 stomachs
that contained no other food. The following table shows the im-
portance of ants in the diet of the flicker:

January...
February. .

March

April

May

June

July

August

September.
October . . .
November.
December .

Months.

Total

Average per month.

Number
of stom-
achs.

34
55
37
75
33
31
51
92
138
54
41
43

G84

Per cent
of ants
in food.

24.09
29.73
79.14
80.17
79.24
79.19
70.74
61.47
42.61
21.79
17.37
11.46

Number
of stom-
achs with
ants.

49.75

20
31
32
70
32
30
47
84
108
31
22
17

524

Per cent
of stom-
achs with
ants.

58.8
56.3
86.5
93.3
96.9
96.8
92.1
91.3
76.1
57.4
53.6
39.5

Numl)er

with no

other

food.

In one case a stomach and crop were both filled with very small
ants (Cremastogaster sp.). The whole mass was divided with care
into 16 parts as nearly equal as possible, and in one part 315 ants
were counted, giving 5,040 in one meal of one fhcker. In addition
there were at least 100 pupse. Two other stomachs and crops ex-
amined in the same way each gave a little over 3,000 ants. Probably
each of 100 stomachs in the collection contained nearly as much
ant food as these, but the number of ants was less because they were
of larger species. A large proportion of the ants eaten are of species
that live in the earth, and these appear to be the principal food the
flicker obtains on the ground. In every case where the stomach held
a quantity of these small ants, a lot of fine sand revealed their source.

Since the flicker destroys so many ants, it may be well to inquire
as to the economic bearing of this work. As a rule we do not hear
many^ serious complaints against ants. They do not attack crops or
manufactured products. Probably they do some good by devouring
dead matter, both animal and vegetable, and in this way hasten
the decay of dead trees. On the other hand, some species enter

FLICKEK. 55

houses and become a positive nuisance, as, having their nest in an
inaccessible place, it is almost impossible to destroy them. Other
species estabhsh colonies in lawns or gardens and are so persistent
that nothing short of digging out ^.nd carrying off the whole area of
earth which they have preempted will rout them from their chosen
home. When timber has been injured by wood-boring beetle larvae,
ants enlarge the burrows and in a few years riddle and spoil the whole
trunk. The worst sin of the ants, however, is that they protect and
foster plant lice in every possible way. They defend them from their
enemies, cover them with sheds to shield them from inclement
weather, and upon the approach of winter they carry some species
into the ground and place them on the roots of plants for the winter
and at the return of warm weather bring them to the upper air and
place them in a position suitable to their needs. As plant lice con-
stitute one of the worst pests to horticulture, their protectors are a
nuisance and should be destroyed. As we have seen, flickers devour
enormous numbers of them and aid essentially in holding them in
check. Hymenoptera other than ants amount to only four one-
hundredths of 1 per cent of the yearly food.

Bugs (Hemiptera) are eaten in nearly every month, but only in
small quantities. In January, February, and May they reach an
average of about 3 per cent, but in no other month do they amount
to even 1 per cent. One stomach contained scales not further identi-
fied, another held 17 chinch bugs {Blissus leucopterus) , and in another
were what were probably the same in an early stage of growth. Two
stomachs contained each a single bedbug {Cimex ledularius) , prob-
ably taken on trial and not reHshed. Cicadas, or harvest flies
(Tihicen jirnosa), were found in several stomachs. The aggregate of
Hemiptera for the year is only 0.85 per cent.

Orthoptera, in the shape of grasshoppers, crickets, and cockroaches,
amount to 2.39 per cent. They are eaten in every month, but not
very regularly. Singularly, the maximum quantity was taken in
January, 9.77 per cent, which is more than twice the amount in any
other month. This record, however, was made by birds taken in
Texas, which had partaken freely of crickets. The least consump-
tion occurs in August, the grasshopper month, which shows that the
flicker is not a lover of grasshoppers.

Lepidoptera, in the form of caterpillars, are eaten very sparingly —
in fact in only three months do they amount to as much as 1 per cent.
In August they reach 4.91 per cent, 3.13 in June, and 3.29 in No-
vember. The only one identified was the common zebra caterpillar
of the gardens {Mamestra picta). The total for the year is 1^28 per
cent. A few fly larvae, spiders, myriapods, crustaceans, and^snails
make up the rest of the animal food. Larvae of Tipulidae (crane flies)
were found in 3 stomachs and Bihio larvae (March flies) in 2. As

56

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

these creatures breed in the earth, this again shows tlie terrestrial
habits of the flicker. Spiders and myriapods were found in a good
many stomachs, but few were taken at one time, so the aggregate is
not large. Crustaceans, in the form of Oniscus (sowbugs), were
found in 5 stomachs. Snail shells, mostly fragments, were of fre-
quent occurrence, and one was identified as Zonitoides minusculus.
The total of these miscellaneous creatures is 1.49 per cent, which
completes the record of animal food.

The following is a list of the insects identified in the stomachs :

COLEOPTERA.

Cicindela vulgaris.
Calosoma calidum.
Elaphrus obliteratus.
Scarites subterraneus.
Pterostichus sayi.
Amara exarata.
Amara impuncticoUis.
Amara angulata.
Calathus ingratus.
Platynus placidus.
Platynus punctiformis.
Brachynus puherulus.
Chlxnius sp.
Agonoderus pallipes.
Harpalus f annus.
Harpalus pennsylvanicus.
Harpalus pleuriticus.
Harpalus ellipsis.
Anisodactylus rusticus.
Anisodactylus sp.
Stenus shoshonis.

Formica obscuripes.
Formica nitidiventris.
Formica subsericea.
Formica subpolita.
Formica gagates.
Formica subsenescens.
Formica sp.
Lasius claviger.
Lasius aphidicola.
Lasius brevicornis.
Lasius americanus.
Lasius alienus.
Lasius miniatus.
Lasius subniger.
Lasius sp.

Camponotus marginatus.
Camponotus melleus.
Camponotus pennsylvanicus.

Quedius prostrans.
Stelidota 8-maculata.
Melanotus communis.
Copris minutus.
Onthophagus hecate.
Onthophagus sp.
Aphodius Jimetarius.
Aphodius inquinatu^.
Aphodius bicolor.
Aphodius sp.
Lachnosterna sp.
Ligyrus sp.
Caryoborus arthriticus.
Opatrinus aciculatus.
Blapstinus pruinosus.
Blapstinus pulverulentus.
Blapstinus sp.
Tanymecus confertus.
Sitones hispidulus.
Phytonomus punctatus.
Sphenophorus sp.

HYMENOPTERA (aNTS).

Camponotus minutus.
Camponotus pictus.
Camponotus sp.
Myrmica scabrinodis.
Myrmica sabuleti.
Myrmica sp.

Cremastogaster laeviuscula.
Cremastogaster minutissim%.
Cremastogaster sp.
Aphsenogaster picea.
Aphsenogaster Julvum.
Aphsenogaster treatse.
Aphxnogaster sp.
Prenolepis imparis.
Pheidole sp.
Solenopsis geminata.
Solenopsis debilis.
Tetramorium sp.

FLICKER. 57

HEMIPTERA.

Zelus renardi. Tibicen rimosa.

Blissus leiicopterus. Cimex lectularius.

Metapodius sp.

DIPTERA.

Bibio sp. Tipula sp.

LEPIDOPTERA.

Mamestra picta.

ORTHOPTERA.

Gryllus sp. Ischnoptera sp.

ISOPTERA.

Termesjlavipes.

CRUSTACEA.

Oniscus sp,

MOLLUSCA.

Parastarte triquetra. Zonitoides minusculus.

Vegetable food. — Corn was found in 17 stomachs of the flicker, wheat
in one, and buckwheat in two. One stomach taken in March was
entirely filled with corn, evidently waste grain. Most of the remain-
der was taken in fall and early winter. The total for the year is 1.12
per cent. Small fruits are the favorite vegetable food with this bird.
They are eaten in every month and constitute a good percentage in
all but two. In April and May fruit amounts to less than 1 per cent,
but increases through the summer to October, when it is about 42
per cent of the food, and then decreases gradually to the minimum in
April. Possibly some of the Rubus fruits were cultivated, and the
cherries in one stomach certainly were, while the fruit pulp in 21
stomachs may have been, but in any case the amount is insignificant
and shows that the flicker eats but little domestic fruit. On the other
hand, 31 species of wild fruits were identified. They were contained
in 265 stomachs, and 40 contained no other food. They are not only
the favorite vegetable food, but, next to ants, are the favorite food
of the year. There is also shown a fondness for the seeds of various
species of poisonous Rhus (poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac).
These seeds are eaten mostly in the fall and winter months, when small
fruits are less abundant. May, June, and July are the only months
when none were eaten. November appears to be the month of
greatest consumption, when they reach nearly 38 per cent. The
aggregate for the year is 9.25 per cent.

Mast, if the term be limited to acorns and other nuts, is not a
favorite food of the flicker. It is eaten to some extent in the three

58

FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

winter months and occasionally tasted at other times. It amounts
to 1.79 per cent of the food. Cambium^ weed seed, nonpoisonous
Rlius seeds, and rubbish are found in some stomachs pretty regularly
through the year, though the quantity is very irregular. It would
appear that the three former are eaten only in default of anything
better, and the last is probably taken accidentally when seeking ants
in rotten wood or under rubbish. The total amount is 6.64 per cent
and completes the quota of vegetable food.
The following fruits and seeds were identified:

Number of
stomachs
containing

Hemlock (foliage ) ( Tsuga canadensis ) . 1

Red cedar ( Jiiniperus virginiana) 5

Barnyard grass {Panicum sp.) 1

Foxtail grass (Ixophorus sp. ) 2

Glaucous-leaved greenbrier (Smilax

glauca) 1

Cat brier (Smilax rotundifolia) 1

Bristly greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox) . 1
Laurel-leaved brier (Smilax lauri-

folia) 3

Bayberry (Myrica carolinensis) 48

Sweet fern ( Comptonia peregrina) 1

Beech (Fagus americana) 1

Hackberry ( Celtis' occidentalis) 24

Mulberry ( Morus rubra) 2

Pale persicaria (Polygonum lapathi-

folium) 1

Jjady's thumb (Polygonum persi-
caria) 1

Black bindweed (Polygonum convol-
vulus) 1

Smartweed (Polygonum sp.) 4

Pokeweed (Phytolacca decandra) 5

Magnolia (Magnolia foetida) 3

Spicebush (Benzoin benzoin) 2

Sand blackberry (Rubus cuneifolius) . 1

Blackberry or raspberry (Rubus sp. ) . 15

Juneberry (Amelanchier canadensis) . . 3

Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) . 30

Chokecherry (Primus virginiana) 7

Crab cherry (Prunus avium) 1

Number of
stomachs
containing

White clover ( Trifolium repens) 6

Crane's-bill (Geranium sp.) 1

Croton ( Croton sp. ) 1

Dwarf sumac (Rhus copallina) 3

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) 11

Poison sumac (Rhus vernix) 5

Poison ivy (Rhus radicans) 82

Poison oak (Rhus diversiloba) 1

Sumac (Rhus sp.) 11

American holly (Ilex opaca) 1

Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine) 1

Ink berry (Ilex glabra) 8

Swamp holly (Ilex decidua) 1

Black alder (Ilex verticillata) 4

Burning bush (Euonymus sp.) 1

Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia) 22

Flowering dogwood (Cornus Jlorida) . 16

Rough-leaved dogwood (Cornus as-

perifolia) 1

Alternate-leaved dogwood ( Cornus

alternifolia) 1

Sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica) 32

Large tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) 2

Huckleberry (Gaylussada sp.) 6

Blueberry ( Vacdnium sp.)

Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) .

Mullein ( Verbascum thapsus)

Black elderberry (Sambucus canaden-
sis)

Red elderberry (Sambucus puhens) . .
Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) . .

7
1
1

11
1
3

Summary. — From the point of view of the food analyst the farmer
and horticulturist have very little quarrel with the flicker. It eats
only a few predaceous ground beetles. The remainder of the animal
food is entirely of harmful species. In its vegetable diet; grain and
fruit are the only useful products eaten, and the quantities are insig-
nificant. The bird, like many others, has the bad habit of sowing
broadcast the seeds of the poison Rhus, but there seems no remedy
for this.

RED-SHAFTED FLICKEE. 59

RED-SHAFTED FLICKER.

(Colaptes ca/er collaris and other subspp.)

The red-shafted flicker inhabits that part ot North America west-
ward from the Great Plains, where its range meets that of the golden-
winged woodpecker. Typical specimens of Colaptes cafer collaris are
found as far east as South Dakota, central Iowa, and central Texas.
The writer took them in winter at Ames, Iowa, for several years in
succession. The eastern and western forms of the flicker nest in
the same kind of places, their voices and manner of flight are the
same, as are their methods of feeding, and practically their food.
The differences of plumage can be certainly distinguished only when
the bird is near. The western s'pecies has one habit which the east-
ern one rarely shares, that of pecking holes in cornices and cupolas
in order to prepare a winter home. As most of the eastern flickers
migrate in winter, the few that remain usually find lodging places
in trees. In California, where the birds do not migrate in winter,
much complaint has been made against them for disfiguring and
injuring buildings.

For the investigation of the food of the red-shafted flicker 183
stomachs were available. They were collected in 10 States and in
British Columbia, but more than three-fourths of them came from
California. They are distributed through every month of the year,
but the warmer seasons are represented by entirely too few. The food
was found to consist of 67.74 per cent of animal matter to 32.26 of
vegetable. This is over 6 per cent more animal food than is eaten
by the eastern species. This difference occurs almost entirel}^ in the
winter months, when, in the East, the ground is more or less covered
with snow and insects are not readily obtained, while seeds and
berries are still accessible.

Animal food. — Useful Coleoptera, i. e., predaceous ground beetles,
amount to 3.89 per cent of the food, but appear to be eaten very
irregularly. In January and March they amount to 17 per cent of
the food and in November to 7.28 per cent. In two months they
barely reach 1 per cent, and in all the others they are but a trace or
do not appear at all. This would seem to indicate that these insects
are taken only when better food is not at hand. Other beetles
amount to 2.66 per cent. They are largely Scarabseidse or May
beetles, most of them in the larval stage. The larvae live to a great
extent in rotten wood and rubbish, and some species that live on
plant roots are often turned up by the plow. They seem to form
quite a constant element of the food of both species of flicker. Ants
are the favorite food of this bird as well as of its eastern relative.
They aggregate 53.82 per cent of the food, which is more than 4 per
cent higher than the record of auratus, though it is doubtful if this

60 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

difference would hold with a larger number of stomachs. In May
onlj one stomach of cafer was taken, and it was entirely filled with
ants. Like those eaten b}^ auratus, these ants are to a great extent
taken from the ground, and the usual quantity of sand was found
with them. Ants were found in 127 of the 183 stomachs, and 23
contained no other food. Besides the sand ants, some of the large
species that live in decaying trees and logs were eaten. These of
course are dug out of their burrows. Hymenoptera other than ants
are eaten by this bird so rarely as to be negligible.

Hemiptera, or bugs, constitute 1.84 per cent of the flicker's diet,
but they are so far from being a favorite food that they were found
in the stomachs collected in only 4 months — January with 1.92 per
cent, April with 12.50 per cent, June with 7.50 per cent, and October
with 0.14 per cent. In each of these months the insects were con-
tained in only one stomach and in April and June were all cicadas,
or harvest flies, but in the January stomach they consisted of those
curious and delicate looking creatures called lace bugs (Tingitidse).
Caterpillars amount to 2.12 per cent of the food and are mostly
eaten in the winter and spring months. This is probably owing to
the fact that the species taken are mostly wood borers and are dug
out of decaying wood in the colder season. March is the month of
greatest consumption with 9.11 per cent, and December next with
8.84 per cent. The amount in the other months is small.

Orthoptera aggregate 1.45 per cent and consist of crickets with a
few bits of grasshoppers and locusts. They are all taken from
October to February inclusive, which shows that this bird, although
so terrestrial in its habits, does not join in the grasshopper feast in
summer. White ants (Termes), a few other insects, and spiders
collectively amount to 1.96 per cent and complete the animal food.
Termes are very similar in habits to the true ants, and are often
found and devoured by woodpeckers in their search for ants. Like
true ants, white ants do much mischief by boring into timber, and
are not infrequently found in the woodwork of buildings, which they
sometimes greatly injure, even to the extent of threatening the
stability of the structure.

The following insects were identified in the stomachs :

COLEOPTERA.

Pterostichus permundus. Harpalus sp.

Evarthrus orbatus. Anisodactylus dilatatus.

Amara insignis. Anisodactylus piceus.

Calathus ruficollis. Chceridium histeroides.

Platynus maculicollis. Diabrotica soror.

Axinopalpus biplagiatus. Anthonomus sp.

Harpalus herbivagus. Calandrinus grandicollis.

KED-SHAFTED FLICKER. 61

HYMENOPTERA (ANTS).

Formica suhpolita. Cremastogaster lineolata.

Formica neorujibarbis . Cremastogaster sp.

Formica obscuriventris. Solenopsis geminata.

Formica obscuripes. Prenolepis imparis.

Formica sp. Myrmica lobicomis.

Camponotus marginatus. Myrmica sp.

Lasius americanus. Messor andrei.
Lasius sp.

CRUSTACEA.

Sowbug (Porcellio scaber).

MOLLUSCA.

Snail (Lymnsea columella).

Vegetable food. — Fruit was eaten to the extent of 10.28 per cent of
the red-shafted flicker's food. It appears to be taken rather irregu-
larly, but probably examination of a greater number of stomachs
Avould show it to be a pretty regular article of diet, as the eastern
flicker is a constant fruit eater. The greatest amount is taken in
Noyember, when it aggregated 31.84 per cent. September stands
next with 23.75 per cent. Like the eastern species, this bird eats
more fruit in fall and winter than in the warmer months. Grapes
were identified in 12 stomachs, and probably nearly all were of culti-
yated yarieties. Domestic cherries were found in one stomach, what
was thought to be apple pulp in 9, and fruit pulp not further identi-
fied in 11. This is the whole list of cultiyated fruit, if we suppose
tlie last item to haye been of domestic yarieties, but as the greater
part of it was taken in the \\dnter or late fall months, probably little
harm was done. Wild fruits of 6 yarieties were found in 10 stom-
achs. There appear to be less small fruits or berries ayailable for
bird food on the western side of the Rocky Mountains than on the
eastern. This is w^ell illustrated in the diet of the two flickers; the
eastern species has 31 kinds of wild fruit in its bill of fare to 6 of the
western bird. This difference has been noted in the food of other
closely allied species, one from the East and the other from the West.

Grain amounts to 2.26 per cent of the food. It was found in Janu-
ary, August, October, and Noyember, and consisted of corn in 14
stomachs, barley in 1, and oats in 1. The barley and oats were
taken in Januar}^, and were therefore waste grain. The corn must
haye been obtained from the standing crop, and indeed much of it
had been eaten while in the milk. This is not, howeyer, a heavy
indictment against the flicker and may well be excused. Seeds of
yarious shrubs and herbs and some rubbish amount to 19.59 per cent,
and make up the quota of vegetable food. The largest part of this
item consists of seeds of the different poisonous Rhuses, commonly

62 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

known as poison ivy or poison oak. They are probably eaten in
every month, though the one stomach taken in May did not contain
any. They were found in 51 stomachs and formed a staple article of
diet in all the cooler months, and in December amounted to more
than half the food. It is in the distribution of these seeds, if any-
where, that the flickers do harm. Seeds of the iionpoisonous Rhuses
(sumac) and of various weeds were eaten occasionally but not in
great quantities. Mast in the shape of acorns was found in 16 stom-
achs, and is probably very acceptable in the absence of better food.
The following fruits and seeds were identified :

Pigweed {Amaranthus sp.). Sumac (Rhus ep.).

Purslane (Portulaca sp.). Pepper berry (Schinus molle).

Gooseberry {Rihes menziesi). Woodbine {Parthenocissus quinquefolia) .

Bur clover (Medicago denticulatum) . Dogwood (Cornus pubescens).

Filaree (Erodium cicutarium). Elder (Sambucus glauca).

Poison ivy (Rhus radicans). Sunflower (Helianthus sp.).

Poison ivy (Rhus aromatica). Star thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa).

Poison oak (Rhus diversiloba). Bur thistle (Centaurea melitensis).

Summary. — The above analysis of the food shows that the farmer
and horticulturist have little to fear from the red-shafted flicker.
In its animal diet it does very little harm, and it consumes no more
of the products of husbandry than it is entitled to. Its greatest
fault is distributing seeds of the poisonous Rhuses, a sin which it shares
with so many other birds that there is no occasion for invidious
comparisons.

IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER.

(Campephilus principalis.)

The ivory-billed is the largest woodpecker inhabiting the United
States. Unfortunately, it appears to be rapidly becoming extinct.
It originally occupied all the heavily wooded bottom lands from
eastern Texas east to the Atlantic and from southern Indiana and
Illinois south to the Gulf. At present it is confined to the lower
Mississippi Valley and Gulf States and is nowhere numerous.

Only two stomachs of this species have been available for exami-
nation. The contents of these are discussed in detail because of
the interest that attached to this magnificent but vanishing bird
rather than its present economic importance. One stomach con-
tained 32 and the other 20 of the wood-boring cerambycid larvae,
which live by boring into trees. These constituted 37.5 per cent of
the whole food. The remainder of the animal food consisted of
engraver beetles (Scolytidx) found in one stomach. Of these, three
species were identified — Tomicus avulsus, T. calligrapTius, and T.
grandicollis. The total animal food amounted to 38.5 per cent.

OTHER WOODPECKERS.

63

The vegetable food consisted of fruit of Magnolia foBtida in one
stomach, and of pecan nuts in the other. The average for the two
was 61.5 per cent. This analysis of food indicates that the species,
except for its srnall nurnbers, rnight be of considerable economic
value, as the insects forming the animal portion of the food are
mostly of an injurious character. These powerful birds are able
to reach the wood-boring grubs in places where smaller species fail,
and their large bodies require a great quantity of such food. The
vegetable portion of the food does not indicate that the bird is likely
to attack any products of agriculture, an inference which is strength-
ened by its shy, retiring habits. It is preeminently a wilderness
lover and avoids cleared and cultivated districts.

When we see how much good this woodpecker is capable of doing
as a guardian of the forest, it seems deplorable that it should be
allowed to be exterminated. Wise legislation, backed by intelligent
public opinion, may retard, if not absolutely prevent, the present
destruction and allow the bird to regain something of its former
abundance. There is plenty of room for this splendid species and
much need of its services in the great southern forests.

OTHER WOODPECKERS.

Besides the species of woodpeckers whose food has been discussed
in the preceding pages, a few stomachs of 5 other species have been
received, and, while there are too few to warrant a general discussion
of their food, some mention of its most prominent characteristics
may be made. The following table gives the number of stomachs of
each species and the percentage of animal and vegetable food for each:

Momo nf cr.«Hoc NuiTiber of Animal i Vegetable
Name of species. j stomachs. | food. | food.

Texan woodpecker (Dri/obafes scalarifi bairdi)

14
14
11

1
5

92.07
38.93
54.73
40.00
88.00

7.93

61.07

Golden-fronted woodpecker ( Centurus aurifrons)

45.27

60.00

Gilded flicker ( Colapfes chrysoiaes)

12.00

The Texan woodpecker (Dryohates s. hairdi) shows the nding char-
acteristic of the genus in its food, for the largest item is wood-boring
beetle larvae. Caterpillars are second in importance, and include a
number of cotton worms (Alahama argiUacea), which were found in
some stomachs collected in Texas. Ants are next in rank, and these
three items make up the bulk of the food.

Half of the animal food of the white-headed woodpecker (Xenopicus
alholarvatus) is ants, but the most pronounced characteristic of this
bird is its fondness for the seeds of pines, which constitute more than
half of the food.

64 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES.

The golden-fronted woodpecker (Centurus auHfrons) shows a
decided taste for grasshoppers, which make up half of its animal food.
Its vegetable diet is composed almost entirely of small fruits or berries.

.The one stomach of the Gila woodpecker (Centurus uropygialis)
was largely filled with beetles of the May-beetle family, with a few
bones of a lizard. The vegetable part was mere refuse.

The gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) shares the characteristic
fondness of the genus for ants, which constitute three-fourths of the
whole food. The vegetable part was mostly mast.

o

$

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS?

By

H.W.HENSHAW,

Administrative Assistant, Biological Survey.

[Reprint from Yearbook of Department of Agriculture for 1907.]

„ _ WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1908

48350—08

CONTENTS.

Page.

Insectivorous birds and their food habits , 166

Vegetarian birds and their food habits 170

Protection of birds from man 176

Means of attracting birds to the farm w 177

Means of protecting crops from birds 177

Farmers' gain from protecting birds 178

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Plate VI. A useful insect eater — Kentucky warbler 168

VII. One of our forest conservators — Red-bellied nuthatch 168

VIII. A valuable bird in danger of extinction — Field plover 172

IX. A typical seed eater — White-throated sparrow 172

II

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS?

By H. W. Henshaw,
Administrative Assistant, Biological Survey.

As objects of human care and interest birds occupy a place filled
by no other living things, and the various movements to protect and
foster them would be fully justified were there no returns other than
esthetic. Only the thoughtless and the ignorant still hold that the
graceful forms and beautiful plumage of these masterpieces of nature
serve their highest purpose when worn on a hat for a brief season, to
be then cast aside and forgotten, the plumage dimmed and faded, the
beautiful songs quenched forever.

While by no means insensible to the higher value of birds, the far-
mer who is asked to aid in measures for their protection is entitled to
inquire as to the practical purpose they subserve and how far they
may be expected to return his outlay of time, trouble, and expense.

Since most birds eat insects and since many eat practically nothing
else, it is their insect-eating habits that chiefly invite inquiry, for
so active and persistent are birds in the pursuit of insects that they
constitute their most important enemies.

When birds are permitted to labor undisturbed they thoroughly
police both earth and air. The thrushes, sparrows, larks, and wrens
search the surface of the earth for insects and their larvae or hunt
among the leaves and peer under logs and refuse for them. The war-
blers, vireos, creepers, and nuthatches with their microscopic eyes
scan every part of the tree or shrub — trunk, branches, and leaves —
and few hidden creatures escape them. The woodpeckers, not content
with carefully scrutinizing the bark and limbs of trees, dig into de-
cayed and worm-eaten wood and drag forth the burrowing larvae,
which in their hidden retreats are safe from other enemies. The
flycatchers, aided by the warblers, are ever on the alert to snap up
insects when flying among trees and branches; while the swallows
and nighthawks skim over the pastures and patrol the air high above
the tree tops for such of the enemy as have escaped pursuit below.
Thus each family plays its part in the never-ending warfare, and the
number of insects annually consumed by the combined hosts is simply
incalculable. It is well that this is so, for so vast is the number of
insects and so great is the quantity of vegetation required for
their subsistence that the existence of every green thing would be

165

166 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

threatened were it not for birds and other agents specially designed
to keep them in check.

While birds are not numerous in the sense that insects are, they
exist in fair numbers everywhere — or would were it not for the in-
terference of man — and so rapid is the digestion of birds and so per-
fect their assimilative powers that, to satisfy the appetite of even
a small bird, great numbers of insects are needed. Much of this
food is hidden and must be searched for; much of it is active and
must be vigorously pursued. Hence only by the expenditure of much
time and labor do birds procure their daily food. With birds the
struggle for existence is peculiarly a struggle for subsistence ; shelter
is obtained with comparative ease, and if climatic conditions are not
to their liking they migrate to other regions.

When by reason of favorable conditions insects have multiplied
and become unusually abundant, birds eat much more than at ordi-
nary times ; hence the importance of their services during insect in-
vasions. It is not, however, at such periods that their services are
most valuable. It is their persistent activity in destroying insects
every day, at all seasons, and in every stage of growth — the long,
steady pull rather than the spasmodic effort — that tends to prevent
insect irruptions and to keep the balance true.

Few birds are wholly beneficial, and there are very few among the
harmful ones that have no redeeming traits — that do not, occasion-
ally at least, do good. Most birds most of the time are beneficial ; a
few birds most of the time are injurious. Certain species may be
beneficial in one region and harmful in others, or perform useful
services at one season and be injurious at another. .Instead, there-
fore, of being simple, as at first sight they may appear, the relations
of birds to man are complex. That the exact nature of the services
they render may be better understood, the food habits of certain of
the more prominent ones will be briefly reviewed.

INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS AND THEIR FOOD HABITS.

Hawks and owls. — The strong beaks and sharp talons of the hawks
and owls at first sight might be thought designed for more serious
work than the destruction of insects, and yet many of the birds of
prey make insects an important part of their food. The little spar-
row hawk lives largely upon grasshoppers and crickets, and some,
even of the larger species, as the Swainson hawk of the Western
States, in summer time live almost exclusively upon them. It is very
fortunate that so many birds — the hawks among them — are fond of
grasshoppers, since these insects multiply so fast and are so very
destructive to vegetation that but for the check on their increase
by birds the cost to the farmer of fighting them would be much
greater than it is.

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 167

Important as is the work of some of the hawks in destroying
noxious insects, this is by no means the chief service the group ren-
ders man. Within our boundaries are some 50 species of hawks and
35 species of owls. With the exception of perhaps half a dozen
hawks, which subsist mainly upon birds, and the great horned owl,
hawks and owls are to be classed as beneficial. It is not to be denied
that occasionally the larger species carry off a chicken and kill some
game, but such acts are exceptions to the general rule. Mice and
other small rodents constitute the chief food of such of the species
as are not largely insectivorous, and it is by the destruction of these
pests of the farmer that hawks and owls earn protection.

Of late years the acreage under cultivation in the United States has
increased rapidly and the value of the crops raised has augmented by
leaps and bounds. With increased acreage under cultivation the
number of rodents has multiplied correspondingly, because of the
abundance of nutritious food and also because their natural foes have
been destroyed by man. The services of hawks and owls were never
so much needed as now, and these faithful helpers of man are likely
to be needed still more in the future ; yet thousands of hawks and owls
are yearly slaughtered because the part they play in nature's scheme is
misunderstood or ignored. Unquestionably individual hawks that
have learned the way to the poultry yard should be summarily dealt
with, but because occasional individuals of two or three species destroy
chickens it is manifestly unfair to take vengeance on the whole tribe.
The very name " hen hawk " is a misnomer so far as the birds to
which it is chiefly applied are concerned. Moreover, it is made the
excuse by the farmer's boy and the sportsman for killing every hawk,
large and small, that flies. Thousands of these useful birds are killed
annually by the thoughtless for no better reason than that, when sit-
ting motionless, they offer an easy target for the small-bore rifle, or,
flying, present a tempting mark for the shotgun. So far has popular
misapprehension in regard to these birds gone that again and again
States and counties have offered bounties for their heads, thus deplet-
ing treasuries, and inviting heavy losses to the farmer through the
increased numbers of insects and rodents, which it is the function of
these birds to hold in check.

Woodpeckers. — The woodpeckers apparently were expressly de-
signed for the protection of trees, both forest trees and fruit trees.
Their chisel-like beaks driven by strong muscles make effective tools
with which to dig out of wood the larvae of burrowing insects, in
which work the long extensible tongues greatly aid. The nature
and full extent of the services of woodpeckers in the cause of forest
growth and preservation are more clearly recognized as the subject
is more carefully studied.

168 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Of all our woodpeckers the sapsucker is the one exception to the
rule. This species eats many insects, but its fondness for the sap
of trees, including apple and other orchard trees, with its habit of
cutting out sections of the bark to obtain its favorite tipple, renders
it a nuisance in some localities. It is one of a number of birds that
are harmful and beneficial by turns or according to locality. Little
blame attaches to the orchardist who blacklists the sapsucker; but
he should familiarize himself with the appearance of his enemy,
that he may distinguish him from other kinds, so that his extreme
measure of retaliation may not fall upon innocent species which can
ill be spared.

Wood warblers. — America is peculiarly fortunate in possessing
this beautiful group, in some respects unlike the birds of any other
land, and excelled by none in grace of form, sprightly motions, and
beauty of plumage. The family is large and numbers of the species
included in it visit every part of our domain at some season or
other. While some live on or near the ground and share with the
thrushes the task of hunting for ground- frequenting insects, the great
majority haunt the trees and shrubbery, and spend their time glean-
ing an insect harvest from foliage and twigs. Eggs, larvae, and
adult insects alike are welcome, and when flying insects are dislodged
from their hiding places the warblers successfully essay the role of
flycatchers and snap them up on the wing. No insects are too minute
to escape their prying eyes, and they are particularly successful in
discovering and devouring plant lice, immense numbers of which
infest our fruit and shade trees. Finally, it may be said of the war-
blers that they are truly insectivorous, as they eat very little vege-
table food, and the little they do eat has no special economic value.
(See PI. VI.)

Thrushes. — The thrushes and their near allies, the bluebirds, are
two groups of insectivorous birds, all the members of which are fond
of fruit. All sorts of wild berries are highly esteemed by them, and
no one will deny that they are quite within their rights in appro-
priating them. Unfortunately, however, the most prominent mem-
ber of the group — and in some respects the most highly esteemed —
has developed an uncontrollable appetite for cherries, strawberries,
and other cultivated fruits which often renders him a nuisance to the
grower of small fruits. The fruit grower can hardly be expected to
accept the confiding habits and the sweet song of the robin as full
payment for a crop of cherries upon which depends a considerable
part of his own livelihood and that of his family. In connection
with the depredations of the robin, it is confidently believed that
mulberry, wild cherry,' and other fruit-bearing trees of little or no
commercial value can be planted near orchards so as to protect the

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1907.

Plate VI.

A Useful I nsect-Eater— Kentucky Warbler.

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 1907.

Plate VII.

One of Our Forest Conservators— Red-bellied Nuthatch.

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 169

valuable cherry crop and so save the robin from the orchardist's just
resentment. If so, all will be well with the robin; for in respect to
his general food habits he is exemplary enough, and destroys many
noxious insects, including cutworms and caterpillars. The food
habits of the robin have been more carefully studied, perhaps, than
those of any other of our birds, and special attention has been paid
to the subject by the Biological Survey. That the robin's services as
a whole far outweigh the injury he incontestably does to small fruits
is the opinion of all investigators, and by the farmer at large he can ill
be spared.

The catbird, to some extent, shares the ill name earned by the
robin, and for the same reasons; but he is comparatively harmless,
being neither so abundant near orchards nor so bold a marauder.
Nevertheless, the strawberry patch too often knows him to the sorrow
of its owner. He also consumes many insects — cutworms, caterpil-
lars, and grasshoppers among the number.

The smaller members of the thrush family, the wood thrush,
hermit thrush, and others, are highly insectivorous, and are to be
credited with nothing but good. Moreover their melody raises them
to the highest rank among American songsters.

Titmice. — The titmice, like the warblers, are tree frequenters, and
the insects they pursue are of the same general character as those
eaten by their more nervous and sprightly cousins. Instead of
hurrying from tree to tree, and from one branch to another like the
warblers, the titmice conduct a comparatively slow and painstaking
search and go over their sylvan hunting grounds much more care-
fully. Another and a far more important fact to their credit is that,
like the nuthatches (PI. VII), the}^ are practically non-migratory,
and instead of scurrying off to the sunny Tropics on the first hint of
cold w^eather, as do most of the warblers, they usually w^inter where
they summer. Thus the farmer enjoys the benefit of their services
the year round, and hence has twice the incentive to protect them that
he has in the case of the migratory species.

Swallows. — The swallows are among the most insectivorous of
birds, and it is difficult to overestimate the extent of their services to
agriculture. They are flycatchers preeminently, and Nature has been
at the utmost pains to qualify them for the delicate task she has set
for them — the capture of small insects moving with rapid and uncer-
tain flight through the air. Endowed with the power of swift and
enduring flight, swallows cleave the air without apparent effort,
turning this way and that, now falling, now rising, following the
movements of their prey. The list of species is not lengthy, six
only in the States east of the Mississippi and but one more west of
that river, but not one of the number could be spared without loss to

ITO YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

the farmer. Valuable at all times and at all places favored by their
presence, swallows have a peculiar value to the southern cotton
planter, for they prey upon the cotton boll weevil as it flies over the
fields on its errand of destruction. The more that swallows can be
induced to nest in the cotton States, and the more they can be in-
creased in the North, so as to add to the number that migrate through
the South, the better will it be for the cotton planter, and incidentally
for the whole country. Especially important is it that swallows be
protected from the assaults of the English sparrow, which covets
their nesting sites. Not only do these pests drive away swallows from
their nests, but they even throw out their eggs and kill the helpless
young.

VEGETARIAN BIRDS AND THEIR FOOD HABITS.

It is not possible strictly to divide small birds by their diet into
vegetarian and insectivorous kinds, for while many birds live largely
upon vegetable substances — some almost exclusively — there are very
few that do not, at least occasionally, eat insects (all of them feed
their young upon insects) ; and, it may be added, there are not many
insect-eating birds that do not, at least occasionally, vary their diet
by berries or other vegetable substances. Pigeons perhaps are more
exclusively vegetarian than other birds, the common turtle dove, for
instance, apparently never eating insects except when they happen to
be contained in seeds or other vegetable food in the form of eggs or
larvse. For present purposes, however, those birds may be considered
vegetarian which live chiefly and most of the year upon vegetable
food.

It is among this gi'oup naturally that we look for enemies of the
farmer, for cultivated grains and fruits are often so much more ac-
cessible than the wild varieties that it would be strange indeed if
birds had not discovered their good qualities and promptly availed
themselves of their opportunities.

Croavs. — Crowds are as widely as they are unfavorably known for
their depredations on corn, especially when it is just sprouting, and
their record is further blackened by their appetite for the eggs and
nestlings of all small birds and of game birds. Bad as crows are,
they yet have redeeming traits, for they devour great numbers of in-
sects, especially grasshoppers and cutworms, and they kill also many
meadow mice and other small rodents. The economic status of the
crow is, of all birds, one of the most difficult to determine, but the
balance is undoubtedly in the bird's favor. The offering of bounties
to insure the destruction of crows is mistaken policy, for, as stated
above, the crow performs important services to agriculture, and his
extermination would be a loss to the country.

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 171

Blackbirds. — Blackbirds also, of which there are several species,
at times and in certain districts destroy grain. On the other hand,
blackbirds consume insects in a wholesale way, and so incline the
balance strongly in their favor.

Orioles. — Orioles eat insects to a much greater extent than vege-
table food and are noted for their fondness for caterpillars. That
the good done by orioles far outweighs the harm can not be doubted,
especially since it has been ascertained that in the cotton fields orioles
are persistent and successful enemies of the cotton boll weevil, and
eagerlj^ search the bolls for them, thus invading the very heart of
the enemy's citadel.

Bobolink. — The bobolink, though in summer a deserved favorite at
the North and there chiefly insectivorous, in autumn is responsible for
damages to the southern rice patches that annually aggregate many
thousands of dollars. The bobolink is thus almost in a class by itself,
earning deserved protection in summer at the North by reason of its
beautiful song and its insect-eating habits, while incurring the sever-
est penalties at the South in the fall for serious depredations on the
rice crop. No fair-minded critic can condemn the southern planter
who protects his own by means of powder and shot. The extermina-
tion of the bobolink is not possible nor is it desirable, at least from the
standpoint of those who cherish the bird in its northern home, but a
material reduction of its numbers would probably effect a cure and
satisfy the rice planters by making the bird practically harmless.

Blue jay. — The blue jay is another of our pronounced vegetarians
whose fare, taking the whole year round, is largely composed of in-
sects; and were judgment to be pronounced merely as between the
good it does by destroying insects and the harm it inflicts by eating
corn and fruit, the verdict would be in favor of the bird. A fact, how-
ever, recently brought to light seems to indicate that the blue jay is
essaying a new role. As is well known, the brown-tail moth was intro-
duced into this countiy a few years ago, and in the New England
States has already inflicted serious injury. It will be fortunate for
the country at large if the ravages of the insect can be limited to the
States already infested. Contrary to the habits of our native moths
the eggs of this foreign intruder hatch in the fall, and the young
safely winter in their nests in the trees, to issue in the spring and
begin their devastations on the opening foliage. Recently it has
been learned that hundreds and thousands of these nests are torn,
open in winter and the young eaten, and the blue jay has actually
been seen doing this. The blue jay will earn the title of bene-
factor indeed should he be able to contribute materially toward a
reduction of this pest, which not only threatens destruction alike to
village shade trees and country forest, but seriously afflicts humanity

172 YEARBOOK OF THE DEP.\ETMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

by poisoning the flesh with its barbed hairs, which are scattered
broadcast by the wind.

Grouse and quail. — Grouse and quail are largely vegetarian,
though the several species have enviable records as successful hunters
of insects. The habit of eating the buds of fruit trees in spring is
sometimes cited against our ruffed grouse as a serious fault, but
usually trees are not harmed by the process.

The value of all the members of the grouse family, as of waterfowl
and waders, for food is great and is constantly increasing as the birds
diminish in numbers. Quail have always been favorite objects of
pursuit by sportsmen, and by preserving the quail on a large farm,
or on a number of adjoining farms, and asking a fair fee from sports-
men for the privilege of shooting, a considerable revenue may be
derived, and it is not unlikely that the game on a large tract of, say,
several hundred acres may be made to yield a revenue as large as that
from a good-sized poultry yard, or even larger. However, perhaps
the most valuable service to the farmer rendered by bobwhite is the
destruction of the seeds of weeds, although the total number of in-
sects eaten in a year by a covey on the farm is enormous, and it is
questionable if the value of game birds to the farmer, especially the
quail, as weed and insect destroyers be not greater than their value as
a source of revenue from sportsmen or as food. It is pretty safe to
assert that, except where grouse and quail are so numerous that a cer-
tain percentge of the increase can be spared, the farmer can not afford
to sacrifice them to sport or to the market. (See PI. VIII.)

Sparrow family. — The finch, or sparrow, family is very important
to the agriculturist. The group is large, and in North America
comprises more than a seventh of all the birds. Most of them are
small and plainly colored; some are gregarious, and most are mi-
gratory, leaving the United States in winter. Their chief valvie to the
farmer lies in the fact that the majority of them are indefatigable
in their search for seeds of weeds, which indeed constitute a large
part of their fare the year round. (See PI. IX.) Practically all of
the food of at least one of them — the tree sparrow — consists of seed.
If we estimate that a single tree sparrow eats a quarter of an ounce of
weed seed daily — and stomach examinations by Professor Beal show
that this is a fair estimate — this species in a State the size of Iowa
consumes more than 800 tons of seed annually. And there are many
other sparrows whose appetite for weed seed falls little short of that
of the tree sparrow.

As every farmer knows, the cost of farming is largely augmented
by the expense of fighting weeds, the seeds of many of which, espe-
cially of certain noxious kinds, are very numerous and are capable
of germinating after being long buried in the soil. As weeds have
been estimated annually to damage crop land on the average about a

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1907.

Plate VIII.

A Valuable Bird in Danger of Extinction— Field Plover.

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1907.

Plate IX.

A Typical Seed-eater— White-throated Sparrow.

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 173

dollar per acre, and as the lands under crop in the United States in
1899 were 290,000,000 acres, the good work accomplished by the spar-
rows is of very great value to the farmer. Without their aid the
cost of fighting weeds would be vastly increased, and no doubt in
places profitable agriculture would be almost impossible.

Some of the sparrow tribe, as the purple finch and grosbeak, are
fond of buds, and in spring may be frequently seen in apple, cherry,
peach, and other trees, greedily eating the buds or the stamens of the
blossoms. No doubt a certain percentage of fruit is lost through the
agency of these birds, but budding by birds in itself, if not carried too
far, is by no means objectionable; and neither of the birds mentioned,
nor any native bird that shares the habit, is numerous enough (except
in California) or sufficiently confirmed in the habit to seriously
reduce the fruit crop. Indeed budding by hand to prevent over-
bearing and to improve the size and quality of fruit is a common
practice, and it is probable that, as stated above, in most cases no
actual loss of profit follows budding by our native birds. Whether
so or not, the purple finch destroys many insects, caterpillars among
them, and hence earns favor in the eyes of the farmer; while a still
stronger case may be made out for the rose-breasted grosbeak, which
is a most determined foe of the Colorado beetle, and probably destroys
more of these dreaded insects than does any other bird — possibly than
do all other birds combined. The insects eaten by the old birds, how-
ever, are but a tithe of the number they feed to their young, for nest-
lings thrive best and grow faster on a diet composed almost exclu-
sively of insects.

Until the English sparrow was introduced it would have been
safe to say that all the sparrows were friends of the farmer and de-
served protection at his hands. Unlike our native species, however,
this bird has bad habits far outweighing any possible good that it
does, even if the most liberal estimate be made of the comparatively
small number of insects that it destroys or the weed seed it eats. It is
a conspicuous member of the seed-eating group, as its structure abun-
dantly proves, and this well-known fact should have prevented its
introduction into the United States to perform the service of an insect
eater. By preference the bird is a scavenger of the city streets. Out-
side the city the bird's fondness for seeds does not stop with weed
seed. The smaller grains are liable to attack at all stages of growth,
from sowing time to harvest, and the total damage to the grain crop
of the country inflicted by this pest at the present time amounts to
many thousands of dollars annually.

This sparrow, like some of our native species, is fond of the buds
of fruit trees. Where it exists in small numbers the injury it does
in this way, like that of our own sparrows, is too small to count
much against it ; but the bird is very prolific and in many suburban

174 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

towns its colonies are so large that the resulting damage it inflicts
upon fruit trees in spring is very great. It is fond also of all the
small fruits, and in some regions the damage to fruit as the result
of its attacks is considerable.

There is yet another field for the exercise of this pest's pernicious
activity. Its aggressive and meddlesome disposition and its habit
of acting in concert enables it to overpower and drive away many of
our native birds, which before its advent were as numerous about
dwellings as they were welcome.

The house wren, the bluebird, the phoebe, and certain swallows are
the chief sufferers from the aggressive warfare waged by the sparrow.
Even that excellent fighter, the purple martin, is unable to long resist
the persistent attacks of a united colony of sparrows, since, when
unable to overcome the martin in open warfare, the sparrows enter
the nests during the absence of the owners, kill the helpless young,
and pitch out the eggs. The result is that not only are the above-
named species and other small birds driven away from the localities
they used to inhabit, but their numbers have steadily diminished and
must continue to do so because of their inability to find other suitable
breeding places. Thus the sparrow has usurped the places about our
homes by right belonging to our own birds, and its increase has
been at the expense of native American species, with the result that
a number of highly important useful species have been replaced over
large areas by a single destructive one. Not only should all aid and
comfort be withheld from this foreign invader, but a concerted effort
should be made to reduce its numbers and to exterminate it wherever
and whenever possible.

Cranes and herons. — Some of our birds are neither insect eaters
nor vegetable eaters. Some of the hawks and owls, as is well known,
live chiefly upon flesh, while the cranes, herons, storks, and king-
fishers live largely upon fish, crustaceans, and frogs. By eating
small fish which are the fry of valuable kinds or serve as their food,
these birds do more or less harm, as the fish breeder, whose ponds are
invaded, knows well enough. So also their habit of eating frogs is
injurious.

But while thus injurious to some extent in certain localities where
their pernicious activity may necessitate reprisals, cranes and herons
do good service in the destruction of small rodents, especially meadow
mice and pocket gophers. As in other cases the relation of these
birds to the community varies according to circumstances, and they
are to be dealt with accordingly, bearing in mind, so far as possible,
the good to the community as a whole and not solely individual
interests.

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 175

IMPORTANCE OF BIRDS AS DESTROYERS OF INSECTS.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the benefits the farmer de-
rives from birds far outweigh the occasional damage they do. Not-
withstanding this, the public, as a rule, is much more alive to the
depredations of birds than to the benefits that accrue from them.
Nor is this surprising, since the disastrous effects of a raid on sprout-
ing corn by crows, or upon ripening cherries by robins and cedar
birds, are too apparent to be overlooked, and the resulting loss can be
estimated in dollars and cents. Not so the benefits. Occasionally,
it is true, the effects of a combined attack of birds upon caterpillars,
cankerworms, or other insects which are present in unusual numbers
or have played havoc with the foliage, are too evident wholly to escape
attention; but more often birds work unnoticed, and the good they
do is not at once obvious to the busy farmer. There are few visible
tokens of the process by which the crop of hay or green feed has been
saved from the cutworms by crows, or the potato crop rescued from
the Colorado beetle by the grosbeaks. The birds have done their
work quietly but none the less effectively. They have saved, or
greatly assisted in saving, the farmer's crop, and nobody is the wiser,
save the few who make it the business of their lives to study the
habits of birds.

The time has long passed when the practical farmer can afford
to ignore the relation of birds to agriculture. Larger and larger
areas are being devoted to tillage every year, and the amount of
capital invested in agricultural pursuits in the United States is
constantly increasing. Irrigation, until recently almost unprac-
ticed in the United States, is fast assuming national importance.
The whole world is being kid under contribution for new fruits,
forage plants,, and crops for the benefit of the American farmer,
in order that by his superior energy and foresight he may not only
feed our own people but create a surplus of American products for
consumption in less favored lands.

Along with these new introductions and as a necessary result
of international commerce, new pests have been introduced. Here,
under a favorable climate and new conditions, thej multiply till
they inflict great damage. The Hessian fly, San Jose scale, and cod-
ling moth are examples in point.

Such pests usually go unnoticed until the damage they do forces
them on the attention of a community, when usually they are so
numerous and widespread that their extermination is impossible.
Once introduced into the country they are here to stay, and the vast
sums already spent in efforts to stay the ravages of such pests em-
phasize the importance of utilizing to the utmost all the allies
nature places at our disposal.

176 YEAKBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

As a means of checking these introduced insect pests, as well as
native ones, birds are of vast importance. Yet it must be remem-
bered that, when once the reproductive powers of insects have had
full play and an invasion occurs, the farmer can not suddenly aug-
ment the number of birds and summon the winged hosts to his aid.
Birds reproduce but slowly, and in the natural course of events often
suffer immense losses during their migrations, by climatic extremes
and through the assaults of birds of prey and predaceous mammals.
Hence a marked increase in the number of birds, either as a class
or in the case of a given species, must come slowly and as a result
of favoring conditions extending over a term of years. Moreover,
as stated above, birds alone are inadequate to cope with sudden in-
sect irruptions. It is their province rather by incessant watchful-
ness and constant warfare to prevent over-production of insect life
rather than to reduce excess, although in the latter regard their aid
is important. It is the part of prudence, therefore, to protect useful
birds at all times, and so to augment their numbers that they may
constantly play their respective parts in the police system ordained
by nature and be ready, when emergency arises, to wage active and
aggressive warfare against sudden invasions of insect enemies.

PROTECTION OF BIRDS FROM MAN.

Most of our States have laws which, if fully enforced, would go
far to secure adequate protection for birds. The wholesale destruc-
tion of our songsters and insectivorous birds for millinery purposes
has been largely stopped, although even now in some States the
statutes are frequently violated by unprincipled bird hunters for the
sake of gain. But laws, while wholesome and necessary, are not so
effective for the protection of birds as is an enlightened public senti-
ment. In a country like our own, where education is general, a
knowledge of the part birds play in the economy of nature is more
effective for their protection than are any laws, however well ad-
ministered. Instruction of this kind should be given to every school
child in the land, and it is gratifying to note that the importance of
this practical side of nature study is fast being recognized by educa-
tors. When the value of birds is universally known and they are
everywhere cherished as friends, protective laws will be compara-
tively unimportant.

In this connection brief allusion may be made to a class of immi-
grants to our shores who are ignorant both of our laws and of the
need for enforcing them, and who look upon birds, large and small,
only as food. Cheap guns and ammunition in the hands of these
newcomers furnish means for the indiscriminate slaughter of birds
for the pot, and public sentiment is either not recognized or is ignored.
Nothing but strict laws, rigidly and impartially enforced, can save
our birds from these pot hunters.

DOES IT PAY THE FARMER TO PROTECT BIRDS? 177

MEANS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS TO THE FARM.

There are many ways of attracting birds to the farm and about the
farmhouse. A convenient drinking and bathing place near the
house is one of the most effective hires for birds known, as well as
one of the cheapest. For wrens, swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, and
other kinds, which build in cavities of trees, boxes may be put up,
care being taken to protect them as far as possible from the aggres-
sive English sparrow. Above all should the farmer pay attention
to the cats on his farm. It is only recently that the extent of the
depredations of the house cat on wild life, especially on birds, has
been recognized. Many who have studied the matter believe that
taking the year round cats are responsible for the death of more
birds, especially young ones, than all wild animals put together. This
may or may not prove to be an exaggeration, but unquestionably cats
everywhere, especially on the farm, destroy vast numbers of birds.
Even the well-fed and well-housed pet is responsible for many valu-
able lives, but the greater number are destroyed b}^ strays which mis-
taken kindness has turned adrift, when not wanted in the house, to
live as best they may. An adequate remedy against the bird-catch-
ing cat is neither easy to suggest nor to apply, but at least the
farmer, who rightfully counts the birds of his farm as his friends,
should be expected to destroy the stray cats that infest the country in
summer, and, so far as possible, to see to it that the natural instincts
of his own house pets are suppressed by ample feeding and reasonable
restraint.

MEANS OF PROTECTING CROPS FROM BIRDS.

There are various devices by means of Avhich the farmer may
protect his crops from the attacks of birds, reserving the use of
the gun as a last resort when all other methods have failed. Scare-
crows, a dead crow hung on a pole, a white cord stretched around a
field, the drilling of seed, and the tarring of seed corn are some of the
old and approved methods of preventing losses by crows and black-
birds. To be effective, no one of these should be employed exclusively
or too long at a time in the same locality, since long contact with man
has taught the crow a number of things. Fruit trees when few in
numbers may be protected by netting. The planting of wild fruit
trees, or those possessed of little commercial value, for the protec-
tion of orchards has not received the attention in this country that it
deserves.

Even when such protective devices fail the farmer is not driven
to the wholesale destruction of birds. For it is being more and more
recognized that there is much individuality among birds, and that
generally the aggressors in a certain locality are a comparatively few

178 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

individuals. If the lives of a few destructive hawks, crows, or robins
are taken, after other means have been tried and failed, it is often
enough to protect the poultry yard or the crop.

farmers' GAIN FROM PROTECTING BIRDS.

The brief survey of the subject possible here only imperfectly sets
forth the nature and importance of the service of birds to agriculture.
Nevertheless it must appear that to the cfuestion " Does it pay the
farmer to protect birds?" only one answer is possible. Even from
the point of view of an investment for profit the time and expense
necessary for their care and protection are richly repaid. There is
the added consideration that without the music and companionsljip
of birds the world woiild be the poorer. Anything that adds to the
attractiveness of the farm and increases the interest of farm life is
worthy of cultivation, even if no actual return is received in dollars
and cents. Happily the farmer who protects birds secures a double
return — increased profit from his crops and increased pleasure of
living.

Issued January 9, 1913,

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— BULLETIN No. 43

HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief

c

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATINa TO

^"ISEjooForjm^ "

BY MEMBERS OF THE
BIOLOGICAL SURVEY

IN PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1885-1911

BY

W. L. McATEE

Assistant, Biological Survey

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1913

LEHER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U. S. Department of Agriculture,

Bureau of Biological Survey,

Washington, D, 0,, March 13, 1912.
Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith, for publication as Bul-
letin No. 43 of the Biological Survey, an index, by W. L. McAtee, to
papers on the food and food habits of birds, published up to Decem-
ber 31, 1911, by the Biological Survey of the Department of Agri-
culture. Since 1885 no fewer than 131 papers relating wholly or in
part to the economic status of birds have appeared in the various pub-
lications of the department, including Annual Reports, Bulletins,
Faunas, Yearbooks, Farmers' Bulletins, and Circulars. These con-
tain more or less extended accounts of 401 species of native birds and
59 foreign or introduced species. The index serves the two very
useful purposes: (1) Of showing just what has and what has not
been published by the department on the status of birds in the
United States; (2) of greatly facilitating reference to the data con-
tained in the reports.
Respectfully,

Henry W. Henshaw,

Chief, Biological Survey,
Hon. Jamf^ Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture.

CONTENTS

Page.

Introduction 7

Annotated bibliography of papers relating to the food of birds 8

Bulletins , 8

Circulars 15

Farmers' Bulletins 18

North American Faunas 19

Annual Reports 21

Schedules 26

Yearbooks 26

Index ; 32

5

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO THE FOOD OF BIRDS BY
MEMBERS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY IN PUBLICATIONS
OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
1885-1911.

INTRODUCTION.

The object of this bulletin is to furnish an index to papers by
members of the Biological Survey in the various publications of the
United States Department of Agriculture up to and including De-
cember. 1911, which contain information on the economic status of
birds as determined by their food habits. Statements concerning the
value of feathers, flesh, eggs, guano, or the use of birds as game are
not taken into account, but only notes on bird food or inferences
drawn from a consideration of food with definite reference to some
species of bird.

The publications indexed are the Bulletins, Circulars, and North
American Faunas, published by the Biological Survey, the Annual
Reports of its Chief, and the Farmers' Bulletins and Yearbooks, pub-
lications of the Department of Agriculture as a whole.

In the 26| years of its existence, from July 1, 1885, to December 31,
1911, members of the Biological Survey have prepared 131 documents
relating wholly or in part to the food of birds. These publications
contain notes on the economic status of no fewer than 401 species of
native birds and 59 species of foreign or introduced birds. (See
table.) In the case of 173 species of native birds and one introduced
bird, reports embodying a resume of printed and communicated testi-
mony concerning the food, together with detailed analyses of stomach
contents, have been published. These are the most important state-
ments of the economic value of our birds.

Number
in series.

Number
of arti-
cles con-
taining
economic
informa-
tion.

Number of species of birds receiving
economic consideration.

Series of publications.

Formal reports.

Other notes.

'

Native
birds.

Foreign
and in-
troduced
birds.

Native
birds.

Foreign
and in-
troduced
birds.

Bulletins

40

84

23
34
25
17

28
13

8
13
37
32

162

1

314

157

67
118

93
221

28

Circulars

2

Farmers' bulletins (by members of Biolog-
ical Survey)

■ ■"

4

Faunas

11

32
9

15

21

Totals (duplicates deducted)

131

173

1

401

59

8 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OP BIRDS.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PAPERS RELATING TO THE FOOD

OF BIRDS.

The first part of this bulletin consists of a bibliography of the
publications of the Department of Agriculture that were written by
members of the Biological Survey and contain information concern-
ing the food of birds^ with brief reviews of the papers. The bibliog-
raphy is divided into sections, arranged in the following order:
Bulletins, Circulars, Farmers' Bulletins, Faunas, Annual Reports,
and Yearbooks.

BULLETINS.

Bulletin 1. The English sparrow {Passer domesticus) in North
America, especially in its relations to agriculture. By Walter B.
Barrows. 405 pp. 1 pi. (frontispiece). 9 figs. 1 colored map
[by F. E. L. Beal]. 1889.

This comprehensive publication includes discussion of the introduction of
the sparrow, method of diffusion, rate of spread and increase, natural enemies;
checks by climate, limits of food supply, and by man; its economic status in
Great Britain; injuries to fruits, vegetables, garden seeds, and grain; its
relations to other birds and to insects; and an account of miscellaneous in-
juries. Tables showing the results of analysis of contents of 636 stomachs
fill 10 pages. Recommendations for legislation and for private efforts to re-
duce the numbers of sparrows, a general consideration of bounty laws, and
a review of the existing legislation affecting the species are given. The bulle-
tin includes also the following special reports :

Insectivorous habits of the English sparrow, by C. V. Riley, pp. 111-133.
Destruction of the sparrow by poison, by Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp. 174-178.
The trapping of sparrows for sporting purposes, by W. T. Hill, pp. 178-191.
History of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the European tree
sparrow (Passer montanus) at Saint Louis, Mo., by Otto Widmann,
pp. 191-194.
Pages 197-357 present in detail the evidence from correspondence and pub-
lished sources upon which the foregoing parts of the bulletin are largely
based. The quotations refer to experience with the English sparrow in
Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand, and include casual references
to the economic value of a number of foreign and native birds. A list of all
persons whose testimony appears in the bulletin and an unusually complete
index are given.

Bulletin 2. Report on bird migration in the Mississippi Valley in
the years 1884 and 1885. By W. W. Cooke. Edited and re-
vised by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. 313 pp. 1 colored map. 1888.

Includes casual references to the character of the food of 11 species, mostly
birds of prey.

Bulletin 3. The hawks and owls of the United States in their rela-
tion to agriculture. By A. K. Fisher, M. D. 210 pp. 26
colored pis. 1893.
The introduction (pp. 9-18) to this bulletin summarizes the food habits of
the various species and groups them according to their economic value. Then

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 9

follows the detailed consideration of the food habits of the species, giving in-
formation gleaned from correspondence, published sources, and stomach ex-
amination. The results of examinations of 37 species are tabulated. The
name " short-winged hawk," given on page 11, is a slip of the pen and should
be omitted. The same error occurs in Circular 61, p. 3, 1907; Yearbook 1894,
p. 217 ; 1895, p. 590 ; 1896, p. 628.

Bulletin 4. The prairie ground squirrels or spermophiles of the
Mississippi Valley. By Vernon Bailey. 69 pp. 3 colored pis.
4 colored maps. 1893.

The natural enemies of spermophiles, including nine hawks and six owls, are
discussed in pages 15-18.

Bulletin 5. The pocket gophers of the United States. By Vernon
Bailey. 47 pp. 6 figs. 1 colored map. 1895.

In the treatment of natural enemies, pp. 20-22, two species of hawks and
three of owls are mentioned.

Bulletin 6. The common crow of the United States. 98 pp. 1 pi.

2 figs. 1895.
General habits of the crow. Animal food of the crow. Insect

food of the crow. By W. B. Barrows [pp. 9-57 and 68-71, figs.

1-2] . Report on the insect food of the crow. By E. A. Schwarz

[pp. 57-67]. Vegetable food of the crow. Protection of crops.

By W. B. Barrows [pp. 72-94].
Bulletin 6 treats first of the general habits of the crow, including its migra-
tions and the formation of roosts. Next the animal food is discussed, the
principal topics being the relations of the crow to rabbits, mice, ground
squirrels, gophers, bats, moles, shrews, sheep, swine, eggs and 5^oung of poultry
and wild birds, and to tortoises, snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, salamanders,
fish, Crustacea, and mollusks. The insect food is dealt with in a separate
chapter, of which the report by E. A. Schwarz occupies 11 pages. In the
chapter on vegetable food this omnivorous bird's corn-pulling habits receive
full consideration, as do also its relations to other grains and cultivated fruits.
The natural foods most fully treated are mast, weed seeds, wild rice, and
wild fruits, particularly sumacs. The bulletin contains casual references to
the food of a few other species of birds, and closes with a statement of
methods for protecting crops from crows and a discussion of bounty laws and
their effects.

Bulletin 7. [The food and tongues of woodpeckers.] 44 pp. 5 pis.
1895. Preliminary report on the food of woodpeckers. By
F. E. L. Beal [pp. 7-33, 1 pi. (frontispiece), figs. 1-4]. The
tongues of woodpeckers. Relation of the form of the tongue to
the character of the food. By Frederic A. Lucas [pp. 35-44,
pis. 1-3].

Formal reports on the food habits of 7 species of woodpeckers and brief notes
upon 3 others are given by Professor Beal. The introduction is devoted to a
general statement of the food and comparison of the various species. Follow-
ing this are tables showing the percentage of various elements of the food and
the relative proiwrtions of adult and larval Coleoptera found in the stom-
51197°— Bull. 43—13 2

10 INDEX TO PAPEBS KELATING TO POOD OF BIRDS.

aclis of 7 species of woodpeckers. Next the species are tal^en np separately and
the animal and vegetable food and the damage attributed to the birds are fully
discussed.

The report on tongues by Doctor Lucas notes the peculiarities of this organ
in the different genera, discusses the value of these characteristics in classifi-
cation, and draws conclusions concerning the relation of the form of the tongue
to the character of the food. Plates I-III thoroughly illustrate this interesting
anatomical essay.

Bulletin 8. The jack rabbits of the United States. By T. S.
Palmer, M.D. 84 pp. 7 pis. 2 figs. 1896.
2nd ed. with numerous alterations and additions, including ap-
pendix of 5 pages. 88 pp. 7 pis. 3 figs. 1897.
The information relating to birds is the same in both editions and occurs
on the same page, 44. Eight birds of prey are listed among the natural enemies
of jack rabbits.

Bulletin 9. Cuckoos and shrikes in their relation id agriculture.

26 pp. 1 pi. 1 fig. 1898.
The food of cuckoos. By F. E. L. Beal, B. S. [pp. 7-14, fig. 1].

The food of shrikes. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D. [pp. 15-26, 1

pi. (frontispiece)].
After noting briefly the general habits of the yellow-billed and black-billed
cuckoos this bulletin treats their food habits collectively. The almost exclu-
sively insect diet is discussed in detail, and a list is given of the species
of insects identified in the stomachs. The food habits of the two species of
shrikes are treated separately, and lists of the species identified among the
prey are given. The report ends with a tabulation of the percentages of prin-
cipal food elements by seasons.

Bulletin 12. Legislation for the protection of birds other than
game birds. By T. S. Palmer. 94 pp. 2 pis. (maps). 8 figs.
(1 map). 1900.

Eevised edition. 143 pp. 4 pis. (maps). 7 figs. (1 map). 1902.

The remarks on bird food in this bulletin relate principally to species which,
while often used as game, are outside of the ordinary classes of game birds.
It is shown that several of these have very beneficial food habits, and their
protection is urged. Brief statements of the character of the food of many
other species are given in connection with synopses of legislation occasioned
by their beneficial or injurious habits. Lists of the species protected and of
those specifically exempted from protection in each State and in the Canadian
provinces are presented, also the full text of Federal, State, and Canadian
laws for the protection of birds.

Bulletin 13. Food of the bobolink, blackbirds, and grackles. By
F. E. L. Beal, B. S. 77 pp. 1 pi. (map). 6 figs. 1900.
This bulletin contains formal reports on the food habits of the bobolink, the
cowbird, and 7 species of blackbirds. The introduction notes the salient fea-
tures of the food of the various species and compares them one with another.
The individual treatment of the species comprises discussion of their relations
to crops, particularly grain (rice in the case of the bobolink), and a complete

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 11

synopsis of the remaining vegetable food and of the insect and other animal
food. Tabulations of the principal food items, by months, follow the general
account of each species, and diagrams graphically conveying the same infor-
mation are given for the bobolinli, cowbird, and red-winged blackbird.

Bulletin 15. The relation of sparrows to agriculture. By Sylvester
D. Judd, Ph. D. 98 pp. 4 pis. 19 figs. 1901.
The introductory matter in Bulletin 15 comprises a statement of the impor-
tance of sparrows, a general account of the principal constituents of their food,
and a description of the methods of ascertaining the economic value of birds,
including observations in the field and examination of stomachs in the labora-
tory. Under the food of sparrows as a group are discussed mineral substances
found in sparrows' stomachs, food neutral in effect on agriculture, food inju-
rious in effect, and food beneficial in Effect. The behavior of sparrows and
their habits of feeding in the natural state are described at length, and results
of experiments with captive birds are compared with those of the investigation
of stomach contents. The caged sparrows were also used to test the efficacy of
the various so-called "protective" adaptations of insects, and the resistance
of certain hard-coated seeds to the digestive action of the birds. The remainder
of the bulletin is devoted to a discussion of the food of sparrows by species.
Details of the animal and vegetable food of 26 species are given. Plate IV
shows the percentages of the principal food items of 6 species by the graphic
method of proportionate sectors of circles. The bulletin contains casual refer-
ences to the food of numerous species of birds not formally treated.

Bulletin 17. Birds of a Maryland farm. A local study of economic
ornithology. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D. 116 pp. 17 pis.
(Imap). 41 figs. 1902.

" Birds of a Maryland Farm " is an account of the relations of all the birds
occurring on a 230-acre farm near Marshall Hall to all of the animals and plants
used by them for food. Several pages are devoted to a discussion of the local
distribution of birds as influenced by topography, nesting facilities, and food
supply. In Chapter II is described the behavior of birds during periods of
unusual abundance of certain insects, as well as their relations to useful
insects and to the standing pests of the various cultivated crops, trees, shrubs,
and herbage. The food of the nestlings of several species is described in detail.
Chapter III deals with the birds that prey upon poultry, wild birds, fish, carrion,
mice, and rabbits, and Chapter IV with those that eat wild and cultivated
fruit; this chapter contains also notes on the distribution of seeds by birds.
The principal grain eaters are treated in Chapter V and the consumers of weed
seed in Chapter VI. The remainder of the bulletin is devoted to a discussion of
the food by species or by larger groups. Bulletin 17 represents the results of
the most complete study of local economic ornithology that has been made. It
gives notes on the food of no fewer than 133 species of birds.

Bulletin 21. The bobwhite and other quails of the United States in

their economic relations. By Sylvester D. Judd. 66 pp. 2 pis.

(1 colored). 10 figs. 1905.

Two-thirds of this publication is devoted to a single species, the bobwhite.

The discussion of the general habits of the bird, its value as food, as an object

of sport, and as an asset on the farm, is very full. The decrease in numbers

of the bird, legislation in its behalf, and measures for preservation and propa-

12 INDEX TO PAPEES KELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

gation, are considered at length. The food is dealt with under the following
topics: Grain, weed seeds, mast and pine seeds, fruits, leaves and buds, beetles,
bugs, grasshoppers and allied insects, caterpillars, miscellaneous animal food,
and food of the young. One hundred and twenty-four different insects and
other animals were identified in the stomachs and 138 seeds and fruits.
Information of the same character, briefer in all cases, the volume depending
on the number of stomachs available for examination, is given for six other
species of quails.

Bulletin 22. Birds known to eat the boll weevil. By Vernon
Bailey. 16 pp. 1905.
This bulletin is a preliminary report on the investigations of boll-weevil-
eating birds. Notes are given on 11 species of birds in whose stomachs E. A.
Schwarz of the Bureau of Entomology found boll w^eevils and on 9 species
added to this list by investigations by the Biological Survey. The field work
was done by James G. Gaut and Vernon Bailey; the stomachs were examined
by F. E. L. Beal.

Bulletin 23. The horned larks and their relation to agriculture.
By W. L. McAtee. 37 pp. 2 pis. 13 jfigs. 1905.

The horned larks of the United States belong to a single species composed
of 21 subspecies. Their food habits are treated collectively in this bulletin,
except for a Californian subspecies (Otocoris alpestris actia), which owing to
environment is considerably more vegetarian than the other members of the
group. The general habits and economic relations are first discussed, then the
vegetable food is considered under the following heads: Wheat, corn, oats,
other grains and forage plants, weeds, fruit, and miscellaneous vegetable food.
The animal food, mineral matter, and food of the nestlings and other young
horned larks precede the account of the California subspecies. This is followed
by the summary and a list of seeds, fruits, and invertebrates eaten by the horned
larks, which includes 77 items of animal food and 104 of vegetable.

Bulletin 24. The grouse and wild turkeys of the United States and

their economic value. By Sylvester D. Judd. 55 pp. 2 pis.

(1 colored). 1905.

The food habits of 12 species of grouse and the wild turkey are described

in this bulletin, the fullest accounts dealing with the prairie hen and the

ruffed grouse. The insect food, which generally includes a goodly proportion

of grasshoppers, and the vegetable food, characterized by the preponderance of

berries, buds, and leaves, or browse, are discussed in detail. In the case of

the ruffed grouse no fewer than 45 items of animal food, and 120 of vegetable

a!*e listed.

Bulletin 25. Birds that eat the cotton-boll weevil. A report of
progress. By Arthur H. Howell. 22 pp. 1906.
This " report of progress " on the boll-weevil investigation adds 8 species to
the list in Bulletin 22, making 28 in all known to feed on the weevil. The
most important notes are those on the orioles, nighthawk, and flycatchers.
On pages 19-20 is a brief discussion of the relations of birds to cotton worms.
Tables giving the records of birds examined which had and which had not eaten
boll weevils conclude the paper. The field work done since the publication of
the first report (Bulletin 22) was by A. H. Howell; the stomachs were exam-
ined by F. E. L. Beal and ^Y, L. McAtee.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 13

BuLX-ETiN 27. The North American eagles and their economic rela-
tions. By Harry C. Oberholser. 31 pp. 2 pis. 2 figs. (maps).
1906.

This report is a compilation of information on the habits and distribution of
3 species of eagles — the bald, the golden, and the gray sea eagles. Their
relations to fish, wild birds, poultry, and wild and domestic mammals are dis-
cussed and opinions given as to their economic status. Maps showing the
breeding ranges of the bald eagle and the golden eagle are included in the
bulletin.

Bulletin 29. The relation of birds to the cotton-boll weevil. By
Arthur H. Howell. 31 pp. 1 colored pi. G figs. Oct. 10, 1907.

Bulletin 29 is a resume of the study of birds in relation to the boll weevil.
Forty-three species are listed (on page 6) as enemies of the insect, adding 15
to the list in Bulletin 25. Recommendations of measures designed to increase
the efficiency of bird enemies of the pest include proposals for legislation in
favor of the upland and killdeer plovers and the blackbirds, and suggestions
for the special protection of swallows, meadow larks, and painted buntings.
Nesting boxes for purple martins are described and illustrated. The relations
of the various groups of birds to the boll weevil are described separately, the
results of the field work of 1906 and 1907 are given, and the paper ends with
tabulated records of birds examined which had and which had not eaten boll
weevils. The field work was carried on by the author and the stomachs were
examined by W. L. McAtee.

Bulletin 30. Birds of California in relation to the fruit industry.
Part I. By F. E. L. Beal. 100 pp. 5 pis. (1 colored). Nov.
11, 1907.
The introductory paragraphs in this bulletin state the general problem of the
relations of birds to cultivated fruit in California. They serve as an introduc-
tion to both Part I, the present bulletin, and Part II, issued as Bulletin 34.
The status of birds in newly settled regions, the effect of migration on the
economic relations, the causes of depredations, conditions in California com-
I)ared with those in the Eastern States, and protective measures, such as the
planting of decoy plants and provision of water supplies, are some of the
subjects discussed in the introduction. It is shown that, while birds are
usually destructive to crops in newly planted regions, "experience everywhere
shows that after a time there is a partial readjustment of conditions, so that
inroads by birds become much less common or wholly cease." The usual
causes of damage by birds wherever or whenever occurring are defined; the
principal bird enemies of fruit in California are named in order of importance,
following which are the separate accounts of the species. The food habits of
35 species are fully discussed, including the most important species from the
tanagers to the thrushes, in systematic order, together with, the linnet, or
house finch, the worst fruit pest among the birds in the State. The account of
this species is based upon the examination of 1,206 stomachs. The food of the
nestlings or young of several species is described, the most extended account
dealing with those of the russet-backed thrush.

Bulletin ^1. An economic study of field mice (genus Microtus).
By David E. Lantz. 64 pp. 8 pis. 3 figs. Oct. 28, 1907.
In treating the natural enemies of field mice the author mentions some 50
species of birds, including shrikes, cuckoos, crows, herons, bitterns, storks,

14 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING' TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

ibises, gulls, hawks, and owls. In many cases a brief summary of the general
food habits of the species is given, and notes on the diet of the same bird in the
Old World or of related European species are also presented.

Bulletin 32. Food habits of the grosbeaks. By W. L. McAtee. 92
pp. 4 pis. (3 colored). 40 figs. Feb. 29, 1908.
The pine and evening grosbeaks receive only passing mention, but the car-
dinal, gray, rose-breasted, black-headed, and blue grosbeaks are discussed in de-
tail. The account of each species includes a description of the appearance of
the bird, its distribution and habits, the details of its vegetable and animal
food, mineral matter found in the stomachs, and the food of the nestlings and
other young birds. Lists of the seeds, fruits, and invertebrates eaten by each
species are given. One chapter discusses the relations of grosbeaks and other
birds to parasitic insects. Some mention is made of the food of about 30 species
of birds besides grosbeaks, these references occurring mainly in lists of bird
enemies of rose chafers and potato beetles and in an account of birds that feed
on mulberries.

Bulletin 33. The brown rat in the United States. By David E.
Lantz. 54 pp. 3 pis. 4 figs. May 29, 1909.

Four owls and seven hawks are mentioned among the natural enemies of the
brown rat. One of the owls is said to attack also the black rat.

Bulletin 34. Birds of California in relation to the fruit industry.
Part II. By F. E. L. Beal. 96 pp. 6 colored pis. Aug. 8, 1910.

This bulletin continues the account of the food habits of California birds be-
gun in Bulletin 30. It states that only four of the species of birds common in
California (the linnet, California jay, Steller jay, and red-breasted sapsucker)
can be regarded as of doubtful utility. The animal and vegetable food of 32
species is fully treated, especially in relation to fruit culture. As in Part I the
food of the young is a special feature. Nestlings of 9 species were studied and
reported upon, the fullest accounts dealing with the California towhee and the
black-headed grosbeak. Part I discussed one species of the sparrow family, that
worst fruit pest, the linnet, and important species of the families Tanagridse
(tanagers) to Turdidse (thrushes) in the order of the check-list of North
American Birds by the American Ornithologists' Union. Part II deals with
the principal species in the families Tetraonidse (grouse and quails) to Frin-
gillidse (sparrows, finches^ and grosbeaks).

Bulletin 37. Food of the woodpeckers of the United States. By
F. E. L. Beal. 64 pp. 6 pis. (5 colored). 3 figs. May 24, 1911.

The accumulation of woodpecker stomachs in the 16 years since the publica-
tion of Bulletin 7 enabled Professor Beal to present in Bulletin 37 formal re-
ports on the food habits of 16 species, 9 more than were treated in the pre-
liminary report. Brief notes upon the food of 6 othei- species also are included ;
the food of 11 species of woodpeckers which were not even mentioned in Bul-
letin 7 is discussed. Tables are given showing the comparative rank of the
species as consumers of animal and vegetable food and of ants and beetles.

Bulletin 38. Birds of Arkansas. By Arthur H. Howell. 100 pp.
7 pis. (1 colored map). 4 figs. (maps). Oct. 12, 1911.
A section of the introduction to this bulletin is devoted to a general state-
ment of the economic value of birds, and brief notes on the food of 126 species
are scattered through the text.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 15

Bulletin 39. Woodpeckers in relation to trees and wood products.
By W. L. McAtee. 99 pp. 12 pis. (2 colored). 44 figs. Sept.
26, 1911.

This bulletin deals principally with the relations of three species of wood-
peckers— the true sapsuckers — to living trees and the effect of their work upon
the value of the articles into which the wood of these trees is manufactured.
The sapsuckers are known to attack at least 258 trees, shrubs, and vines, of
which 32 are sometimes killed and 63 seriously injured. Defects due to sap-
sucker work have been found in the wood of 174 species of trees, in 90 of
which they are at times so serious as to spoil the appearance or workability of
the wood, and in 22 species they sometimes render the wood useless except for
coarse construction or for fuel. The damage done to fence posts, telephone
poles, and buildings by 10 other species of woodpeckers is also discussed.

CIRCULARS.

The Biological Survey had its origin as a section of Economic
Ornithology established under the Division (now Bureau) of Ento-
mology. Four circulars of that division (Nos. 18, 20, 24, and 27)
were published in the interest of the new subdivision, and one of
them. No. 20, relates to the food habits of birds.

The earliest circulars of the Division of Economic Ornithology
and Mammalogy were largely devoted to requests for information
and letters of acknowledgment, which are now issued as "forms."
Directions for preparing specimens, contained in Nos. 4, 11, and 12,
and later Nos. 46 and 49, are still issued as circulars. Aside from
these circulars. No. 17, Bird Day in the Schools, is the only one up
to No. 27, inclusive, which is intended for the diffusion rather than
the acquisition of knowledge.

Most of the circulars issued since No. 28 (1900) are short articles
conveying information which it was desirable to give speedy pub-
licity. Six of them are devoted to enonomic ornithology and five
others contain brief references to the economic status of certain birds.
Two of the latter (Nos. 29 and 38) were issued from the office of the
Secretary and hence do not fall into the class of publications here
indexed. No. 29, Protection and Importation of Birds under Act
of Congress approved May 25, 1900, discusses the Lacey Act and
refers (pp. 1, 3, 4, and 5) to prohibition of entry of injurious species,
including the starling and English sparrow. No. 38, Interstate
Commerce in Birds and Game, lists (p. 2) robins, swallows, cedar
birds, meadowlarks, flickers, and nighthawks as insectivorous, and
longspurs, snow buntings, and shore larks as useful in destroying
weed seeds.

16 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY.

Circular 20. [Circular on economic ornithology.] By Dr. C. Hart

Merriam. [2 pp. of print and 2 blank for answers to questions,

unnumbered.] July 1, 1885.

This circular briefly states the general problem of economic ornithology and

the need of information. Questions relating to the food of 9 species of birds

denote by implication the economic relations of these birds. The damage done

in the South by the bobolink and red-winged blackbird is mentioned.

BIOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Circular 1. Circular on the food habits of birds. By Dr. C. Hart
Merriam. [3 pp., not numbered.] July 20, 1886.
This* circular consists largely of questions relating to the food habits of the
crow, the crow blackbird, and the bobolink. Few direct statements are made
regarding the food, but much is implied.

Circular 2. Circular on the English sparrow {Passer domesticus).
By Dr. C. Hart Merriam. [1 p., unnumbered.] July 20, 1886.

Consists entirely of questions concerning the food of the English sparrow
and its relations to other birds.

Circular 5. Circular to rice growers. By Dr. C. Hart Merriam.
[1 p., unnumbered, 1886.]

Notes damage done to rice by the bobolink and red-winged blackbird and
contains queries designed to bring out the nature and extent of the injury.

Circular IT. Bird day in the schools. By T. S. Palmer, 4 pp.
July 2, 1896.

The history of bird day is given, the manner of its observance, and the
objects and value of the day. Notes are given on the economic status of hawks,
owls, and the English sparrow, and the bad results from bounty laws aimed
against these birds.

Circular 34. Laws for the protection of birds and game in the
District of Columbia. By T. S. Palmer. 8 pp. Oct. 25, 1901.

This circular quotes the Lacey Act, which contains the names of the starling
and the English sparrow in the clause prohibiting the importation of injurious
species.

Circular 56. Value of swallows as insect destroyers. By H. W.
Henshaw. 4 pp. Apr. 27, 1907.

This circular shows the great value of swallows as insect destroyers and the
importance of protecting them wherever found. It emphasizes the peculiar
value of these birds in the war against the cotton-boll weevil, and asks the
cooperation of citizens of Northern States, where these birds chiefly nest, in
an effort to increase their numbers. The enemies of swallows, especially the
English sparrow, are noted, and suggestions for preventing their attacks, as
well as for attracting the swallows themselves, are given. The circular in-
cludes also directions for colonizing martins and for rearing their young.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 17

Circular 57. Birds useful in the war against the cotton-boll weevil.
By H. W. Henshaw. 4 pp. Apr. 27, 1907.

This circular directs attention to the importance of birds as enemies of the
boll weevil and to the need of protecting them. Orioles, the nighthawk, and
swallows are given special consideration and a few other species known to eat
boll weevils -are mentioned. Measures for protecting and attracting swallows
are given. The suggestions for aiding the purple martin are especially full,
including remarks on colonization, food for young, the English sparrow as an
enemy, and the provision of martin houses.

Circular 61. Hawks and owls from the standpoint of the farmer.
By A. K. Fisher. 18 pp. 6 figs. July 18, 1907.

This circular condenses the information presented in Bulletin 3 and is a
direct revision of the article in the Yearbook for 1894 (pp. 215-232). Brief
summaries of the food habits of 33 species of hawks and owls are given, and
14 others are merely mentioned in the list of those classed as chiefly beneficial.

Circular 64. Destruction of the cotton-boll weevil by birds in win-
ter. By Arthur H. Howell. 5 pp. 1 map. June 19, 1908.

Thirty species of birds were discovered to feed upon the boll weevil in
winter. Every death of a weevil at that season "prevents the production of
very numerous progeny during the early summer and postpones the date when
the increase will become so great as to destroy the cotton squares as fast as
they appear." The more important species are the blackbirds, meadow larks,
sparrows, titlarks, wrens, and titmice. According to Howell's estimates titlarks
alone destroy about 72,000 boll weevils during the winter on each large plan-
tation. The circular ends with a tabulated seasonal record of the birds which
had eaten boll weevils. This list of 53 increases by 10 the number of species
reported in Bulletin 29.

Circular 76. The California ground squirrel. By C. Hart Merriam.
15 pp. 4 figs. (1 map). Nov. 26, 1910.
Contains a few references to bird enemies of Citellus heechyi, and discusses
danger to small birds from poisoned grain laid for the ground squirrels.

Circular 79. Our vanishing shorebirds. By W. L. McAtee. 9 pp.
3 figs. April 8, 1911.
The value of shorebirds has not been recognized in the past and they have
been hunted until only a remnant of their once vast numbers is left. The fact
that these birds have a decided economic value is demonstrated in this pub-
lication, and their protection is urged. The name ringed plover (Aegialitis
hiatimila) near the bottom of p. 4 of this circular should be piping plover
(Aegialitis meloda).

Circular 80. Progress of game protection in 1910. By T. S. Palmer
and Henry Oldys. 36 pp. 1 fig. (map). Jime 29, 1911.
Classes the starling as injurious.

Circular 81. Three important wild duck foods. By W. L. McAtee.
19 pp. 19 figs. (3 maps). Sept. 9, 1911.
Written primarily to furnish information on the methods of propagating
wild rice, wild celery, and pondweeds, this circular briefly notes the importance
of these plants as food for 17 species of wild ducks. A table on the first page
shows the percentages of the food of 16 species furnished by these plants.
51197°— Bull. 43—13 3

18 INDEX TO PAPEKS KELATING TO FOOD OF BIKDS.

Farmers' Bulletin 54. Some common birds in their relation to
agriculture. By F. E. L. Beal, B. S. 40 pp. 22 figs. May,
1897.
Eevised edition. 48 pp. 22 figs. March, 1904.

The original edition (1897) contains summaries of tlie food habits of 28
species and brief references to the nature of the food of 8 others. The
revised edition (1904) contains 40 specific summaries and notes on 14 species.
Farmers' Bulletin 54 is the one article on bird food to have if the complete
series of bulletins and other publications of the Biological Survey is inacces-
sible. Manj^ of the food summaries, though brief, are important, being based
on the examination of large numbers of stomachs. Several of them, for in
stance those on the kingbird, cedar bird, robin, and bluebird, are the most com-
prehensive statements yet published on the economic relations of these common
and important birds.

Farmers' Bulletin 54 has (up to Oct. 15, 1912) been reprinted 39 times, and a
total of 595,000 copies has been distributed.

Farmers' Bulletin 160. Game laws for 1902. A summary of the
provisions relating to seasons, shipment, sale, and licenses. By
T. S. Palmer and H. W. Olds. 56 pp. 3 figs. (maps). 1902.

Farmers' Bulletin 180. Game laws for 1903. A summary of the

provisions relating to seasons, shipment, sale, and licenses. By

T. S. Palmer, Henry Oldys, and E. W. Williams, jr. 56 pp.

4 figs. (maps). 1903.

Each of these bulletins quotes the Lacey Act, a clause of which prohibits

importation of the English sparrow and starling as injurious birds.

Farmers' Bulletin 197. Importation of game birds and eggs for
propagation. By T. S. Palmer and Henry Oldys. 27 pp. 1
fig. (map). 1904.
Contains a note on the feeding habits of some capercaillie liberated in

Algonquin National Park, Canada.

Farmers' Bulletin 335. Harmful and beneficial mammals of the

arid interior, with special reference to the Carson and Humboldt

Valleys, Nevada. By Vernon Bailey. 31 pp. 9 figs. Oct. 21,

1908.

Among the natural enemies of the Carson meadow mouse {Microtus mon-

tanus) are listed ravens, magpies, and shrikes. Each of these names can refer

to only a single species in the region covered by the bulletin and for this reason

is indexed. General references (such as hawks, owls, and birds of prey) are

numerous but unfit for indexing.

Farmers' Bulletin 352. The Nevada mouse plague of 1907-8. By
Stanley E. Piper. 23 pp. 9 figs. Mar. 20, 1909.

This bulletin comments on the destruction of many individuals of 5 species
of birds by wheat poisoned with phosphorus, which was put out to kill meadow
mice. Several birds are listed among the natural enemies of the mice.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 19

Farmers' Bulletin 383. How to destroy English sparrows. By
Ned Dearborn. 11 pp. 4 figs. Jan. 20, 1910.
A brief review of the food habits of the English sparrow is given in the
introduction.

Farmers' Bulletin 390. Pheasant raising in the United States. By
Henry Oldys. 10 pp. 17 figs. Apr. 18, 1910.
Crow mentioned among enemies of plieasants.

Farmers' Bulletin 456. Our grosbeaks and their value to agricul-
ture. By W. L. McAtee. 14 pp. 3 figs. June 30, 1911.
An abstract of Biological Survey Bulletin 32, containing brief summaries
of tlie food habits of live species of grosbeaks.

Farmers' Bulletin 470. Game laws for 1911. A summary of the
provisions relating to seasons, shipments, sale, limits, and
licenses. By Henry Oldys, C. E. Brewster, and Frank L. Earn-
shaw. 52 pp. 2 figs. (maps). August 21, 1911.
Starling and English sparrow mentioned as injurious.

NORTH AMERICAN FAUNAS.

This series of publications comprises the more technical papers,
such as monographs of certain groups of mammals and descriptions
of new species, in addition to accounts of the scientific results of
explorations of certain States or other districts. The annotated
lists of birds, which are a prominent feature of the latter class of
faunas, often contain notes on bird food. These notes are usually
definite records of stomach examinations or of observations in the
field. They are indexed in detail ; hence it is not necessary for users
of the index to consult the pages of the faunas themselves, unless
they desire to learn the combinations of items in individual stomachs,
the quantity of food taken, or details of the feeding habits.

Fauna 3. Eesults of a biological survey of the San Francisco Moun-
tain region and desert of the Little Colorado, Arizona. 136 pp.
5 colored maps. 13 pis. 2 figs. Sept. 11, 1890.
Part 4. — Annotated list of birds of the San Francisco Mountain
plateau and the desert of the Little Colorado River, Arizona.
By Dr. C. Hart Merriam [pp. 1-101, pis. I-XI, colored
maps 1-1].

Fauna 5. Results of a biological reconnoissance of south-central
Idaho. 132 pp. 4 pis. (1 colored). 4 figs. July 30, 1891.
Results of a biological reconnoissance of Idaho, south of latitude
45° and east of the thirty -eighth meridian, made during the'
summer of 1890, with annotated lists of the mammals and birds,
and descriptions of new species. By Dr. C. Hart Merriam [pp. ;
1-108, pis. 1-4, figs. 1^].

20 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Fauna 7. The Death Valley expedition. A biological survey of
parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. 402 pp. 15
pis. 2 figs. 5 colored maps. May 31, 1893.
Report on the ornithology of the Death Valley expedition of 1891,
comprising notes on the birds observed in southern California,
southern Nevada, and parts of Arizona and Utah. By A. K.
Fisher, M. D. [pp. 7-158, colored map 3].

Fauna 14. Natural history of the Tres Marias Islands, Mexico. 97
pp. 1 pi. [map]. 2 figs. April 29, 1899. Birds of the Tres
Marias Islands. By E. W. Nelson [pp. 21-62].

Fauna 16. Results of a biological survey of Mount Shasta, Cali-
fornia, by C. Hart Merriam. 179 pp. 5 pis. 46 figs. October
28, 1899.

Fauna 19. Results of a biological reconnoissance of the Yukon River
region. 100 pp. 7 pis. [1 map]. Oct. 6, 1900. Birds of the
Yukon region, with notes on other species. By Louis B. Bishop,
M. D. [pp. 47-96].

Fauna 21. Natural history of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British
Columbia. Natural history of the Cook Inlet region, Alaska.
By Wilfred H. Osgood. 87 pp. 7 pis. [1 map]. 1 fig. [map].
Sept. 26, 1901.

Fauna 22. A biological investigation of the Hudson Bay region. By
Edward A. Preble. 140 pp. 14 pis. [1 map]. Oct. 31, 1902.

Fauna 24. A biological reconnoissance of the base of the Alaska
Peninsula. By Wilfred H. Osgood. 86 pp. 7 pis. [2 maps].
Nov. 23, 1904.

Fauna 25. Biological survey of Texas. Life zones, with character-
istic species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and plants. Reptiles,
with notes on distribution. Mammals, with notes on distribu-
tion, habits, and economic importance. By Vernon Bailey. 222
pp. 16 pis. [6 maps]. 24 figs. [16 maps]. Oct. 24, 1905.

Fauna 27. A biological investigation of the Athabaska-Mackenzie
region. By Edward A. Preble. 574 pp. 25 pis. [4 maps] . 16
figs. [4 maps]. October 26, 1908.

Fauna 30. Biological investigations in Alaska and Yukon Territory.
1. East central Alaska. 2. The Ogilvie Range, Yukon. 3. The
Macmillan River, Yukon. By Wilfred H. Osgood. 96 pp. 5
pis. [1 map]. 2 figs. [maps]. October 7, 1909.

Fauna 33. A biological survey of Colorado. By Merritt Cary. 256
pp. 12 pis. [1 map]. 39 figs. [29 maps.] Au^. 17, 1911.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 21

ANNUAL REPORTS.

Each of the Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture
consists of the report of the Secretary of Agriculture together with
those of the chiefs of the various bureaus and divisions. Only the
reports of the Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey and of its
predecessor, the Division of Ornithology and Mammalog}^, are of
interest in the present connection. The first report deals with eco-
nomic investigations carried on from July 1, 1885, to February 20,
1887, a period of more than one and a half years. All subsequent
reports cover approximately a period of one year.

Up to and including the Report for 1893, original articles corre-
sponding to those now published in the Yearbook, and written by
various members of the division, accompanied the reports of the
chief. Seventeen of them appeared in the eight reports specified.
Beginning with that for 1894 the reports of the chief are of a more
routine character, containing the customary review of the year's
work, plans for the succeeding year, and recommendations. Fre-
quently, however, specific references to bird food are made and all of
these are indexed. The comment on each report in the following
bibliography gives an idea of the subjects more generally treated.

1886

Report of ornithologist and mammalogist. By C. Hart Merriam.

pp. 227-258. 2 figs. 1 colored map.
This first report includes a preliminary discussion of the economic relations
of the English sparrow, describes the depredations on rice of bobolinks and
red-winged and boat-tailed blackbirds, and refers casually to the food of several
other birds.

1887.

Report of the ornithologist and mammalogist. [By C. Hart Mer-
riam.] pp. 399^01.
Notes progress of the investigation of the English sparrow and considers
tlie feasibility of the use of trained hawks in keeping bobolinks out of rico
fields.

Food of hawks and owls. By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp. 402-422.

Consists mainly of a tabulation of contents of 1,072 stomachs, representing
28 species of hawks and owls.

Experiments in poisoning. By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp. 423-426.

States efficiency in poisoning English sparrows of various preparations of
strychnine, arsenic, and corrosive sublimate, in combination with wheat, meal,
and hempseed.

Report on some of the results of a trip through parts of Minnesota
and Dakota. By Vernon Bailey [birds, pp. 428-431].

Discusses the relations of blackbirds, cowbirds, and bobolinks to the grain
crops in this region. Notes on some other articles of diet are given for these
birds as well as for a few other species.

22 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OP BIRDS.

Notes on the depredations of blackbirds and gophers in northern
Iowa and southern Minnesota in the fall of 1887. By Dr. A. K.
Fisher [birds, pp. 454-455].

This report is supplementary to the last, dealing with the habits of the birds
in fall and estimating the percentage of destruction, while Mr. Bailey described
the depredations that occurred in spring.

1888.

Report of the ornithologist and mammalogist. By C. Hart Merriam.
pp. 477-^84.
Describes the progress of work on various economic projects and gives an
example of one of the labels used on a collection exhibited at the Centennial
Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, Cincinnati, July-November,
1888, which contains a brief statement of the food of the red-tailed hawk.

Introduced pheasants. By Dr. C. Hart Merriam. pp. 484-488.

This paper gives an account of the introduction of pheasants and sand
grouse into Oregon and Washington. Notes on damage to field and garden crops
apparently pertain solely to the ring pheasant (Phasianus torquatus).

The sparrow hawk {Falco sparverius) . By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp.
491-496. 1 fig.

A review of the testimony of observers as to the economic value of the spar-
row hawk, together with a rciport upon the examination of 163 stomachs.

The short-eared owl {Asio accipitrinus) . By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp.
496-498. 1 fig.

Summarizes the recorded observations upon this bird's food and states
briefly the results of 50 stomach examinations.

The food of crows. By Walter B. Barrows, S. B. pp. 498-535.

This is a preliminary presentation of the material elaborated later in Bulle-
tin 6 of the Biological Survey. Both the common crow (Gorviis hracliyrhynclios)
and the fish crow (Corvus ossifragus) are treated, and the results of examina-
tion of 86 stomachs of the former and 12 of the latter are given. The economic
relations of crows are discussed under the following headings: Injury to corn,
wheat, and other cereals; damage to other crops; other vegetable food; the
distribution of noxious seeds ; the destruction of the eggs and young of poultry
and wild birds; insect food; the crow as an enemy of field mice and other
small quadrupeds ; miscellaneous animal food ; and the crow as a scavenger.

The rose-breasted grosbeak {Hdbia ludovicana). An enemy to the
Colorado beetle or potato bug. [By W. B. Barrows.] pp.
535-536.
Compiles field observations on this point and emphasizes value of the bird.

1889.

Report of ornithologist and mammalogist. By C. Hart Merriam.
pp. 363-370.
Contains references to the food of several species of birds then being inves-
tigated by the division.

INDEX TO PAPEKS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 23

Marsh hawk. Circus hudsonius. By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp. 370-
372. Plate I (colored).

Common screech owl. Megascops ado. By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp.
372-376. Plate II (colored).

Flammulated screech owl. Megascops -flammeolus. [By Dr. A. K.
Fisher.] p. 376.
These three articles are arranged on the same plan, each stating the range of
the species treated and its general habits, following this with a compilation of
what has been observed regarding its food habits.

1890.

Report of the ornithologist and mammalogist. By C. Hart Merriam.

pp. 277-280.
The general nature of the food of crows and the relation of meadowlarks to
clover seed are briefly discussed and the economic value of a few other species
is mentioned.

Seed planting by birds. By AYalter B. Barrows, pp. 280-285.

The agency of birds in distributing the seeds of certain fleshy fruits is the
principal topic of this article, but references to other features of bird food
habits are included.

Birds which feed on mulberries. By Dr. C. Hart Merriam. p. 285.
The fact is noted that when mulberries are ripe many insectivorus birds
forsake their chief diet for the time to feed upon this luscious fruit. A list of
2G species of birds observed to eat mulberries is given.

1891.

Report of the ornithologist and mammalogist. By C. Hart Merriam.
pp. 267-271.

Contains a brief review of the economic investigations of the year, putting
especial emphasis upon the importance of the English sparrow problem.

189S.

Economic ornithology. By W. B. Barrows, pp. 193-197.

This takes the place of that section of the report of the chief customarily
devoted to a review of the economic work of the year. It contains also, how-
ever, a preliminary report on the food of honied larks, based upon the examina-
tion of 59 stomachs.

Food habits of the cedar bijd {Ampelis cedrorum). By F. E. L.
Beal. pp. 197-200.

The results reached from the examination of 125 stomachs are as follows:
(1) That cedar birds eat a certain amount of insect food at all times when it
can be obtained, aggregating in the case of the stomachs examined 17 per cent
of the food for the whole year; (2) that the greatest amount of insect food is
eaten during the months (especially May) when fruit is most abundant;
(3) that the young in the nest are fed to a very great extent upon insect food.

24 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OP BIRDS.

1893.

Food habits of the kingbird or bee martin {Tyrannus tyranmts).
By Walter B. Barrows, pp. 233-234.

This report gives the results of the examination of 171 stomachs, particular
attention being paid, to the bird's relation to honeybees.

1895.

Eeport of the chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy.
By C. Hart Merriam. pp. 175-178.

Reference is made to a proposed New York law placing a bounty on English
sparrows.

1898.

Eeport of the acting chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By
T. S. Palmer, pp. 37-42.

Contains general reference to the caterpillar-eating habits of cuckoos and
the destruction of weed seeds by sparrows.

1899.

Eeport of the acting chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By
T. S. Palmer, pp. 59-70.

This report discusses an effort made to reduce the number of English
sparrows in the parks of Boston. The proposed introduction of the great tit-
mouse and blue tit of Europe also receives consideration, and comments are
made upon the economic status of these birds. The evil results of the intro-
duction of European sparrows, thrushes, blackbirds, and starlings into Aus-
tralia and New Zealand are cited as examples of what might result were these
birds brought into the United States, Hawaii, or Porto Rico.

1900.

Eeport of the acting chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By
T. S. Palmer, pp. 35-48.

Contains brief references to the nature of the food of a few species, and
reviews the Lacey Act, which prohibits the introduction of English sparrow
and starling.

1901.

Eeport of the acting chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By
T. S. Palmer, pp. 151-162. -
Three species of birds injurious to fruit in California are mentioned.

1903.

Eeport of the chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By C. Hart
Merriam. pp. 209-218.

Three species of introduced birds which have proved injurious in Hawaii
are named, and a case is recorded in which the great titmouse was denied
admission to the United States.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 25

Eeport of the chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By C.
Hart Merriam. pp. 291-305.

This report mentions bird enemies of the codling moth in California, dis-
cusses the relation of birds to honeybees, and comments on the importation of 3
species of injurious birds.

1905.

Keport of the chief of the Division of Biological Survey. By C. Hart
Merriam. pp. 303-315.

A brief statement of the economic value of homed larks and grosbeaks is in-
cluded in this report.

1906.

Report of the acting chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey. By
Henry W. Henshaw. pp. 397-418.

Includes brief discussion of the following topics: Ravages of geese in Cali-
fornia grainfields, birds in relation to the cotton-boll weevil, economic value of
eagles, also of grosbeaks, food of wild ducks, and means of attracting birds.

1907.

Report of the chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey. By C. Hart
Merriam. pp. 485-505.

This report discusses scale-eating birds, grosbeaks, the English sparrow, and
the relation of birds to the cotton-boll weevil.

1908.

Report of the chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey. By C. Hart
Merriam. pp. 571-590.

The economic topics receiving consideration in this report are as follows:
Relation of birds to the cotton-boll weevil, California birds in relation to the
fruit industry, food of wild ducks, food of woodpeckers, mosquito-eating birds,
birds in relation to the codling moth, the spread of the English sparrow in
southern California, and means of attracting birds. European skylarks and
song thrushes imported for liberation were denied admission, and an investiga-
tion of the economic status of the starling is announced.

1909.

Report of the chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey. By C. Hart
Merriam. pp. 533-551.

The problem of keeping English sparrows out of southern California receives
further attention in this report. Other economic subjects considered are the
food of woodpeckers, flycatchers, wild ducks, and shorebirds; birds in relation
to wheat aphids, to the boll weevil, and to the fruit industry in California ; and
the exclusion of injurious species from Hawaii.

51197°— Bull. 43—13 4

26 INDEX TO PAPERS EELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

1910.

Report of the chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey. By H. W.
Henshaw. pp. 549-565.

The economic topics dealt with in this report are as follows : Injury to timber
by woodpeckers, food of wild ducks and flycatchers, and birds in relation to the
gypsy and brown-tail moths.

SCHEDULES.

The series known as schedules, with one exception, consists of
blank forms for the recording of data. No. 4, devoted to questions
concerning the economic status of the English sparrow, is indexed.

Schedule 4. Schedule on the English sparrow {Passer domesticus).
By Dr. C. Hart Merriam [1 p., unnumbered, 1886].

Consists wholly of questions on the presence, abundance, relations to other
birds, food, and injurious habits of the English sparrow.

YEARBOOKS.

The Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture
had its origin in a desire to separate papers of a scientific character,
with which the annual reports were becoming burdened, from the
administrative reports of the various bureaus and divisions. The
first Yearbook, that for 1894, was issued in 1895 and this relation of
date of publication to date of volume holds throughout the series.
The Yearbook consists principally of special reports and papers
which are designed to interest and instruct.

In the 17 volumes thus far issued (including 1910) the Biological
Survey has furnished 32 articles dealing to some degree with the
food of birds.

1894.

Hawks and owls as related to the farmer. By A. K. Fisher, M. D.
pp. 215-232. Pis. I-III. figs. 21-24.

This article is a condensation of Bulletin 3 of the Biological Survey. It
contains lists of the wholly beneficial, chiefly beneficial, and harmful hawks
and owls, as well as those in which harmful and beneficial qualities about
balance. The food habits of 32 species are briefly reviewed.

The crow blackbirds and their food. By F. E. L. Beal. pp. 233-248.
fig. 25.

This is the most authoritative account of the food of any species of bird,
being based upon the examination of 2,258 stomach contents. The paper takes
account also of printed and communicated testimony on the food of the crow
blackbird. The grains and fruits eaten, animal food, and food of the young
are all carefully considered. Depredations on grain and various other in-
jurious traits are admitted, while on the other hand the birds are stated to do
incalculable good by destroying insects.

INDEX TO PAPERS EELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 27
1895.

Four common birds of the farm and garden. By Sylvester D. Judd.
pp. 405-418. figs. 106-109.

The four common birds referred to are the catbird, mockingbird, brown
thrasher, and house wren. The range and general habits of each are de-
scribed ; attention is given to any complaints that have been made against the
species, and the evidence as to food derived from stomach examination and
from experiment are discussed. The verdict is favorable to the brown
thrasher and wren, unfavorable to the catbird, and in the case of the mock-
ingbird, from lack of material, judgment is suspended.

The meadow lark and Baltimore oriole. By F. E. L. Beal. pp.
419-430. figs. 110-111.

Although these birds belong to the same family, they have very different
habits. The terrestrial meadow lark feeds to a great extent upon grasshoppers,
while the most imiwrtant item of the insect food of the arboreal oriole is
caterpillars. The other items of food of both species are fully discussed, and
the verdict in each case is in favor of the bird.

Professor Beal points out an error in the calculation on page 422 of the
amount saved a township by meadow larks feeding on grasshoppers. The
final egure should be about $356, instead of $24. This change was made in
the reprints.

Erroneous ideas concerning hawks and owls. [By A. K. Fisher.]
p. 590.
Most of this short note is a quotation of the economic classification of the
hawks and owls given by Doctor Fisher in the Yearbook for 1894, pp. 217-218.

1896.

Extermination of noxious animals by bounties. By T. S. Palmer.

pp. 55-68.

The history of bounty legislatioH in the United States, expense of the system,
objections to it, and the results accomplished are discussed. As bounties have
been paid on several kinds of birds, the economic status of the species affected
receives passing notice.

The blue jay and its food. By F. E. L. Beal. pp. 197-206. figs.
40-42.
This is a complete discussion of the range, habits, and- economic value of
the blue jay. Details are given as to the insect and vegetable food. Experi-
ments to determine preferences of a captive jay are described. Except for
the nest-robbing proclivities of the jay, upon which final judgment is not passed,
the bird is thought to do far more good than harm.

Erroneous ideas concerning hawks and owls. [By A. K. Fisher.]
p. 628.
Comment under same title in previous Yearbook applies here.

1897.

Birds that injure grain. By F. E. L. Beal. pp. 345-354.

Professor Beal discusses the cause of the increase in numbers of the prin-
cipal grain-eating birds, outlines the damage done, and gives somewhat ex-
tended accoi.nts of the food habits of 5 si^ecies, particularly in relation to
grain. Four other species are briefiy mentioned,

28 INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Useful birds and harmful birds. [By Biological Survey.] p. 670.

This is a tabulation of twenty-five species which are decidedly beneficial to
agriculture and should be rigidly protected, and of five species which are
injurious and unworthy of protection, with a brief statement of principal foods
of each.

1898.

The danger of introducing noxious animals and birds. By T. S.
Palmer, pp. 87-110. PI. VIII. figs. 1-6 (1 map).

This paper reviews the experience of various foreign countries with the
introduction of certain mammals and birds, points out the evil results of the
importation of the English sparrow into the United States, and calls attention
to the danger of similar results arising in other cases if introductions are not
controlled. The economic status of 11 species of birds is more or less fully
discussed.

Birds as weed destroyers. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D. pp.
221-232. PI. XY. figs. 59-65.

This is a r4sum6 of the seed-eating habits of all the species known to have
any importance as destroyers of weed seeds. Some forty species of birds are
mentioned.

The name "clay-colored longspur," bottom of page 226, is unidentifiable.

1899.

A review of economic ornithology in the United States. By T. S.
Palmer, pp. 259-292. Pis. VI- VIII (1 map).
This article traces briefly the development of American ornithology in gen-
eral, but it consists largely of a discussion of the -study of birds from the
standpoint of dollars and cents. The principal topics relating to bird food are :
Investigations as to the value of birds, commencement of investigations along
modern lines, a period of notable advance in investigations, and work of the
Biological Survey. That section of the paper entitled " Measures for the
Destruction, Preservation, and Introduction of Birds" also contains comments
on the food habits of several species.

1900.

How birds affect the orchard. By F. E. L. Beal, B. S. pp. 291-
304. figs. 34-38.
Birds affect orchards directly by stealing fruit, feeding upon buds, flowers,
or the inner bark and sap of the trees, and indirectly by destroying mammals
and insects injurious to orchards. This article gives brief accounts of the birds
most important in these relations.

The food of nestling birds. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D. pp. 411-
436. pis. 49-53. figs. 48-56.

In some cases the food of nestling birds is radically different from that of
their parents. When this is the case the difference usually consists in the
preponderance of animal food, particularly that of a soft nature, in the diet of
the young birds. Dr. Judd describes at varying length the food habits of
the nestlings of about 80 species of birds. Incidentally, characteristics of the
food of many adults are noted. Dr. Judd introduces in this paper his excel-

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO POOD OF BIRDS. 29

lent graphic representation, by means of sectors of a circle, of the proportions
of various items in the food of birds. Part of these diagrams are made much
more effective by the addition of small figures illustrating a typical member of
a group within its particular sector. The article includes an estimate of the
value of the crops saved daily by the destruction of locusts by nestling birds
in eastern Nebraska during the invasions of Rocky Mountain locusts.

1901.

Two vanishing game birds — the woodcock and the wood duck. By
A. K. Fisher, pp. 447-458. pis. 63-64. figs. 37-39 (1 map).
Brief notes on the food of each of these species are given. .

1903.

Audubon societies in relation to the farmer. By Henry Oldys.
pp. 205-218. pis. 21-22. figs. 11-12 (maps).

This article includes a general statement of tbe economic value of birds,
together with a few specific notes on bird food.

1903.

The economic value of the bobwhite. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D.
pp. 193-204. pi. 16 (colored).

This very comprehensive account of the bobwhite includes a statement of its
range and general habits; treats the bobwhite as a weed and Insect destroyer,
as an article of food, and as an object of sport; and discusses measures for the
preservation of the species. A very full list of the seeds, fruits, insects, and
other invertebrates eaten by the bird concludes the article.

It is now stated upon reliable authority that the record quoted on p. 196 to
the effect that 47 cotton-boll weevils were eaten by a bobwhite in one morning
is based on observations upon a captive bird. The statement has no value,
therefore, as an indication of the relation of bobwhite to the boll weevil under
normal conditions.

1904.

The relation of birds to fruit growing in California. By F. E. L.
Beal. pp. 241-254.
Most of this article is devoted to the discussion of the species injurious to
fruit, but some of the chief enemies of fruit pests are briefly mentioned.

Some benefits the farmer may derive from game protection. By
T. S. Palmer, pp. 509-520.
Contains a few notes on the protection of useful birds and prevention of the
introduction of injurious species.

1905.

Meadow mice in relation to agriculture and horticulture. By D. E.
Lantz. pp. 363-376. pis. 38-41. fig. 89.
A full account of the natural enemies is given, which includes notes on many
species of birds.

30 INDEX TO PAPERS EELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Federal game protection — a five years' retrospect. By T. S. Palmer,
pp. 541-562. pi. 70. figs. 113-125 (maps).

This article names three species of birds denied admission to the United States
under authority of the Lacey Act.

1906.

Cage-bird traffic of the United States. By Henry Oldys. pp. 165-
180. pis. 8-9.
Refers to damage in rice fields by Java sparrows.

Birds that eat scale insects. By W. L. McAtee. pp. 189-198. figs.
1-3.

Previous to the publication of this paper little had been made public concern-
ing the destruction of scale insects by birds. Indeed, currency had been given
to a statement that birds never feed upon scales. However, 57 si>ecies are
recorded as enemies of various scale insects, 29 of them being linown to feed
upon the black olive scale, one of the most injurious species in the United States.

1907

Does it pay the farmer to protect birds? By H. W. Henshaw. pp.
165-178. pis. 6-9.
This article discusses, in a general way, the value of the principal groups of
insectivorous birds. The habits or items of food of a number of species are
mentioned.

The rabbit as a farm and orchard pest. By D. E. Lantz. pp. 329-
342. pis. 37-38. fig. 34.
Seventeen species of raptorial birds are mentioned among the natural enemies
of rabbits.

1908.

The economic value of predaceous birds and mammals. By A. K.
Fisher, pp. 187-194. pis. 1-3.
The notes on bird food in this article relate principally to hawks, owls, herons,
and gullsi.

Mouse plagues, their control and prevention. By Stanley E. Piper,
pp. 301-310. pis. 21-25.
The natural enemies of Mierotus monta/nus are given their due share of atten-
tion, a few birds being specifically mentioned. A list is also given of birds killed
by poisoned grain laid for the mice.

The relations between birds and insects. By F. E. L. Beal. pp.
343-350.
The principal points made in this paper are that birds are a very important
check upon insects and that their true function is not so much to destroy this or
that insect pest as it is to lessen the numbers of the insect tribe as a whole.
While the bulk of the paper consists of a general discussion of the relations
between birds and insects, definite notes on the food of a few species are given.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS. 31
1009.

Plants useful to attract birds and protect fruit. By W. L. McAtee.
pp. 185-196.
This article mentions the plants most useful for attracting fruit-eating birds,
and gives lists of species suitable for various sections of the United States. It
includes also brief notes on other phases of bird attraction. The favorite foods
of a few si>ecies of game birds are named.

Pocket gophers as enemies of trees. By David E. Lantz. pp. 209-
218. pis. 8-10. fig. 1.
The fact is noted that barn owls and great blue herons are of great value
as enemies of pocket gophers.

Introduction of the Hungarian partridge into the United States. By;
Henry Oldys. pp. 249-258. PL 14.
Includes a brief statement of the nature of the food.

INDEX.

Notes relating to a species of bird are brought together under its
current scientific name and cross references from the common name,
and in some cases from certain once familiar scientific names, are
inserted. The scientific names of North American birds correspond
with those of the Check-list prepared by a committee of the Ameri-
can Ornithologists' Union, New York, 1910. Subspecies are not
separately mentioned, except when the typical subspecies is extra-
limital or only one subspecies has been treated.

The number of stomachs analyzed is noted in the case of all formal
reports, of other original investigations as " Birds of a Maryland
Farm " or " Birds of California in Relation to the Fruit Industry,"
and of those publications including original matter as Farmers'
Bulletin 54 and Circular 61. Publications are referred to in the
index by the following abbreviations: Bui. — Bulletin, Circ. — Circu-
lar, Ent. Circ. — Circular of Division of Entomology, F. Bui. — Far-
mers' Bulletin, Fauna — N. A. Fauna, Eept. — Annual Eeport, and
Ybk. — Yearbook. The particular bulletin, circular^ farmers' bulletin,
or fauna is designated by its number, the report or yearbook by the
year for which it was issued. Bold-faced figures indicate the pages
containing the principal account. The other pages usually contain
short notes or merely incidental mention of the food.

j^.

Acanthis homemanni exilipes — Hoary red-
poll.
Feeding on aments of alder, Fauna
24, p. 73 ; seeds of alders (Alnus
incana and A. alnohetuTa) , canoe
birch {Betula papyrifera), and
dwarf birch {Betula nana). Fauna
27, p. 418.

Acanthis linaria — Redpoll.

Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp.
222, 229, 230.

Accipiter atricaplllus, see Astur atrica-
pillus.

Accipiter cooperi — Cooper's hawk.

Brief account, Bui. 31, pp. 45, 46 ;
Bui. 38, p. 38; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 17,
18; Ybk. 1894, pp. 218, 231-232;
Ybk. 1900, p. 429.
Feeding on Beechey's spermophile.
Fauna 7, p. 36; bobwhite, Bui. 21,
p. 22; birds, Fauna 3, pp. 38, 90;
Ybk. 1908, p. 192; Canada grouse.
Fauna 22, p. 106 ; English sparrow,

Accipiter cooperi — Continued.

Bui. 1, p. 32; field mice, Bui. 31,

pp. 45, 46; poultry, Bui. 6, p. 39;

Bui. 21, p. 22; Ybk. 1908, p. 192;

rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336; ruffed

grouse, Bui. 24, p. 28 ; sparrows,

Bui. 15, p. 36 ; spermophiles, Bui. 4.

pp. 16-17.
. Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,

50-51, 54, 110.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 429.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 16, 88-

43, 175 (133 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887,

pp. 402, 405 (46 stomachs).
Injurious, Bui. 12, pp. 30, 36, 49 ; Bui.

12 (rev.), pp. 32, 33, 43, 58; Bui.

38, p. 10; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628 ; Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Accipiter velox — Sharp-shinned hawk.

Brief account. Bui. 31, pp. 45, 46;

Bui. 38, p. 38; Circ.' 61, pp. 3, 17-

18 (107 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1894, pp.

218, 231, 232; Ybk. 1900, p. 429.
Feeding on birds, Ybk. 1908, p. 192;

bobwhite, Bui. 21, p. 22; English

82

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

33

Accipitcr velox — Continued.

sparrow, Bui. 1, p. 32 ; field mice,
Bui. 31, pp. 45, 46; flicker and
Gambel's (intermediate) sparrow,
Fauna 19, p. 73 ; pileohited warbler
(Wilsoriia pusilJa pileolata). Fauna
5, p. 94 ; poultry, Ybk, 1908, p. 192 ;
sparrows, Bui. 15, p. 36; thrush.
Fauna 19, p. 72 ; woodcock, Ybk.
1901, p. 450.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,
51-52, 54, 110.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 16, 82-
87, 38, 43 (159 stomachs) ; Kept.
1887, pp. 402, 404 (48 stomachs).

Injurious, Bui. 12, pp. 30, 36, 49;

Bui. 12 (rev.), pp. 32, 33, 43, 58;

Bui. 38, p. 10; Ybk. 1895, p. 590;

Ybk. 1896, p. 62'8 ; Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Acredula caudata, see .^iJgithalos caudatus.

Acridotheres tristis — Common myna.

Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc., Ybk. 1898, pp. 90, 103-
104, 107, 109.

Injurious in Hawaii, Bui. 12 (rev.),
p. 87 ; Kept. 1902, p. 213 ; Ybk.
1899, p. 290.

Protection denied in Hawaii, Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 87.
Actitis macularia — Spotted sandpiper.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 32.

Feeding on army worms, Circ. 79, p. 6 ;
cabbage worms, Circ. 79, pp. 7-8 ;
crayfishes, Circ. 79, p. 6 ; cutworms,
Circ. 79, pp. 7-8 ; grasshoppers, Circ.
79, p. 2 ; green flies and squash bugs,
Circ. 79, pp. 7-8.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
19, 23, 24, 34, 38, 88.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 433.
JEgialitis hiaticula — Ringed plover ; occurs
In Greenland, Circ. 79, p. 2, error for
-Si^gialitis meloda, which see.
.SJgialitis meloda — Piping plover.

Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 2.
JEgialitis nivosa — Snowy plover.

Feeding on Ephydra Mans, Fauna 7,
p. 25.
.^gialitis semipalmata — Ringneck.

Feeding on grasshoppers and mosqui-
toes, Circ. 79, p. 2.
JEgithalos caudatus — Long-tailed titmouse.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,
p. 191.
Agelaius gubernator californicus — Bicolored
redwing blackbird.

Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 56-59
(198 stomachs).

Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 9, 10,
44—45 <^61 stomachs).
Agelaius phoeniceus — Redwing blackbird.

Bounty laws, Ybk. 1896, p. 57.

Brief account, Bui. 12, p. 21 ; Bui. 38,
p. 57; F. Bui. 54, pp. 19-21 (725
stomachs) ; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.
24-26 (1,083 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1897,

51197"— Bull. 43—13^ 5

Agelaius phoeniceus — Continued.

pp. 345, 349-351, 353; Ybk. 1900,
pp. 422-423.
Damage done, Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 28;
Bui. 15, p. 17; Bui. 38, p. 57; Ent.
Circ. 20 [p. 2] ; Rept. 1886, pp.
242, 246-249; Rept. 1887, pp. 428,
429, 430, 431, 454, 455, 456; Rept.

1900. p. 44 ; Ybk. 1897, pp. 345,
349-351, 353; Ybk. 1898, p. 230.

Feeding on boll weevils, Bui. 22, pp.
10-11, 16; Bui. 25, pp. 8, 9, 12, 21 ;
Bui. 29, pp. 6, 7, 18, 29, 30 ; Bui. 38,
p. 57 ; Circ. 64, pp. 3, 5 ; grain.
Fauna 7, p. 74 ; Rept. 1887, pp.
428, 429, 430, 431, 454, 455, 456;
Rept. 1900, p. 44; Ybk. 1897, pp.
345, 349-351, 353; Ybk. 1898, p.
230; rice, Bui. 15, p. 17; Bui. 22,
pp. 11, 16; Bui. 38, p. 57; Circ. 5
[p. 1] ; Rept. 1886, pp. 234, 242,
246-249; weed seeds, Bui. 29, p. 8;
Ybk. 1898, p. 230.

Pood at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
23, 24, 32, 35, 38, 40, 69, 70, 71,
77, 95-96, 111 (8 stomachs).

Food in California, Bui. 34, p. 59 (12
stomachs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 422-
423.

Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 8, 9, 11,
88-44 (1,083 stomachs).

Other notes, Bui. 15, p. 29 ; Bui. 22,
pp. 11, 16.

References to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, p. 266.

Request for information on economic
relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2] ; Circ.
5 I p. 1] ; Rept. 1886, p. 234.
Agelaius tricolor — Tricolored redwing black-
bird.

Food in California, Bui. 34, p. 59 (16
stomachs).
Aix sponsa — Wood duck.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 20; Ybk.

1901, p. 455.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 435.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 2.
Alauda arvensis — Skylark.

Admission denied. Rept. 1908, p. 581.

Brief account, Bui. 23, p. 11.

Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc., Ybk. 1898, pp. 90, 106, 107,
109.

Injurious In New Zealand, Ybk. 1909,
p. 257.

Pulling grain, Bul. 1, p. 341.

Sale in market, Bul. 23, p. 11.
Aluco flammeus — Old-world barn owl.

Enemy of field mice, Bul. 31, pp. 46-47,
48.
Aluco pratlncola — American barn owl.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; 1896, p.
628; Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bul. 31, pp. 46, 47, 48 ;
Bul. 38, p. 41; Circ. 61, pp. 3,

34

INDEX TO PAPEKS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Aluco pratincola — Continued.

10-11 (200 pellets) ; Ybk. 1894, pp.
217, 223-224; Ybk. 1900, pp. 301,
430.
Feeding on bats, Fauna 7, p. 42 ; black
rat, Bui. 33, pp. 34-35 ; Brewer's
blackbird, Bui. 5, p. 21 ; Ybk. 1909,
p. 217; brown rat, Bui. 33, pp. 34-
35 ; chipmunk (dead). Fauna 7, p. 42 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, pp. 46, 47, 48;
Ybk. 1905, pp. 371, 372; jackrabblt,
Bui. 8, p. 44 ; pocket gopher, Bui. 5,
pp. 20-21 ; Ybk. 1909, p. 217 ; (dead)
Fauna 7, p. 42 ; spermophiles, Bui.
4, p. 16.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 430.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 13-14,
132-139 (39 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887,
p. 417 (7 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk, 1900, p. 301.
Amazilia graysonl, see Amizilis graysoni.
Amizilis graysoni — Grayson's humming
bird.
Insect food and feeding habits, Fauna
14, p. 45.
Amazona oratrix — Double yellow-headed
parrot-
Feeds on pods of Pithecolobiuni dulce
and other fruits, Fauna 14, pp. 39-
40.
Ammodramus caudacutus, see Passerherbu-

lus caudacutus.
Ammodramus henslowi, see Passerherbulus

henslowi.
Ammodramus maritimus, see Passerherbulus

maritimus.
Ammodramus nelsoni, see Passerherbulus

nelsoni.
Ammodramus savannarum australis —
Grasshopper sparrow.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp.

222, 223, 226, 227, 228.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
13, 14, 26, 30, 32, 35, 38, 40, 44, 49,
70, 71, 72, 73, 97, 110 (10 stom-
achs).
Food of adults and nestlings, Ybk.

1900, p. 419.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 21, 23, 24,
28, 34, 45, 61-63, 91, 92 (170 stom-
achs).
Ammodramus savannarum passerinus, see
Ammodramus savannarum australis.
Ampelis cedrorum, see Bombycilla cedro-

rum.
Ampelis garrulus, see Bombycilla garrula.
Anas boschas, see Anas platyrhynchos.
Anas obscura, see Anas rubripes.
Anas platyrhynchos — Mallard.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 17.
Feeding on grasshoppers. Fauna 7, p.

15.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 435.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 2. 8.
Anas rubripes — Black duck.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 2, 8.

Anhinga anhinga — Water-turkey.

Harmless, Bui. 38, p. 15.
Anthus pensylvanicus, see Anthus rubescens.
Anthus rubescens — Pipit.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 84.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp.
8-9, 16 ; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 14, 21 ; Bui.

29, pp. 6, 22-23, 30 ; Bui. 38, pp. 9,
, 84 ; Circ. 57, p. 4 ; Circ. 64, pp. 4,

5 ; Rept. 1908, p. 576.
Antrostomus carolinensis — Chuck-will's-

widow.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 50.
Antrostomus vociferus — Whippoorwill.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 50.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 19.
Aphelocoma californica — California jay.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

19-21 (141 stomachs).
Feeding on scale insects, I'^bk. 1906, p.

194.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 8, 47,

50-56 (326 stomachs).
Relation to fruit in California, Bui. 30,
. p. 13 ; Rept. 1901, p. 153 ; Ybk 1904,

pp. 246, 248-250.
Aphelocoma woodhousei — Woodhouse's jay.
Feeding on pinon nuts, Fauna 3, pp.

39, 94.
Aquila chrysaetos — Golden eagle.

Brief account, Circ. 61, pp. 3, 13, 14;

Rept. 1887, p. 413; Ybk. 1894, pp.

217, 227.
Compiled information, Bui. 27, pp.

20-31.
Equally beneficial and injurious, Ybk.

1895, p. 590 ; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.
Feeding on Abert's squirrel {Sciurus

aberti), Fauna 3, p. 90; Beechey's
spermophile (Citejlus beecheyi),
Circ. 76, pp. 7, 8 ; dusky grouse
(probably). Fauna 7, p. 39; jack
rabbits, Bui. 8, p. 44 ; {Lepus tex-
ianus) Fauna 25, p. 154; lambs of
mountain sheep (probably). Fauna

30, p. 60; prairie dogs (watching
for). Fauna 3, p. 90; rabbits, Ybk.
1907, p. 336 ; spermophiles, Bui. 4,
p. 16 ; varying hares. Fauna 27, p.
359; woodchucks (probably). Fauna
7, p. 39 ; (Marmota monax cana-
densis) Fauna 27, p. 359.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 93-97

(6 stomachs).
Protected in some States, Ybk. 1899,
p. 266.
Archibuteo ferrugineus — Squirrel hawk.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628; Yl)k. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 91-93;

Circ. 61, pp. 3, 4-6; Ylik. 1894, pp,
217, 219, 220.

Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 34 ;
rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336; spermo-
philes, Bui. 4, pp. 15, 16.

Other notes, Bui. 31, p. 44.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

35

Archibutoo lagopus lagopus — Old - world

rough-legged hawk.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 44,
Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis — Rough-
legged hawk.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 44 ; Circ. 61,

pp. 3, 4-5; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 219-

220; Ybk. 1900, p. 301.
Feeding on brown rat, Bui, 33, p.

34 ; field mice, Bui. 31, p. 44 ; Ybk.

1905, p. 371 ; (Microtus montanus)

F. Bui. 352, p. 22 ; ground squirrel

{Citellus plesius, probably). Fauna

30, p. 88 ; rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 86-91

92 (49 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887, p

413 (28 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p

301.
Archilochus colubris — Ruby-throated hum

ming bird.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp

19, 39, 91.
Food of adults and nestlings, Ybk

1900, p. 427.
Ardea cjerulea, see Florida caerulea,
Ardea candidissima, see Egretta candi-

dissima.
Ardea herodias— Great blue heron.

Brief account, Bui, 38, p. 25 ; Ybk.

1908, p. 193.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52 ;

Ybk. 1909, p. 217 ; pocket gophers,

I'bk. 1908, p. 193 ; I'bk. 1909, p. 217.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui, 17, pp.

19, 53.
Injurious to fish, exempted from pro-
tection in Vermont, Bui. 12 (rev.),

p. 43.
Ardea virescens, see Butorides virescens.
Ardetta exilis, see Ixobrychus exilis,
Arenaria interpres — Turnstone.

Feeding on beetles and other insects.

Fauna 27, p. 336 ; crowberries, Ybk.

1903, p. 377 ; grasshoppers, Circ. 79,

p, 2,
Feeds on caterpillars and cutworms,

protected in Hawaii, Bui, 12 (rev.),

p. 87.
Arquatella maritima — Purple sandpiper.
Feeding on Nereis, Circ, 79, p. 8,
Food of adults and nestlings, \"bk.

1000, p. 432.
Asio accipitrinus, see Asio flammeus.
Asio flammeus — Short-eared owl.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895. p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628 ; Ybk. 1897, p. 670 ;
Brief account, Bui. 31, pp. 47, 48, 53 ;

Circ. 61, pp. 3, 11; Yhk, 1894, pp.

217, 224-225.
Feeding on cotton rat (Sigmodon his-

pidus texianus). Fauna 25, p. 117;

field mice, Bui. 31, pp. 47, 48, 53;

Ybk. 1905, pp. 371, 372; {Microtus

Asio flammeus — Continued.

drummondi) Fauna 27, p. 368 ; mice,

Fauna 19, p, 76; rabbits, Ybk,

1907, p. 336; shrews, Fauna 19, p.

76.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui, 17, pp.

54-55, 86.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 14, 146-

149 (101 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887,

418 (45 stomachs) ; Rept. 1888, pp.

496-498 (50 stomachs).
Asio otus — Old-world long-eared owl.

Brief account, feeding on field mice,

Bui. 31. pp. 47, 48.
Asio wilsonianus — American long-eared owl.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk,

1896, p. 628; ITjk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, Bui. 31, pp. 47, 48 ; Bui,

38, pp. 41-42; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 11;

Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 224; Ybk. 1900,

p. 430.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, pp.

47, 48 ; Ybk. 1905, p. 371, {Microtus

drummondi) Fauna 27, p. 367 ; rab-
bits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336; red-backed

mice {Evotomys daicsoni). Fauna

27, p. 367.
Formal report, Bui, 3, pp. 11, 14,

140-145, 165 (107 stomachs) ; Rept.

1887, pp. 417-418 (47 stomachs).
Astragalinus psaltria hesperophilus —

Green-backed goldfinch.
Feeding on seeds of wild sunflower.

Fauna 7, p. 84.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 78-75,

85 (476 stomachs).
Astragalinus tristis — Goldfinch.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 61.
Damage to oats, Bui. 15, p. 11.
Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.

285 ; weed seeds, Bui. 15, pp. 39, 42 ;

Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 224, 225, 229,

232.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

14-15, 26, 69, 71, 75-76, 79, 97 (11

stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 71-78,

85 (84 stomachs) ; [also In East,

p. 71].
Astur atricapillus — Goshawk.

Brief account, Circ. 61, pp. 3, 17;

Ybk. 1894, pp. 218, 281; n)k. 1900,

p. 429.
Feeding on bobwhite, Bui. 21, p. 22;

ground squirrel (probably), Fauna

19, p. 73; poultry, Bui. 21, p. 22;

Fauna 5, p. 94 ; ptarmigan. Fauna

27, p. 354 ; {Lagopus lagopus)

Fauna 27, p. 346 ; rahblts, Ybk. 1907,

p. 336 ; ruffed grouse, Bui. 24, p. 28 ;

Fauna 27, p. 354 ; squirrel {Sciurus),

Fauna 21, p. 76 ; varying hare,

Fauna 27, p. 353.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 48-46,

175 (28 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887, 405

(6 stomachs).

36

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Astur atricapillus — Continued.

Injurious, Bui. 12, pp. 30, 49 ; Bui.
12 (rev.), pp. 33, 58; Ybk. 1895,
p. 590; Ybk. 1896, p. 628; Ybk.
1897, p. 670; Ybk. 1908, p. 192.
Other notes. Fauna 5, pp. 18, 94.
Asturina plagiata — Mexican goshawk.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 85-86.
Asyndesmus lewisi — Lewis's woodpecker.
Feeding on grasshoppers, Fauna 7, p.

50.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 28-

29 (23 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 45-47
(59 stomachs).
Asyndesmus torquatus, see Asyndesmus

lewisi.
Auklet, Paroquet, see Phaleris psittacula.
Avocet, see Recui'virostra americana.

B.

Bseolophus atricristatus — Black-crested tit-
mouse.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp.
9, 16; Bui, 25, pp. 9, 14, 15, 21;
Bui. 29, pp. 6, 22, 30 ; Circ. 64, p. 5.
Bseolophus bicolor — Tufted titmouse.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 89; F. Bui.
54 (rev.), p. 44 (a mere reference).

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
22, 28, 30; Circ. 64, pp. 4, 5; scale
insects, Ybk. 1906, p. 197.

Food habits at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17,
pp. 20, 61, 107.
Bseolophus inornatus — Plain titmouse.

Feeding on noxious insects. Ybk. 1904,
p. 253 ; scale insects. Ybk. 1906,
p. 194.

Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 68-
70 (76 stomachs).
Bseolophus wollweberi — Bridled titmouse.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,
p. 197.
Baldpate, see Mareca americana.
Bartramia longicauda — Upland plover.

Brief account, Bui. 38, pp. 31-32.

Economic value, Bui. 22, pp. 15-16 ;
Circ. 79, p. 6.

Feeding on billbugs, Circ. 79, p. 6 ;
boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6, 7, 11,
20, 29, 30; Bui. 38, p. 32; Circ. 64,
pp. 2, 5; Circ. 79, p. 6; click beetles,
clover leaf weevil, clover root weevil,
corn-leaf beetle, cotton worm, cot-
ton cutworm, cowpea weevil, Circ.
79, p. 6 ; crane flies, Circ. 79, p. 4 ;
crayfishes, cutworms, grapevine co-
laspis, Circ. 79, p. 6 ; grasshoppers,
Circ. 79, p. 2; Fauna 27, p. 328;
wireworms, Circ. 79, p. 6.
Bee martin, see Tyrannus tyrannus.
Bengalee, see Uroloncha acuticauda.

Bittern, see Botaurus lentiginosus.

Least, see Ixobrychus exilis.
Blackbird, Bicolored redwing, see Agelaius
gubernator californicus.
Boat-tailed, see Megaquiscalus

major.
Brewer's, see Euphagus cyano-

cephalus.
Crow, see Quiscalus quiscula.
European, see Turdus merula.
Redwing, see Agelaius phoeni-

ceus.
Rusty, see Euphagus carolinus.
Tricolored redwing, see Agelaius

tricolor.
Yellow-headed, see Xanthoce-
phalus xanthocephalus.
Blackjack, see Marila collaris.
Bluebill, Big, see Marila marila.

Little, see Marila aflinis.
Bluebird, see Sialia sialis.

Mountain, see Sialia currucoides.
Western, see Sialia mexicana occi-
dentalis.
Bobolink, see Dolichonyx oryzivorus.
Bobwhite, see Colinus virginianus.

Masked, see Colinus ridgwayi.
Bombycilla cedrorum — Cedar bird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 72 ; F. Bui.
54, pp. 31-32 (152 stomachs) ; F. Bui.
54 (rev.), pp. 38-39 (152 stomachs);
Ybk. 1900, p. 304.
Feeding on cherries, Bui. 32, p. 91 ;
Bui. 34, p. 55; Ybk. 1907, p. 175;
grape (Vitis calif ornica), Fauna 7,
p. 113 ; insects, Fauna 27, p. 459 ;
mahaleb cherry (Prunus mahalel)),
Bui. 32, p. 65; mulberries, Bui. 32,
pp. 64, 65; Fauna 7, p. 113; Rept.
1800, p. 285; scale insects, Ybk.
1906, p. 197.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 17,
23, 24, 30, 43, 56, 59, 60, 62, 99 (5
stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 417,

436.
Formal report, Rept. 1892, pp. 197-

200 (125 stomachs).
Frugivorous habits (other than above
noted), Bui. 30, p. 20; Rept. 1890,
p. 281.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.
304.
Bombycilla garrula — Bohemian waxwing.
Feeding on berries and insects. Fauna
19, p. 89.
Bonasa umbellus — Ruffed grouse.

Brief account, Ybk. 1909, p. 194.
Feeding on buds, Ybk. 1907, p. 172;
of balsam poplar. Fauna 27, pp.
340, S42 ; of Lepargyrea and Sali-v,
Fauna 27, pp. 341, 342 ; catkins of
willows. Fauna 27, p. 341 ; foliage,
Bui. 21, p. 52 ; of Populus balsam-

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

37

Bonasa urabollus — Continued.

ifera and Pyrola, Fauna 27, p. 342 ;
of willow, Fauna 27, 341 ; grass
seeds, Fauna 27, p. 341 ; heads and
shoots of Equisetum, Fauna 27, pp.
341, 342: potato beetle, Bui. 32, p.
47 ; rose hips. Fauna 27, p. 341 ;
weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 231.

Formal report, Bui. 24, pp. 17, 23,
25-38 (208 stomachs).
Booby, Blue-footed, see Sula nebouxi.
Botaurus lentiginosus — Bittern.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 24; Ybk.
1908, p. 193.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52 ;
frogs and large beetles. Fauna 27, p.
311; injurious rodents, Ybk. 1908,
p. 193.
Branta canadensis — Canada goose.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 23.

Feeding on berries of Empetrum ni-
grum, Fauna 27, p. 306.
Bubo virginianus — Great horned owl.

Bounty laws, Ybk. 1899, p. 281.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 49 ; Bui. 38.
pp. 43-44 ; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 13, 15-16,
18; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 227, 229;
Ybk. 1900, pp. 300-301, 430.

Equally beneficial and injurious, Ybk.
1895, p. 590 ; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.

Feeding on brown bat {Vesperttlio
fuscus), Fauna 25, p. 211; brown
rat, Bui. 33, p. 35; field mice, Bui.
31, p. 49 ; Fauna 5, pp. 19, 96 ; Ybk.
1905, p. 371 ; Ybk. 1908, p. 188 ;
(Microtus drummondi) Fauna 27,
pp. 372, 374 ; ground squirrels.
Fauna 19, p. 76; jack rabbits, Bui.
8, p. 44; (Lepus texianus) Fauna
25, p. 154 ; lemming mouse {Phena-
comys orophilus), Fauna 5, pp. 19,
96 ; pocket gophers, Bui. 5, pp. 20-
21 ; (Cratogeomys castanops) Fauna
25, p. 13^3; (Thomomys) Fauna 5,
pp. 19, 96; poultry, Bui. 2, p. 122;
Bui. 21, p. 22 ; rabbits, Bui. 2, p. 122 ;
Fauna 19, p. 76; Ybk. 1900, pp.
300-301 ; Ybk. 1907, p. 336 ; Ybk.
1908, p. 188 ; (Lepus arizonw minor)
Fauna 25, p. 159 ; red squirrels,
Fauna 19^ p. 76 ; (Sciurus hudsoni-
cus) Fauna 27, p. 372 ; ruffed
grouse, Bui. 24, p. 28 ; scorpion,
Fauna 7, p. 43 ; shrews (Sorer pcr-
sonatus). Fauna 27, p. 372; skunks,
Bui. 2, p. 122 ; (Spilogale leuco-
paria) Fauna 25, p. 198 ; spermo-
phlles, Bui. 4, pp. 16-17 ; varying
hares (Lepus amcricanus). Fauna
27, pp. 373, 374 ; water beetles
(Dytiscus dauricus), Fauna 27, p.
373 ; white-footed mice. Fauna 5,
pp. 19, 90 ; (Peromyscus arcticus)
Fauna 27, p. 372; wood rats (Neo-
toma), Fauna 7, p. 43; (Neotoma
micropus) Fauna 25, p. 112.

Bubo virginianus — Continued.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 52, 54, 86, 110.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 430-

431.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 174-182
(127 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887, pp.
402, 421 (30 stomachs).
Injurious, Bui. 12, pp. 30, 36, 49; Bui.
12 (rev.), pp. 32, 33, 43, 58; Ybk.
1907, p. 167.
Other notes. Fauna 5, p. 18.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.
300-301.
Bufflehead, see Charitonetta albeola.
Bunting, Indigo, see Passerlna cyanea.
Painted, see Passerlna clris.
Snow, see Plectrophenax nivalis.
Yellow, see Emberlza citrinella.
Bush tit, see Psaltriparus minimus.
Butcher bird. Big, see Lanius borealls.

European great, see Lanius

excubltor.
Little, see Lanius ludovici-
anus.
Buteo abbrevlatus — Zone-tailed hawk.

Formal report, Bui. 3, p. 71 (5 stom-
achs).
Buteo albicaudatus sennetti — Sennett's
white-tailed hawk.
Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Brief account. Bui. 3, pp. 11, 72.
Feeding on rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336.
Buteo borealls — Red-tailed hawk.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 43 ; Bui. 38,
p. 38; Circ. 61. pp. 3, 6-7; Rept.
1888, p. 480; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217,
220-221; Ybk. 1900, p. 429.
Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 34 ;
chipmunks (Tamias cinereicolUs and
T. lateralis), Fauna 3, p. 90; dove
(attempt to pick up wounded one),
Fauna 7, p. 37; field mice, Bui. 31,
p. 43 ; Ybk. 1905, p. 371 ; Ybk. 1908,
p. 187 ; (Microtus montanus) F,
Bui. 352, p. 22 ; grasshoppers, Bui.
3, p. 76 ; Fauna 7, p. 37 ; ground
squirrel. Fauna 19, p. 73 ; horned
larks, Bui. 23, p. 12 ; jack rabbits,
Bui. 8, p. 44 ; Jerusalem cricket
(Stenopelmatus), lizards (Cnemi-
dophorus tigris and Sauromalus
ater). Fauna 7, p. 37; (iguanas)
Fauna 14, p. 37 ; pocket gophers,
Bui. 5, p. 20; (Thomomys) Fauna
7, p. 37; potato beetle, Bui. 32,
p. 47; rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336;
{Lepus graysoni) Fauna 14, pp. 17,
37; spormophiles, Bui. 4, pp. 15, 16,
17; (Spermophilus ter(ticaudus)
Fauna 7, p. 37 ; (Spermophilus toM?n-
scndi) Fauna 5, p. 94 ; squirrel

38

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Buteo borealis — Continued.

{Sciurus aberti). Fauna 3, p. 90;

varying hares (apparently), Fauna

27, p. 356.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,

54.
Food of nestlings. Ybk. 1900, p. 429.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 12, 48-

62, 87 (562 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887,

pp. 405-410 (311 stomachs).
Buteo hrachyurus — Short-tailed hawk.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,

p. 217 ; Ybk. 1895, p. 590 ; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.

Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 83-84.
Buteo buteo — Common old-world buzzard
hawk.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 44.
Buteo latissimus, see Buteo platypterus.
Buteo lineatus — Red-shouldered hawk.

Beneficial, Bui. 12, p. 30; Ybk. 1895,
p. 590; Ybk. 1896, p. 628; Ybk.

1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bui. 12, p. 30 ; Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 33; Bui. 31, p. 43; Bui.
38, p. 39; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 6, 7-8;
Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 220, 221; Ybk.
1900, p. 429.

Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 34 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, p. 43; Ybk. 1905,
p. 371; frogs (watching for). Fauna
7, p. 38 ; horned larks, Bui. 23, p.
12; rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336;
ruffed grouse, Bui. 24, p. 28.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
19, 54, 86.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 12,
62-70 (220 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887,
pp. 410-412 (102 stomachs).
Buteo platypterus — Broad-winged hawk.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 43 ; Bui. 38,

p. 39; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 9; Ybk. 1894,

pp. 217, 222-223.
Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 34 ;

field mice, Bui. 31, p. 43 ; Ybk. 1905,

p. 371.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 32, 86, 101.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 429.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 13, 79-

83 (65 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887, pp.

412-413 (22 stomachs).
Buteo swainsoni — Swainson's hawk.

Beneficial, Bui. 12, p. 30; Ybk. 1895,

p. 590; Ybk. 1896, p. 628; Ybk.

1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bui. 12, p. 30; Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 33; Bui. 31, p. 43; Circ.
61, pp. 3, 8-9; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217,
222.

Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 34 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, p. 43 ; {Microtus
montanus) F. Bui. 352, p. 22;
grasshoppers. Fauna 5, p. 95 ; Ybk.

Buteo swainsoni — Continued.

1895, p. 422; Ybk. 1907, p. 166;
{Camnula pellucida) Fauna 7, p.
38; rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336;
spermophiles, Bui. 4, pp. 15, 16, 17.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 12, 13,
72-79 (18 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887,
p. 412 (4 stomachs).
Butorides virescens — Green heron.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 26.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 23, 24, 53, 81.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 435.
Injurious to fish, exempt from protec-
tion in Alabama and Pennsylvania,
Bui. 12, p. 36; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 43.
Buzzard, Black, see Catharista urubu.

Turkey, see Cathartes aura septen-
trionalis.
Buzzard hawk, Common, see Buteo buteo.
Rough - legged, see Archi-
buteo lagopus lagopus.

C.

Calcarius lapponicus — Lapland longspur.

Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.
226.

Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 45, 54-55
(113 stomachs).
Calcarius ornatus — Chestnut-collared long-
spur.

Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.
226.

Pulling wheat, Bui. 23, p. 16.
Calcarius pictus — Smith's longspur.

Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk, 1898, p.
226,
Callipepla squamata — Scaled quail.

Formal report, Bui. 21, pp. 61-63 (47
stomachs).
Campephilus principalis — -Ivory-billed wood-
pecker.

Brief account, Bui. 37, pp. 62-63,

Useful, Bui, 38, p. 46,
Canachites canadensis — Spruce grouse.

Feeding on bearberries {Arctostaphy-
los uva-ursi) , Fauna 27, p, 338 ;
blueberries, Fauna 21, p, 75; {Vac-
cinium nliginosum), fern {Crypto-
gramma acrostiehoides) , Fauna 27,
p, 338 ; heads of Equisetum, Fauna
21, p, 75 ; highbush cranberries
(Viburnum), Fauna 21, p, 75;
Fauna 30, p, 86 ; mountain cranber-
ries {Yitis-idwa vitis-idwa) , Fauna
24, p. 65 ; Fauna 27, p. 338 ; pine
needles (Pinus divaricata), snails
(Lymnwa palustris), Fauna 27, p.
338 ; spruce needles, Fauna 21, p.
75 ; Fauna 24, p, 65 ; (Picea cana-
densis) Fauna 27, p, 338,

Formal report, Bui, 24, pp. 38-40, 42
(8 stomachs).
Canachites franklini — Franklin's grouse.

Brief account, Bui. 24, p. 40.
Canvasback, see Marila valisineria.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

39

Capercaillie, see Tetrao urogallua.
Caracara, see Polyborus cheriway.
Carancho, see Polyborus tharus.
Cardinalis cardinalis — Cardinal.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 67 ; F. Bui.

456. pp. 9, 12.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 9,

12, 20-21; Bui. 29, pp. 6, 19, 26.
. 30 ; Clrc. 64, p. 5 ; fruit seeds, Bui.

15, pp. 74, 88 ; potato beetle, Bui.

32, p. 47; scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

p. 192; weed seeds, Bui. 15, pp. 38-

39; Ybk. 1898, p. 230.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

18, 21, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38,

59, 60, 61, 62, 70, 71, 77, 98 (10

stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 32, pp. 5-27, 28,

90, 91 (498 stomachs).
Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis — House

finch.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

33-34 (987 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900,

pp. 302-303.
Damaging fruit, Kept. 1900, p. 47 ;

Rept. 1901, p. 153 ; peaches. Fauna

7, pp. 80, 81.
Feeding on cherries, Bui. 34, p. 55 ;

weed seeds, Bui. 34, p. 85.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 12,

13-28, 86 (1,206 stomachs).
Injurious, Bui. 34, p. 8 ; Rept. 1900,

p. 47; Rept. 1901, p. 153; Ybk.

1898, p. 107.
Relation to fruit in California, Ybk.

1904, pp. 245, 246-248.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.

302-303.
Carpodacus purpureus — Purple finch.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 61 ; Ybk.

1900, p. 302.
Feeding on buds, Ybk. 1907, p. 173;

climbing false buckwheat, Bui. 15, p,

42 ; mulberries, Rept. 1890, p. 285 ;

ragweed, Bui. 15, p. 42.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

20, 62, 76-77, 97.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.

302; Ybk. 1907, p. 173.
Catarina, see Psittacula insularis.
Catbird, see Dumetella carolinensis.
Catharista atrata, see Catharista urubu.
Catharista urubu — Black buzzard.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 36.
Feeding on carrion, Bui. 2, p. 110 ;

Rept. 1888, p. 524.
Protected on account of . useful feed-
ing habits, Bui. 12, p. 29; Bui. 12

(rev.), p. 32.
Cathartes aura septentrlonalis — Turkey

buzzard.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 36.
Feeding on carrion, Bui. 2, p. 110 ;

Clrc. 76, pp. 9-10 ; Fauna 7, pp. 33,

34; Fauna 25, p. 201; Rept. 1888,

p. 524.

Cathartes aura septentrlonalis — Continued.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 63-54, 85.
Food of young in captivity, Ybk. 1900,

p. 431.
Protected on account of useful feed-
ing habits, Bui. 12, p. 29; Bui. 12

(rev.), p. 32.
Catherpes mexicanus punctulatus — Dotted

caiion wren.
Brief account, Bui. 30, pp. 65-66.
Cedar bird, see Bombycilla cedrorum.
Centrocercus urophasianus — Sage hen.
Brief account, Bui. 24, pp. 23-25.
Flesh favored with sage. Fauna 5, p.

93.
Centurus aurifrons — Golden-fronted wood-
pecker.
Brief account, Bui. 37, pp. 63, 64.
Damage to poles, Bui. 39, p. 10.
Centurus carolinus — Red-bellied wood-
pecker.
Brief account. Bui. 38, p. 48.
Damage to buildings, Bui. 39, p. 13;

poles, Bui. 39, p. 11.
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 8, 10, 11,

23, 25-27 (22 stomachs) ; Bui. 37,

pp. 10, 43, 47-52 (271 stomachs).
Reference to vegetarian tastes, Bui.

34, p. 23.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.

295.
Centurus uropygialis — Gila woodpecker.
Brief account, Bui. 37, pp. 63, 64.
Damage to poles, Bui. 39, pp. 10, 11.
Ceophlocus pileatus, see Phloeotomus pile-

atus.
Certhia familiaris americana — Brown

creeper.
Brief notes, Bui. 38, p. 88 ; Ybk. 1908,

p. 346.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

197.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

32, 34, 35, 107.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.

296-297.
Certhia familiaris familiaris — Tree creeper.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

191.
Certhia familiaris occidentalis — California

creeper.
Feeding on codling moth, Bui. 34, pp.

17, 70.
Food in California, Bui. 30, p. 66 (7

stomachs).
Ceryle alcyon — Belted kingfisher.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 45; Ybk.

1900, p. 428.
Feeding on eelpout (Lota maculosa).

Fauna 27, p. 378.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 53, 87-88 (5 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 411,

428.

40

INDEX TO PAPEKS KELATING TO FOOD OF BIEDS.

Ceryle alcyon — Continued.

Injurious to fish, exempt from protec-
tion in certain States, Bui. 12, pp.
36, 37; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 43.
Ctiaemepelia passerina terrestris — Ground
dove.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.
232.
Chsetura pelagica — Chimney swift.

Feeding on mosquitoes, Bui. 38, p. 9 ;

Kept. 1908, p. 577.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

24, 25, 35, 39, 40, 91.
Insectivorous, Bui. 38, p. 9,
Chaffinch, see Fringilla coelebs.
Chamsea fasciata — Wren tit.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

pp. 194, 195.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 71-
74 (165 stomachs).
Charadrius dominicus — Golden plover.

Feeding on crowberries {Empetrum
nigrum), Fauna 27, pp. 332, 333;
Ybk. 1903, p. 377 ; grasshoppers,
Circ. 79, p. 2.
Feeds on caterpillars and cutworms,
protected in Hawaii, Bui. 12 (rev.),
p. 87.
Charitonetta albeola — Bufflehead.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Chat, yellow-breasted, see Icteria virens.
Chaulelasmus streperus — Gad well.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 18.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Chelidon erythrogaster, see Hirundo eryth-

rogastra.
Chelidon urbica, see Chelidonaria urbica.
Chelidonaria urbica — Old-world martin.

Value as insect destroyer, Bui. 1, pp.
330, 332, 333, 336, 346; Kept. 1886,
p. 244.
Chen hyperboreus — Snow goose.

Feeding on club-rush. Fauna 7, p. 18 ;

crowberries (Empetrum nigrum),

Fauna 27, pp. 298, 301.

Chickadee, Black - capped, see Penthestes

atricapillus.

Carolina, see Penthestes caro-

linensis.
Chestnut-backed, see Penthestes

rufescens.
Mountain, see Penthestes gam-
beli.
Chloris chloris — Greenfinch,

Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc., Ybk. 1898, pp. 90, 106, 107,
109.
Feeding on caterpillars and corn, Bui.
1, p. 343.
Chondestes grammacus — Lark sparrow.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 63.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 0,
12, 18, 21; Bui. 29, pp. 6, 19, 30;
Circ. 64, p. 5 ; weed seeds, Ybk.
1898, pp. 226, 227, 228, 229.

Chondestes grammacus — Continued.

Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 24, 27, 28,
45, 66-68, 91, 92 (167 stomachs).
Chordeiles acutipennis texensis — Texas
nighthawk.

Feeding on Ephydra hians^ Fauna 7,
p. 53.
Chordeiles virginianus — Nighthawk.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.
13-14 (about 100 stomachs).

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 8,
9, 13, 20, 21 ; Bui. 29, pp. 6, 21,
25, 30 ; Bui. 38, pp. 9, 51 ; Circ. 57,
pp. 1, 4 ; Circ. 64, p. 5 ; Kept. 1906,
p. 404 ; mosquitoes, Bui. 38, p. 9 ;
Kept. 1908, p. 577; potato beetle,
Bui. 32, p. 47.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,
33, 91.

Useful. Ybk. 1904, p. 514.
Chuck-will's-widow, see Antrostomus caro-

linensis.
Ciconia ciconia — White stork.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 53.
(^iconia maguari, see Euxenura maguari.
Circus hudsonius — Marsh hawk.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628; Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 43 ; Bui. 38,
p. 37; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 6; Ybk. 1894,
pp. 217, 220; Ybk. 1900, pp. 301.
429.

Feeding on brown rat (probably), Bui.
33, p. 34; chipmunk (Tamias min-
imus pictus), Fauna 5, p. 94; cot-
ton rat (Sigmodon hispidus iexi-
anus). Fauna 25, pp. 116, 117; field
mice, Bui. 4, p. 15 ; Bui. 31, p. 43 ;
Fauna 7, p. 35 ; Ybk. 1905, p. 371 ;
horned larks, Bui. 23, p. 12; jack-
rabbits, Bui. 8, p. 44 ; pocket goph-
ers, Bui. 5, p. 20 ; rabbits, Bui. 4,
p. 15; Ybk. 1907, p. 336; sper-
mophiles, Bui. 4, pp. 15, 16, 17 ;
{Spermophilus townsendi), shrew
(Neosorex), Fauna 5, p. 94; squir-
rels, Bui. 4, p. 15.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 54,
55, 86.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 429.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 12,
26-32, 134 (124 stomachs) ; Rept.
1887, pp. 403-404 (46 stomachs) ;
Rept. 1889, pp. 370-372.

Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.
301.
Cistothorus balustris, see Telmatodytes pa-

lustris.
Clangula clangula americana — Golden-eye.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Coccothraustes vespertina, see Hesper-

iphona vespertina.
Coccyzus americanus — Yellow-billed cuckoo.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670; Ybk.
1904, p. 514.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

41

Coccyzus americanus — Continued.

Brief account, Bui. 1, p. 123; Bui. 38,

p. 45; F. Bui. 54, pp. 5-6 (21

stomachs) ; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

7-8 (109 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, p.

297.
Feeding on caterpillars. Kept. 1889, p.

369; Kept. 1898, pp. 39-40; cotton

worm, Bui. 25, pp. 19-20 ; mulber-
ries. Kept. 1890, p. 285; potato

beetle, Bui. 32, p. 47; Kept. 1889,

p. 369; rose beetle, Bui. 32, p. 20;

tussock moth, Bui. 1, pp. 108-109,

292, 324; Kept. 1886, p. 244; web-
worms, Bui. 1, p. 123.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

24, 29, 30, 87.
Formal report, Bui. 9, pp. 7-14 (109

stomachs).
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 297.
Coccyzus erythropthalmus — Black-billed

cuckoo.
Beneficial, Bui. 38, p. 45; Ybk. 1897,

p. 670.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54, pp. 5-6 (16

stomachs) ; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

7-8 (46 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, pp.

297, 428.
Feeding on caterpillars, Rept. 1898, pp.

39-40 ; tussock moth, Bui. 1, pp.

108, 109; Rept. 1886, p. 244.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 24,

87.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 428.
Formal report, Bui. 9, pp. 7-14 (46

stomachs).
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.

297.
Colaptes auratus — Flicker.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670; Ybk.

1904, p. 514.
Brief account, Bui. 12, p. 18; Bui. 12

(rev.), p. 25; Bui. 34, p. 25; Bui.

38, pp. 48-49; F. Bui. 54, pp. 7-8,

10; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 10-11,

13; Ybk. 1900, p. 294.
Damage to buildings, Bui. 39, pp. 13-

14; poles, Bui. 39, p. 11; posts,

Bui. 39, p. 13.
Distributing poison Rhus seeds, Rept.

1890, p. 283.
Feeding on ants. Fauna 27, p. 388.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,

34, 38, 62, 90-91.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 427.
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 8, 9, 10, 11,

16-20, 25, 38 (230 stomachs) ; Bui.

37, pp. 10, 12, 52-58, 59, 60, 61

(684 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.

294.

Colaptes cafer collaris — Red-shafted flicker.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54, pp. 7-8 ; F.

Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 10-11.
Damage to buildings, Bui. 39, pp.

13-14 ; Fauna 7, p. 51 ; poles, Bui.

39, p. 11 ; posts, Bui. 39, pp. 13-14.
Feeding on juniper berries (probably).

Fauna 16, p. 116.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 25-28

(118 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 59-62

(183 stomachs).
Colaptes chrysoides — Gilded flicker.

Brief account, Bui. 37, pp. 63, 64.
Colinus ridgwayi — Masked bobwhlte.

Brief account, Bui. 21, pp. 46-47.
Colinus virginianus — Bobwhite.

Brief account, Bui. 38, pp. 9, 34 ; F.

Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 5-6; Ybk. 1900,

p. 432 ; Ybk. 1909, p. 252.
Economic value, Bui. 38, p. 9 ; Rept.

1904, p. 294; Ybk. 1902, p. 206;

Ybk. 1907, pp. 172, 594.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp.

11-12, 16; Bui. 25, pp. 8, 13, 21;

Bui. 29, pp. 6, 21, 30; Circ. 64, p.

5 ; garden pests, Circ. 81, p. 8 ;

grain, Rept. 1898, p. 39 ; poison

Rhus seeds, Rept. 1890, p. 283; po-
tato beetle, Bui. 32, p. 47 ; seeds,

Bui. 22, pp. 12, 13 1 weed seeds,

Bui. 15, p. 37; Ybk. 1898, pp. 222,

231-232.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 13,

22, 25, 26, 28, 32, 38, 40, 60, 62,

69-70, 71, 78, 83-85, 110, 111" (13

stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 432.
Formal report, Bui. 21, pp. 9-46 (918

stomachs) ; Ybk. 1903, pp. 193-204

(801 stomachs).
Natural and valuable cultivated foods,

Ybk. 1909, p. 194.
Columba fasciata — Band-tailed pigeon.

Feeding on acorns and berries of Ar-

hutus menziesU, Fauna 7, p. 31.
Columba flavirostris madrensis — Tres Ma-
rias pigeon.
Feeding on flgs and guavas. Fauna 14,

p. 35.
Columba livia — Common pigeon.

Feeding on army worms, Bui. 1, pp.

290-291.
Columba palumbus — Wood pigeon.

Injurious in England, Bui. 1, p. 335.
Colymbus auritus — Horned grebe.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 79.
Compsothlypis americana — Parula warbler.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 77.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 23,

24, 103-104.
Condor, California, see Gymnogyps califor-

nianus.
Contopus richardsoni, see Myiochanes rich-

ardsoni.
Contopus virens, see Myiochanes virens.

42

INDEX TO PAPERS BELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Conuropsis carolinensis — Carolina paroquet.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 44.
Coot, see Pulica americana.
Cormorant, Double-crested, see Phalacro-

corax auritus.
Cormorant, Red-faced, see Phalacrocorax

urile.
Corvus americanus, see Corvus brachyrhyn-

chos.
Corvus brachyrhynchos — American crow.
Bounty laws, Ybk. 1896, pp. 55, 57,
58, 59, 61; Ybk. 1899, pp. >r^,-'2S:D,
281, 282.
Brief account, Bui. 31, pp. 50-51 ; Bui.
38, p. 56; P. Bui. 54, pp. 3, 15-17;
F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 3, 22-23, 25;
Ybk. 1897, pp. 345, 346-348; Ybk.
1900, p. 424; Ybk. 1907, pp. 170,
175, 177, 178.
Damage to grain, Bui. 12, pp. 36, 37 ;
Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 43; Kept. 1898, p.
39; Ybk. 1897, pp. 345, 346-348.
Distributing poison Rhus, Rept. 1889,
p. 368 ; and other seeds, Rept. 1890,
pp. 282-284.
Equally beneficial and injurious, Bui.

12, p. 49; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 58.
Feeding on corn, Bui. 3, p. 9 ; Bui. 32,
p. 91 ; Rept. 1886, p. 242 ; cut-
worms, Bui. 3, p. 9 ; eggs and young
of bobwhite, Bui. 21, p. 22 ; of ruffed
grouse, Bui. 24, p. 28 ; of shore-
birds, Circ. 79, p. 2 ; field mice, Bui.

31, pp. 50-51 ; Ybk. 1905, p. 371 ;
(Microtus montanus) F. Bui. 335, p.
12 ; F. Bui. 352, p. 21 ; Ybk. 1908,
p. 309 ; figs. Fauna 7, p. 72 ; insects,
Ybk. 1908. p. 347 ; poison Rhus seeds,
Bui. 24, p. 36 ; poisoned wheat, F.
Bui. 352, p. 8; potato beetle, Bui.

32, p. 47.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

13-14, 23, 24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37,

38, 43, 47-48, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56,

67-58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63-64, 65-66,

68, 84, 94, 110.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 424-

425, 436.
Formal report, Bui. 6, pp. 1-98 (909

stomachs) ; Rept. 1888, pp. 498-534

(86 stomachs).
Injurious, hence unprotected in certain

States, Bui. 12, pp. 36, 37; Bui. 12

(rev.), p. 43 ; Bui. 38, p. 10.
Other notes, Rept. 1890, p. 279.
Predatory, F. Bui. 390, p. 23.
Reference to studies of food, Ybk.

1899, pp. 265, 266.
Request for infoi-mation on economic

relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 1] ;

Circ. 1 [p. 2] ; Rept. 1886, p. 230.
Scalps paid in lieu of taxes, Ybk. 1896,

p. 67.
Corvus caurinus — Northwestern crow.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50 ;

pheasant eggs, Rept. 1888, p. 485.

Corvus corax corax — Old-world raven.

Feeding on lemmings and voles, Bui.
31, p. bo.-
Corvus corax principalis — Northern raven.
Feeding on carrion. Fauna 24, p. 71 ;
Fauna 30, pp. 40, 62, 90 ; crabs.
Fauna 21, p. 47.
Corvus corax sinuatus — ^^Southern raven.
Feeding on carrion, Fauna 7, p. 71 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50; (Microtus
montanus) F. Bui. 335, p. 12 ; F.
Bui. 352, p. 21 ; Rept. 1908, p. 573 ;
Ybk. 1908, p. 309; grasshoppers,
Fauna 7, pp. 38, 71.
Corvus corone — Carrion crow.

Feeding on eggs and young of Perdix
perdix, Bui. 6, p. 41 ; lemmings and
voles, Bui. 31, p. 50.
Corvus cryptoleucus — White-necked raven.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50 ;
pocket gophers (probably), Bui. 6,
p. 35.
Corvus frugilegus — Rook.

Feeding on lemmings and voles, Bui.
31, p. 50.
Corvus ossifragus — Fish crow.

Brief account, Rept. 1888, pp. 498, 500,

515, 525, 534-535 (12 stomachs).
Feeding on cultivated fruit, Bui. 6, p.
82 ; field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50 ; su-
mach seeds, Rept. 1890, pp. 283-
284.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
14, 63.
Coturniculus savannarum passerinus, see
Ammodramus savannarum australis,
Cowbird, see Molothrus ater.
Crane, Little brown, see Grus canadensis.
Sandhill, see Grus mexicana.
Whooping, see Gras americana.
Creeper, Black-and-white, see Mniotilta va-
ria.
Brown, see Certhia familiaris

americana.
California, see Certhia familiaris

occidentalis.
Tree, see Certhia familiaris famili-
aris.
Crossbill, see Loxia curvirostra minor.

White-winged, see Loxia leucop-
tera.
Crow, American, see Corvus brachyrhyn-
chos.
Carrion, see Corvus corone.
Clarke's, see Nucifraga columbiana.
Fish, see Corvus ossifragus.
Northwestern, see Corvus caurinus.
Cryptoglaux acadiea — Saw-whet owl.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50 ;

Ybk. 1905, p. 371.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 160-
162 (22 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887, p.
419 (6 stomachs).

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

43

Cryptoglaux funerea richardsoni — Richard-
son's owl.
Beneficial, Circ. 61. p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 6L'8.
Brief account, Bill. 3, pp. 11, 159.
deeding on field mice (Microtus drum-
mondi), red-back mice {Evotomys
gappcri athahasccB) , and white-footed
mice {Perotnyscus arcticus). Fauna
27, p. 370.
Cackoo, Black-billed, see Coccyzus erythrop-
thalmus.
I'ellow-billed, see Coccyzus ameri-
canus.
Curlew, Hudsonian, see Numenius hudsoni-
cus.
Long-billed, see Numenius amerl-
canus.
Cyanistes caeruleus — Blue titmouse.

Admission denied, Ybk. 1905, p. 545.
Economic status in view of proposed

introduction. Kept. 1899, p. 67.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 190G,
pp. 191, 192.
Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus — Pinon jay.
Feeding on piiion nuts, Fauna 3, pp.
39, 94 ; {Pintis monophylla) Fauna
7, pp. 73, 337.
Cyanocitta cristata — Blue jay.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 55; F. Bui.
54, pp. 14-15 (292 stomachs) ; F.
Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 18-19 (300 stom-
achs) ; Ybk. 1907, pp. 171-172.
Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, p. 5 ;
brown-tail moth, Ybk. 1907, pp. 171-
172 ; eggs and young of smaller
birds, Rept. 1888, p. 514; English
sparrow, Bui. 1, pp. 31, 32, 233,
234 ; mahaleb cherry, Bui. 32, p. 65 ;
scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p. 197.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17. pp. -20,
24, 29, 32, 35, 38, 40, 60, 93-94 (6
stomachs).
Formal report, Ybk. 1896, pp. 197-

206 (292 stomachs).
Predatory, Bui. 1, p. 268; Bui. 34, p.

47.
Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, p. 265.
Cyanocitta stelleri — Steller's jay.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

19-20.
Feeding on pinon nuts. Fauna 3, pp.

39, 94.
Food in California, Bui 34, pp. 8, 47-
49 (93 stomachs).
Cyanospiza ciris, see Passerina ciris.
Cyanospiza cyanea, see Passerina cyanea.
Cyclorrhynchus psittaculus, see Phaleris

psittacula.
Cyrtonyx montezumae mearnsi — Mearns's
quail.
Formal report, Bui. 21, pp. 63-64 (9
stomacbs).

D.

Dafila acuta — Pintail.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 20.

Feeding on Lymncea palustris. Fauna
27, p. 283.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Dendragapus obscurus — Dusky grouse.

Feeding on ants, Fauna 16, p. 110;
bearberries (Arctostaphylos uva-
ursi). Fauna 5, p. 93; Fauna 27, p.
337; currants {Rihes cereum), grass-
hoppers and other insects, leaves of
willow. Fauna 5, p. 93 ; (Salix myr-
tillifolia) Fauna 27, p. 337; man-
zanita berries (Arctostaphylos neva-
densis), Fauna 16, p. 110; moun-
tain cranberries (Vitis-idwa vitis-
idwa), Fauna 27, p. 337; seeds of
Pentstemon gracilentus. Fauna 16,
p. 110.

Formal report, Bui. 24, pp. 41-44 (45
stomachs).
Dendroica aestiva — Yellow warbler.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 77.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
21, 25, 30 ; Circ. 64, p. 5 ; mulberries,
Rept. 1890, p. 285; scale insects,
Ybk. 1906, p. 194.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
23, 24, 25, 30, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40,
103-104 (7 stomachs).

Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 47-49
(98 stomachs).
Dendroica auduboni — Audubon's warbler.

Feeding on insects (in cabbage). Fauna
7, p. 119; (noxious) Ybk. 1904, p.
254 ; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, pp.
194, 195.

Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 43-46
(383 stomachs).
Dendroiiea cserulescens — Black-throated blue
warbler.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 20.
Dendroica castanea — Bay-breasted warbler.

Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890,
p. 285.
Dendroica coronata — Myrtle warbler.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 78.

Distributing poison Rhus seeds, Rept.
1890, p. 283.

Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, p. 5 ;
scale insects, Ybk. 1906, pp. 194,
195 ; seeds, Rept. 1890, p. 282.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
62, 103-104.

Food in California, Bui. 30, p. 46 (10
stomachs).
Dendroica discolor — Prairie warbler.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
34, 103-104.
Dendroica maculosa, see Dendroica mag-
nolia.
Dendroica magnolia — Magnolia warbler.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
195.

44

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Dendroica magnolia — Continued,

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
29, 34, 35, 40, 103-104.
Dendroica palmarum — Palm warbler.

Number of insects eaten per minute,
Bui. 17, p. 104.
Dendroica striata — Black-poll warbler.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

195.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,

23, 24, 29, 34, 35, 39, 40, 103-104
(11 stomachs).

Dendroica tigrina — Cape May warbler.

Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.

285.
Dendroica townsendi — Townsend's warbler.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

197.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 46-47

(31 stomachs).
Dendroica vigorsi — Pine warbler.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 80.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui 17, p. 20.
Dendroica virens — Black-throated green

warbler.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 20.
Dickcissel, see Spiza americana.
Dolichonyx oryzivorus — Bobolink.

Bounty laws, Ybk. 1896, p. 57; Ybk.

1899, p. 279.
Brief account, Bui. 38, pp. 56-57; F.

Bui. 54, pp. 4, 17-19; F. Bui. 54

(rev.), pp. 4, 28-24; Rept. 1886, pp.

246-250 ; Ybk. 1907, p. 171.
Damage to grain, Bui. 1, p. 70 ; Bui.

12, pp. 35, 36 ; Bui. 12 ^rev.), p. 42 ;

Bui. 32, p. 80; Rept. 1887, pp. 428,

431; Ybk. 1898, pp. 230, 232; rice,

Bui. 1, p. 76 ; Bui. 3, p. 9 ; Bui. 12,

p. 18; Bui. 12 (rev.), pp. 25-26;

Bui. 15, p. 17 ; Bui. 30, p. 12 ; Ent.

Clrc. 20 [p. 2] ; Circ. 1 [p. 2*] ; Clrc.

5 [p. 1] ; Rept. 1886, pp. 229, 234,

235, 246-250; Rept. 1900, p. 44;

Ybk. 1903, p. 375; Ybk. 1904, pp.

245, 253.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp.

230, 232; wild rice, Bui. 1, p. 76;

Bui. 3, p. 9 ; Bui. 12, p. 18.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

24, 30, 34, 35, 40, 71, 95 (6 stom-
achs).

Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 8, 9, 11,

12-22 (291 stomachs).
Injurious, hence exempt from protec-
tion in certain States, Bui. 12, p.

36; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 43.
Insectivorous, Bui. 12, pp. 14, 24 ; Bui.

12 (rev.), pp. 22, 31.
Other notes, Rept. 1887, pp. 400-401 ;

Rept. 1890, p. 279; Ybk. 1904, pp.

245, 253.
Request for information on economic

relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2] ; Circ.

1 [p. 2] ; Cir. 5 [p. 1] ; Rept. 1886,

pp. 230, 234.

Dove, Ground, see Chsemetielia passerlna
terrestris.

Mourning, see Zenaidura macroura
carolinensis.

Ring, see Columba palumbus.

Rock, see Columba livia.
Dowitcher, see Macrorhamphus griseus.
Dryobates arizonse — Arizona woodpecker.

Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 295.
Dryobates borealis — Red-cockaded wood-
pecker.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

197.
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 22-23

(76 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 295.
Dryobates nuttalli — Nuttall's woodpecker.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

194.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 19-21

(46 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 23-25

(53 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 295.
Dryobates pubescens — Downy woodpecker.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, Bui. 34, p. 17 ; Bui. 38,

p. 46; F. Bui. 54, pp. 6-7, 9; F.

Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 9-10, 13; Ybk.

1900, pp. 292-293, 295, 427.
Damage to posts, Bui. 39, p. 13.
Distributing poison Rhus seeds, Rept.

1890, p. 283.
Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.

285; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, pp.

194, 197.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,

24, 33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 47, 59, 60, 61,

62, 76, 88 (13 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 17-19,

20 (80 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 427.
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 8, 9, 10, 11-

14, 15, 16, 18, 38 (140 stomachs) ;

Bui. 37, pp. 10, 11, 12, 17-22, 24

(723 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.

292-293, 295.
Tapping trees, Bui. 39, pp. 92-95.
Dryobates scalaris bairdi — Texas wood-
pecker.
Brief account, Bui. 37, p. 63.
Damage to poles, Bui. 39, pp. 10, 11 ;

posts, Bui. 39, p. 13.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 295.
Dryobates scalaris graysoni — Grayson's

woodpecker.
Feeding habits. Fauna 14, p. 43.
Dryobates scalaris lucasanus — San Lucas

woodpecker.
Damage to poles, Bui. 39, p. 11.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 295.
Dryobates villosus — Hairy woodpecker.

Beneficial, Bui. 38, p. 46; Ybk. 1897,

p. 670.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

45

Dryobates villosns — Continued.

Brief account, Bui. 34, p. 16; P. Bui.

54, pp. 6-7, 9; F. Bui. 54 (rev.),

pp. 9-10, 13; Ybk. 1900, pp. 292,

293-294.
Damage to posts, Bui. 39, p. 13.
Distributing poison Rhus seeds, Kept.

1890, p. 283.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

197.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 15-17,

20, 22 (27 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 8, 9, 10, 11,

14-16, 18, 38 (82 stomachs) ; Bui.

37, pp. 10, 11, 12, 13-17 (382

stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.

292, 293-294.
Tapping trees, Bui. 39, pp. 92-95.
Duck, Black, see Anas rubripes.

Greater scaup, see Marila marila.

Lesser scaup, see Marila afllnis.

Mallard, see Anas platyrhynchos.

Pintail, see Dafila acuta.

Ring-necked, see Marila collaris.

Ruddy, see Erismatura jamaicensis.

Spoonbill, see Spatula clypeata.

Wood, see Aix sponsa.
Dumetella carolinensis — Catbird.
Beneficial, Bui. 38, p. 9.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 85; F. Bui.

54, pp. 33-34 ; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

39-40 (213 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900,

pp. 303-304, 416.
Feeding on fruit, Rept. 1890, p. 281 ;

Ybk. 1907, p. 169 ; mahaleb cherries

iPrunus mahaleb ) , Bui. 32, p. 65 ;

mulberries, Bui. 32, pp. 64, 65;

Rept. 1890, p. 285.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

17-18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30,

32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43,

47, 55-56, 57, 'oS, 59, 60, 61, 62,

104-105 (74 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 416,

436.
Formal report, Ybk. 1895, pp. 405,

406-411, 414, 418 (213 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 1, pp. 126, 304;

Bui. 15, p. 29.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.

303-304.
Request for information on economic

relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2].

K.

Eagle, Bald, see Ilaliaeetus leucocephalus.
Golden, see Aqulla chrysaetos.
Gray sea, see Haliffietus albicilla.
Ectopistes migratorius — Passenger pigeon.
Damage to grain. Fauna 27, p. 351.
Food of adults and nestlings, Ybk.
1900, p. 431.

Egret, see Herodias egretta.

Snowy, see Egretta candidissima.
Egretta candidissima — Snowy egret.
Brief account, Ybk. 1900, p. 435.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52.
Elainoides forficatus — Swallow tailed kite.
Beneficial, Bui. 31, p. 45; Ybk. 1895,

p. 590; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 37 ; Circ.
61, pp. 3, 4; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 218.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 20-22,
23, 24 (6 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887, p.
403 (5 stomachs).
Elanus leucurus — White-tailed kite.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.

Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 28; Circ.
61, pp. 3, 4; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 218.
Feeding on lizards and snakes, Bui.
2, p. 113.
Emberiza citrinella — Old-world yellow-
hammer.
Injurious in New Zealand, Ybk. 1909,
p. 257.
Empidonax difficilis — Wes^tern yellow-bel-
lied flycatcher.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 41-
44 (141 stomachs).
Empidonax minimus — Least flycatcher.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 8,

13, 17, 19, 20, 21; Bui. 29, pp. 6,
14-15, 24, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5; mul-
berries, Bui. 32, p. 64; Rept. 1890,
p. 285.

Empidonax trailli — Traill's flycatcher.

Brief account, Bui. 34, p. 44.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
15, 24, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5.
Empidonax virescens — Acadian flycatcher.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 54.

Feeding on rose beetle, Bui. 32, p. 20.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
36, 92.
Ereunetes pusillus — Peep.

Feeding on mosquitoes, C'rc. 79, p. 2.
Erismatura jamaicensis — Ruddy duck.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Euphagus carolinus — Rusty blackbird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 59; Ybk.

1897, pp. 351-352.

Damage to grain, Rept. 1887, p. 428;

Ybk. 1897, pp. 351-352; Ybk. 1898,

p. 230.
Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp. 3,

5 ; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 230.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

14, 35, 38, 39, 71, 77, 96.
Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 9, 45-49

(132 stomachs).
Euphagus cyanocephalus — Brewer's black-
bird.

Brief account, Ybk. 1897, pp. 351-352.

Damage to fruit, Bui. 30, p. 13; Ybk.
1904, pp. 246, 248; grain, Bui. 23,

46

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Euphagus cyanocephalus — Continued.

p. 15; Bui. 29, p. 8; Fauna 27, p.
412; Kept. 1887, p. 430; Ybk. 1897,
pp. 351-352; Ybk. 1898, p. 230.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p.
16; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 10, 11-12, 21:
Bui. 29, pp. 6, 7, 8, 11, 17, 27, 28,
30 ; Circ. 64, pp. 3, 5 ; cankerworms,
Ybk. 1908, p. 345; corn, Bui. 29,
p. 8 ; crumbs in streets and door-
yards, Fauna 5, p. 101 ; grasshop-
pers. Fauna 7, p. 78 ; weed seeds,
Ybk. 1898, p. 230; wheat, Bui. 23,
p. 15.

Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 59-
65 (312 stomachs).

Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 9, 10, 11,
50-52 (146 stomachs).

Relation to fruit in California, Bui.
30, p. 13 ; Ybk. 1904, pp. 246, 248.
Euxenura maguari — Maguari stork.

Feeding on mice, Bui. 31, pp. 52-53.

W.

Falco columbarius — Pigeon hawk.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 45 ; Bui. 38,
p. 40; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 13, 14; Ybk.

1894, pp. 217, 227, 228.

Equally beneficial and injurious, Ybk.

1895, p. 590 ; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.
Feeding on crossbills. Fauna 21, p. 76 ;

English sparrow, Bui. 1, pp. 32,

309; field mice, Bui. 31, p. 45;

Fauna 19, p. 75 ; Ybk. 1905, p. 371 ;

red-backed mouse. Fauna 19, p. 75 ;

ruby-crowned kinglet, Fauna 30, p.

38 ; sparrow. Fauna 27, p. 363 ; tree

sparrow, Fauna 27, p. 364.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 109-118.

114, 115 (60 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887^

pp. 402, 414 (19 stomachs).
Injurious, Bui. 12, p. 30; Bui. 12

(rev.), p. 33.
Falco fusco-caerulescens — Aplomado falcon.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 114-115 ;

Circ. 61, pp. 3, 13, 14; Ybk. 1894,

pp. 217, 227, 228.
Equally beneficial and injurious. Ybk.

1895, p. 590; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.
Falco islandus — White gyrfalcon.

Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 16, 102;

Circ. 61, pp. 3, 16; Ybk. 1894, pp

218, 230.
Injurious, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.

Falco mexicanus — Prairie falcon.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 45 ; Circ. 61,

pp. 3, 13, 14-15; Rept. 1887, p.

414; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 227, 228-

229.
Equally beneficial and injurious, Ybk.

1895, p. 590 ; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.
Feeding on chicken (chasing). Fauna

5, p. 95; doves (chasing). Fauna 7,

p. 40; ducks, Gambel's quail (watch-

Falco mexicanus — Continued.

ing). Fauna 7, p. 39; horned larks,
Bui. 23, p. 12; Fauna 5, p. 95;
jack rabbits, Bui. 8, p. 44 ; spermo-
philes, Bui. 4, pp. 16-17.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 104-106
(11 stomachs).
Falco peregrinus — Duck hawk.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 44 ; Bui. 38,
pp. 10, 40; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 16-17;
Ybk. 1894, pp. 218, 230-231.

Feeding on Alaska jays, intermediate
sparrows. Fauna 19, p. 75 ; mallard
(chasing). Fauna 27, p. 362; marsh
hawks, Fauna 19, p. 75 ; scaup duck
(chasing). Fauna 30, p. 88; spar-
row hawk (chasing). Fauna 14, p.
38 ; varied thrushes, Fauna 19, p.
75 ; white-winged crossbills, Fauna
19, pp. 75, 82.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 16,
106-109, 184 (20 stomachs) ; Rept.
1887, pp. 402, 414 (5 stomachs).

Injurious, Bui. 12, p. 30; Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 33; Bui. 38, p. 10; Ybk.

1895, p. 590; Ybk. 1896, p. 628;
Ybk. 1897, p. 670; Ybk. 1908, p.
192.

Falco richardsoni, see Falco columbarius.
Falco rusticolus — Gray gyrfalcon.

Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 16, 102-
103; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 16; Ybk. 1894,
pp. 218, 230.
Feeding on bird, Fauna 19, p. 74 ;
ptarmigan (apparently chasing),
Fauna 27, p. 361.
Injurious, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.

Falco sparverius — SparrOsW hawk.

Beneficial, Bui. 12, p. 30; Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 33; Ybk. 1895, p. 590;
Ybk. 1896, p. 628; Ybk. 1897, p.
670.

Brief account, Bui. 12, p. 30; Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 33; Bui. 31, p. 45; Bui.
38, p. 41; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 9-10;
Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 223; Ybk. 1900,
p. 430.

Feeding on cotton rat (Sigmodon his-
pidus texianus), Fauna 25, p. 116;
English sparrow, Bui. 1, pp. 32, 150,
234, 309; Rept. 1886, p. 245; field
mice, Bui. 31, p. 45; Ybk. 1905, p.
371 ; (Microtus drummondi) Fauna
27, p. 365 ; grasshoppers, Bui. 12,
p. 30; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 33; Fauna
3, p. 39 ; Fauna 5, p. 95 ; Fauna
7, p. 41 ; Fauna 16, p. 113 ; Ybk.
1907, p. 166; insects, Fauna 3, p.
91 ; red-backed mouse (Evotomys
dawsoni), Fauna 27, p. 365; snake,
Fauna 7, p. 41.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
19, 86.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 430.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

47

Falco sparverius — Continued.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 13, 115-
127, 192 (320 stomachs) ; Rept.
1887, pp. 414-417 (133 stomachs) ;
Rept. 1888, pp. 491-496 (163
stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 1, p. 150; Bui. 9,
p. 16; Bui. 30, pp. 33-34; Rept.
1886, p. 245.
Falcon, Aplomado, see Falco fusco-
caerulescens.
Prairie, see Falco mexicanus.
Finch, Gray-crowned rosy, see Leucostictc
tephrocotis.
House, see Carpodacus mexicanus

frontalis.
Purple, see Carpodacus purpureus.
Flicker, see Colaptes auratus.

Gilded, see Colaptes chrysoides.
Red-shafted, see Colaptes cafer
collaris.
Florida caerulea — Little blue heron.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 26; Ybk

1900, p. 435.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
19, 81.
Flycatcher, Acadian, see Empidonax vires-
cens.
Ash-throated, see Myiarchus

cinerascens.
Crested, see Myiarchus crini-

tus.
Least, see Empidonax minimus.
Olive-sided, see Nuttallornis

boreal is.
Sclssor-tailed, see Muscivora

forflcata.
Traill's, see Empidonax trailli.
Western yellow-bellied, see
Empidonax diflBcilis.
Foudia madagascariensis — Madagascar
weaver bird.
Injurious wherever introduced, Rept.
1904, p. 296.
Fratercula corniculata — Horned puflSn.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 433.
Fringilla coelebs — Chaffinch.

Feeding on caterpillars, corn, Bui. 1, p.

343 ; seeds, Bui. 1, p. 335.
Injurious in New Zealand, Ybk. 1909,
p. 257.
Fnlica americana — Coot.

Brief account, Bui. 38, pp. 18, 28-29.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
81-82.

G-.

Gadwell, see Chaulelasmus streperus.

Galeoscoptes carolinensis, see Dumetella
carolinensis.

Gallinago delicata — Jacksnipe.

Feeding on click beetles, crane flies,
crayfish, Circ. 79, p. 6; Dytiscid^,
Circ. 79, p. 8 ; grasshoppers, Circ. 79,
p. 4 ; wireworms, Circ. 79, p. 6.

Garrulus glandarius — Old-world jay.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 411.
Gavia arctica — Black-throated loon.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 433.
Gavia stellata — Red-throated loOn.

Feeding on fishes. Fauna 27, p. 259.
Geococcyx californianus — Road runner.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 51.
Geothlypis trichas — Yellowthroat.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 82.
Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, p. 5 ;

scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p. 194.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 26^
22, 24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40,
103-104 (13 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 49-50

(114 stomachs).
Insectivorous, Ybk. 1908, p. 344.
Glaucidium gnoma — Pygmy owl.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Feeding on spermophiles, Bui. 4, p. 16.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 431.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 196-198
(6 stomachs).
Glaucidium phaloenoides — Ferruginous pyg-
my owl.
Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 199.
Glaux funerea richardsoni, see Cryptoglaux

funerea richardsoni.
Gnatcatcher, Black-tailed, see Polioptila
californica.
Blue-gray, see Polioptila cae-
rulea.
Godwit, Hudsonian, see Limosa hsemastica.

Marbled, see Limosa fedoa.
Golden-eye, see Clangula clangula ameri-
cana.
Goldfinch, see Astragalinus tristis.

Green-backed, see Astragalinus
psaltria hesperophilus.
Goose, Canada, see Branta canadensis.

Snow, see Chen hyperboreus.
Goshawk, see Astur atricapillus.

Mexican, see Asturina plagiata.
Grackle, Purple, see Quiscalus quiscula.
Grebe, Horned, see Colymbus auritus.

Pied-billed, see Podilymbus podiceps.
Greenfinch, see Chloris chloris.
Grosbeak, Alaska pine, see Pinicola enuclea-
tor alascensis.
Black-headed, see Zamelodia

melanocephala.
Blue, see Guiraca caerulea.
Evening, see Hesperiphona ves-

pertina.
Gray, see Pyrrhuloxia sinuata.
Pine, see Pinicola enucleator

leucura.
Rose-breasted, see Zamelodia
ludoviciana.

48

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Grouse, Dusky, see Dendragapus obscurus.
Franklin's, see Canachites frank-

lini.
Ruflfed, see Bonasa umbellus.
Sharp-tailed, see Pedicecetes pliasi-

anellus.
Spruce, see Canachites canadensis.
Wood, see Tetrao urogallus.
Grus americana — Whooping crane.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 53.
Grus canadensis — Little brown crane.

Feeding on barley, Fauna 7, pp. 20-21 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, p. 53; foliage
and rootlets. Fauna 7, pp. 20-21.
Grus mexicana — Sandhill crane.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 53.
Food of young in captivity, Ybk. 1900,
p. 433.
Guiraca caerulea — Blue grosbeak.

Brief account, F. Bui. 456, pp. 11-12.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.

230.
Formal report, Bui. 32, pp. 78-85, 87,
91 (51 stomachs).
Guiraca ludoviciana, see Zamelodia ludovi-

ciana.
Gull, California, see Lams californicus.
Franklin's, see Larus franklini.
Glaucous-winged, see Larus glauces-

cens.
Great black-backed, see Larus ma-

rinus.
Heermann's, see Larus heermanni.
Herring, see Larus argentatus.
Laughing, see Larus atricilla.
Ring-billed, see Larus delawarensis.
Short-billed, see Larus brachyrhyn-
chus.
Gymnogyps californianus — California con-
dor.
Feeding on carrion. Fauna 7, p. 33.
Gyrfalcon, Gray, see Falco rusticolus.
White, see Falco islandus.

H.

Habia ludoviciana, see Zamelodia ludovi-
ciana.
Haliseetus albicilla — Gray sea eagle.

Compiled information, Bui. 27, pp. 18-
20.
Haliseetus leucocephalus — Bald eagle.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 40 ; Circ. 61,
pp. 3, 13, 14; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217,
227-228; Ybk. 1900, p. 4.30.
Compiled information, Bui. 27, pp. 6-

17.
Equally beneficial and injurious, Ybk.

1895, p. 590 ; Ybk. 1896, p. 628.
Feeding on crustaceans and mollusks,
Fauna 21, p. 43 ; rabbits, Ybk. 1907,
p. 336 ; spermophiles, Bui. 4, p. 16.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,
60, 53.

Haliseetus leucocephalus — Continued.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 97-101

(21 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887, p. 413

(6 stomachs).
Protected in some States, Ybk. 1899,

p. 266.

Harporhynchus lecontei, see Toxostoma le-

contei.
Harporhynchus rufus, see Toxostoma

rufum.
Hawk, Broad-winged, see Buteo platypterus.
Buzzard, see Buteo buteo.
Cooper's, see Accipiter cooperi.
Duck, see Falco peregrinus.
Ferruginous rough-legged, see Arch-

ibuteo ferrugineus.
Harris's, see Parabuteo unicinctus

harrisi.
Marsh, see Circus hudsonius.
Mexican black, see Urubutinga an-

thracina.
Pigeon, see Falco columbarius.
Red-shouldered, see Buteo lineatus.
Red-tailed, see Buteo borealis.
Richardson's, see Falco columbarius.
Rough-legged, see Archibuteo lago-

pus sancti-johannis.
Rough-legged buzzard, see Archi-
buteo Ingopus lagopus.
Sennett's white-tailed, see Buteo al-

bicaudatus sennetti.
Sharp-shinned, see Accipiter velox.
Short-tailed, see Buteo brachyurus.
Sparrow, see Falco sparverius.
Squirrel, see Archibuteo ferrugineus.
Swainson's, see Buteo swainsoni.
Zone-tailed, see Buteo abbreviatus.
Heath hen, see Tympanuchus cupido.
Heleodytes brunneicapillus couesi — Cactus
wren.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

194.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 64-65
(41 stomachs).
Helminthophila celata lutescens, see Ver-

mivora celata lutescens.
Helmitheros vermivorus — Worm-eating war-
bler.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 75.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

p. 195.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
34, 103-104.
Helodromas solitarius — Solitary sandpiper.
Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 4.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 19.
Herodias egretta — Egret.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52.
Heron, Black-crowned night, see Nycticorax
nycticorax nsevius.
Great blue, see Ardea herodias.
Green, see Butorides virescens.
Little blue, see Florida caerulea.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OP BIRDS.

49

riesperiphona vespertina — Evening gros-
beak.
Brief account, Bui. 32, p. 5.
Feeding on cedar berries (Jutiiperus
occidentalis) , Fauna 16, pp. 123,
139; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 230.
Himantopus knudseni — Kukuluaeo.

Feeds on caterpillars and cutworms,
protected in Hawaii, Bui. 12 (rev.),
p. 87.
Himantopus mexicanus — Black-necked stilt.
Feeding on bill bugs, crayfishes, Circ.
79, p. 6; Dytiscidae, Circ. 79, p. 8 ;
grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 4.
Hirundo erythrogastra — Barn swallow.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 71 ; F. Bui.
54, p. 31; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.
36-38; Ybk. 1900, p. 418.
Destroying nests and brood of English

sparrows, Bui. 1, p. 282.
Feeding on bayberries, Rept. 1890, p.
282; boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
13-14, 25, 30 ; Bui. 38, p. 71 ; Circ.
56, pp. 1-2 ; Circ. 57, p. 2 ; Circ. 64,
p. 5.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
20, 24, 25, 26, 34, 35, 36, 40, 46,
98-99 (10 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 30-32

(82 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 418.
Protection urged, as enemy of boll
weevil, Circ. 56, pp. 1-2; Circ. 57,
p. 2.
Relation to bedbugs, Circ. 57, p. 2.
Hirundo rustica — Old-world Swallow.

Value as insect destroyer, Rept. 1886,
p. 244.
Hirundo urbica, see Chelidonaria urbica.
Humming bird, Grayson's, see Amizilis
gray son i.
Ruby-throated, see Archilochus
colubris.
Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis — Black
tern.
Feeding on imago of cotton-boll worm,
Ybk. 1908, p. 194.
Hylocichla alicise — Gray-checked thrush.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 91.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
20, 24, 29, 32, 34, 35, 38, 108.
Hylocichla fuscescens — Veery.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 90.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 20.
Hylocichla guttata — Hermit thrush.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1907, p. 169.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 91.
Feeding on berries of Celastrus scan-
dens, Bui. 1, p. 273; potato beetle,
Bui. 32, p. 47.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 20.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 92-93
(68 stomachs).
Flylocichla mustelina — Wood thrush.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1907, p. 169.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 90.

Hylocichla mustelina — Continued.

Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.

285 ; potato beetle, Bui. 32, p. 47.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 20.
Hylocichla ustulata — Olive-backed thrush.
Feeding on potato beetle, Bui. 32, p.

47 ; spiders. Fauna 27, p. 493.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

20, 29, 34, 38, 40, 108.
Pood In California, Bui. 30, pp. 13,

86-92 (157 stomachs).
Relation to fruit in California, Ybk.

1904, pp. 246, 251.

I.

Ibis, Wood, see Mycterla americana.
Icteria vlrens — Yellow-breasted chat.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 82.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
21, 25, 30 ; Circ. 64, p. 5.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
18, 24, 29, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 103-
104.
Icterus bullocki — Bullock's oriole.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), p.
29 (70 stomachs).

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 9,
10-11, 18, 20, 21; Bui. 29, pp. 6,
16, 25, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5; cherries,
Bui. 34, p. 54 ; codling moth, Rept.
1904, p. 293; cotton worm, Bui. 25,
p. 20; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
194.

Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 54,
68-71 (162 stomachs).

Relation to fruit in California, Bui. 30,
p. 13 ; Ybk. 1904, pp. 246, 251.
Icterus galbula — Baltimore oriole.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 59 ; F. Bui.
54, pp. 23-24 (113 stomachs) ; F.
Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 28 (202 stom-
achs) ; Ybk. 1900, p. 298.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p. 16 ;
Bui. 25, pp. 9, 10-11, 18, 20, 21;
Bui. 29, pp. 6, 16, 24, 25, 30; Bui.
38, p. 59; Circ. 64, p. 5; cherries,
Bui. 1, p. 60 ; cotton worms, Bui. 25,
p. 20; grapes, Bui. 1, p. 324; Ybk.
1904, p. 251 ; mulberries, Rept. 1890,
p. 285 ; peas, Bui. 1, p. 60 ; scale In-
sects, Ybk. 1906, p. 197; tent cater-
pillars, tussock moth caterpillars,
Bui. 1, pp. 108, 324 ; Rept. 1886, p.
244.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 28,

30, 40, 59, 60, 96.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 422,
Formal report, Ybk. 1895, pp. 419-420,

426-430 (113 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 34, pp. 68, 69.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 298.

60

INDEX TO PAPEES RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Icterus graysoni — Grayson's oriole.

Feeding on fig. Fauna 14, p. 61 ; fruit
of Cereus, insects, spiders, weevils,
Fauna 14, p. 51.
Icterus spurius — Orchard oriole.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 59.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 9,
10-11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21; Bui. 29,
pp. 6, 16, 24, 25, 29, 30; Bui. 38,
p. 59 ; Circ. 64, p. 5 ; cotton worms,
Bui. 25, p. 20 ; mulberries, Rept.
1890, p. 285 ; scale insects, Ybk.
1906, p. 197.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 17,
24, 25, 30, 32, 34, 35, 40, 44-45, 49,
55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 96, 110 (11 stom-
achs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 422.

Request for information on economic
relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2].
Ictinia mississippiensis — Mississippi kite.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.

Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 45 ; Bui. 38,
p. 37; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 4; Rept. 1887,
p. 403 ; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 218.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 24-25.
Iridoprocne bicolor — Tree swallow.

Feeding on bayberries, Bui. 30, p. 27 ;
Rept. 1890, p. 282.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
24, 34, 35, 39, 40, 98-99 (5 stom-
achs).

Insectivorous, Bui. 1, p. 96.

Other notes, Bui. 30, p. 27; Circ. 56,
pp. 1-2; F. Bui. 54, p. 31; F, Bui.
54 (rev.), pp. 36-38.
Ixobrychus exilis — Least bittern.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 19.
Ixoreus nsevius — Varied thrush.

Feeding on • scale insects, Ybk. 1906,
pp. 197, 198.

.Tacksnipe, see Gallinago delicata.
Jaeger, Parasitic, see Stercorarius parasiti-
cus.
Pomarine, see Stercorarius poma-
rinus.
Jay, Blue, see Cyanocitta cristata.

California, see Aphelocoma californica.
Canada, see Perisoreus canadensis.
Old-world, see Garrulus glandarius.
Pinon, see Cyanocephalus cyanocepha-

lus.
Steller's, see Cyanocitta stelleri.
Woodhouse's, see Aphelocoma wood-
housei.
Junco hyemalis — Snowbird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 65.
Feeding on weed seeds, Bui. 9, p. 17 ;
Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 225, 226, 227.

Junco hyemalis — Continued.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

16-17, 30, 34, 35, 38, 71, 73, 74, 75

(11 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 82-83,

84 (269 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 18, 27, 28,

37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,

80-82 (299 stomachs).
Other notes, F. Bui. 54, p. 28 ; F. Bui.

54 (rev.), p. 32.

K.

Kea, see Nestor notabilis.
Killdeer, see Oxyechus vociferus.
Kingbird, see Tyrannus tyrannus.

Arkansas, see Tyrannus verticalis.
Cassin's, see Tyrannus vociferans.
Kingfisher, Belted, see Ceryle alcyon.
Kinglet, Golden-crowned, see Regulus sa-
trapa.
Ruby-crowned, see Regulus calen-
dula.
Kite, Everglade, see Rostrhamus sociabilis.
Mississippi, see Ictinia mississippien-
sis.
Swallow-tailed, see Elainoides forfi-

catus.
White-tailed, see Elanus leucurus.
Kittiwake, Pacific, see Rissa tridactyla pol-

licaris.
Knot, see Tringa canutus.
Kohlmeise, see Parus major.
Kukuluaeo, see Himantopus knudseni.

Lagopus lagopus — Willow ptarmigan.

Feeding on aments ^ of dwarf birch.
Fauna 24, p. 66 ; Fauna 27, p. 342 ;
bearberries {Mairania a^pwa), Fauna
27, p. 343 ; blueberries, Fauna 24, p.
66; {Vaccinitim uliginosum) Fauna
27, p. 343; buds. Fauna 24, p. 66;
of Popuhis halsamifera, buds and
twigs of willows (Salix tehhiana).
Fauna 27, p. 343 ; crowberries {Em-
petrum nigrum). Fauna 24, p. 66;
Fauna 27, p. 343; foliage, Bui. 24,
p. 66; of dwarf birc'i (Betula nana).
Fauna 27, p. 343; of dwarf willow
(Salia; reticulata), Fauna 27, pp.
342, 343; of grass, Fauna 27, p.
343 ; of Populus halsamifera. Fauna
27, p. 342; of vetch (Aragallus),
Fauna 27, pp. 342, 343; of wild
rosemary (Andromeda polifoUa),
Fauna 27, p. 342 ; fruit of Andro-
meda polifolia, mountain cranber-
ries (Vitisidoea) , mushrooms. Fauna
27, p. 343 ; seeds of grass, Fauna
27, pp. 343, 344 ; of Hedysarum
americanum. Fauna 27, p. 343.

Formal report, Bui. 24, pp. 44-46 (5
stomachs).

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

51

Lagopus Icucurus — White-tailed ptarmigan.

Brief account, Bui. 24, pp. 47-48.
Lagopus rupestris — Rock ptarmigan.

Brief account, Bui. 24, pp. 46-47.

Feeding on aments of Almie viridis.
Fauna 24, p. 67 ; blueberries. Fauna
30, p. 37 ; buds of willow, Fauna
24, p. 67 ; Fauna 30, p. 87 ; buds
and twigs of Vaccinium, Bui. 24, p.
67 ; crowberries. Fauna 30, p. 37 ;
foliage of Dryas, Fauna 24, p. 67 ;
Fauna 30, p. 37 ; of Ledum, Fauna
24, p. 67 ; fruit of Cassiope, Fauna
30, p. 37.
Lanius borealis — Big butcher bird.

Brief account, Yblj. 1900, pp. 301-302.

Feeding on bird (chasing), Fauna 5,
p. 105 ; English sparrow, Bui. 1,
pp. 31, 150, 233, 234, 238; Kept.
1886, p. 245 ; field mice, Bui. 31,
pp. 51-52 ; meat and camp refuse.
Fauna 30, p. 63; robin (chasing),
Fauna 27, p. 459 ; spotted sandpiper
(chasing). Fauna 30, pp. 36, 42.

Formal report, Bui. 9, pp. 15, 16,
17-20, 24-25, 26 (67 stomachs).

Other notes, Bui. 1, pp. 150, 234 ;
Kept. 1886, p. 245.

Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, p. 266.

Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.
301-302.
Lanius excubitor — European great butcher
bird.

Brief account, Bui. 9, pp. 15, 19.
Lanius ludovicianus — Little butcher bird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 73; Ybk.
1900, pp. 302, 416-417.

Feeding on beetles, Bell's vireo {Vireo
belli), blue-gray gnatcatcher {Poliop-
tila caerulea), Bui. 2. p. 233; boll
weevil, Bui. 22, p. 16; Bui. 25, pp.
9, 14-15, 21 ; Bui. 29, pp. 6, 22, 30 ;
Circ. 64, p. 5 ; carrion, Bui. 2, p.
233 ; field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52 ; Ybk.
1905, p. 371 ; (Microtus montanus)
F. Bui. 335, p. 12; F. Bui. 352, p.
21 ; grasshoppers, Bui. 2, p. 233 ;
grasshopper mice (Perognathus) , in-
sects, lizards, Fauna 7, p. 114 ; west-
ern chipping sparrow (Spizella pas-
serina zonae), Bui. 2, p. 233.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
54, 100-102.

Food In California, Bui. 30, pp. 33-38
(124 stomachs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 416-
417.

Formal report, Bui. 9, pp. 15, 16, 17,
20-24, 25-26 (88 stomachs).

Other notes, Bui. 30, p. 35.

Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, p. 266.

Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.
802.

Lanivireo flavifrons — Yellow-throated vireo.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 74.
Lanivireo solitarius casslni — Cassln's vireo.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

p. 194.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 40-41
(46 stomachs).
Lark, Horned, see Otocoris alpestris.
Meadow, see Sturnella magna.
Shore, see Otocoris alpestris.
Western meadow, see Sturnella neg-
lecta.
Larus argentatus — Herring gull.

Eating frozen moose meat, Fauna ^0,

p. 84.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

53, 80.
Food of young in captivity, Ybk. 1900,
p. 434.
Larus atricllla — Laughing gull.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.

Larus brachyrhynchus — Short-billed gull.

Feeding on water beetles (Dytiscua

dauricus), Fauna 27, p. 268.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.
Larus californicus — California gull.

Feeding on duck [probably carrion],
Fauna 7, p. 14 ; field mice, Ybk.
1908, p. 194.
Larus delawarensis — Ring-billed gull.

Feeding on field mice, Ybk. 1908,' p.

194.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 53,
80.
Larus frankllnl — Franklin's gull.

Feeding on crickets, Ybk. 1908, p. 194 ;
grasshoppers, Rept. 1887, p. 431 ; Ybk.

1908, p. 194.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.
Insectivorous, Rept. 1900, p. 37.
Larus glaucescens — Glaucous-winged gull.
Feeding on dead salmon. Fauna 24, p.
53.
Larus heermannl — Heermann's gull.

Feeding on fish they compelled gannets
to disgorge. Fauna 14, p. 24.
Larus marlnus — Great black-backed gull.
Feeding on field mice in Europe, Bui.
31, p. 53.
Leucostlcte tephrocotls — Gray-crowned rosy
finch.
Feeding on Insects and seeds. Fauna
7, p. 82.
Ligurinus chloris, see Chloris chlorls.
Llmosa fedoa — Marbled godwit.

Feeding on grasshoppers, Clrc. 79, p. 4.
Llmosa hsemastlca — Hudsonian godwit.

Feeding on horseflies, Circ. 79, p. 4.
Llnaria cannabina — Old-world linnet.

Injurious In New Zealand, Ybk. 1909,
p. 257.
Linnet, California, see Carpodacus mexl-
canus frontalis.
Old-world, see Llnaria cannabina.

62

IKDEX TO PAPERS RELATIKG TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Lobipes lobatus — Northern phalarope.

Feeding on click beetles, clover-root
curculio, Circ. 79, p. 6 ; crane flies,
Circ. 79, p. 4 ; Dytiscidae, Circ. 79,
p. 8 ; grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 4 ;
mosquitoes, Circ. 79, p. 2 ; Kept. 1908,
p. 577 ; Nereis, Circ. 79, p. 8 ; wire-
worms, Circ. 79, p. 6.
Longspur, Chestnut-collared, see Calcarius
ornatus.
Lapland, see Calcarius lapponi-

cus.
McCown's, see Rhynchophanes

mccowni.
Smith's, see Calcarius pictus.
Loon, Black-throated, see Gavia arctica.

Red-throated, see Gavia stellata.
Lophodytes cucullatus — Hooded merganser.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 17.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
58, 81.
Lophortyx californica^California quail.

Damage to fruit, Ybk. 1898, p. 231 ;

grain, Ybk. 1897, p. 352.
Feeding on acorns. Fauna 7, p. 28 ;

weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 231.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 9-14

(619 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 21, pp. 9, 47-56

(601 stomachs).
Killed by eating poisoned wheat, F.

Bui. 352, p. 8.
Relation to fruit in California, Bui.
30, p. 13; Ybk. 1904, pp. 246, 250.
Lophortyx gambeli — Gambel's quail.

Damage to fruit, Ybk. 1898, p. 231.
Feeding on waste grain, Fauna 7, p.
29; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 231.
Formal report, Bui. 21, pp. 56-58 (28
stomachs).
Love bird, Tres Marias, see Psittacula in-
sularis.
Feeding on seeds of pine and sun-
flower, Fauna 16, p. 123.
Loxia curvlrostra minor — Crossbill.
Loxia leucoptera — White-winged crossbill.
Feeding on seeds of white spruce,
Fauna 27, p. 417.
Lunda cirrhata — Tufted puffin.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 433.

:m.

Macrorhamphus griseus — Dowitcher.

Feeding on Dytiscidae, Circ. 79, p.
grasshoppers, horseflies, Circ. 79,
4; Nereis, Circ. 79, p. 8.
Magpie, see Pica pica hudsonia.
Mallard, see Anas platyrhynchos.
Mareca americana — Widgeon.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 18.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 8.
Marila afflnis — Little bluebill.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p.

Vegetable food, Giro. 81, pp. 1, 8.

81.

81.

Marila americana — Redhead.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 21.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 8, 12.
Marila collaris — Ring-necked duck.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 21.
Marila marila — Big bluebill.

Feeding on Lymncea, Fauna 27, p. 283.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 8.
Marila valisineria — Canvasback.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 21.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

81, 82.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, pp. 1, 7-8,
11-12.
Martin, Old-world, see Chelidonarla urbica.

Purple, see Progne subis.
Maryland yellowthroat, see Geothlypis

trichas.
Meadowlark, see Sturnella magna.

Western, see Sturnella neg-
lecta.
Megaquiscalus major — Boat-tailed black-
bird.
Bounty laws, Ybk. 1896, p. 57.
Damage to corn, Bui. 29, p. 8 ; rice,

Rept. 1886, pp. 246-247.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p. 16 ;
Bui. 25, pp. 9, 10, 12, 21 ; Bui. 29,
pp. 6, 7, 11, 17-18, 29, 30; Circ.
64, p. 5.
Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 9, 10,
70-72 (116 stomachs).
Megascops asio, see Otus asio.
Megascops flammeola, see Otus flammeolus.
Melanerpes carolinus, see Centurus caro-

linus.
Melanerpes ery throcephalus — Red-headed
woodpecker.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 48; F. Bui.
54, pp. 8-9, 10; F. Bui. 54 (rev.),
pp. 11-12, 13; Ybk. 1900, p. 295.
Damage to buildings, Bui. 39, p. 13;
poles, Bui. 39, p. 10 ; posts, Bui. 39,
p. 13.
Feeding on rose beetle, Bui. 32, p. 20 ;

scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p. 197.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 43, 60, 61, 90.
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 8, 9, 10, 11,
20-25, 38 (101 stomachs) ; Bui. 37,
pp. 10, 35-42 (443 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p.

295.
Tapping trees, Bui. 39, p. 91.
Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi — California
woodpecker.
Damage to buildings, Bui. 39, p. 14 ;
poles, Bui. 39, p. 11 ; posts, Bui. 39,
p. 13.
Feeding on acorns, Bui. 7, p. 20 ;
Fauna 7, p. 50 ; grasshoppers. Fauna
7, p. 50 ; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
194.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 22-24,
28, 49 (75 stomachs).

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

53

Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi — Continued.
Formal '-eport, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 43-45,

46 (84 stomachs).
Tapping trees, Bui. 39, p. 91.
Visiting sapsuclier punctures, Bui, 39,

p. 92.
Melanerpes torquatus, see Asyndesmus

lewisi.
Meleagris gallopavo merriami — Merrlam's

turkey.
Feeding on gooseberries, pinon nuts,

Fauna 3, p. 89 ; (Pinus mono-

phylla) Fauna 7, p. 337.
Meleagris gallopavo silvestrls — Wild turkey.
Damage to grain, Bui. 24, p. 9.
Economic value, Ybk. 1902, p. 206.
Formal report, Bui. 24, pp. 48-52 (16

stomachs).
Melospiza georgiana — Swamp sparrow.

Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp.

3, 5.
Formal report, Bui. 15, p. 87 (72

stomachs).
Melospiza lincolni — Lincoln's sparrow.

Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 15, 86 (31

stomachs).
Melospiza melodia — Song sparrow.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 66; F. Bui.

54, pp. 26-27, 28; F. Bui. 54 (rev.),

31-32.
Feeding on insects, Bui. 1, pp. 295,

323 ; Fauna 21, p. 48 ; mulberries,

Rept. 1890, p. 285 ; sand fleas.

Fauna 21, p. 48 ; weed seeds, Ybk.

1898, pp. 222, 223, 224, 225, 226,

227.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

16, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30, 32, 33, 34,

35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 59, 60, 61, 70,

71, 72, 73, 75, 77, 97 (36 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 84-86

(321 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 13, 15, 21,

24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39,

41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49,

82-86 (401 stomachs).
Merganser, Hooded, see Lophodytes cucul-

latus.
Merula migratoria, see Planesticus migra-

torius.
Micropalama himantopus — Stilt sandpiper.
Feeding on mosquitoes, Circ. 79, p. 2 ;

Nereis, Circ. 79, p. 8.
Micropallas whitneyi — Elf owl.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3 ; Ybk. 1894, p.

217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk. 1896,

p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 200-201.
Mimus polyglottos — Mocking bird.

Brief account. Bui. 38, p. 84; Ybk.

1900, p. 416.
Damage to fruit, Bui. 30, p. 53; Rept.

1890, p. 281.

Mimus polyglottos — Continued.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p. 16 ;
Bui. 25, pp. 9, 14, 21 ; Bui. 29, pp.
6, 22, 23, 30; Bui. 38, p. 84, Circ.
64, p. 5 ; cotton worms, Bui. 25, pp.
20, 21.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

34, 38, 62, 104, 110.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 52-55

(53 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 416.
Formal report, Ybk. 1895, pp. 405,

406, 415-416 (15 stomachs).
Reference to studies of food habits,
*Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Mniotilta varia — Black-and-white creeper.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 75.
Mocking bird, see Mimus polyglottos.
Molothrus ater — Cowbird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 57.
Damage to fruit, Bui. 1, p. 246 ; grain,
Rept. 1887, pp. 428, 429, 430-431;
Rept. 1898, p. 39; Ybk. 1897, p.
352; Ybk. 1898, p. 222; rice, Bui.
38, p. 57.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p. 16 ;
Bui. 25, pp. 8, 9, 12, 21; Bui. 29,
pp. 6, 7, 18, 28, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5;
mulberries, Rept. 1890, p. 285 ; weed
seeds, Bui. 29, p. 8; Ybk. 1898, p.
222.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 14,

32, 35, 70, 71, 77, 95, 111.
Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 9, 22-80

(544 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 15, p. 29.
Munia nisoria, see Padda oryzivora.
Munia oryzivora, see Padda oryzivora.
Murre, Pallas's, see TJria lomvia arra.
Muscivora forficata — Scissor-tailed fly-
catcher.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p. 16 ;
Bui. 25, pp. 8, 13, 19, 20, 21; Bui.
29, pp. 6, 15, 26, 30 ; Circ. 64, p. 5.
Myadestes townsendi — Solitaire.

Feeding on berries of Juniperus occl-
dentalis. Fauna 16, pp. 123, 133, 139.
Mycteria americana — Wood ibis.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52.
Myiarchus cinerascens — Ash-throated fly-
catcher.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 29-32

(80 stomachs).
Other notes. Fauna 7, p. 60.
Myiarchus crinitus — Crested flycatcher.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 53.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,

14, 15, 23, 29, 30 ; Circ. 64, p. 5.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
19-20, 23, 24, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37,
.38, 40, 98.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 426.
Myiochanes richardsoni — Western wood
pewee.
Feeding on flies {Ephydra hlans)^
Fauna 7, p. 64,

54

INDEX TO PAPEKS KELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Myiochanes richardsoni — Continued.

Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 37,
39-41 (137 stomachs).
Myiochanes virens — Wood pewee.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 54 ; Ybk.

1900, p. 427.
Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.

285.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,
23, 24, 29, 30, 34, 35, 37, 40, 92
(11 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 427.
Myna, Common, see Acridotheres tristis.

N".

Nannus hiemalis — Winter wren.

Brief account, Bui. 30, pp. 65-66.
Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp.

4, 5.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 107.
Nestor notabilis — Kea.

Killed soon after arrival in Hawaii
because of reputation as sheep de-
stroyer, Rept. 1904, pp. 296-297.
Nettion carolinense — Green-winged teal.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 19.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Nighthawk, see Chordeiles virginianus.

Texas, see Chordeiles acutipen-
nis texensis.
Nucifraga columbiana — Clarke's crow.

Feeding on beetles, blueberries, cater-
pillars, grasshoppers, Fauna 16, pp.
119-121 ; piuon nuts. Fauna 3, p.
94 ; seeds of Pinus alUcauUs, Fauna
16, p. 119.
Food of adults and nestlings, Ybk.

1900, p. 426.
Other notes. Fauna 5, pp. 18, 100.
Numenius americanus — Long-billed curlew.
Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ, 79, p. 2.
Numenius hudsonicus — Hudsonian curlew.
Feeding on crowberries {Empetrum
nigrum), Fauna 27, p. 331 ; Ybk.
1903, p. 377.
Nun, Japanese, see Uroloncha acuticauda.
Nutcracker, Clarke's, see Nucifraga colum-
biana.
Nuthatch, Pygmy, see Sitta pygmaea.

Red-breasted, see Sitta canaden-
sis.
White-breasted, see Sitta caro-
linensis.
Nuttallornis borealis — Olive-sided fly-
catcher.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6.
15, 24, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5.
Nyctala acadica, see Cryptoglaux acadica.
Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni, see Crypto-
glaux funerea richardsoni,
Nyctea nyctea — Snowy owl.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Circ. 61, pp. 3, 18; Ybk.
1894, pp. 217, 226.

Nyctea nyctea — Continued.

Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 35 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50 ; Ybk. 1905,
p. 371 ; pocket gophers, Bui. 5, p.
21 ; rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336 ; sper-
mophiles, Bui. 4, pp. 15, 16 ; vary-
ing hares (Lepus americanus) , Fauna
27, p. 375.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 182-187
(38 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887, p. 422
(6 stomachs).
Nycticorax nycticorax nsevius — Black-
crowned night heron.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 26; Ybk.
1900, p. 435.

Feeding on carp. Fauna 7, p. 20 ;
field mice, Bui. 31, p. 52.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
53, 81.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 435.

Injurious to fish, hence exempt from
protection in certain States, Bui. 12,
p. 36; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 43.

O.

Oceanodroma melania — Black petrel.

Feeding on refuse from vessel. Fauna
14, p. 28.
Oidemia americana — Scoter.

Feeding on newly sown millet, Bui. 2,
p. 73.
Oidemia deglandi — White-winged scoter.

Feeding on wild celery, Circ. 81, p. 8.
Olbiorchilus hiemalis, see Nannus hiemalis.
Olor columbianus — Whistling swan.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 81.
Oreortyx picta — Mountain quail.

Formal report, Bui. 21, pp. 58-60 (23
stomachs).
Oreoscoptes montanus — Sage thrasher.

Feeding on buffalo berries, Fauna 33, p.
241.
Oreospiza chlorura — Green-tailed towhee.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.
230.
Oriole, Baltimore, see Icterus galbula.
Bullock's, see Icterus bullocki.
Grayson's, see Icterus graysonl.
Orchard, see Icterus spurius.
Osprey, see Pandion haliaetus carolinen-

sis.
Otocoris alpestris — Homed lark.

Brief account, Rept. 1905, pp. 305-306.
Damage to grain, Ybk. 1897, p. 352 ;

newly sown wheat. Fauna 7, p. 68.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp.

222, 2.30, 232.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 70,

71, 93.
Food in California, Bui. 23, pp. 9, 30-
32 (267 stomachs) ; Bui. 34, pp. 44-
47 (259 stomachs).
Food in Europe (of the subspecies
flava) similar to that of American,
races, Bui. 23, p. 11.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

55

Otocoris alpestris — Continued.

Formal report, Bui 23, pp. 7-87 (1,154

stomachs) ; Kept. 1892, pp. 193-

197 (59 stomachs).
Killed by eating poisoned wheat, F.

Bui. 352, p. 8.
Otus aslo — Screech owl.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

189G, p. 628; Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Bounty laws, Ybk. 1899, p. 281.
Brief account, Bui. 31, pp. 49-50 ; Bui.

38, p. 43; Circ. 61, pp. 3, 12-13 (254

stomachs) ; Kept. 1889, pp. 372-

376; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217, 225-226;

Ybk. 1900, p. 430.
Feeding on brown rat, Bui. 33, p. 34 ;

buckwheat, Bui. 2, p. 121 ; English

sparrow, Bui. 1, pp. 32, 150, 238;

Rept. 1886, p. 245; field mice, Bui.

31, pp. 49-50; Ybk. 1905, p. 371;
horned larks, Bui. 23, p. 12 ; seeds,
wheat, Bui. 2, p. 121.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,

32, 56, 86 (5 stomachs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 430.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 14, 146,
163-173 (254 stomachs) ; Rept. 1887,
pp. 420-421 (94 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 1, pp. 32, 150, 238;
Rept. 1886, p. 245.
Otus flanimeolus — Flammulated screech owl.
Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3 ; Ybk. 1894, p.
217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk. 1896,
p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 173-174;

Rept. 1889, p. 376.
Feeding on beetles, other Insects, and
scorpion, Fauna 3, pp. 39, 91.
Ovenbird, see Seiurus aurocapillus.
Owl, American barn, see Aluco pratincola.
Barred, see Strix varia.
Burrowing, see Speotyto cunicularia

hypogaea.
Elf, see Micropallas whitneyi.
Ferruginous pygmy, see Glaucidium

phaloenoides.
Flammulated screech, see Otus flam-

meolus.
Florida burrowing, see Speotyto cuni-
cularia floridana.
Great gray, see Scotiaptex nebulosa.
Great horned, see Bubo virginianus.
Hawk, see Surnia ulula caparoch.
Long-eared, see Asio wilsonianus.
Old-world barn, see Aluco flammeus.
Old-world long-eared, see Asio otus.
Pygmy, see Glaucidium gnoma.
Richardson's, see Cryptoglaux funerea

richardsoni.
Saw-whet, see Cryptoglaux acadica.
Screech, see Otus asio.
Short-eared, see Asio flammeus.
Snowy, see Nyctea nyctea.
Spotted, see Strix occidentalis.

Oxyechus vociferus — Killdeer.

Feeding on army worm, billbugs, Circ,
79, p. 6 ; boll weevils, Bui. 22, pp.
15, 16; Bui. 25, pp. 8, 9, 14, 21;
Bui. 29, pp. 6, 7, 11, 20-21, 27, 30;
Circ. 57, p. 4; Circ. 64, p. 5; Circ.
79, p. 6 ; click beetles, clover-leaf
beetle, clover-root curculio, corn-leaf
beetle, cotton worm, cotton cutworm,
Circ. 79, p. 6; crane flies, Circ. 79,
p. 4 ; crayfishes, cutworms, Circ. 79,
p. 6 ; Dytiscidae, Circ. 79, p. 8 ; grape-
vine colaspis, Circ. 79, p. 6 ; grass-
hoppers, Circ. 79, p. 2 ; horseflies,
Circ. 79, p. 4 ; mosquitoes, Circ. 79,
p. 2; Rept. 1908, p. 577; Nereis,
Circ. 79, p. 8 ; rice weevil, tobacco
worm, wireworms, Circ. 79, p. 6.
Killed by eating poisoned grain, Ybk.

1908, p. 308.
Other notes, Bui. 22, pp. 15-16; Bui.
29, p. 27.

Oxeye, see Parus major.

Padda oryzivora — Java sparrow.

Admission to Hawaii denied, Rept.

1909, p. 542.
Damages rice, Ybk. 1906, p. 177.
Injurious in Hawaii, Rept. 1902, p. 213.
Paddy bird, see Padda oryzivora.
Pandion haliaetus carolinensis — Osprey.
Bounty laws, Ybk. 1899, pp. 266, 279.

280, 281.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 41.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 53.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 430.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 15, 16, 130-

182 (12 stomachs).
Injurious, Bui. 38, p. 10.
Protected, or excepted from bounty

laws in certain States, Bui. 12, p.

29; Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 32; Ybk. 1899,

pp. 266, 279.
Parabuteo unlcinctus harrisi — Harris's

hawk.
Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,

p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Feeding on cotton rat {Sigmodon his-

pidus texianus), Fauna 25, p. 116;

rabbits, Ybk. 1907, p. 336; sper-

mophiles, Bui. 4, pp. 16, 17 ; wood

rat (Xcotoma micropus), Fauna 25,

p. 112.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 47-48

(6 stomachs).
Paroquet, Carolina, see Conuropsis caro-
linensis.
Parrot, Double yellow-headed, see Amazona
oratrix.

Mountain, see Nestor notabilis.

56

INDEX TO PAPEES EELATING TO FOOD OF BIEDS.

Partridge, European common, see Perdix
perdix.
Hungarian, see Perdix perdix.
Spruce, see Canacliites canaden-
sis.
Parus atricapillus, see Penthestes atrica-

pillus.
Parus bicolor, see Baeolophus bicolor.
Parus caeruleus, see Cyanistes cseruleus.
Parus carolinensis, see Pentjiestes caro-

linensis.
Parus gambeli, see Penthestes gambeli.
Parus inornatus, see Baeolophus inornatus.
Parus major — ©reat titmouse.

Admission denied, Kept. 1902, p. 213;

Ybk. 1905, p. 545.
Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc.. Kept. 1899, p. 67; Ybli.

1898, pp. 90, 104-105, 107, 109, 110.
Parus palustris, see Pcecile palustris.
Parus rufescens, see Penthestes rufescens.
Parus wollweberi, see Baeolophus wollwe-

beri.
Passer domesticus — English sparrow.

Admission denied, Circ. 34, p. 7 ; F.
Bui. 160, p. 48 ; F. Bui. 180, p. 42 ;
F. Bui. 470, p. 301; Kept. 1900,
p. 41.

Admission to West Australia pro-
hibited. Kept. 1899, p. 68.

Bounty laws, Circ. 17, p. 4 ; Rept.

1899, p. 65; Ybk. 1896, pp. 55, 58,
59, 60, 61, 66, 67 ; Ybk. 1899, p. 265.

Brief account, Bui. 9, pp. 17, 18, 20;
Bui. 38, p. 60; F. Bui. 383, p. 5;
Ybk. 1900, pp. 420-422.

Driving other birds away, Bui. 29, p.
11; Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2]; Circ. 2
[p. 1] ; Circ. 56, pp. 2, 3; Circ. 57,
pp. 3-4; F. Bui. 383, p. 6; Rept.
1907, p. 486; Schedule 4 [p. 1].

Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc., F. Bui. 160, p. 48; F. Bui.
180, p. 42 ; Rept. 1886, p. 258 ; Rept.
1906, pp. 406, 415; Rept. 1907, p.
493 ; Ybk. 1898, pp. 90, 98-101, 104,
108, 109, 110; Ybk. 1899, pp. 287,
290, 292; Ybk. 1904, p. 515; Ybk.
1905, p. 546 ; Ybk. 1909, p. 249.

Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.
285; potato beetle, Bui. 32, p. 47;
scale insects, Ybk. 1906, pp. 191,
196 ; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp. 223-
224, 225, 232.

Food habits at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17,
pp. 17, 23, 24, 28, 30, 34, 36, 38,
56, 61, 66, 68-69, 70, 98, 110 (53
stomachs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 420-
422, 436.

Formal report, Bui, 1, pp. 1-405 (636
stomachs) ; Bui. 15, pp. 15, 17, 21,
26, 27, 31, 32, 34, 39, 40, 48, 49,
50, 92-96 (798 stomachs) ; Rept.
1886, pp. 235-246.

Passer domesticus — Continued.

Injurious, Bui. 12, pp. 13, 35, 36; Bui.
12 (rev.), pp. 20, 21, 42; Bui. 31,
pp. 38, 43, 45, 60 ; F. Bui. 160, p. 48 ;
F. Bui. 180, p. 42; F. Bui. 470, p.
30; Rept. 1886, p. 258; Rept. 1889,
p. 374 ; Rept. 1891, p. 271 ; Rept.
1899, pp. 68-69 ; Rept. 1901, p. 160 ;
Rept. 1906, pp. 406, 415 ; Rept. 1907,
pp. 500-501 ; Ybk. 1895, p. 418 ;
Ybk. 1897, p. 670; Ybk. 1898, pp.
223, 232; Ybk. 1904, p. 515; Ybk.
1905, p. 546; Ybk. 1907, pp. 173-
174, 177; Ybk. 1909, p. 249.

Injurious in Australasia, Rept. 1899,
pp. 68-69; Hawaii, Rept. 1902, p.
213; Ybk. 1899, p. 290; India, Bui.
1, p. 303.

Methods of destroying, F. Bui. 383,
pp. 6-11 ; Rept. 1887, pp. 423-426 ;
Rept. 1899, p. 66.

Other notes, Rept. 1887, pp. 400-401,
424-426; Rept. 1891, p. 271; Rept.
1899, p. 66; Rept. 1907, pp. 493,
500-501 ; Rept. 1908, pp. 577-578,
586-587; Rept. 1909, pp. 539-540;
Ybk. 1895, p. 418.

Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, pp. 264-265, 266, 291.

Repressive measures employed in Cali-
fornia, Rept. 1908, pp. 577-578,
586-587; Rept. 1909, pp. 539-540.

Request for information on economic
relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2] ;
Circ. 2 [p. 1] ; Rept. 1886, p. 231 ;
Schedule 4 [1].

Sparrow hunts, Ybk. 1896, p. 67.
Passer hispaniolensis — Spanish sparrow.

Injurious in Algeria, Bui. 1, p. 302.
Passer indicus, see Passer domesticus (In-
jurious in India).
Passer montanus — Tree sparrow.

Economic status and introduction, Bui.

I, pp. 191-194 ; Ybk. 1899, pp. 287-
288.

Passerculus princeps — Ipswich sparrow.

Formal report, Bui. 15, p. 59 (56
stomachs).
Passerculus sandwichensis — Savanna spar-
row.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 62.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp.

II, 16; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 21; Bui. 29,
pp. 6, 19, 27, 28, 30; Bui. 38, pp.
9, 62; Circ. 64, pp. 3, 4, 5.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

15, 30, 32, 35, 38, 71, 73.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 37, 59-61,

90 (119 stomachs).
Insectivorous, Bui. 1, p. 323.
Passerella iliaca — Fox sparrow.

Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp. 3,

5 ; weed seeds, Bui. 15, p. 27 ; F.

Bui. 54, p. 28; F. Bui. 54 (rev.),

p. 32 ; Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 226, 227.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

57

Passerella iliaca — Continued.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

16, 77.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 27, 28,
37, 42, 43, 74, 83, 87-89 (127
stomachs).
Passerherbulus caudacutus — Sharp-tailed
sparrow.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 64-65.
Passerherbulus henslowi — Henslow's spar-
row.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

32, 35, 38, 39.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 24, 63-64
(7 stomachs).
Passerherbulus maritimus — Seaside spar-
row.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 65-66 (30
stomachs).
Passerherbulus nelsoni — Nelson's sparrow.

Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 64-65.
Passerina ciris — Painted bunting.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 9,
12, 17, 18, 20-21; Bui. 29, pp. 6,
9, 19, 30; Bui. 38, p. 9; Circ. 64,
p. 5.
Passerina cyanea — Indigo bunting.

Brief account, Bui. 38, pp. 9, 68.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 98.

Passerina nivalis, see Plectrophenax nivalis.

Pedioecetes phasianellus — Sharp-tailed

grouse.

Favorite vegetable foods, Ybk. 1909, p.

194.
Feeding on ants, barley, beetles. Fauna
27, p. 350 ; berries of Viburnum
pauciflorum, catkins of alders {Alnus
alnoietula and A. incana), Fauna
27, p. 349 ; leaves, myriapods,
Fauna 27, p. 350 ; potato beetle, Bui.
32, p. 47.
Formal report, Bui. 24, pp. 20-28 (43
stomachs).
Peep, see Ereunetes pusillus.
Pelecanus fuscus, see Pelecanus occidenta-

lis.
Pelecanus occidentalis — Brown pelican.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 434-
435.
Pelican, Brown, see Pelecanus occidentalis.
Pelidna alpina sakhalina — Red-backed sand-
piper.
Feeding on Dytiscidse, Nereis, Circ. 79,
p. 8.
Penthestes atricapillus — Black-capped chick-
adee.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.
43-44 (289 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900,
pp. 295-296.
Feeding on eggs of lall cankerworms,
Bui. 17, p. 108; larvae of codling
moth (probably), Ybk. 1898, p. 105;
plant lice, Bui. 17, p. 108; scale in-
sects, Ybk. 1906, p. 197.

Penthestes atricapillus — Continued.

Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, pp. 263-264.
Relations to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.
295-296.
Penthestes carolinensis — Carolina chicka-
dee.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 89.
Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp.
4, 5 ; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
197 ; seeds of ragweed, Bui. 15, p.
42.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
23, 24, 34, 35, 39, 60, 71, 77, 107-
108 (7 stomachs).
Other notes, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 44.
Penthestes gambeli — Mountain chickadee.

General nature of food, Bui. 30, p. 71.
Penthestes rufescens — Chestnut-backed
chickadee.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

194.
Food In California, Bui. 30, pp. 70-71
(57 stomachs).
Perdix perdix — European common partridge.

Brief account, Ybk. 1909, p. 252.
Perisoreus canadensis — Canada jay.

Feeding on carrion, Fauna 30, p. 89 ;
crowberries (Empetrum nigrum).
Fauna 27, p. 401 ; refuse and scraps
of meat about camp. Fauna 24, p.
71 ; Fauna 30, pp. 40, 62.
Other notes. Fauna 5, p. 18 ; Fauna

30, p. 89.
Useful as scavengers. Fauna 30, p. 61.
Petrel, Black, see Oceanodroma melania.
Petrochelldon lunifrons — Cliff swallow.
Beneficial, Bui. 1, p. 89.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 70; F. Bui.
54, p. 31; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.
36-38.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
12-13, 24-25, 30; Bui. 38, p. 70;
Circ. 64, p. 5.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 28-30

(123 stomachs).
Protection urged, as enemy of boll wee-
vil, Circ. 56, pp. 1, 2, 3, 4 ; Circ.
57, pp. 1, 2.
Relation to bedbugs, Bui. 29, pp. 8, 13 ;
Circ. 56, p. 2; Circ. 57, p. 2; bees.
Kept. 1904, p. 294.
Pewee, Western wood, see Myiochanes rich-
ardsoni.
Wood, see Myiochanes virens.
Phainopepla nitens — Phainopepla.
Damage to fruit, Bui. 32, p. 61.
Feeding on insects, mistletoe berries,
Fauna 7, p. 113.
Phalacrocorax auritus — Double-crested cor-
morant.
Feeding on fish, Bui. 38, p. 16.
Phalacrocorax urile — Red-faced cormorant.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.
Phalarope, Northern, see Lobipes lobatus.
Wilson's, see Steganopus tricolor.

58

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Phalaropus lobatus, see Lobipes lobatus.
Phaleris psittacula — Paroquet auklet.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 433.
Phasianus colchicus — Common pheasant.

Feeding on galls, Bui. 24, p. 31.
Phasianus torquatus — Ring-necked pheas-
ant.
Damage to gardens and grain, Rept.
1888, pp. 486, 487, 488; Ybk. 1897,
pp. 352-353.
Food of young in captivity, Ybk. 1900,
p. 432.
Pheasant, Common, see Phasianus colchicus.
English, see Phasianus colchicus.
Ring-necked, see Phasianus tor-
quatus.
Philohela minor — Woodcock.

Brief account, Ybk. 1900, p. 432; Ybk.

1901, p. 449.
Feeding on click beetles, Circ. 79, p. 6 ;
crane flies, Circ. 79, p. 4 ; cutworms,
Circ. 79, p. 6 ; grasshoppers, Circ.
79, p. 4 ; wireworms, Circ. 79, p. 6.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 19,

■ 21, 24, 38, 82-83.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 432.
Phloeotomus pileatus^Pileated woodpecker.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 48.
Distributing poison Rhus seeds, Rept.

1890, p. 283.
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 8, 10, 11,
82, 38, 39 (23 stomachs) ; Bui. 37,
pp. 10, 33-85 (80 stomachs).
Relation to trees, Bui. 39, p. 8.
Phoebe, see Sayornis phoebe.

Black, see Sayornis nigricans.
Say's, see Sayornis sayus.
Pica pica hudsonia — Magpie.

Feeding on carrion. Fauna 5, p. 99 ;
field mice (Microtus montanus), F.
Bui. 335, p. 12.
Killed by eating poisoned grain, F.

Bui. 352, p. 8; Ybk. 1908, p. 308.
Other notes. Fauna 5, p. 18 ; Fauna 19,
p. 80.
Picicorvus columbianus, see Nucifraga Co-
lumbiana.
Picoides americanus — Three-toed wood-
pecker.
Brief account, Bui. 7, p. 33.
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 11, 25-
27 (23 stomachs).
Picoides arcticus — Arctic three-toed wood-
pecker.
Brief account, Bui. 7, p. 33.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906

p. 197.
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 11
25-27 (28 stomachs).
Pigeon, Band-tailed, see Columba fasciata
Common, see Columba livia.
Passenger, see Ectopistes migrate

rius.
Tres Marias, see Columba flaviros
tris madrensis.

Pigeon, Wild, see Ectopistes migratorius.

Wood, see Columba palumbus.
Pinicola enucleator alascensis — Alaska pine
grosbeak.
Feeding on seeds of alder {Alnus alno-
betula), Fauna 27, p. 415; dwarf
birch {Bctttla nana), Fauna 27, p.
414.
Pinicola enucleator leucura — Pine grosbeak.

Brief account, Bui. 32, p. 5.
Pintail, see Dafila acuta.
Pipilo crissalis — California towhee.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
194 ; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 230.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 89-93
(399 stomachs).
Pipilo erythrophthalmus — Towhee.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 67.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp.
6, 20, 28, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5; weed
seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 230.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

30, 34, 35, 38, 98.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 418.
Pipilo maculatus megalonyx — Spurred tow-
hee.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
194.
Pipilo maculatus subspecies — Spotted tow-
hees.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 86-89
(139 stomachs).
Pipit, see Anthus rubescens.
Piranga bidentata flammea — Tres Marias
tanager.
Feeding on wild fig. Fauna 14, p. 61.
Piranga erythromelas — Scarlet tanager.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 69; Ybk.

1900, pp. 418-419.
Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890 ; p.

285 ; potato beetle, Bui. 32, p. 47.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

20, 29, 30, 39, 40, 98.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 418-
419.
Piranga ludoviciana — Western tanager.
Damage to fruit, Bui. 32, p. 61.
Feeding on beetle. Fauna 7, p. 108 ;

caterpillars, Fauna 16, p. 127.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 9,

28-26 (46 stomachs).
Other notes, Fauna 14, p. 52.
Relation to fruit in California, Ybk.
1904, p. 242.
Piranga rubra — Summer tanager.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 70.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
40, 60, 61, 98.
Pisobia bairdi — Baird'a sandpiper.

Feeding on clover root curculio, Circ.
79, p. 6; crane flies, Circ. 79, p. 4;
cutworms, Circ. 79, p. 6; grasshop-
pers, Circ. 79, p. 4 ; mosquitoes,
Circ. 79, p. 2.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO POOD OP BIRDS.

59

Pisobia fusclcollis — White-rumped sand-
piper.

Feeding on clover root curculio, Circ.
79, p. 6 ; grasslioppers, Circ. 79, p. 4.
Pisobia maculata — Pectoral sandpiper.

Feeding on bill-bugs, click beetles,
clover root curculio, corn-leaf beetle,
Circ. 79, p. 6; crane flies, Circ. 79,
p. 2 ; cutworms, Circ. 79, p. 6 ;
Dytiscidffi, Circ. 79, p. 8; horseflies,
Circ. 79, p. 4 ; mosquitoes, Circ. 79,
p. 2 ; wireworms, Circ. 79, p. 6.
Pisobia minutilla — Least sandpiper.

Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p.
4 ; mosquitoes, Circ. 79, p. 2.
Planesticus graysoni — Tres Marias robin.

Feeding on wild flg, Fauna 14, p. 61.
Planesticus migratorius — Robin.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bui. 12, p. 23 ; Bui. 12
(rev.), pp. 29-30; Bui. 38, p. 92;
F. Bui. 54, pp. 37-38 (330 stom-
achs) ; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 44-46
(500 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, pp. 303,
304, 413; Ybk. 1907, pp. 168-169,
175, 178.

Damage to fruit, Bui. 30, pp. 11, 20;
Kept. 1901, p. 153; Ybk. 1904, pp.
243, 244, 252-253; Ybk. 1907, pp.
168-169, 175, 178; grapes, Bui. 1,
pp. 53, 270, 324.

Feeding on buffalo berries, Fauna 7, p.
147, canker worm moths, Bui. 1, p.
110 ; cherries, Bui. 1, p. 60 ; Bui. 32,
p. 91 ; crowberries. Fauna 27, p.
497; cutworms, Bui. 1, p. 286;
earthworms, Bui. 1, pp. 86, 94, 264,
275, 297, 305 ; Ybk. 1895, p. 411 ;
gipsy moth, Kept. 1910, p. 553 ; mul-
berries, Bui. 32, p. 65; Kept. 1890,
p. 285 ; peaches, pears, Bui. 1, p.
270; peas, Bui. 1, p. 60; potato
beetle, Bui. 32, p. 47 ; tussock moth
caterpillar, Bui. 1, pp. 108, 109, 324 ;
Rept. 1886, p. 244 ; snowberry (prob-
ably), wild grape, Bui. 2, p. 290.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 14,
32, 35, 37, 38, 43, 59, 62, 108-109
(9 stomachs).

Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 9, 20,
2.3, 98-97 (74 stomachs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 411,
413, 436.

Insectivorous, Bui. 12, p. 14; Bui. 12
(rev.), p. 22; Bui. 38, p. 9.

Other notes, Bui. 1, pp. 126, 304 ; Bui.
30, pp. 11, 20, 94; Ybk. 1908, p.
346.

Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, pp. 261-262, 263, 264,
266.

Relation to fruit in California, Bui.
30, p. 20, Rept. 1901, p. 153; Ybk.
1904, pp. 243, 252-253.

Planesticus migratorius — Continued.

Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp

303, 304; Ybk. 1907, pp. 168-169

175-178.
Request for information on economic

relations, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 2].
Robbed of food by English sparrow,

Bui. 1, pp. 86, 94, 264, 275, 286

297, 305.
Plectrophenax nivalis — Snow bunting.

Feeding on seeds of grasses. Fauna

27, p. 421 ; and weeds. Fauna 27, p,

421 ; Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 226, 227.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 25, 27, 28,

45, 51-54 (46 stomachs).
Pulling wheat, Bui. 23, p. 16.
Plover, Black-bellied, see Squatarola squa
tarola.

Golden, see Charadrius dominicus.

Mountain, see Podasocys montanus

Piping, see .SJgialitis meloda.

Ringed, see iEgialitis hiaticula.

Semipalmated, see ^Egialitis semi
palmata.

Snowy, see .^gialitis nivosa.

Upland, see Bartramia longicauda.
Podasocys montanus — Mountain plover.

Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 2.
Podilymbus podiceps — Pied-billed grebe.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 79.
Harmless, Bui. 38, p. 14.
Pcecile palustris — Marsh titmouse.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

191.
Polioptila cserulea — Blue-gray gnatcatcher.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 90.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 24,

34, 108.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 84-86

(30 stomachs).
Polioptila californica — Black-tailed gnat-
catcher.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

pp. 194, 198.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 84-86

(30 stomachs).
Polyborus cheriway — Caracara.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,

p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 128-129.
Feeding on carrion, Bui. 2, p. 120 ;

jack rabbits, Bui. 8, p. 44 ; prairie

dogs, Bui. 2, p. 120.
Food on Tres Marias Islands, carrion,

iguanas. Fauna 14, p. 39 ; and Lepus

graysoni. Fauna 14, p. 17.
Polyborus tharus — Carancho.

Attempting to carry off wounded duck,

Bui. 3, p. 128.
Pooecetes gramlneus — Vesper sparrow.

Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp. 3,

5 ; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp. 226,

227, 229.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, p. 15.

60

IKDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Pocecetes gramineus — Continued.

Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 28, 37, 45,
56-58, 92 (130 stomachs).
Porzana Carolina — Sora.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 81.

Prairie chicken, see Tympanuchus ameri-
canus.
Lesser, see Tympanuchus
p'allidicinctus.
Progne subis — Purple martin.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 70 ; Bui. 30,
p. 27 ; F. Bui. 54, p. 31 ; F. Bui. 54
(rev.), pp. 5, 36-38.
Feeding on hoU weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
9, 14, 25, 80; Bui. 38, p. 70; Circ.
64, p. 5.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

20, 24, 25, 39, 40, 47, 98-99.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 417.
Insectivorous, Bui. 38, p. 9 ; Bui. 1,

p. 96.
Nesting boxes, Bui. 29, pp. 9-11.
Other notes, Bui. 1, p. 274.
Prepared food, Circ. 56, p. 3.
Protection urged, as enemy of boll
weevil, Circ. 56, pp. 1, 3-4 ; Circ. 57,
pp. 2, 3, 4.
Protonotaria citrea — Prothonotary warbler.

Insectivorous, Bui. 38, p. 75.
Psaltriparus minimus — Bushtit.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 44

(66 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, p. 296.
Feeding on noxious ins'ects, Ybk. 1904,
p. 253 ; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, pp.
194, 195, 198.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 74-80

(353 stomachs).
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, p. 296.
Pseudogryphus californianus, see Gymno-

gyps californianus.
Psittacula insularis — Tres Marias love bird.
Feeding on wild fig, Fauna 14, pp.
41, 61.
Ptarmigan, Rock, see Lagopus rupestris.

White-tailed, see Lagopus leucu-

rus.
Willow, see Lagopus lagopus.
Puffin, Horned, see Fratercula corniculata.

Tufted, see Lunda cirrhata.
Pyrrhuloxia sinuata — Gray grosbeak.
Brief account, F. Bui. 456, p. 12.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 25, pp. 9,
12, 18, 21; Bui. 29, pp. 6, 19, 30;
Circ. 64, p. 5.
Formal report, Bui. 32, pp. 28-33, 90,
91 (74 stomachs).

Q.

Quail, California, see Lophortyx californica.
Gambel's, see Lophortyx gambeli.
Mearns's, see Cyrtonyx montezumse

mearnsi.
Mountain, see Oreortyx picta.
Scaled, see Callipepla squamata.

Querquedula discors — Blue-winged teal.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 19.

Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Quiscalus major, see Megaquiscalue major.
Quiscalus quiscula — Crow blackbird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 60 ; F. Bui.

54, pp. 4, 24-26 (2,258 stomachs) ;
F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 4, 25, 29-30
(2,346 stomachs) ; Ropt. 1887, pp.

428, 429, 430; Rept. 1890, p. 279;
Ybk. 1897, pp. 348-349; Ybk. 1900,
pp. 412, 423.

Damage to corn, Bui. 17, p. 96 ; Bui.
29, p. 8; grain, Rept. 1887. pp. 428,

429, 430; Rept. 1889, pp. .368-369;
Rept. 1898, p. 39; Ybk. 1897, pp.
348-349; Ybk. 1898, p. 230.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp.

6, 7, 8, 11, 17, 27, 30; Bui. 38, p.

60 ; Circ. 64, p. 5 ; eggs and young

of other birds, Rept. 1888, p. 514 ;

English sparrows, Bui. 1, p. 32 ;

mulberries, Rept. 1890, p. 285 ; rose

beetle, Bui. 32, p. 20 ; weed seeds,

Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 230.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 14,

21, 23, 24, 30, 32, 35, 37, 47-48, 49,

55, 56, 59, 60, 66-68, 70, 71, 77,
96, 110 (25 stomachs).

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 412-

413, 423-424, 436.
Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 8, 9, 10,

53-70 (2,.346 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1894,

pp. 23.3-248 (2,258 stomachs).
Injurious to grain, hence unprotected

in certain States, Bui. 12, pp. 36,

37; Bui. 13 (rev.), p. 43.
Other notes, Bui. 15, p. 29 ; Ybk. 1898,

p. 104.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, pp. 263, 264, 265, 266.
Requests for information on economic

value, Ent. Circ. 20 [p. 1] ; Circ. 1

[p. 2] ; Rept. 1886, p. 230.

R.

Raven, Northern, see Corvus corax princi-
palis.
Old-world, see Corvus corax corax.
Southern, see Corvus corax sinuatus.
White-necked, see Corvus cryptoleu-
cus.
Recurvirosta americana — Avocet.

Feeding on billbugs, cutworms, Circ. 79,
p. 6; Dytiscidae, Circ. 79, p. 8;
grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 4.
Redbird, see Cardinalis cardinalis.
Redhead, see Marila americana.
Redpoll, see Acanthis linaria.

Hoary, see Acanthis hornemanni
exilipes.
Redstart, see Setophaga i-uticilla.
Regulus calendula — Ruby-crowned kinglet.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,
pp. 197, 198.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

61

Regulus calendula — Continued.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,

108.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 48,

81-84 (294 stomachs).
Other notes, Ybk. 1904, p. 254.
Regulus satrapa — Golden-crowned kinglet.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

20, 108.
Food in California, Bui. 30, p. 84 (9

stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 9, p. 18; Ybk. 1904,
p. 254.
Rhynchophanes mccowni — McCown's long-
spur.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 3 898, p.
226.
Ricebird [American], see Dolichonyx oryzl-
vorus.
[Javan], see Padda oryzivora.
Ringneck, see ^Egialitis semipalmata.
Riparia riparia — Bank swallow.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 71 ; Ybk.

1900, p. 418.
Feeding on ants, Bui. 15, p. 32 ; bay-
berries, Rept. 1890, p. 282 ; boll wee-
vil, Bui. 29, pp. 6, 14, 24, 25, 30;,
Bui. 38, p. 71; Circ. 56, pp. 1-2;
Circ. 57, p. 2 ; Circ. 64, p. 5.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
24, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 46-
47, 98-99 (6 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 418.
Other notes, Bui. 30, p. 27.
Protection urged as enemy of boll wee-
vil, Circ. 56, pp. 1-2 ; Circ. 57, p. 2.
Rissa tridactyla polllcaris — Pacific kitti-
wake.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 433-
434.
Road runner, see Geococcyx californianus.
Robin [of the United States], see Planestl-
cus migratorlus.
Tres Marias, see Planesticus gray-
soni.
Rook, see Corvus frugilegus.
Rostrhamus sociabilis — Everglade kite.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 25-26;
Circ. 61, pp. 3, 4; Ybk. 1894, pp.
217, 218.

S.

Sage hen, see Centrocercus urophasianus.
Salpinctes obsoletus — Rock wren.

Note on general nature of food, Bui.
30, pp. 65-66.
Sandpiper, Baird's, see Pisobia bairdi.

Buflf -breasted, see Tryngites sub-

ruficollis.
Least, see Pisobia minutilla.
Pectoral, see Pisobia maculata.
Purple, see Arquatella maritlma.
Red-backed, see Pelidna alpina
sakhalina.

Sandpiper, Semipalmated, see Ereunetes
pusillus.
Solitary, see Helodromas soli-

tarius.
Spotted, see Actitis macularla.
Stilt, see Micropalama himanto-

pus.
White-rumped, see Pisobia fus-
cicollis.
Sapsucker, Red-breasted, see Sphyrapicus
ruber.
Williamson's, see Sphyrapicus

thyroideus.
Yellow-bellied, see Sphyrapicus
varius.
Sayornis nigricans — Black phoebe.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

17-18 (119 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 3^-39
(333 stomachs).
Sayornis phoebe — Phoebe.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 53; F. Bui.
54, pp. 13-14 (80 stomachs) ; F.
Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 16-17 (156
stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, p. 426.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp.
10, 16 ; Bui. 25, pp. 8, 13, 21 ; Bui.
29, pp. 6, 15, 26, 30; Bui. 38, p.
53 ; Circ. 64, p. 5 ; mulberries, Rept.
1890, p. 285; rose beetle, Bui. 32,
p. 20.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
23, 24, 30, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 40, 61,
92-98.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 426-
427.
Sayornis sayus — Say's phoebe.

Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 35-36
(86 stomachs).
Scolecophagus carollnus, see Euphagus

carolinUs.
Scolecophagus cyanocephalus, see Euphagus

cyanocephalus.
Scoter, see Oidemla americana.

White-winged, see Oidemia deglandl.
Scotiaptex cinerea, see Scotiaptex nebulosa.
Scotlaptex nebulosa — Great gray owl.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50 ;
Ybk. 1905, p. 371; rabbits. Fauna
27, p. 369 ; shrews. Fauna 27, p.
370.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 157-158
(9 stomachs).
Seiurus aurocapillus — Ovenbird.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

20, 29, 34, 35, 103-104.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 416.
Seiurus motacilla — Louisiana water-thrush.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
20, 38, 40, 103-104.

62

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Selurus noveboracensis — Water-thrush.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
20, 24, 34, 35, 38, 39, 103-104.
Setophaga ruticilla — Redstart.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 83.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
20, 23, 24, 29, 40, 103-104 (5
stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 416.
Shoveler, see Spatula clypeata.
Shrike, Great gray, see Lanius excubitor.
Loggerhead, see Lanius ludovici-

anus.
Northern, see Lanius borealis.
Sialia arctica, see Sialia currucoides.
Sialia currucoides — Mountain bluebird.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54, p. 48.
Other notes, Bui. 30, p. 100.
Sialia mexicana occidentalis — Western blue-
bird.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 48

(92 stomachs).
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

pp. 194, 198.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 97-
100 (187 stomachs).
Sialia slalis — Bluebird.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 92; F. Bui.

54, p. 39 (205 stomachs) ; F. Bui.

54 (rev.), pp. 5, 46-48 (300

stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, p. 413.

Distributing poison Rhus seeds, Rept.

1889, p. 368; Rept. 1890, p. 283.
Feeding on army worm, Bui. 1, p. 290 ;
codling moth, Bui. 1, p. 320; cut-
worms, Bui. 1, p. 290 ; dogwood ber-
ries, Rept. 1890, p. 284; mahaleb
cherries, Bui. 32, p. 65 ; mulberries,
Bui. 32, p. 64 ; sourgum berries,
Rept. 1890, p. 285.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 32,
38, 43, 60, 62, 109-110 (7 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 413.
Insectivorous, Bui. 38, p. 9 ; Bui. 1, pp.

96, 126, 304.
Other notes, Bui. 1, pp. 94, 297.
Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, pp. 263, 266.
Siskin, Pine, see Spinus pinus.
Sitta canadensis — Red-breasted nuthatch.
General nature of food, Bui. 30, p. 68.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.
296-297.
Sitta carolinensis — White-breasted nut-
hatch.
Brief account, Bui. 17, p. 107 ; Bui. 38.

p. 88.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

pp. 194, 197.
General nature of food, Bui. 30, p. 68.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.
296-297.
Sitta pygmsea — Pygmy nuthatch.

Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 67-68
(31 stomachs).

Skylark, see Alauda arvensis.
Snakebird, see Anhinga anhinga.
Snipe, Wilson's, see Gallinago delicata.
Snowbird, see Junco hyemalls.
Solitaire, see Myadestes townsendi.
Sora, see Porzana Carolina.
Sparrow, Chipping, see Spizella passerina.
English, see Passer domesticus.
Field, see Spizella pusilla.
Fox, see Passerella iliaca.
Golden-crowned, see Zonotrichia

coronata.
Grasshopper, see Ammodramus

savannarum australis.
Harris's, see Zonotrichia querula.
Henslow's, see Passerherbulus

henslowi.
House, see Passer domesticus.
Ipswich, see Passerculus princeps.
Java, see Padda oryzivora.
Lark, see Chondestes grammacus.
Lincoln's, see Melospiza lincolni.
Nelson's, see Passerherbulus nel-

soni.
Savanna, see Passerculus sand-

wichensis.
Seaside, see Passerherbulus mari-

timus.
Sharp-tailed, see Passerherbulus

caudacutus.
Song, see Melospiza melodia.
Swamp, see Melospiza georgiana.
Spanish, see Passer hispaniolensis.
Tree [American], see Spizella

monticola.
Tree [Old World], see Passer

montanus.
Vesper, see Pooecetes gramineus.
White-crowned, see Zonotrichia

leucophrys.
White-throated, see Zonotrichia
albicollis.
Spatula clypeata — Shoveler.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 19.

Feeding on larvae and pupae of Ephydra

Mans, Fauna 7, p. 17.
Vegetable food, Circ. 81, p. 1.
Speotyto cunicularia floridana — Florida
burrowing owl.
Food of adults and nestlings, Ybk.
1900, p. 431.
Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea — Burrowing
owl.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p„ 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 31, p. 50 ; Circ. 61,
pp. 3, 12, 18; Ybk. 1894, pp. 217,
225, 227.
Feeding on beetles, Bui. 4, p. 15;
grasshoppers, Bui. 4, p. 15 ; Fauna
7, p. 44 ; horned larks, Bui. 2, p.
124 ; Bui. 23, p. 12 ; insects. Fauna
5, p. 97; Rept. 1889, p. 373; mice,
Bui. 2, p. 124 ; pocket mice {Perog-
nathua Mspidus paradoxus), Fauna

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

63

Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea — Continued.

25, p. 137 ; scorpions, Fauna 5, p.

97 ; spermopliiles, Bui. 4, pp. 15-16.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 14, 165,

189-196 (32 stomachs) ; Kept. 1887,

p. 422 (10 stomachs).
Sphyrapicus ruber — Red-breasted sapsuclier.
Brief account, Bui. 39, pp. 95-96.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 21-

22, 29 (24 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 11,

81-82 (34 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 34, p. 8.
Relation to trees, Bui. 39, pp. 16-21,

50-53, 54-62, 86, 98-99.
Sphyrapicus thyroideus — Williamson's sap-
sucker.
Brief account, Bui. 39, pp. 95-96.
Formal report, Bui. 37, pp. 10, 11,

82-83 (17 stomachs).
Relation to trees, Bui. 39, pp. 9, 16-

21, 58, 54-62, 66, 98-99.
Sphyrapicus varius — Yellow-bellied sap-
sucker.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 47 ; Bui. .39,

pp. 95^-96; F. Bui. 54, pp. 9, 10: I'-

Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 12-13; Ybk.

1900, pp. 294-295.
Feeding on fruits of cherry, flowering

dogwood, grape, and sour gum, Rept.

1890, p. 284 ; scale insects, Ybk.

1906, p. 197.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

19, 33, 62, 88-90, 110.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 427-

428.
Formal report, Bui. 7, pp. 7, 8, 10, 11,

28-81, 38-39 (81 stomachs) ; Bui.

37, pp. 10, 11, 27-31, 42, (313

stomachs).
Injurious, Bui. 34, p. 21 ; Ybk. 1907,

p. 168.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to orchards, Ybk. 1900, pp.

294-295.
Relation to trees, Bui. 38, p. 47; Bui.

39, pp. 16-21, 21-50, 54-91, 92-95,

98-99.
Spinus pinus — Pine siskin.

Feeding on weed seeds. Fauna 7, p.

85; Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 229.
Spiza americana — Dickcissel.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 69; Ybk.

1900, p. 420.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, p.

16; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 12, 18, 21; Bui.

29, pp. 6, 19, 30; Circ. 64, p. 5;

weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp. 226, 227,

228, 229.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 420.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 23, 24,

28, 45, 89-02 (152 stomachs).

Spizelia roonticcla — Tree sparrow.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54, p. 28; F.
Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 32.

Feeding on seeds, Bui. 9, pp. 17, 20 ;
of grapes. Fauna 3, p. 96 ; of weeds.
Fauna 3, p. 96 ; Ybk. 1898, pp. 222,

225, 226, 227; Ybk. 1907, p. 172.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 16,

71, 74-75 (9 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 18, 25, 27,
37, 38, 39, 42, 75-76 (517 stom-
achs).

Spizelia passerina — Chipping sparrow.

Beneficial, Bui. 38, p. 9 ; Ybk. 1897, p.

670.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 65; F. Bui.

54, pp. 26-27; F. Bui. 54 (rev.),

pp. 31-32.
Feeding on cankerworms, Bui. 1, p.

263 ; mulberries, Rept. 1890, p. 285 ;

scale insects, Ybk. 1900, p. 194;

weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 223,

224, 225, 226, 227, 228.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

15-16, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33,

34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 43, 70, 71,

72-73, 97, 110 (61 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 80-82,

84 (96 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 419-

420.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 15, 17, 18,

21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33,

76-78 (250 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 1, p. 93; Fauna 7,

p. 119.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 264.

Spizelia pusilla — Field sparrow.

Brief account, F. Bui. 54, pp. 26-27,
28; F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 31-32.

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 29, pp. 6,
20, 28, 30; Circ. 64, pp. 3, 5; weed
seeds, Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 223, 225,

226, 228.

Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
15-16, 24, 26, 27, 30, 32, 34, 35,
40, 41, 60, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 97
(31 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 15, 18, 21,
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 33, 37,
39, 42, 78-80 (175 stomachs).
Spizelia socialis, see Spizelia passerina.
Squatarola squatarola — Black-bellied plover.
Feeding on crowberries (Empetrum),
Fauna 27, p. 332 ; grasshoppers,
Circ. 79, p. 2.
Starling, see Sturnus vulgaris.
Steganopus tricolor — Wilson's phalarope.
Feeding on billbugs, Circ. 79, p. 6;
crane flies, Circ. 79, p. 4 ; Dytiscidse,
Circ. 79, p. 8 ; mosquitoes. Circ. 79,
p. 2.

64

INDEX TO PAPEKS KELATING TO FOOD OF BIKDS.

Stelgidopteryx serripennis — Rough- winged
swallow.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
-24, 33, 34, 35, 39, 98-99 (7 stom-
achs).
Protection urged, Circ. 57, p. 2.
Stercorarius parasiticus — Parasitic jaeger.
Feeding on beetles, dragon fly, fish, in-
sects, and young tern. Fauna 27,
p. 261.
Stercorarius pomarinus — Pomarine jaeger.
Pursuing gulls and terns to rob them
of their prey, Fauna 22, p. 78.
Sterna fuliginosa, see Sterna fuscata.
Sterna fuscata — Sooty tern.

Fishing habits described, Fauna 14,

p. 25.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.
Sterna maxima — Royal tern.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.
Sterna paradisaea — Arctic tern.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 434.
Stilt, Black-necked, see Himantopus mexi-
canus.
Knudsen's, see Himantopus knudseni.
Stork, Maguari, see Euxenura maguari.

White, see Ciconia ciconia.
Strix aluco, see Aluco flammeus.
Strix occidentalis — Spotted owl.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 156-157.
Strix pratincola, see Aluco pratincola.
Strix varia — ^Barred owl.

Beneficial, Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.

1896, p. 628 ; Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, Bui. 31, pp. 48-49;

Bui. 38, p. 42; Circ. 61, pp. 3,
11-12 (109 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1894,
pp. 217, 225; Ybk. 1900, p. 430.

Feeding on Brewer's blackbird, cardi-
nal, Bui. 2, p. 121 ; cotton rat {8ig-
modon hispidus texianus), Fauna 25,
p. 116; field mice, Bui. 31, pp. 48-
49; Ybk. 1905, p. 371; Leconte's
sparrow, Bui. 2, p. 121 ; rabbits, Ybk.
1907, p. 336 ; ruffed grouse, Bui. 24,
p. 28.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 430.

Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 14, 135,
146, 150-156 (109 stomachs) ; Rept.
1887, p. 419 (41 stomachs).
Sturnella magna — Meadowlark.

Beneficial, Rept. 1890, p. 280; Ybk.

1897, p. 670.

Bounty laws, Ybk. 1896, p. 57.

Brief account, Bui. 12, pp. 20-21 ;

Bui. 12 (rev.), pp. 27-28; F. Bui.

54, pp. 21-23 (238 stomachs), F.

Bui. 26-27 (285 stomachs) ; Rept.

1890, p. 280 (30 stomachs).
Exempt from protection in Georgia,

Bui. 12 (rev.), p. 27.

Sturnella magna — Continued,

Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp. 10,

16; Bui. 25, pp. 8, 9, 11, 21; Bui.

29, pp. 6, 9, 18, 27-28, 29, 30;

Circ, 57, p, 4 ; Circ. 64, pp. 2, 3, 5 :

weed seeds, Bui. 15, pp. 37, 38-39 ;

Ybk, 1898, pp. 222, 230-231.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 12,

14, 22, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37-38, 40,

70, 71, 77, 94-95, 110, 111 (7 stom-
achs).
Formal report, Ybk, 1895, pp, 419,

420-426 (238 stomachs).
Other notes, Ybk. 1904, p. 514; Ybk.

1908, p. 346.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to clover seed, Rept. 1890,

p. 280.
Sturnella magna neglecta, see Sturnella

neglecta.
Sturnella neglecta — Western meadowlark.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp, 9,

16; Bui. 25, pp. 8, 9, 11, 21; Bui.

29, pp. 6, 9, 18, 27-28, 30; Circ.

64, p, 5.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 65-68

(91 stomachs).
Killed by eating poisoned grain, Bui.

23, p. 13; Circ. 76, p. 13; F. Bui.

352, p. 8 ; Ybk. 1908, p. 308.
Pulling wheat, Bui. 23, p. 15.
Sturnus vulgaris — Starling.

Admission denied, F. Bui. 470, p. 30;

Rept. 1900, p. 41 ; Rept. 1904, p.

296; Rept. 1907, p. 493; Ybk. 1905,

p. 545.
Admission to Western Australia prohib-
ited, Rept. 1899, p. 68; Ybk. 1898,

p. 109.
Driving other birds away, Bui, 1, p.

333.
Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc., Rept. 1899, p. 68; Rept.

1907, p. 493 ; Ybk. 1898, pp. 90, 101-
103, 107, 109, 110.

Injurious, Circ. 34, p. 7 ; Circ. 80, p.
24 ; F. Bui. 160, p. 48 ; F. Bui. 180,
p. 42; F. Bui. 470, p. 30; Rept.

1908, p. 587.

Injurious in Australasia, Rept. 1899,

p. 68 ; Ybk. 1898, p. 109.
Other notes, Rept. 1899, p. 68; Rept.

1907, p. 493.
Repressive measures, Rept. 1908, p.

587.
Sula nebouxi — Blue-footed booby.

Feeding on fish, Fauna 14, pp. 23, 25,

32.
Surnia ulula caparoch — Hawk owl.

Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,

p. 217 ; Ybk. 1895, p. 590 ; Ybk. 1896,

p. 628.
Brief account, Bui. 3, pp. 187-189;

Rept. 1887, p. 422.

INDEX TO PAPEKS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

65

Surnla ulula caparoch — Continued.

Feeding on field mice, Bui. 31, p. 50;
Yblc. 1905, p. 371 ; (Microtua drum-
mondi) Fauna 27, p. 377; redpolls,
ruffed grouse, Fauna 27, p. 377 ;
spermophiles, Bui. 4, pp. 15-16 ;
varying hare, Fauna 27, p. 376.
Swallow, Bank, see Riparia riparla.

Barn, see Ilirundo erythrogastra.
Cliff, see Petrochelidon lunifrons.
European, see Hirundo rustica.
Northern violet-green, see Tachy-

cineta thalassina lepida.
Rough-winged, see Stelgidopteryx

serripennis.
Tree, see Iridoprocne bicolor.
Swan, Whistling, see Olor columbianus.
Swift, Chimney, see Chatura pelagica.
Syrnium nebulosum, see Strix varia.
Syrnium occidentale, see Strix occidentalis,
Syrnium varium, see Strix varia.

T.

Tachycineta bicolor, see Iridoprocne bi-
color.
Tachycineta thalassina lepida — Northern
violet-green swallow.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 32-33

(74 stomachs).
Other notes, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 37-
38.
Tanager, Scarlet, see Piranga erythromelas.
Summer, see Piranga rubra.
Tres Marias, see Piranga biden-

tata flammea.
Western, see Piranga ludoviciana.
Tantalus loculator, see Mycteria americana.
Teal, Blue-winged, see Querquedula discors.
Green-winged, see Nettion carolinense.
Telmatodytes palustris — Long-billed marsh
wren.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 43, 107 (5 stom-
achs).
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 62-64

(53 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 436.
Tern, Arctic, see Sterna paradisaa.

Black, see Hydrochelidon nigra suri-

namensls.
Royal, see Sterna maxima.
Sooty, see Sterna fuscata.
Tetrao urogallus — Capercalllie.

Feeding on birches and conifers, F.
Bui. 197, p. 15.
Thrasher, Brown, see Toxostoma rufum.

California, see Toxostoma redivi-

vum.
Leconte's, see Toxostoma lecontei.
Sage, see Oreoscoptes montanus.
Thrush, Gray-cheeked, see Hylocichla ali-
ciae.
Hermit, see Hylocichla guttata.

Thrush, Olive-backed, see Hylocichla ustu-
lata.
Russet-backed, see Hylocichla us-

tulata.
Song, see Turdus iliacus.
Varied, see Ixoreus nsevius.
Wood, see Hylocichla mustelina.
Thryomanes bewicki — Bewick's wren.

Feeding on boll weevil, Circ. 64, pp. 4,

5 ; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p. 194.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 57-60
(146 stomachs).
Thryothorus ludovicianus — Carolina wren.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 86.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp. 8,
16; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 14, 21; Bui. 29,
pp. 6, 21-22, 29, 30 ; Bui. 38, p. 86 ;
Circ. 64, pp. 4, 5.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 30,
32, 107.
Titmouse, Black-crested, see Bseolophus atri-
cristatus.
Blue, see Cyanlstes ojeruleus.
Bridled, see BaH)Iophus wollwe-

berl.
Great, see Parus major.
Long-tailed, see .^glthalos cau-

datus.
Marsh, see Poecile palustris.
Plain, see Baeolophus inornatus.
Tufted, see Bseolophus bicolor.
Totanus flavipes — Yellowlegs.

Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 4.
Towhee, see Pipllo erythrophthalmus.

California, see PIpilo crissalis.
Green-tailed, see Oreospiza chlo-

rura.
Spotted, see Pipilo maculatus sub-
species.
Spurred, see Pipilo maculatus
megalonyx.
Toxostoma lecontei — Leconte's thrasher.
Food in captivity. Fauna 7, p. 129.
Toxostoma redivlvum — California thrasher.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 55-56
(82 stomachs).
Toxostoma rufum — Brown thrasher.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 86; F. Bui.
54, pp. 34-35 (121 stomachs) ; F.
Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 40-41 (121
stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, p. 415.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp. 11,
16; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 14, 15, 21; Bui.
IT 29, pp. 6, 23, 30 ; Circ. 64, p. 5 ;

mahaleb cherries, Bui. 32, p. 65.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 32,

38, 56, 60, 105-106.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 415.
Formal report, Ybk. 1895, pp. 405,

406, 411-415, 418 (121 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 30, p. 55.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Request for information on economic
value, Ent. Circ 20 [p. 2].

66

INDEX TO PAPEKS PELATING TO FOOD OF BIKDS.

Tringa canutus — Knot.

Feeding on crayfishes, Circ. 79, p. 6 ;
Dytlscidse, Circ. 79, p. 8 ; grasshop-
pers, Circ. 79, p. 4 ; Nereis^ Circ. 79,
p. 8.
Trochilus colubris, see Archilochus colubris.
Troglodytes aedon — House wren.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, P. Bui. 54, pp. 35-36
(52 stomachs) ; F. Bui. 54 (rev.),
pp. 41-42 (52 stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900,
p. 413.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 24,
25, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 45-46,
49, 106-107, 110 (20 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 60-62

(36 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, pp. 413-

415; Ybk. 1902, p. 216.
Formal report, Ybk. 1895, pp. 405, 406,

416-418 (52 stomachs).
Other notes, Bui. 1, pp. 96, 275 ; Ybk.

1904, p. 514.
Reference to studies of food habits,
Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Trogon ambiguus goldmani — Goldman's tro-
gon.
Feeding on wild fig. Fauna 14, p. 61.
Tryngites subruflcollis — Buflf-breasted sand-
piper.
Feeding on grasshoppers, Circ. 79, p. 2.
Turdus iliacus — Song thrush.

Admission denied. Kept. 1908, p. 581.
Admission to Western Australia pro-
hibited, Kept. 1899, p. 68; Ybk.
1898, p. 109.
Injurious in Australasia, Rept. 1899,
p. 68 ; Ybk. 1898, p. 109.
Turdus merula — Blackbird.

Admission to West Australia prohib-
ited, Rept. 1899, p. 68; Ybk. 1898,
p. 109.
Economic status, introduction danger-
ous, etc., Ybk. 1898, pp. 90, 106, 107,
109; Ybk. 1909, p. 257.
Injurious in Australasia, Rept. 1899,
p. 68; Ybk. 1898, p. 109, in New
Zealand, Ybk. 1909, p. 257.
Turdus musicus, see Turdus iliacus.
Turkey, Merriam's, see Meleagris gallo-
pavo merriami.
Wild, see Meleagris gallopavo sil-
vestris.
Turnstone, see Arenaria interpres.
Tympanuchus americanus — Prairie chicken.
Brief account, Ybk. 1900, p. 432.
Feeding on potato beetle, Bui. 32, p.
47; weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 231.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 432.
Formal report, Bui. 24, pp. 10-18, 23
(71 stomachs).
Tympanuchus cupido — Heath hen.

Brief account, Bui. 24, pp. 18-19.
Tympanuchus pallidlcinetus — Lesser prairie
chicken.
Brief account, Bui. 24, pp. 19-20,

Tyrannus tyrannus — Kingbird.

Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 53; F. Bui.

54, pp. 11-12 (281 stomachs) ; F.

Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 14-15 (420

stomachs) ; Ybk. 1900, p. 426.
Feeding on bees, Bui. 34, pp. 32-33 ;

Rept. 1899, p. 69 ; boll weevil, Bui.

29, pp. 6, 14, 15, 24, 29, 30; Circ.

64, p. 5 ; cherries, Rept. 1890, p.

282; mahaleb cherries, Bui. 32, p.

65 ; mulberries, Rept. 1890, p. 285 ;

robber flies, Rept. 1899, p. 69 ; rose

beetles, Bui. 32, p. 20.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 17,

22, 23, 24, 26, 30, 31-32, 33, 34,

36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 56, 59, 60, 61,

91-92 (16 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 426.
Formal report, Rept. 1893, pp. 233-234

(171 stomachs).
Other notes, Ybk. 1904, p. 514.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1899, p. 266.
Relation to bees, Bui. 34, pp. 32-33;

Rept. 1899, p. 69.
Tyrannus verticalis — Arkansas kingbird.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

15-16 (62 stomachs).
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 32-34

(78 stomachs).
Tyrannus vociferans — Cassin's kingbird.

Brief notes on food, Bnl. 34, p. 34 ;

F. Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 16.

U.

Uria lomvia arra — Pallas's murre.

Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 433.
Urinator arcticus, see Gavia arctica.
Uroloncha acuticauda — Japanese nun.

Admission to Hav^aii denied, Rept.
1909, p. 542.
Urubutinga anthracina — Mexican black
hawk.
Beneficial, Circ. 61, p. 3; Ybk. 1894,
p. 217; Ybk. 1895, p. 590; Ybk.
1896, p. 628.
Formal report, Bui. 3, pp. 11, 84-85
(6 stomachs).

^.

Veery, see Hylocichla fuscescens.
Vermivora celata lutescens — Lutescent
warbler.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

p. 194.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 48,
51 (65 stomachs).
Vireo belli pusillus — Least vireo.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,
p. 194.
Vireo, Cassin's, see Lanivireo solitarius

cassini.
Vireo flavifrons, see Lanivireo flavifrons.
Vireo gilvus, see Vireosylva gilva.

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

67

Vireo griseus — White-eyed vireo.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,

p. 195.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
23, 26, 29, 34, 35, 40, 59, 60, 61,
102 (10 stomachs).
Vireo huttoni — Button's vireo.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

194.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 41-42
(54 stomachs).
Vireo, Button's, see Vireo huttoni.
Vireo, Least, see Vireo belli pusillus.
Vireo olivaceus, see Vireosylva ollvacea.
Vireo, Red-eyed, see Vireosylva olivacea.
Vireo solitarius cassinl, see Lanivireo soli-

tarius cassini.
Vireo, Warbling, see Vireosylva gilva.
Vireo, White-eyed, see Vireo griseus.
Vireo, Yellow-throated, see Lanivireo flavi-

frons.
Vireosylva gilva — Warbling vireo.

Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.
285; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.
194.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

30, 35, 40, 102.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 39-40
(110 stomachs).
Vireosylva ollvacea — Red-eyed vireo.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 73.
Feeding on mulberries, Rept. 1890, p.
285 ; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p. 195.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,
23, 24, 29, 30, 34, 35, 39, 40, 43,
56, 59, 60, 61, 102 (13 stomachs).
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 416.
Vulture, Black, see Catharista urubu.

California, see Gymnogyps califor-

nianus.
Turkey, see Cathartes aura septen-
trionalis.

TV.

Warbler, Audubon's, see Dendroica audu-
boni.

Bay-breasted, see Dendroica cas-
tanea.

Black-and-white, see Mniotilta
varia.

Black-poll, see Dendroica striata.

Black-throated blue, see Den-
droica caerulescens.

Black-throated green, see Den-
droica virens.

Canadian, see Wilsonia canadensis.

Cape May, see Dendroica tigrina.

Lutescent, see Vermivora celata
lutescens.

Magnolia, see Dendroica magnolia.

Myrtle, see Dendroica coronata.

Palm, see Dendroica palmarum.

Parula, see Compsothlypis ameri-
cana.

Pine, see Dendroica vigorsi.

Warbler, Prairie, see Dendroica discolor.

I'rothonotary, see Protonotaria

citrea.
Townsend's, see Dendroica town-

sendi.
Wilsons, see Wilsonia pusilla.
Worm-eating, see Helmitheros ver-

mivorus.
Yellow, see Dendroica aestiva.
Water-thrush, see Seiurus noveboracensis.

Louisiana, see Seiurus mota-
cilla.
Water-turkey, see Anhinga anhinga.
Waxwing, Bohemian, see Bombycilla gar-
rula.
Cedar, see Bombycilla cedrorum.
Weaver bird, Madagascar, see Foudia mada-

gascariensis.
Whippoorwill, see Antrostomus vociferus.
White-eye, South African, see Zosterops

capensis.
Widgeon, see Mareca americana.
Wilsonia canadensis — Canadian warbler.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

195.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.
20, 29, 34, 39, 103-104.
Wilsonia pusilla — Wilson's warbler.

Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

194.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 20,

24, 103-104.
Food in California, Bui. 30, pp. 51-52
(52 stomachs).
Woodcock, see Philohela minor.
Woodpecker, Arctic three-toed, see Picoides
arcticus.
Arizona, see Dryobates ari-

zonae.
California, see Melanerpes for-

micivorus bairdi.
Downy, see Dryobates pubes-

cens.
Gila, see Centurus uropygialis.
Golden-fronted, see Centurus

aurifrons.
Grayson's, see Dryobates scala-

ris graysoni.
Hairy, see Dryobates villosus.
Ivory-billed, see Campephilus

principalis.
Lewis's, see Asyndesmus lewisi.
Nuttall's, see Dryobates riut-

talli.
Plleated, see Phloeotomus pl-

leatus.
Red-bellied, see Centurus caro-

linus.
Red-cockaded, see Dryobates

borealis.
Red-headed, see Melanerpes

erythrocephalus.
San Lucas, see Dryobates sca-

laris lucasanus.
Texas, see Dryobates scalaris
bairdi.

68

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

Woodpecker, Three-toed, see Picoides ameri-
caniis.
White-headed, see Xenopicus

albolarvatus.
Yellow-bellied, see Sphyrapicus
varius.
Wren, Bewick's, see Thryomanes bewicki.

Cactus, see Heleodytes brunneicapil-

lus couesi.
Carolina, see Thryothorus ludovicia-

nus.
Dotted canon, see Catherpes mexica-

nus punctulatus.
House, see Troglodytes aedon.
Long-billed marsh, see Telmatodytes

palustris.
Rock, see Salpinctes obsoletus.
Winter, see Nannus hiemalis.
Wren tit, see Chamsea fasciata.

X.

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus — Yellow-
headed blackbird.

Brief account, Ybk. 1897, pp. 345, 351,
353.

Damage to corn, Ybk. 1894, p. 237;
grain, Rept. 1887, pp. 428, 429, 430,
454, 455, 456; Ybk. 1897, pp. 345,
351, 353; Ybk. 1898, p. 230.

Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.
230.

Formal report, Bui. 13, pp. 9, 11, 30-
83 (138 stomachs).

Other notes, Rept. 1887, pp. 428, 429,
430.
Xenopicus albolarvatus — White - headed
woodpecker.

Brief account, Bui. 37, p. 63.

Yellow-hammer [of EuropeL see Em-

beriza citrinella.
Yellowlegs, see Totanus flavipes.
Yellowthroat, see Geothlypis trichas.

Z.

Zamelodia ludoviciana — Rose-breasted gros-
beak.
Beneficial, Ybk. 1897, p. 670.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54, pp. 28-30;

F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp. 34-35; F.

Bui. 456, pp. 7-9, 12, 13.
Feeding on potato beetle, Bui. 17, p.

25; Bui. 34, p. 93; Rept. 1888, pp.

.535-536; Rept. 1889, p. 369; Rept.

1905, pp. 306, 814; Rept. 1906, p.

415; Ybk. 1907, pp. 173, 175; scale

insects, Ybk. 1906, pp. 192, 195;

weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p. 230.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 418.
Formal report, Bui. 32, pp. 38-59, 71,

91 (176 stomachs).

Zamelodia ludoviciana — Continued.

Other notes, Bui. 1, p. 323 ; Fauna 27,

p. 449.
Reference to studies of food habits,

Ybk. 1809, p. 266.
Zamelodia melanocephala — Black - headed

grosbeak.
Brief account, F. Bui. 54 (rev.), pp.

35-36 (70 stomachs) ; F. Bui. 456,

pp. 9-10, 12, 13.
Feeding on black olive scale, Rept.

1905, p. 306; cherries, Bui. 34, p.

55 ; codling moth, Rept. 1904, p,

293; scale insects, Ybk. 1906, pp.

192, 194.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 93-

96 (225 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 32, pp. 60-77,

91 (226 stomachs).
Relation to fruit in California, Bui.

30, p. 13; Ybk. 1904, pp. 246, 248,

251.
Zenaidura macroura carolinensis — Mourn-
ing dove.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 36; F. Bui.

54 (rev.), pp. 6-7 (237 stomachs) ;

Ybk. 1900, p. 431.
Damage to grain, Ybk. 1897, p. .352;

Ybk. 1898, pp. 231-232.
Feeding on seeds of bunch grass

{Oryzopsis cuspidata). Fauna 7, p.

32 ; Hungarian grass (Setaria

italica), Rept. 1887, p. 429; weeds,

Bui. 12, pp. 16-17; Bui. 12 (rev.),

p. 24; Bui. 15, pp. 38-39; Ybk.

1898, pp. 222, 2.31-232.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp.

13, 43, 69, 70, 71, 77-78, 85, 111.
Food of nestlings, Ybk. 1900, p. 431.
Killed by eating poisoned grain, Bui.

23, p. 13; Circ. 76, p. 13; Ybk.

1908, p. 308.
Other notes, Bui. 15, p. 74; Ybk.

1904, p. 514 ; Ybk. 1907, p. 170.
Zonotrichia albicollis — White-throated spar-
row.
Brief account, Bui. 38, p. 64.
Feeding on boll weevil, Bui. 22, pp.

11, 16 ; Bui. 25, pp. 9, 12, 21 ; Bui.

29, pp. 6, 19-20, 30; Circ. 64, pp.

3, 5 ; waste oats, Fauna 33, p. 83 ;

weed seeds, F. Bui. 54, p. 28 ; F. Bui.

54 (rev.), p. 32; Ybk. 1898, pp.

222, 224, 225, 226, 227.
Food at Marshall Hall, Bui. 17, pp. 16,

22, 30, 33, 34, 35, 38, 57, 71, 73,

75, 77 (17 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 15, 18, 26,

27, 28, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46,

72-75, 83, 90, (217 stomachs).
Zonotrichia coronata — Golden-crowned spar-
row.
Feeding on weed seeds, Bui. 15, p.

27; Ybk. 1898, pp. 222, 225, 226.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 78-79,

84 (184 stomachs).

INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO FOOD OF BIRDS.

69

Zonotrichia leucophrys — White-crowned

sparrow.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906, p.

194; weed seeds, F. Bui. 54, p. 28;

F. Bui. 54 (rev.), p. 32; Ybk. 1898,

pp. 222, 225, 226, 227.
Food in California, Bui. 34, pp. 76-77,

84, 85 (516 stomachs).
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 21, 25,

27, 28, 69-72, 74, 83, 90 (217

stomachs).
Other notes. Fauna 7, p. 89.

Zonotrichia leucophrys — Continued.

Relation to fruit in California, Ybk.
1904, p. 247.
Zonotrichia querula — Harris's sparrow.
Feeding on weed seeds, Ybk. 1898, p.

226.
Formal report, Bui. 15, pp. 27, 28,
68-69 (100 stomachs).
Zosterops capensis — South African white-
eye.
Feeding on scale insects, Ybk. 1906,
p. 192.

ADDITIONAL COPIES of this publication
Xx may be procured from the Supeeintend-
ENT OF Documents, Government Printhig
Office, Washington, D. C, at 10 cents per copy

BULLETIN or THE

US.I)EPITINI0FA«1M

No. 107

Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey, Henry W. Henshaw, Chief,
July 27, 1914.

(PROFESSIONAL PAPER.)

-J) ^

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE_ALFALFA WEEVIL.

By E. R. Kalmbach, Assistant Biologist.

INTRODUCTION.

The alfalfa weevil (Phytonomus posticus Gyll.), a pest introduced
into the United States, has for several years been doing enormous
damage to alfalfa crops in Utah. On invitation of and in coopera-
tion with the Bureau of Entomology, the Biological Survey there-
fore undertook to ascertain
the part played by birds
and mammals in checking
the increase of the weevil.
Accordingly the writer
spent from May 8 to July
25, 1911, and from April 1
to August 15, 1912, at vari-
ous points in the infested
region, investigating the
food habits of local birds
and of a few batrachians
and other vertebrates.
This bulletin chiefly con-
siders the food habits of birds, but facts concerning the economic
status of other vertebrates also are included.

IMPORTATION AND SPREAD OF THE ALFALFA WEEVIL IN UTAH.

The time and method of initial introduction of the alfalfa weevil
into Utah is unknown, but the first serious damage was noted in the
spring of- 1904, when a small infestation a few miles southeast of
Salt Lake City was discovered. From this foothold the weevil spread
and by September, 1911, had extended as far north as Tremonton,

Note. — This bulletin discusses the food habits and economic status of birds, and of
the toad, frog, and a few other vertebrate enemies of the alfalfa weevil in Utah.
43778°— Bull. 107—14 1

Fig. 1. — Known distribution of the alfalfa weevil
{Phytonomus posticus), May 1, 1914. (Map by
Bureau of Entomology.)

2 BULLETIN 107, IJ. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTTJKE.

Utah, east to Evanston, Almy, and Lyman, Wyo., and northeast to
Cokeville, Wyo., Randolph and Laketown, Utah, and Fish Haven,
Idaho.^

An insect must become fairly common before it can form an appre-
ciable portion of the food of birds; in most of the area covered by
the writer's investigations the weevil probably had not become
abundant until 1907 or 1908, and doubtless had not attracted the
attention of birds much before that time. Thus any preference
shown by birds for this character of food was necessarily acquired
in the short period of four or five years.

LIFE HISTORY OF THE WEEVIL.'

The alfalfa weevil is a small snout beetle a little less than one-
fourth inch in length, and when it appears in spring its color is
very dark brown or black. It passes the winter in the adult stage,
protected under piles of rubbish, in vegetation along ditch banks,
the base of haystacks, etc. The beetles soon become active, and on
fair, warm days may be found flying, sometimes in considerable
numbers, when some fall prey to the earlier arrivals among the
flycatchers and swallows. At this time of year the numbers are at
the lowest ebb, since comparatively few survive the rigors of winter
and live to perpetuate the race.

The seasonal activities of the insect are influenced strongly by
temperature. In normal years many eggs are laid by the first of
April and the bulk before the middle of June, but the process may
continue as late as July.

From 10 to 12 days elapse before hatching. The pale, newly
hatched larvae soon work their way to the tender leaves and growing
buds at the top of stalks, where for some time they may easily escape
the notice even of birds, being of such minute size and confining
their early feeding to the inner folds of the leaves. At first the
larvae restrict their depredations to the more succulent portions of
the foliage, but by the time they have become full sized they feed
anywhere upon the plant where green leaves remain.

The larvae become full-grown in from 20 to 60 days, and during
this time they pass through three stages. When fully developed
they are about one- fourth of an inch long, of a bright green color,
and have a conspicuous white stripe down the back. A paler stripe
on each side and the black head aid in distinguishing it from other
larvae.

1 Webster, F. M., Bull, 112, Bu. of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agr., May, 1912.

2 The entomological data here given are from Bull. 112 of the Bu. of Entomology,
U. S. Dept. of Agr., by F. M. Webster, and Bull. 110, Utah Agr. Coll. Exp. Sta., by E. G.
Titus.

BIEDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 3

In the Salt Lake Valley the bulk of the larvae appear in May and
June, but at higher altitudes somewhat later. The period of greatest
abundance is at the time of the first alfalfa harvest. The insects
usually make heavy inroads on the first crop and after the harvest
do serious harm by retarding the growth of the second crop. All
new shoots are devoured as soon as they appear, and a field frequently
remains barren for three to five weeks after the first cutting.

When full-grown the larvae cease feeding, drop to the ground, and
spin rather loosely woven cocoons, which are often attached to dry
vegetation at the base of the plant. The insect now passes through
the pupal stage and in from one to two weeks emerges as the adult.
In this stage it is covered with many fine scales or hairs which givh it
a light brown color. The adults begin to appear in large numbers
about the first of July and may often be found clustering by hun-
dreds upon vegetation about the borders of recently cut fields or
near the bases of newly constructed haystacks. Frequently they feed
upon the foliage and scar the stems of plants other than the Le-
guminosse; the writer has seen healthy amaranth plants laid pros-
trate in a comparatively few hours.

After a short period of flight, when again some may fall prey to
birds that feed on the wing, the insects seek hidden places for the
winter's hibernation. Beginning soon after early August the weevils
appear less in evidence.

DISTRIBUTION OF WEEVIL-EATING BIRDS IN THE TERRITORY
COVERED BY FIELD WORK.

The following somewhat general synopsis of the distribution and
relative abundance in Utah of native birds will give a fair idea of
the species most available as aids in the fight against the alfalfa
weevil. This, combined with details regarding each species, as later
presented, will show which birds are doing the most good in any
locality.

One of the regions most severely infested by the weevil was that
immediately south and southwest of Salt Lake City, extending east
and west to the edge of the irrigated land. This has an average
width of 4 miles and through it flows the Jordan Kiver. In
this area the English sparrow is the most abundant bird. Next
comes Brewer's blackbird and in smaller numbers are the red-
winged blackbirds, which confine the bulk of their feeding to the
vicinity of marshes along the river or places where lack of drainage
has produced ponds. Following these are Brewer's, vesper, and lark
sparrows, and meadowlarks. Robins, though very numerous in
migration, are not so frequently met at a later date. The remaining
common birds, named approximately in the order of their abundance,

4 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

are the rough-winged swallow, house finch, killdeer, horned lark,
Arkansas kingbird, mourning dove, California quail, Bullock's
oriole, black-headed grosbeak, cowbird, and yellow-headed blackbird.

A bird population differing in relative numbers from that of the
region just described is found in Davis County, lying to the north of
Salt Lake City and extending from the AVasatch Mountains to the
Lake. As the area is narrow (at Farmington only about 4 or 5 miles
wide), and is bordered on one side by the foothills and on the other
by the barren flats of Great Salt Lake, a great variety of bird life
may be found on a single farm. The English sparrow is not so
plentiful. Brewer's blackbird being the most abundant species, but
nearer the Lake the red-wings and yellow-heads vie with it for
supremacy in numbers. California gulls sometimes occur in flocks
of several hundred, especially where land is being cultivated. Mag-
pies also are conspicuous and breed extensively in trees growing
along creeks. The other species previously mentioned maintain
about the same relative abundance, except that robins, Arkansas
kingbirds, and other flycatchers are somewhat more numerous.

In the valley of the Weber the number of species is more limited,
but there is no dearth of individuals. Here, as well as along Chalk
Creek, which flows into the Weber, irrigated fields border the river
in a long narrow strip, 1 to 2 miles wide. Bird life has segregated
itself in these fields, while large numbers of birds which build in the
sagebrush of the surrounding hills secure the bulk of food for them-
selves and their young in the lower, more fertile, tracts.

A " bench " lying to the east of this section and at some distance
from the river afforded similar conditions and proved a most excel-
lent feeding area for a number of more or less desert species dwell-
ing on the sides of adjacent hills. Brewer's blackbirds were the most
abundant, while along the upper borders of these fields and on the
" bench " Brewer's, vesper, chipping, lark, and savannah sparrows
appeared in great numbers. The green-tailed towhee, sage thrasher,
and mountain bluebird also were present. On the lower fields robins
were very numerous and bobolinks not uncommon, but no English
sparrows were found.

The section about Alpine and American Fork, in Utah County,
presented an avifauna very similar to that immediately south of
Salt Lake City.

BIRDS FEEDING ON THE WEEVIL.

The following list includes all of the important bird enemies of
the alfalfa weevil. Probably some spring migrants pick up a
few while passing and some resident species, whose ordinary habits
and food preferences would seem to preclude them from being
enemies of the weevil, may occasionally feed on them. In the two

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 0

seasons' work 45 species of birds were found to have eaten the insect,
as follows :

California gull (Larus calif amicus).
Wilson's phalarope (Stcganopus tricolor).
Killdeer {Oxyechus vociferus).
Valley quail (Lophortyx calif omica vallicola).
Western mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura marginella).
Red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer collari
Arkansas kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis).
Say's phoebe (Sayornis sayus).
Traill's flycatcher (Empidonace trailU trailli).
Desert horned lark (Otocoris alpestris leiicolwma).
Magpie {Pica pica hudsonia).
Long-cre«ted jay (Cyanodtta stelleri diademata).
' Woodhouse's jay (Aphelocoma woodhousei).
Bobolink (DoUchonyx oryzivorus).
Cowbird (Molothrus ater ater).

Yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) .
Thick-billed redwing (Agelaius phceniccus fortis).
Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).
Bullock's oriole {Icterus hullocJd).
Brewer's blackbird {Euphagus cyanocephalus) .
House finch {Garpodacus mexicanus frontalis).
Pine siskin {Spinus pinus).

Western vesper sparrow {Pooecetes grammineus confinis).
Western savannah sparrow {Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus).
Western lark sparrow {Chondestes grammacus strigatus).
White-crowned sparrow {Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys).
Western chipping sparrow {^pizella passcrina arizonce).
Brewer's sparrow {Spizella 'breweri).
Desert song sparrow {Melospiza melodia fallax).
Lincoln's sparrow {Melospiza lincolni lincolni).
Spurred towhee {Pipilo maculatus montanus).
Green-tailed towhee {Oreospiza chlorura).
Black-headed grosbeak {Zamelodia melanocephala) .
Lazuli bunting {Passerina am<£na).
Cliff swallow {Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons).
Bank swallow {Riparia riparia).
Rough-winged swallow {Stelgidoptcryx serripennis) .
Yellow warbler {Dendroica wstiva cestiva).
Macgillivray's warbler {Oporornis tolmiei).
Long-tailed chat {Icteria virens longicauda).
Sage thrasher {Oreoscoptes montanus).

Long-tailed chickadee {Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis).
Western robin {Planesticus migratorius propinquus).
Mountain bluebird {Sialia currucoides).
English sparrow {Passer domesticus) .

CALIFORNIA GULL.

{Larus calif ornicus.)

No bird in the Salt Lake Valley is held in so ^eat esteem by the
people of Utah as the California gull. On numerous occasions in

6 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTTJEE.

spring the writer witnessed the work of this bird on alfalfa fields,
where it was common to see 200 to 300 following a harrow or plow
in search of grubs, cutworms, and other insects turned up. Only
five gulls were examined, and all but one were from badly infested
alfalfa fields. In the stomach of only one was the weevil found.

Other prey, such as earthworms, ground beetles, and fly larvae,
seemed more attractive than the weevil to these birds. Apparently
some had recently been feeding on the barren alkali flats surrounding
Great Salt Lake. In one stomach were about 450 of the small car-
abid beetle {Pogonus planatus)^ so common about the decayed bodies
of waterfowl which have died of disease in the vicinity of the Jordan
Kiver marsh, and in another were large numbers of pupse of the
alkali fly {Ephydra gracilis).

Though the California gull is one of the most valuable of Utah
birds, as a weevil destroyer it is unimportant. However, so impor-
tant are its services in other directions that it deserves the careful
protection it receives.

WILSON'S PHALAROPE.

(Steganopus tricolor.)

A single stomach of Wilson's phalarope was examined, and the
remains of one adult weevil were detected. Wilson's phalarope,
however, can not be expected to render much service as a weevil
destroyer, as its feeding habits restrict it largely to the immediate
vicinity of lake shores and river banks.

KILLDEER.

{Oxyechus vodferus.)

The killdeer is found everywhere in the Salt Lake Valley, even
to the upper edges of watered lands, where the highest irrigating
ditches supply it with all the aquatic environment it needs. How-
ever, it appears to be more widely scattered in the spring than later
in the season, when more are found about Great Salt Lake and along
the Jordan Kiver. Irrigation on an alfalfa field is always a great
attraction, and in such situations as many as six or eight of these
birds may be found in a field of three to four acres. Cutworms here
fall easy prey.

Nineteen killdeers were examined, six of which were obtained in
April. The weevil, aggregating 3.5 per cent of the food, was found
in five of the six taken in that month. In each case the adult form
was eaten and was found on an average of 4| per stomach.

Caterpillars (cutworms in some cases) constituted nearly 37 per
cent of the food, and ground beetles came next with a percentage of
19.3. A large quantity of aquatic beetles in one stomach brought
the monthly average of this food up to nearly 9 per cent, while

BIRDS IIT RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 7

carrion beetles (Silphidae and Staphylinidae), click beetles, dung
beetles {Aphodkis), and weevils other than Phfijtonomus were fre-
quent constituents of the remaining animal food. The vegetable
portion was either weed seeds or rubbish.

Three of five killdeers obtained in May had fed on the weevil to the
extent of over 36 per cent of the food. In one, these insects composed
the entire contents, save a trace of darkling and ground beetles. It
required no less than 40 adults and 1 larva of the weevil to satisfy
this bird's appetite. Another had eaten 18 adults.

Of the other food taken during May, spiders, ground beetles,
aquatic beetles, flies, bees, and wasps occurred in quantities decreas-
ing in the order named. The high proportion of spiders recorded
was the result of one of the birds having fed on them almost exclu-
sively. A few grain hulls in one stomach probably came from waste
material.

The food for June, as learned from examination of eight stom-
achs, gives a good idea of what may be expected of the killdeer under
favorable conditions. The weevil formed nearly a third of the
monthly food, and was present in all of the stomachs but one. Of
two birds which had destroyed surprisingly large numbers of the
insect, one, from a newly cut field, had eaten 9 adults and 307 larvae,
and the other, feeding under similar conditions, had made away with
7 adults and 376 larva). A third had taken 42 larvae and 1 adult.

Of other animal food items for this month ground beetles occurred
in the greatest quantity. They were present in 6 of the 8 stomachs
and comprised over 15 per cent of the monthly food. Snails were
eaten extensively by two of the birds. Darkling beetles of the genus
Blapstinus were frequently taken and formed nearly 11 per cent of
the stomach contents. Dung beetles {Aphodius) ^ bill bugs {Spheno-
phoTus sp.), caterpillars, and wasps were other common ingredients.
The vegetable portion was again unimportant, consisting entirely of
weed seeds and rubbish.

The killdeer in no part of its extensive range is known to injure
farm produce. The worst that can be said of it is that in its indis-
criminate destruction of insects it may pick up a few that are bene-
ficial. These, however, form an extremely small proportion of the
bird's fare, while serious pests, as mosquitoes, craneflies, grasshop-
pers, and weevils of various kinds, are frequent components of its
food. In addition to this already exceptional record, the killdeer
must be considered as one of the most effective destroyers of alfalfa
weevils. In early spring the birds are frequent visitors of infested
fields, where many breeding weevils fall victims to the birds' voracity.
The killdeer has been rightly removed from the class of game birds,
where formerly it could be shot throughout much of its range. It
may now continue its good work unmolested.

8 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

VALLEY QUAIL.

(Lophortyx calif oniica valUcola.)

The valley qnail, common in the irrigated portion of Salt Lake
Valley, is frequently seen about alfalfa fields. Though a little shy
in such environment, it appears. to be perfectly at home and succeeds
in raising broods wherever it finds sufficient cover. An open season
is maintained for taking this bird during the month of October in
the counties of San Pete, Uinta, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah,
Sevier, and Carbon, while in some of the less densely populated
sections a longer season is provided.

The valley quail has a good record as a weevil destroyer, based on
a limited amount of material, but examination of it gives a fair idea
of what can be expected of this bird. One was obtained in May
and four in June. In the stomach of each the weevil was present
in very large numbers, and in only one did the insects number less
than 100 individuals in various stages of development. The five birds
had eaten, respectively, 165 larvae and 7 adults, 126 larvae and 1 adult,
317 larvae and 2 adults, 128 larvae and 1 adult, and 75 larvae and 2
adults, a total of 811 larvae and 13 adults. In bulk this averaged
32.4 per cent of the stomach contents and at the same time formed
95.3 per cent of the animal portion of the bird's diet. In three cases
the contents of the crop, which was full, were also included. Other
animal food taken was divided in small lots under several heads.

The vegetable element, which formed 66 per cent of the stomach
contents, was composed largely of weed seeds. Among these were
found filaree {Erodium cicutarium), smartweed (Polygonum sp.),
shepherd's purse (Capsella hursa-pastoris) ^ Russian thistle {Salsola
tragus)^ a vetch {Astragalus sp.), and dandelion {Taxaracum tax-
aracum). One bird had picked up about 400 seeds of alfalfa and
another a quantity of wheat, estimated to be 55 per cent of the food.

Thus the valley quail may become troublesome by feeding on grain
or seeds of other cultivated crops. At present, however, it is not
sufficiently abundant in Utah to be a source of anxiety, and the short
open season now allowed is more than ample to keep it in check.
This bird is one of the most valuable about the farm, and in Utah
it appears to eat even more than its customary amount of animal
food. Any change in legislation, therefore, should be in the direc-
tion of increased protection.

WESTERN MOURNING DOVE.

{Zenaidura macroura marginella.)

The reason for including the western mourning dove, an almost
exclusively granivorous bird, among the weevil's enemies is based on
the fragments of adults found in two stomachs. While this mourn-

BIEDS IN KELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 9

ing dove can not be considered an effective enemy of the weevil, it
renders service to man in the consumption of weed seeds, and as
long as it does not become unduly abundant in grain fields its
presence is desirable.

The vegetable food of the birds examined was largely weed seeds.
Among these were those of amaranth {Amaranthus hlitoides^ A.
retrofl earns and A. cHhus)^ filaree {Er odium cieuiot^nvmi) ^ cockle
(Vaccaria vaccaria), pigweed {Chenopodium sp.), ragweed (Am-
h^osla artemisii folia) , thistle (Carduus sp.), smartweed {Polygonum
sp.), and sunflower {Helianthus sp.).

RED-SHAFTED FLICKER.

{Cola/ptes cafer collaris.)

The red-shafted flicker is sparingly distributed through the Salt
Lake Valley, though the constantly increasing supply of suitable
nesting sites caused by the growth of trees in the irrigated portion
bids fair to increase its abundance.

Of the three birds examined, two had fed on the alfalfa weevil, a
trace of an adult being present in each case. Ants, its favorite food,
composed practically the entire contents of each of the stomachs. In
one were no less than 390 adults and 190 pupae of the small dark
brown ant, Myrmica scahrinodis.

Although the flicker is the most terrestrial of woodpeckers it
does little toward the reduction of the weevil, as it lives chiefly on
ants. In this it doubtless is working for the best interests of man,
as many large harvest ants of the West {Pogonomyrmex) do con-
siderable damage to grain and forage, not only by cutting down the
crop for a space of several feet about their domicile, but by building
nests which menace the operation of the mower or reaper.

ARKANSAS KINGBIRD.

(Tyrannus verticalis.)

The Arkansas kingbird probably is the most abundant and evenly
distributed flycatcher in the Salt Lake Valley. Though it is more
at home in arid districts, the writer met it in great abundance about
ponds where flying insects furnished ample food.

Of ten birds secured four had eaten weevils, but not more than
three were found in any one stomach. The small number is probably
due to the fact that flycatchers are necessarily limited in this work
to the short period when the weevil is on the wing, as also are swal-
lows. The small cicada {Platypedia putnami) was a favorite food
of these birds.

43778°— Bull. 107—14 2

10 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

SAY'S PH(EBE.

{Sayornis sayus.)

Only three stomachs of Say's phoebe were available for examina-
tion. In one a single adult weevil was found, a dark-colored and
much-worn specimen which had hibernated. The remainder of the
stomach contents consisted of a varied assortment of flying insects,
among which were tabanid flies, a cricket, carrion beetles (SilpJia),
a blister beetle {C ant harts) , and several Hymenoptera.

TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER,

(Empidonax trailH trailli.)

Traill's flycatcher is found in considerable numbers in willow
thickets along streams and ditches in the Salt Lake Valley. Seven
birds were obtained when conditions were most favorable for feeding
on the weevil, but only two had fed on the insect, a single adult
being eaten in each case. The aerial feeding habits of flycatchers
as a family naturally limit their consumption of the weevil to the
warmest of spring days or to the later season when the brood of the
year takes wing.

The food taken most frequently was Hymenoptera, ants, wild bees,
and a few parasitic forms. These were found in each stomach and
comprised about 43 per cent of the contents. Flies of various kinds
(17.5 per cent) formed the next most important item, and beetles,
bugs, and Lepidoptera were eaten in lesser quantities.

DESERT HORNED LARK.

{Otocoris alpestris leucolwma.)

The desert horned lark, a hardy little bird of the open country, is
an abundant resident throughout the Salt Lake Valley, especially in
winter, when it is familiarly known by the name of snowbird. It is
one of the earliest species to breed and frequently its eggs may be
found when the ground is still white. In early spring horned larks
often feed in the wind-swept stubble of alfalfa fields, when they
come in contact with hibernating weevils. Though essentially a
seed-eating bird, from May to July a considerable proportion of
animal food, including the larvse of the weevil, is taken.

Three of the four birds collected in April had fed on the insect,
the adult form in each case, and it formed about ^ per cent of their
food, but only one stomach contained more than one individual. The
remaining animal food was characterized by a large proportion of
lepidopterous remains, most of which, however, was in a single
stomach. The vegetable portion, forming over half of the food, was
composed almost entirely of weed seeds.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 11

Six birds taken in May had fed on the weevil, but the number of
insects eaten could not be accurately determined, as much of the
food was in an advanced stage of digestion. The adults and larvss
occurred in about equal propK)rtions. One bird had fed upon this
insect to the extent of 80 per cent of its food, another 70, and a third,
which had devoured 13 adults, 48 per cent. An average of over 41
per cent of the foo<:l of the six birds consisted of alfalfa weevils.

Another noteworthy animal food wks a considerable quantity of
caterpillars, forming over 17 per cent of the whole. Ground beetles
amounted to over G per cent, and grasshoppers 5 per cent. The
animal portion of the horned larks' food for May was nearly three-
fourths of the stomach contents. The vegetable part (26.5 per cent)
was divided between weed seeds and wheat. This latter element
formed about two-thirds of the vegetable portion and may have been
secured from recently sown fields.

Each of five larks collected in June also had fed on the weevil,
which formed 29 per cent of* the food. One had taken 16 adults and
1 larva, and another 10 adults and 25 larvae. In no case did the
weevil form less than 10 per cent of the stomach contents, and in
one it went as high as 60 per cent.

Hemiptera, Lepidoptera (caterpillars), and spiders figured promi-
nently in the other animal food. Of the vegetable portion, weed
seeds composed the bulk.

More extensive investigations have shown that with the exceptional
cases where injury is done to newly-sown grain the farmer has little
to fear from this bird. Its best service is in the reduction of the
annual crop of weed seeds. The lark also consumes much insect food
during summer months, and in Utah the alfalfa weevil has quite
naturally entered into its diet. On fair days in early spring these
insects are abundant in the stubble of alfalfa fields where horned
larks are common, and the destruction of the weevil at this time is
a very important factor in the reduction of the numbers of the annual
brood. "While the consumption of adults (3J per cent in April) is
rather low, it is believed that at this time of year the horned larks do
the most good in their fight upon the weevil.

MAGPIE.

(Pica pica hudsonia.)

Though only locally abundant in the Salt Lake Valley, the mag-
pie is one of the best known of the birds of Utah. As it is somewhat
gregarious in habit, from 15 to 20 nests may be found comparatively
close together. Upward of 40 nests were found in one stretch ex-
tending half a mile along a creek near Kaysville. As alfalfa fields

12 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE.

flanked both sides of the stream, whatever was learned here concern-
ing the magpie as a weevil enemy must be regarded as having been
obtained under most favorable conditions.

Nestlings. — A series of 134 stomachs of nestlings was secured in
May, and in 79 the weevil was found. It usually occurred in small
numbers, the average for the lot being 4.8 weevils per bird, which
amounted to 2.42 per cent of the food. Some, however, had eaten
considerable numbers of the breeding adults. A half-fledged young
had been fed 74 of the insects, and 5 others had eaten, respectively,
62, 56, 33, 26, and 24.

Examination of these stomachs shows how omnivorous are these
birds, no less than 85 different items being recognized, besides large
quantities of carrion and rubbish. In the material identified were
six orders of insects, spiders, a shrimp, mollusks, a reptile, batra-
chians, earthworms, three species of birds, four of mammals, and
seeds of eight species of plants. As each of these items has a differ-
ent economic significance, the problem of the value of the magpie is
complicated.

Thie largest animal food item was caterpillars (22.1 per cent),
which occurred in 104 stomachs. Many of these were cutworms,
gleaned from alfalfa fields along with the weevil. The remains of
small mammals and carrion of many forms amounted to 14.75 and
11.86 per cent, respectively. Among the mammal remains were
recognized meadow mice (Microtus), ground squirrels {Citellus
mollis)^ a gopher {Thomomys)^ and a shrew {Sorex leucogenys).
Associated with the carrion were large numbers of muscid pupae and
larvae, which comprised 16.34 per cent of the stomach contents. It
appeared from some of the material that parent birds visited a car-
cass of a beef or horse and removed only dipterous larvae and pupae,
leaving the putrid animal matter as a breeding ground for more of
the same. The stomachs of many young birds were nearly filled
with the dipterous remains, only a few black or brown hairs indi-
cating the source of the food. Ground beetles formed 5.15 per cent
of the food, and miscellaneous Coleoptera, members of the genera
Necrophonis and SilpJia predominating, 4.05 per cent. Other insect
food was divided in small quantities under several heads.

Other components of the animal food economically highly impor-
tant were the remains of chickens and wild birds and their eggs. The
feathers of what appeared to be a young chicken were found in
the stomachs of two young birds of the same brood while fragments
of eggshell occurred in 22 of the 134 collected. The entire stomach
contents of one young magpie consisted of eggshell and what ap-
peared to be its partially incubated contents. Another stomach was
about four-fifths full of similar material.

Bui. 107, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate I.

Fig. 1.— Young Magpies.
[Late broods of these birds were fed on alfalfa weevil larvae.]

Fig. 2.— Straw-Thatched Cattle Shed, a Favorite Nesting Site for Large
Numbers of English Sparrows.

[These sheds were doubtless an important factor in maintaining the abundance of these birds
in rural sections of Utah. See p. 46.]

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 13

Three of a brood of five fully fledged young had divided the re-
mains of a small passerine bird. Another had been fed on what ap-
peared to be the remains of a young robin, while a third had eaten
eggs of the same species. The vegetable food was mainly rubbish.

In June late broods of magpies (see PI. I, fig. 1) were frequently
fed on the larvae of the weevil. Eighteen of twenty-five birds ex-
amined had eaten the insect at an average of 5.6 adults, 0.08 pupa,
and 29.24 larvae per bird, amounting to 6.6 per cent of the stomach
contents. The largest quantities of these insects occurred in this
series of stomachs. A brood of six nestlings, about four to five days
old, was observed in a cottonwood near the border of an alfalfa field.
This field had been cut one morning, and during the afternoon the
parent magpies were noticed making numerous visits, and judging
from the well-filled stomachs of the young birds, the old birds had
made good use of their time. This brood had consumed 36 adults,
2 pupa?, and 677 larvse, an average of over 102 individuals per bird.
As the young had also eaten a varied assortment of other food, com-
prising at least 25 different items, the weevil formed only 18.7 per
cent of the contents.

The remaining animal food for June was essentially the same as
for May, save that grasshoppers, taken in considerable numbers,
amounted to over 13 per cent. Three of a brood of five had divided
the remains of a sparrow, while one of another hatch had eaten the
eggs of. a robin.

Adults. — Being a resident the year round, the magpie was fre-
quently seen on cold, windy April days visiting alfalf a . fields. It
was at first thought that bits of carrion or field mice might be the
attraction, but analysis of stomachs showed that the birds were mak-
ing diligent search in the stubble and under clods of earth for the
adult weevils. Each of five birds examined had eaten weevils.
One had taken no less than 160 adults, while others had eaten 60, 55,
45, and 19 adults, respectively. These composed 26.2 per cent of the
magpie's food.

The omnivorous nature of these birds is not revealed this early,
when comparatively few articles of food are available. Carrion
occurred in four stomachs, amounting to over 40 per cent. Bones
of a batrachian were found in another. Of the vegetable food, the
larger part (19 per cent) was waste grain.

Eight magpies were collected in May, but the stomachs of three
were too nearly empty to be of use. However, two of these revealed
traces of adult weevils. Each of the other five had eaten this insect
in quantities varying from 2 to 50 per cent of the stomach contents,
while one especially remarkable stomach contained 181 adult weevils.
No grain had been eaten by these birds, but there was an increased

14 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE.

percentage of various insect items. Numerous pupa) of a muscid
fly, as well as carrion beetles {Silpha ramosa) , were found. Carrion
occurred in four of the five stomachs and amounted to over a third
of the food, while the remains of a freshly killed small rodent were
found in the other. The stomachs of two birds contained fragments
of hen's Qgg.

Each of the six adult birds collected in June had fed on the weevil
to the extent of 9.67 per cent of their food. One had eaten 24 adults
and 180 larvae. In one stomach were feathers of a small bird.
Ground beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, carrion, and a small ro-
dent composed the bulk of the remaining animal food. The vege-
table element (20.5 per cent) was divided about equally between wild
fruit and rubbish.

Summary. — During early spring the adult magpie is valuable as a
destroyer of weevils as they come out of hibernation. Complaints
that it steals hen's eggs may be practically eliminated by the proper
housing and screening of nesting fowls, but as long as hens are
allowed to lay eggs promiscuously about the farm magpies will con-
tinue to reap their toll. The destruction of wild birds and their eggs
is doubtless the strongest argument against the species. In view of
its obnoxious traits, legal protection for the bird is not recommended.

LONG-CRESTED JAY.

(Cyanocitta stelleri diademuta.)

Deductions as to the relation of the long-crested jay to the weevil
were based on the examination of a single stomach. This bird was
from a densely wooded creek bottom which afforded direct egress
from the shrubby vegetation of its favorite habitat to the midst of
an agricultural community.

Among the stomach contents were a single adult weevil, a dung
beetle (Aphodius), a bee, a caterpillar, carrion, grain hulls, and a
mass of dandelion seeds.

The favorite habitat of wooded hillsides and canyon slopes and the
natural food preferences of the long-crested jay apparently preclude
it from becoming very destructive to the alfalfa weevil.

WOODHOUSE'S JAY.

(Aphelocoma woodhousei.)

Woodhouse's jay is fairly common wherever dense scrubby vege-
tation along a stream provides its favorite environment. Three
stomachs were examined and adult weevils were found in each, aver-
aging 1 per cent of the food. Ground beetles, mast, and wheat were

BIEDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 15

other important components of the food, and in the stomach of one
bird were fragments of eggshell.

In view of the numerous objectionable habits of the closely related
California jay it does not appear wise to recommend protection for
this bird as a weevil destroyer. At the same time it is not numerous
enough in agricultural districts of Utah to make any injurious
habits which it may possess noticeable.

BOBOLINK.

( Dolichon ijx oryzivorus. )

The bobolink, songster of hay fields and low meadows, is fairly
common in Utah. It was found in moderate abundance in the
vicinity of West and South Jordan, and Farmington, and along the
Weber River and Chalk Creek in Sunmiit County.

As a destroyer of the weevil it has an interesting record. In the
stomach of each of the nine birds examined the insect was present
in considerable numbers. A single bird collected in May had fed on
10 adult weevils, which formed 14 per cent of the food.

Seven bobolinks collected in June had taken the weevil at an
average of about 8 adults and 42 larvae per bird, to the extent of 68
per cent of the stomach contents. In the stomach of one, 6 adults
and 90 larvae formed the entire food. Another had eaten no less than
28 adults and 77 larvae, amounting to 86 per cent of the stomach
contents, while a third had eaten 3 adults and 61 larvae. The only
other food items in the last stomach were small fragments of a bug
and a click beetle, estimated at 1 per cent. These birds also had
fed to the extent of over 16 per cent of their food on caterpillars,
w^hich occurred in all but one of the stomachs. Bugs (Hemiptera)
formed about half that amount.

A single bobolink collected in August had eaten 7 adults, which
totaled 15 per cent of its food, while several caterpillars and lepidop-
terous pupae formed an additional 71 per cent.

The bobolink does exceptionally good work as a weevil destroyer,
for whenever it lives near infested alfalfa fields the insect forms its
most important animal food. There appears to be no reason why it
should not be fully protected. Its status in Utah is essentially the
same as in the New England and other Northern States, where its
economic merits have never been questioned.

COWBIRD.

(Molothrus ater ater.)

Previous investigations ^ of the economic status of the cowbird
have shown that, judged from its food habits alone, the farmer has

1 Real, F. E. L., Food of the Bobolink, Blackbirds, and Grackles. Bull. 13, Biol.
Survey, U. S. Dept, of Agr., 1900.

16 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE.

little to fear from this bird, but the fact that in its egg-laying habits
it is parasitic, and frequently so on highly valuable species, has so
complicated matters that its exact relation to agriculture is not yet
thoroughly understood. In spring and summer the cowbird may be
found usually in numbers of from two to six associated with one or
more of its relatives in the vicinity of pastures or alfalfa fields. The
cowbird's exceptional record as a weevil destroyer does much toward
redeeming it for misdemeanors arising from its parasitism. Of the
15 birds collected only 1 had failed to feed on the insect.

Three cowbirds taken in May had eaten the weevil to the extent of
over 60 per cent of their food. In one case it amounted to 95 per
cent and was present at an average of about 1 adults and 30 larvae
per bird. Dung beetles (Aphodius) formed the bulk of the remain-
ing animal food. Wheat, which was present in two stomachs, was
estimated to be a fourth of the monthly sustenance.

Ten birds collected in June showed a continuation of the good work
started in the preceding month. The only bird failing to eat the
weevil was one which had taken three or four nymphs and one adult
of the small cicada {Platypedia putnarm)^ which formed nearly the
entire stomach contents. The weevil, constituting 42.3 per cent of
the food, was taken at an average of 6 adults, 1.4 pupae, and 30.3
larvae per bird. The largest number recorded for the species was
80 larvae, 3 pupae, and 3 adults, forming 80 per cent of the food. Of
the remaining animal food Hemiptera was the most prominent item
(18.7 per cent), and was composed of about equal parts of cicadas
{Platypedia) and tree hoppers (Membracidae). The vegetable
food (27 per cent) was composed largely (18.3 per cent) of the seeds
of weeds, among which were filaree, wild mustard, brome grass, and
barnyard grass.

Two cowbirds taken in July had fed on the weevil, adults of the
same year's brood in each case, to the amount of nearly 30 per cent
of the stomach contents. The remains of a much-digested lepidop-
teran comprised about half of the food of one, and a mass of seeds of
filaree, amaranth, smart weed, and sunflower formed about 80 per
cent of the contents of the other stomach.

Summary. — The food habits of the cowbird in Utah during spring
and summer appear to be above reproach. Grain forms but a small
portion of its diet, while the alfalfa weevil is by far the largest
ingredient of the animal portion. From the first of May to the
middle of July the weevil forms over half the animal food, and
much of the vegetable portion is composed of weed seeds. In recog-
nition of the cowbird's work as a weevil enemy, it would appear that
when every suppressive agency must be carefully conserved, the bird
should be allowed to continue its good work unmolested by sportsman
or small boy.

BIKDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 17

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

( Xantliooephalus xanthocephalus. )

The yellow-headed blackbird, or soldier bird, as he is more fre-
quently called in the West, is the last of the three blackbirds to arrive
in large numbers, although a few individuals are said to remain
throughout the winter in favorable localities.

Nestling and juvenile birds. — As weevil enemies young yellow-
heads do not rank as high as the nestlings of the other blackbirds.
The insect amounted to 4.27 per cent of the stomach contents and
occurred in 40 of 68 birds collected in June. Larvae were preferred
to adults, being taken on an average of 4.13 per bird, as compared
with 0.74 for the latter. One nestling 4 or 5 days old had destroyed
48 larvae, and a brood of three had eaten, respectively, 42, 25, and 40.

The work of a colony of about 15 or 20 yellow-heads upon an
alfalfa field of three or four acres came under the writer's observa-
tion. The breeding marsh was fully half a mile from the source of
food supply, and the flight of the parent birds to and from their
nests was observed for about a half hour, during which the adults
made visits to the fields at the rate of about one every minute.

Other animal food of the young, strongly indicative of the aquatic
environment in which the bird lives, was dragonflies and their
nymphs, which formed 43.86 per cent of the stomach contents, and
occurred in all but 10 of the 68 stomachs. Some stomachs contained
fragments of adult Odonata, which testifies to the ability of these
birds to capture insects generally supposed to be effectively protected
by their powers of flight. Caterpillars formed about a fourth
(24.08 per cent) of the food. Ground beetles (5.7 per cent) , spiders
(5.54), grasshoppers (4.09), snails (3.76), and Hymenoptera (2.1)
were the principal other ingredients of the animal food. The vege-
table portion (2.13) was mainly rubbish.

Two juvenile birds collected in July had eaten the weevil, one of
which had taken 2 adults and 30 larvae.

Adults, — During April and May only two adult yellow -heads were
collected each month, a too limited number to allow definite conclu-
sions, but it shows that the birds were already preying upon the
insect. One collected on the 23d of April had eaten a single adult,
while the bulk of the stomach contents consisted of caterpillars. This
latter element also composed 97 per cent of the food of the other
April bird. The two birds taken in May had fed upon the insect,
having eaten three and seven adults, respectively, which averaged
10 per cent of their food.

Of 21 stomachs collected in June only 4 failed to contain the
weevil. The insect formed 43.48 per cent of the yellow-head's food
and was taken at an average of more than 6 adults and 47 larvae per
43778°— Bull. 107—14 3

18 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTTJEE.

bird. The largest number taken by any of this species was 190
larvae and 2 adults. Another record was 160 larvse and 2 adults.
Three adults and 117 larvae were eaten by one bird, while five others
had taken more than 170 individuals apiece.

Of the other animal food Lepidoptera, in the form of caterpillars,
is most important, amounting to nearly 31 per cent. These insects
occurred in 15 of the 21 stomachs and in one constituted the entire
food. Ground beetles (8.56 per cent), Hemiptera (4.95), weevils
other than Phytonomus (4.24), and dragonflies (2.48) made up the
bulk of the remainder. The vegetable food (1.2 per cent) was of no
economic importance.

Seven birds collected in July show a decrease in the amount of
weevils eaten and a corresponding increase in other food items, as
grasshoppers, flies, and grain. Only two had eaten the insect, one
having taken but a single adult, while the other had made away with
48. Grain amounted to nearly half (44.57 per cent) of the food,
verifying the complaint against these birds at this time of the year.

Bumrrmry. — With the exception of the work of adult birds during
the month of June, the yellow-headed blackbird can not be considered
as among the more effective bird enemies of the weevil, but its uni-
formly good work on caterpillars during the entire season argues in
its favor. Its strong liking for dragonflies is against it, and also
there is little doubt that it lays heavy toll on ripening and shocked
grain.

THICK-BILLED REDWING.

(Agelaius phosniceus fortis.)

The thick-billed redwing is a common breeder throughout the Salt
Lake Valley wherever is found a clump of cat-tails, a favorite nesting
site. As small marshes flank the Jordan River and the shores of Salt
Lake, and are about other places where imperfect drainage has left
a pool, the bird is fairly well scattered throughout the valley, and
of the blackbirds ranks next in abundance to Brewer's.

Those birds which do not winter in the Salt Lake Valley arrive
early enough to render valuable service in the destruction of weevils
emerging from hibernation. In the spring of 1912 the writer found
them fairly common, and the examination of one stomach secured
on the 1st of April indicated that they were already at work on the
insects.

Nestlings. — ^Thirty of fifty young redwings examined for June
had eaten the insect, which amounted to 10.64 per cent of their food,
and was taken on an average of 0.3 adult and 12.58 larvae per bird.
In several instances, where nesting marshes were situated near in-
fested fields, large numbers of larvae were eaten, A brood of three

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 19

had consumed 60 larvse, 84 larva? and 1 adult, and 100 larvae and 1
adult, respectively. Another hatch of three had averaged 321 larva?
apiece. Several other food items characteristic of these birds ap-
peared with such regularity that the actual bulk of weevils in no case
amounted to over 50 per cent.

Caterpillars formed the next most important item, totaling 27.38
per cent. Dragon flies (Odonata) and their nymphs, and snails,
forming 9.84 and 6.46 per cent, respectively, were secured from the
immediate vicinity of the nests. Spiders composed over 15 per cent,
and ground beetles, with the genus Am<ira predominating, a little
less than a tenth of the food. The major portion of the remaining
animal food was divided about equally between aquatic beetles, bugs,
flies, and grasshoppers. The vegetable food (6.84 per cent) was un-
important, as over half was rubbish taken accidentally with the food.

An observation for a period of an hour was made of a female red-
wing feeding a brood of four nestlings about three days old. The
nest was situated in a clump of cat-tails with alfalfa fields not far
distant. The parent bird divided her time between visits to the
adjacent marsh and the near-by alfalfa, and made trips to the nest
on an average of one every 3| minutes. Though the alfalfa was
visited oftener than the marsh, the food of the nestlings was
gleaned largely from the latter place, as over one-quarter of it was
dragon flies and over half spiders, while the weevil amounted to but
7.25 per cent. The parent bird, however, had made good use of her
time in the field, as her stomach contained 3 adults and 56 larvae,
comprising 45 per cent of the contents.

Adults. — The early warfare on the weevils by adult redwings is
verified by examination of stomach contents, and although the insect
formed but a small proportion of the bulk (4.94 per cent), it was
present in 27 of the 36 birds used in this computation. Five of seven
other stomachs, which were too nearly empty to be of use, also con-
tained the insect. Weevils taken in April were breeding adults, and
were eaten on an average of 2J per bird. The highest number eaten
by any was 13.

Of other animal food, caterpillars and fly larvae, mostly aquatic,
composed slightly more than 13 per cent each. Aquatic beetles
formed nearly 3 per cent and ground beetles nearly 2, while several
other items occurred in small quantities, none over 1 per cent. Vege-
table matter formed 57.08 per cent of the food, over half of which
was grain, while the rest was divided between weed seeds (18.78)
and a little rubbish.

During the month of May adult redwings increased their work
on the alfalfa weevil until it comprised about one-sixth of their food,
occurring in 23 of the 32 stomachs examined and averaging 4.84

20 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

adults and 2.41 larvae per bird. The largest number of weevils in
any one stomach was 12 adults and 75 larvae. Of the remaining ani-
mal food caterpillars formed the most important element (16.63 per
cent) , while aquatic fly larvae, some of which were Tipulidae, amount-
ed to about a tenth of the food. Ground beetles (4.44 per cent) and
weevils other than Phytonomus (2.25 per cent) were the only other
items worthy of mention. Among the latter the clover-root curculio
(Sitones) and several species of Spherwphorus^ living on sedges,
occurred repeatedly. The vegetable element amounted to 44.9 per
cent, about two-thirds of which was grain. The rest consisted of
weed seeds and rubbish.

In June, the period of greatest abundance of nestlings, these birds
eat the largest proportion of weevils. While parent birds are ob-
taining food for their young, they are inclined to partake of much
the same varieties. Of 42 birds examined only 2 had failed to eat
at least a trace of the weevil, and it was taken on an average of 5.24
adults and 27.16 larvae per bird. In bulk it amounted to 40.76 per
cent of the stomach contents. One male had eaten 5 adults and 108
larvae. A female had made away with 24 adults and 68 larvae. A
pair collected in a breeding marsh had taken, respectively, 12 adults
and about 90 larvae, and 2 adults and 100 larvae. The records of a
few others are 12 adults and 73 larvae, 5 adults and 77 larvae, 13 adults
and 58 larvae, 6 adults and 61 larvae, and in each of two cases 6 adults
and 60' larvae.

Next in importance to the weevil came caterpillars, which com-
posed 17.38 per cent of the food for June. Aquatic and ground
beetles formed a little over 5 per cent each; flies (largely the larvae
of aquatic species) 4.29 per cent; and spiders 3 per cent. The vege-
table portion (12.67 per cent) was largely grain.

In July one male devoured 2 adults and 10 larvae of the weevil.

Buwmiary. — ^While the adult redwing eats its largest amount of
weevils (over 40 per cent) in June, its greatest worth as a weevil
destroyer lies in the fact that it is among the earliest of the weevil-
eating migrants, often preying on these insects when snow is still on
the ground. The food habits of the young are also in the bird's
favor.

WESTERN MEADOWLARK.

(Sturnella neglecta.)

The western meadowlark (PL II) is a familiar bird of the Great
Basin, and judging from early records is becoming more numerous in
Utah as time goes on. Being a resident the year round, it is a com-
mon visitor to alfalfa fields as soon as snow leaves, and is more fre-
quently met during April and early May than later in the year.

iul. 107, U. S. Dept. of Agricultur

Plate II.

Western Meadowlark.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 21

In April, 27 of these birds were collected, and the weevil, which
was found to comprise one-sixth of their food, was present in all but
seven. The insects taken were adults, and the average was 14.4
weevils per bird. One bird had taken 75 of these insects, another 60,
and three others 51, 48, and 33, respectively.

Other animal food is important, as the largest single item was
caterpillars, amounting to nearly 22 per cent. These insects were
present in all but 6 of the 27 stomachs, and in several instances formed
a considerable proportion of the food. In one 15 caterpillars formed
three- fourths and in another an equal number composed about two-
thirds of the stomach contents. Ground beetles, many of which were
of the genus Amara, amounted to about one-eighth of the food.
Hymenoptera, largely parasitic ichneumons, were eaten to the extent
of 6.5 per cent, while weevils other than Phytonomiis, scarabseid
beetles, Hemiptera, and Diptera formed about 2 per cent each. Of
the vegetable food (27.26 per cent) a considerable portion (15.89 per
cent) was grain, while the remainder was weed seeds and a little
rubbish.

During May an increased consumption of caterpillars appears to
explain a decrease in the percentage of weevils. The larvae, eaten
on an average of 3.83 per bird, and adults at the rate of 7.58, totaled
nearly 11 per cent of the bird's food. A male taken in May had de-
stroyed the largest number of adults, 81 of the insects comprising 92
per cent of the stomach contents, xinother had made away with
over 70 larvaa and 32 adults, while a third ate 40 larvae and 10 adults.

Caterpillars amounted to nearly a third of the month's food (31.66
per cent), occurring in all but seven of the stomachs collected, and
frequently composing the major portion of the food. In one case a
bird had destroyed at least 20 of these insects and in two others 16 and
15, respectively, were eaten. Ground beetles were found in all but 2
of the 29 stomachs and amounted to over a quarter of the food. In
two cases over 20 of these beetles were found in the stomach. Among
them were several of the genus Calosoma, doubtless beneficial, but
on the other hand there were large numbers of several species of the
genus Amara, which are injurious to vegetation. Orthoptera (grass-
hoppers and crickets) composed 6.83 per cent, Hemiptera and scara-
bseid beetles about 3 per cent each, and several other insects were
present in small quantities. The vegetable element was materially
less than in May, being only a little over 9 per cent, and about two-
thirds of it was grain.

In June the meadowlark maintains about the same relation to the
weevil as during the preceding month. There is, however, an in-
crease in the proportion of larvae eaten. Examination of 14 stomachs
revealed an average of 4.78 adults and 11.93 larvae per bird, which
amounted to nearly an eighth of the food. One bird worthy of men-

22 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

tion had taken no less than 100 larvae and 4 adults and another had
eaten 44 larvse and 27 adults. Other food items vary but little in
their relative proportions from those of May. Caterpillars formed a
little less than a third of the contents and ground beetles about a
fourth. Hymenoptera, many of which were parasitic ichneumons,
composed 6.5 per cent, spiders 4.7, and weevils of the genus Spheno-
phorus about 4 per cent. The vegetable element was of no impor-
tance.

By July the abundance of other insect food caused the meadowlark
to greatly reduce the proportion of weevils taken. The insect was
eaten by only one of five birds examined. This bird, a fully fledged
young, had consumed 16 adults of the year's brood, which formed 22
per cent of its food, giving an average of 4.4 per cent for the mate-
rial collected in this month. Ground beetles and grasshoppers were
the most important of the other food items.

Summary. — As a weevil destroyer the western meadowlark renders
its most valuable service during the early days of spring, when many
breeding adults fall prey to its diligent search. Its fondness for
ground beetles and caterpillars, especially cutworms, has a tendency
to reduce the percentage of weevils eaten during the following
months. The good it does in the destruction of caterpillars more
than offsets the harm arising from the eating of ground beetles. As
the latter are very abundant throughout alfalfa fields, and as many
are of species of doubtful economic value, the bird should not be too
severely judged on this score. Examinations show that the meadow-
lark, at least from April to July, is not a menace to grain in Utah.
On the other hand, its being a resident the year round makes it a
valuable asset as a destroyer of hibernating insects, especially the
alfalfa weevil.

BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

{Icterus 'bullocki.)

Bullock's oriole secures much of its food from trees, caterpillars
being the largest single item. Although the alfalfa weevil in all its
stages is found most frequently on or near the ground, it was present
in each of seven stomachs collected. Two birds taken in June had
fed on it to the extent of 8 J per cent of their food, while in the fol-
lowing month it formed nearly twice that amount. One bird col-
lected in July had eaten no less than 21 adults, equaling 30 per cent
of its food. No larvse were taken by these birds even though this
form of the insect was in great abundance, so that the adults may
have been captured either on the wing or upon the branches of trees
which had intercepted their flight.

Of other animal food caterpillars are most important, and they
occurred in four of the seven stomachs. One bird had fed almost

BIRDS IN RELATIOK TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 23

exclusively on these insects, there being only a trace of an alfalfa
weevil. In bulk caterpillars formed over a third of the food during
May and June. Hymenoptera, in the form of wild bees and ants,
composed about a fourth of the contents of five stomachs. Vegetable
food entirely of gi-ain, which was probably waste, occurred in three
of the stomachs collected in July, and formed about a fifth of the
food for the month.

In spite of the accusation that Bullock's oriole injures peas and
small fruit, its good qualities outweigh its harmful traits. It already
has a favorable record as an insect destroyer, but we may now add the
alfalfa weevil to the list of noxious forms eaten by this bird.

BREWER'S BLACKBIRD.

{Euphaffus cyanocephalus.)

Brewer's, or the white-eyed blackbird (PI. Ill) , as it is commonly
known in Utah, is the most abundant blackbird of the State. It is
very evenly distributed throughout the Salt Lake and the Weber
valleys. At a point east of Hoytsville a large tract of irrigated
land, much of which is given up to alfalfa, lies rather isolated from
the river valley proper and at an altitude of several hundred feet
above it. Brewer's blackbirds nested abundantly at the lower level,
and as soon as nestlings were hatched the parents began making reg-
ular trips to the badly infested fields above, adult birds being ob-
served several times traveling considerably over half a mile between
the alfalfa and the nest. Another colony made trips of about a
third of a mile from their nests in the sagebrush to a portion of a
field which was particularly badly infested. Later, parent birds
brought their families to the infested fields, where, in flocks of 15
to 20, they spent the entire day.

Nestling and juvenile birds. — ^Under this head are included young
birds of any age, from the nestling of a day or two to the fully
fledged bird. Of 125 stomachs examined, 78 were for the month of
June, 45 for July, and 2 for August.

In June the weevil formed 20.14 per cent of the stomach contents
and was eaten by 60 of the 78 birds. Together these birds had caused
the destruction of 231 adults and 904 larvae, an average of 2.96 adults
and 11.59 larvae per bird. Though the weevil does not occur in such
large quantities in this series as in those collected later, the following
records are noteworthy : A fully fledged young bird had eaten from 45
to 50 adults and no less than 60 larvae, comprising 87 per cent of the
stomach contents. Another had taken from 15 to 20 adults and 60
larvae. Sixty-four larvae were found in the stomach of a nestling
three or four days old, while four other nestlings had eaten, respec-
tively, about 40 adults, 40 larvae, 37 larvae, and 31 larvae and 1 adult.

24 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUKE.

The animal portion of the food of the young Brewer's blackbird
at this time of the year is of economic importance and amounts to
nearly 94 per cent. Conspicuous are caterpillars (mostly cutworms) ,
which totaled 34.57 per cent, or over a third of the stomach contents.
These insects, abundant in many fields and doubtless doing con-
siderable injury, together with adult Lepidoptera, occurred in 59
of the 78 stomachs, in several cases amounting to over 90 per cent
of the food. Ground beetles (Carabidse) amounted to 11.45 per
cent. While these beetles, as a family, are considered beneficial,
being mainly predaceous, there are some which injure vegetation.
This is especially true of the genus Amara, which made up the greater
portion of this part of the food. Spiders were eaten freely by the
nestlings and constituted 9.37 per cent of the food. Flies amounted
to 7.34 per cent, while the remaining animal food was divided in
small quantities among insects of several orders.

The vegetable food is of little importance at this time of the year,
both from its character and relatively small proportion (6.08 per
cent). Over three- fourths was of rubbish, which testifies to the
voracious temperament of the young, while weeds and a little grain
formed the rest.

The young Brewer's blackbirds obtained in July were fully fledged
and were out of the nest picking up much of their own food. Of
45 birds only 2 had failed to eat the weevil, and in the i*emaining
stomachs it amounted to 25.47 per cent of the food. An average of
11.47 adults, 0.24 pupa, and 25.53 larvse, or over 37 weevils in one
stage or another for every bird, was the record made by these juve-
nals. A few cases will illustrate the importance of these birds as
weevil destroyers. One had eaten 229 larvae, 7 pupae, and 20 adults ;
another made away with 140 larva? and 6 adults, and the record of
a third was 4 adults and 150 larvae. The abundance of adult weevils
of the year's brood in the middle of July is indicated by the stomach
of a young blackbird, which contained 95 insects in this stage.
Another had captured 10 adults, 1 pupa, and 126 larvae. Other
interesting records are as follows: 94 adults; 1 adult and 60 larvae;
26 adults and 45 larvae; 21 adults and 35 larvae; 3 pupae and 63
larvae ; 3 adults and 50 larvae ; and 5 adults and 52 larvae.

The weevil composed about one-third of the animal food during
this period, which in turn amounted to 77.8 per cent of the total con-
tents. Of other animal food Lepidoptera, mostly caterpillars, formed
13.18 per cent, a little less than two-fifths of the amount taken in
June. Hymenoptera, many of which were parasitic, made up 11.29
per cent. Hemiptera, the bulk of which was composed of the small
cicada, Platypedia putnami^ formed 10.11 per cent Ground beetles
totaled 8.67, while the remaining portion was divided in small quan-
tities under several heads.

Bui. 107, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate III.

j

1 '

t

A

w^

\

1;/-!

■

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i-

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 25

The vegetable food, amounting to 22.2 per cent, becomes important
in this month, as nearly two-thirds was of grain, mostly wheat, the
rest consisting of weeds and rubbish.

By August most of these blackbirds had forsaken the alfalfa fields
and were paying attention to grain. Such animal food as they
needed was amply supplied in the season's crop of grasshoppers.
Two stomachs secured are too few for accurate deductions, but both
contained adult weevils, 25 and 12 respectively averaging 13 per cent
of the contents. Grasshoppers made up 38.5 per cent, while the
vegetable element, all of which was grain, amounted to 43.5 per cent.

Field observation and analysis of material collected indicate that
the young of Brewer's blackbird hold a very high place among the
enemies of the weevil. While the stomach contents may not show so
high a percentage as in some other species, the size and voracious
nature of the bird means that a large quantity of food is consumed.
The other elements of its animal food also are highly in its favor.

Adults. — In the season of 1912 Brewer's blackbirds did not become
abundant before the first of May. Only two adults were secured in
April, one of which had eaten a single weevil. The other, taken in
a cattle corral during a snow storm, had eaten nothing but grain.

In May 45 stomachs were collected, some of which contained sur-
prisingly large numbers of these insects. Only four of the birds ex-
amined had failed to partake of this food, and its bulk amounted to
16.85 per cent of the stomach contents. The advancement in the life
cycle of the weevil in the season of 1911 over that of 1912 is readily
shown by this material. The 11 birds taken in the former year
averaged 6.64 adults and 50.09 larvae apiece, while those of 1912 had
taken no larvae whatever but had eaten 10.76 breeding adults apiece.
A female collected in May, 1911, had eaten 25 adults and 246 larvae,
comprising 89 per cent of the food. This same bird also had eaten
a grasshopper, a cricket, a caterpillar, and a clover-root curculio
{Sitones hispidulus). A male taken in the same month had con-
sumed no less than 10 adults and 200 larvae, equaling 97 per cent of
the food, while another had eaten 6 adults and 105 larvae. While the
material of 1912 did not reveal such large numbers, the work was
confined entirely to the destruction of breeding adults. The highest
number taken in May of the latter year was 50 adults. One bird had
eaten 33, while five others had taken over 20 individuals apiece.

Caterpillars, with a percentage of 15.67, were the most important
of other animal foods. Hemiptera,, the greater part of which was the
small cicada, Platypedia putnami^ and ca rabid beetles, with the
genus Amara predominating, composed about 6J per cent each.
Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera about equally divided the
balance of the animal food. The vegetable contents, amounting to
84.11 per cent, was largely grain, much of which doubtless was wast*.
43778"— Bull. 107—14 4

26 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTTJRE.

Adult blackbirds consume the largest proportion of alfalfa weevils
in June, when the insect comprises nearly a third (32.70 per cent) of
the food. Among the 99 stomachs examined are to be found records
of the most remarkable work done by this bird. Only four had
failed to eat the insect. The 99 birds together had made away with
680 adults, 68 pupse, and 4,406 larvae, averaging 6.4 adults, 0.7 pupa,
and 48.9 larvse, or 56 individuals per bird. Though this bird has
a strong liking for insects of larger size, as cutworms and beetles of
various kinds, the weevil formed the greater portion of the contents
of many stomachs. In 11 cases it amounted to 90 per cent or more
of the food.

A female secured from a post-breeding flock had devoured the
largest number of weevils recorded for any individual bird — 374
larvse, 65 pupae, and 3 adult weevils, a total of 442 individuals, com-
prising 96 per cent of the stomach contents. (See PL IV.) It also
had eaten the larvae of an aquatic beetle, a caterpillar, a dipterous
larva, a nymph of a tree hopper (Membracidae), two spiders, and
a little rubbish, including a seed of filaree. Three birds had eaten,
respectively, 281 larvae, 268 larvae and 6 adults, and 240 larvae and 17
adults. In each case the weevil comprised 90 per cent of the food.
Another had eaten 212 larvae and 4 adults. In each of 14 other birds
the combined number of larvae, pupae, and adults amounted to over
100, noteworthy among which was one containing 1 adult and 190
larvae; another with 3 adults and 170 larvae: and a third with 14
adults and over 140 larvae.

Besides the weevils eaten during this month (32.7 per cent) the
adult birds had taken nearly an equal quantity (27.83 per cent)
of caterpillars. In seven stomachs this item made up over 90 per
cent, while in one it formed the entire contents, the bird having eaten
about 23 of these insects. Carabid beetles, Hemiptera, Orthoptera,
and spiders formed the bulk of the remainder. The vegetable food,
amounting to but little more than 6 per cent, was unimportant, as
much was rubbish.

In July the depredations of these birds on the weevil are con-
fined almost wholly to feeding on the adults of the year, which
by this time are out in great numbers, especially in the vicinity of
haystacks and along ditch banks, where they early seek places of
hibernation. In one favorite resort of these birds about the base of
a recently constructed stack, so many adult insects had fallen from
the hay while the stack was being built that a brush of the hand in
the debris at the base would disclose a squirming mass of hundreds
which produced a distinctly audible " whir " in their scramble
through the dry hay for new places of shelter.

During this month the weevil formed 20.26 per cent of the food,
taken on an average of 12.45 adults and 1.79 larvae per bird, and it was

Bui. 107, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate IV.

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BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 27

found in all but one of the stomachs. The highest number taken by
any bird was 40* adults and 51 larvae. This single stomach contained
almost all the larvse recorded for the adult Brewer's blackbird in
July, which may be explained by the lateness of the season in the
Weber Valley where it was collected. The contents of stomachs
taken at this time in the upper valley corresponded to those taken
three or four wrecks previously in the vicinity of Salt Lake. Another
bird had eaten 60 adults, while a third had taken 40. Eight birds
collected in 1911 well show the character of the food when the weevil
begins to disappear. Of the entire food 5.75 per cent was weevil
while 91.5 w^as grasshoppers. Though much grain was being har-
vested in this region none was eaten by these birds.

Of animal food other than the weevil, grasshoppers are conspicu-
ous, amounting to 27.2 per 'cent of the month's food. Caterpillars,
ground beetles, and Hymenoptera, many of which were wild bees,
comprised a little less than 10 per cent each. The rest of the animal
food was divided in small quantities among several items of little
economic importance. Of the vegetable portion (11.52 per cent),
much was grain, the bulk of which was taken from the ripened crop.

Summary. — Brewer's blackbird, both old and young, is working
for the best interests of the Utah farmer and in spring and summer
is among the most effective bird enemies of the weevil. The adults
appear to take slightly greater quantities of these insects than do the
young, whose preference is for cutworms. Late in the season a
marked liking for grasshoppers on the part of the old birds is also to
their credit. About one-fifth of the food of both old and young
during May, June, and July consists of weevils.

This bird is seldom shot or otherwise molested in Utah, where its
economic worth is now fully appreciated, it having recently been
afforded legal protection.

HOUSE FINCH.

(Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis.)

In Utah the house finch is probably the least insectivorous of
all the finches, and in California has been much criticised because of
its vegetarian habits. Primarily a seed-eating bird, it is true to its
normal habits in Utah.

Nine of these birds were examined, but only two had eaten the
weevil, the larval form in each case. One had taken two and the
other three. Caterpillars, the only other animal food eaten, occurred
in one stomach and composed about 15 per cent of the contents. The
vegetable portion of the food consisted of weed seeds, of which three
species were identified: Dandelion {Taxaracum taxaractmi), shep-
herd's purse (Oapsella hursa-pastoris) , and smartweed (Polygonum
hydroplper). Parts of other seeds were present, but, as this bird

28 BTJLLETIN' 107, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGBICTJLTURE.

is especially adept at hulling even the hardest and smallest of seeds,
the partly digested embryos gave no clue as to their identity.

The house finch may render some service in checking the increase
of the weevil by destroying adults early in the season, but owing to
its almost exclusively vegetarian diet this must be small. Whatever
worth this species has lies in its consumption of w^eed seeds.

PINE SISKIN.

(Spinus pinus.)

The stomach of the only pine siskin examined contained traces of
an adult alfalfa weevil, but from what is known of its food habits
in other parts of its range, this bird can not be regarded as important
as a weevil destroyer. It is primarily a seed eater, and its animal
food is confined mainly to such forms as "plant lice and scale insects.

WESTERN VESPER SPARROW.

(PocBcetes gramineus con finis.)

The western vesper sparrow arrives in the Salt Lake Valley in
March, when, during cold, blustery days, it may be found often in
parties of three to six flitting about weed patches, usually not far
from the protecting cover of a creek bottom. Later in the season
it is a common breeder in the sagebrush areas adjacent to cultivated
fields, and from here it makes regular trips to alfalfa fields in search
of the weevil.

In April, 16 of these birds were collected in alfalfa fields. All
but three had fed on adult weevils, which amounted to about a twelfth
of the food. The small size of the stomachs means that in numbers
the weevil will be limited. An average of a little less than two adult
weevils per bird was maintained for this month, while eight weevils
is the highest record of a single bird.

Other investigators have shown that the food of this bird varies
from wholly vegetarian in midwinter to upward of 90 per cent ani-
mal during summer. In Utah insect life began to form an appre-
ciable portion of the food in April, and amounted to a little less than
a quarter of the stomach contents. A third of this was the alfalfa
weevil. Of the other items the clover-root curculio (Sitones sp.)
occurred frequently and totaled about 4 per cent of the contents.
Fourteen of these were found in one stomach. Dung beetles (Apho-
dius) formed about an equal amount, while the remaining animal
food was divided in small quantities under several heads. Of the
vegetable food (76 per cent) about 19 per cent was grain and 57 per
cent weed seeds. The latter element was present in all but one of
the stomachs and in four instances formed practically the entire con-

BIBDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 29

tents. Among the weed seeds were those of filaree {E'rodium cicu-
tarium)^ sunflower {Helicmthus sp.), pigweed {Amaranthus retro-
iiexus and A, hlitoides)^ cockle {Vaccaria vaccaria), smartweed
{Polygonum spp.), panic grass (Pardcum sp.), and brome grass
(Bromus sp.).

Four vesper sparrows wera collected in May, three of which had
eaten the weevil, the fourth having been secured in a wooded ravine
some distance from the nearest field. The weevil formed nearly 40
per cent of the stomach contents of the four, with an average of
about three adults and six larvae per bird. In the remaining food,
caterpillars (8.25 per cent), grain (11 per cent), and weed seeds (42
per cent) predominate.

Examination of a series of 19 stomachs in June shows that these
fringilline birds are decidedly insectivorous during the breeding
season. Every one had fed on the weevil, and in 4 it amounted
to over 95 per cent of the food, while the average for the month was
nearly 60 per cent. As many birds were collected at a time when
the larvae were most abundant, this form of the insect appeared in
large numbers in some stomachs. An average of 3.8 adults and over
24 larvae per bird was recorded. One bird had eaten 2 adults and 60
larvae, another 6 adults and 55 larvae, and a third 1 adult and 50
larvae. The weevil contents of several others are as follows: 5 or
6 adults and about 45 larvae ; 2 adults and 45 larvae ; 1 adult and 40
larvae ; 7 adults and 28 larvae ; and 10 adults and 21 larvae.

Of the other animal food items Hemiptera, composed chiefly of the
small cicada, Platypedia putTiami^ so abundant in the oak chaparral
of the foothills at this time of the year, formed the next largest
portion (7.79 per cent). Clover root curculios (Sifones), "bill
bugs" (SphenopTwiics) , caterpillars, parasitic Hymenoptera, and
grasshoppers follow in the order named. The vegetable portion
(10.63 per cent) is divided between grain and the weed seeds pre-
viously mentioned.

For the month of July a larger series of stomachs (44) affords
added evidence of the remarkable work of these sparrows as de-
stroyers of the weevil. Only one had failed to feed on the insect.
There was an increase in the average number of adults taken (5.36)
and a decrease in the number of larvae (18.43) as compared with the
preceding month, because of the presence of more adults of the year's
brood during July. Animal food comprised 73.02 per cent of the
contents, 52.09 per cent being weevils. One bird had eaten 65 larvae
and 2 adults and was carrying 17 larvae of the weevil in her bill for
her young. Another had taken 46 larvae and 22 adults. The stomach
of a full-fledged sparrow collected in July, and still being fed by its
parents, contained 45 larvae and 8 adults. Eighteen other birds had

so BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

eaten 25 or more weevils in one stage or another, and 3 had also eaten
a few pupse.

Of the remaining items of animal food, caterpillars (5.59 per
cent), ground beetles (4.2), and Hemiptera (mainly the small cicada,
Platypedia putnami) (4.09) were most conspicuous. Weed seeds
again were prominent, amounting to 22.3 per cent, while grain
formed about 4J per cent.

Bwmmary. — Though the individual vesper sparrow is unable to
consume as many of the insects in question as some of his larger and
more voracious neighbors, as Brewer's blackbird or the robin, its
economic relation to the weevil is nevertheless important. During
June and July it subsists on the pest to the extent of over half of
its food, while from a fifth to a third more is composed of other
equally injurious insects, together with weed seeds. The grain eaten
is doubtless mainly waste. These birds, whose natural home is in
the dry sagebrush areas, probably are just beginning to discover
the food supply obtainable in alfalfa fields. As they become more
accustomed to visiting the alfalfa, we may expect them to render
still greater service in the suppression of the pest.

WESTERN SAVANNAH SPARROW.

(Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus.)

The western savannah sparrow is to the average person an incon-
spicuous individual in the bird life of Utah, even though fairly
abundant in many sections. It is frequently met in the Salt Lake
Valley, but is much more common in the valley of the Weber, where
in some fields it is the most abundant of the sparrows.

In May, 1911, seven savannah sparrows were obtained. All but
one had fed on the weevil, and this pest composed 72.42 per cent
of the stomach contents. The larvae apparently were preferred, for,
although adult weevils were common, they occurred at an average
of only a little over one per bird, while the larval form was found
at the rate of 21 in every stomach. One had eaten no less than 61
of the green worms, the highest number recorded for the species.

The remaining food, which, save a mere trace of rubbish, was en-
tirely animal in character, verifies the claim that this bird is one of
the most highly insectivorous of sparrows, and that " they take equal
rank in this regard with such notable insect destroyers as the cat-
bird, robin, and bluebird ".^ The food other than weevil was de-
cidedly in the bird's favor as a large part was caterpillars, fly larvae,
plant lice, and some unidentified coleopterous larva?.

iJudd. S. D., The Relations of Sparrows to Agriculture, Bull. 15, Biol. Survey, TJ. S.
Dept. of Agr., 1901.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. SI

Five stomachs of this species were available for June, and in
every one the weevil was found. A large quantity of caterpillars in
two stomachs reduced the percentage of weevils taken, but the results
show that in this month the savannah sparrow is continuing the good
work started earlier in the season. The weevil composed 37.4 per
cent of the stomach contents and an average of a little over 1 adult
and 11 larva? were taken by each bird. The other food, again almost
wholly animal, contained, besides nearly 30 per cent of caterpillars,
a quantity of spiders, estimated at a little over a fifth of the food.
This latter item was present in four of the five birds and was prac-
tically the only food which could not be considered in the bird's
favor.

Nine stomachs collected in July reveal in a most striking manner
the worth of this insectivorous sparrow as an enemy of the weevil.
All of these birds had eaten the insect, and in six instances it amounted
to 90 per cent or upward of the food, the average consumption for
the month being 80 per cent. These birds were collected in the
Weber Yalley, where larvae were very abundant, and they fed on the
insect at the rate of l^ larvae and a little less than 2 adults per bird.
The highest number eaten by a single bird w^as 26 larvae and 1 adult.

Of the remaining food Hemiptera formed the largest portion
(7.67 per cent). Included here are many small bugs of the genus
Corizus. Caterpillars composed about 5J per cent. The vegetable
portion, 2.22 per cent, was entirely weed seeds.

Summary.— Oi the native sparrows of Utah probably none can
equal the western savannah as a destroyer of the alfalfa weevil, un-
less, under favorable conditions, it may be the western chipping or
Brewer's sparrow. It not only appears to be the most highly in-
sectivorous of the fringilline birds in this area, but also includes in
this diet more than an ordinary share of weevils. During May,
June, and July this insect forms from a half to two-thirds of its
food, sufficient evidence in itself to induce every farmer to become
familiar with the savannah sparrow and encourage its presence
about infested fields.

WESTERN LARK SPARROW.

(Chondestes grammacus strigatus.)

The lark sparrow, one of the most robust and conspicuously
marked of western sparrows, is found in abundance throughout the
Salt Lake and Weber Valleys, and occurs in approximately the same
numbers wherever found. It is frequently seen about alfalfa fields,
and is one of the effective bird enemies of the weevil.

It is common by the first of May, and the 14 birds collected in this
month show that they already were capturing breeding adults.

32 BULLETIN 107, tJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE.

Weevils composed nearly 24 per cent of the lark sparrow's food and
were present in all but one of the stomachs examined. With the
exception of one bird collected in the season of 1911 all had been
feeding on the adult form of the insect, it being eaten at an average
of over five apiece. Fifteen was the highest number taken by a
single bird.

About half of the remaining animal food (7.3 per cent) was cater-
pillars, with click beetles (Elateridse) and clover-root curculios
{Sitones sp.) next in order. The vegetable portion, 62.5 per cent,
was divided between grain and weed seeds. The former, composing
about two-thirds of it, may, to a certain extent, have been picked
up from newly sown fields, but no serious complaints have been
made against this bird.

Six lark sparrows collected in June show a considerable increase
in the amount of weevils eaten (31.2 per cent). The insect was
present in each of the stomachs at an average of about 7 adults
and 7 larvae per bird. In one the 4 adults and 30 larvae present
formed 77 per cent of the food. Caterpillars and grasshoppers,
totaling about 14 per cent each, are the most important of other
animal food items. The clover-root curculio {Sitones sp.),
which is abundant in many sections, was present in small numbers
in four of the six stomachs. The vegetable portion was again char-
acterized by waste grain, which composed nearly a third of the
contents.

In July the insect formed nearly 30 per cent of the food and was
eaten by each of the 11 sparrows secured at the average rate of about
7 adults and 7 larvae, the same as for the preceding month.
The best record for the month and for the species was 13 adults and
49 larvae, while the bill of the bird eating them contained 6 addi-
tional larvae. Caterpillars, occurring in seven stomachs, were next
in importance and composed 16 per cent of the remaining animal
food. The vegetable element, which formed nearly half of the
food, was, as in the two preceding nionths, noteworthy for its high
proportion of grain (45.5 per cent).

A single bird collected in August had eaten several adults of the
year's brood, amounting to 8 per cent of its food. The remaining
portion of the stomach contents was entirely wheat.

Summary. — The claim that the lark sparrow is a greater lover of
grain than most other native sparrows ^ is apparently substantiated
by the writer's work in Utah. It is quite possible that some grain
is secured from newly sown fields or from the ripening or shocked
crop, but no noticeable losses have been attributed to this bird. As
an effective enemy of the weevil the lark sparrow must not be over-

1 Judd, S. D. Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture. Bull. 15, Biol. Survey, U. S. Dept.
of Agr., 1901.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. S3

looked. Though its animal food is somewhat less than that of most
of its relatives during the summer, in May, June, and July this bird
showed a marked preference for the weevil. It was taken more fre-
quently than any other food item, and formed about 57 per cent of
the animal food.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

{Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys.)

The white-crowned sparrow is a common migrant throughout the
Salt Lake Valley and breeds in the higher parks of the AVasatch.
The single bird available for this investigation was secured in May,
and its stomach contained the remains of one adult alfalfa weevil.
Though not an extensive insect eater the white-crowned may assist
in reducing the weevil during spring months.

WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW.

(Spizella passerina artzonw.)

Only eight stomachs of western chipping sparrows are available
for examination. One each was taken in May and June, and six
in July. Of these only one, a bird collected near Salt Lake City,
in May, 1911, had failed to eat alfalfa weevils. This bird had fed
almost exclusively on plant lice. The bird taken in June had eaten
38 of the weevil larvae, composing 98 per cent of the food, while five
lepidopterous eggs made up the balance. Each of the six birds col-
lected in July had fed on the insect at an average rate of about
1 adult and 17 larvae apiece. These composed 76.5 per cent of the
monthly food, and in one instance comprised the entire contents of
the stomach, 32 larva? being needed to fill it. The stomach contain-
ing the smallest quantity (12 per cent) had three-fourths of its con-
tents composed of weed seeds. Of two birds which were evidently
feeding young, one had in its bill 6 larva? of the weevil, and the
other had 8 larvae and a caterpillar. Of animal food other than
weevils, bugs and spiders were most prominent and the vegetable
element of 12.6 per cent was entirely weed seeds.

Too few chipping sparrows were examined to allow a general con-
clusion, but its habits apparently justify placing this bird on a par
with its close relative. Brewer's sparrow, in its relation to the alfalfa
weevil. The larvae of the weevil are suitable both in size and avail-
ability as food for a bird of this character. Examination of a larger
series of stomachs probably would show that the chipping sparrow
feeds on the weevil to the extent of upward of four-fifths of its food
during the months of the greatest abundance of the insect.

^4 BULLETIN 107, XT. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGKICULTtJEE.

BREWER'S SPARROW.

(Spizella hreweri.)

Brewer's sparrow, or the little sagebrush, chippy, as it is sometimes
called, has, like several of its close relatives, learned within the past
four or five years that alfalfa fields afford an excellent supply of
animal food. In some localities during May and June there is little
to choose between the merits of this bird and the savannah sparrow
as weevil destroyers. .

Brewer's sparrow does not become abundant until May, and in
this month 14 were obtained. Half of these were taken in the season
of 1911 when the weevil larvae were well advanced. These insects
composed 43.43 per cent of the food, and occurred in all but one of
the stomachs, averaging 2.2 adults and 6.9 larvae per bird. Twenty-
four larvae was the largest number present in any one stomach.

The stomach of the bird which had not fed on the weevil was nine-
tenths full of plant lice, a food item which occurred in 7 of the 14
stomachs, and amounted to over 38 per cent of the food. In one case
these insects composed practically the entire contents (97 per cent).
Caterpillars were present in five stomachs, forming 7.7 per cent.
Spiders and miscellaneous beetles were estimated at about 3 per cent
each, and the remaining animal food was of small quantities under
several heads. The vegetable portion (1.1 per cent) was entirely
weed seeds.

Each of the 15 Brewer's sparrows collected in June had fed on the
weevil. Three were nestlings, but their food differed but little from
that of adults. In only one instance did the weevil amount to less
than a fourth of the food, while in one it composed the entire stomach
contents, 25 larvae being present. Three others were examined in
which the weevil formed over 95 per cent of the food, these birds
having eaten 17 larvae, 19 larvae and 1 adult, and 28 larvae, respec-
tively. The average of 0.4 adult and 15.3 larvee eaten by these birds
totaled nearly two- thirds (G4.6 per cent) of the food.

Caterpillars superseded plant lice as the next most important food
during this month, forming 14.5 per cent of the stomach contents,
while the latter amounted to only about half that quantity. Spiders,
the only other important component of the animal food, were eaten
freely by four birds, giving a percentage of 6.13 for the month.
Merely a trace of weed seeds was present.

In July 13 of the 17 Brewer's sparrows collected had fed on the
weevil, but a decrease in the bulk was noted, it composing 44.8 per
cent of the stomach contents as compared with 64.6 per cent for June.
There was a slight increase in the number of adults eaten (0.6) and
a corresponding decrease in the larvae (11.8). The highest number
of larvae recorded for an individual of this species is 45. These com-

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. S5

posed approximately 77 per cent of the food of this sparrow while
the remains of a caterpillar and two pupae of a moth added 20 per
cent. One bird ate 3 adults and 18 larvae, which comprised 94
per cent of the stomach contents, and it also carried 9 larvae in its
bill.

The other July food indicates a tendency toward a more vege-
tarian diet. About a fifth of the food was vegetable, while most
important among the animal food items other than alfalfa weevils
were caterpillars (11.9 per cent), Hemiptera, many of which were
leaf hoppers (Jassidae) (9.71), and spiders (2.12). The vegetable
element was made up almost exclusively of weed seeds, dandelion
and seeds of an unidentified grass occurring most frequently.

Summary. — Brewer's sparrow must be ranked among the most
effective enemies of the weevil. During the height of the weevil
season it subsists to the extent of over half its food on this pest.
Other insects equally injurious, as plant lice and caterpillars,
also fall prey to this bird. In the summer months upward of 90
per cent of its food consists of injurious insects and the seeds of
weeds. The remaining tenth is composed of insects that are either
neutral in their economic relations or indirectly beneficial to man.
The amount of grain taken is insignificant.

DESERT SONG SPARROW.

(Melospiza melodia fallax.)

The desert song sparrow is one of the commonest of the native
sparrows of Utah during the early spring months, when it may be
found in the thickets along streams or irrigating ditches. Con-
siderable numbers also pass the winter in favorable spots, which
enables them to come in contact with hibernating adult weevils.

All but 2 of 11 birds collected in April had fed on the insect.
Another bird whose stomach was too nearly empty to be of use in
this investigation also had eaten weevils. In no case did more than
4 individuals appear in one stomach. In bulk they formed 7.35
per cent of the food.

Of other animal food the aquatic larvae of stratiomyid flies com-
posed the major portion, nearly 12 per cent. Caterpillars were
present in two stomachs (7.27 per cent) and among other items which
occurred in smaller quantities were spiders (5.45), dung beetles
(Aphodius) (3.9), groimd beetles (3.18), click beetles (2.72), and
aquatic beetles (2.G3). The vegetable portion was largely the seeds
of weeds (31.18 per cent), among which were those of amaranth,
pigweed, sunflower, ragweed, brome grass, and a sedge. TWo birds
had fed extensively on wheat, which brought the average for the
month up to 16.45 per cent.

36 BULLETIN" 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTTJEE.

Two song sparrows collected in May had been doing good work
on the weevil. In one, 5 larvae and 1 adult formed 24 per cent of
the food, while in the other 22 larvae and 2 adults comprised about
three- fourths of the stomach contents. Besides this the former had
eaten a cricket and a large cutworm, and the latter two click beetles
and a spider.

A single bird taken in June had destroyed 29 larvae, which made
up nearly two-thirds of the food; the rest of the contents included
three click beetles, a caterpillar, three plant lice, two ants, a snail,
seeds of three weeds, and a little grain.

As the song sparrow spends much of its time in early spring in
localities selected by the weevil as places of hibernation, it must be
looked upon as a valuable agent in the control of the pest. It also
aids in the reduction of the number of larvae later in the season.
This bird, along with several other native sparrows, is frequently
confused with the English sparrow, especially by the small boy
engaged in killing the latter for bounty. This not only is one of the
most potent arguments against a bounty system, but also reveals
the need on the part of people generally of a more intimate knowl-
edge of the appearance and economic value of insectivorous birds.

LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

(Melospiza Uncolni Uncolni.)

Lincoln's sparrow is a fairly common migrant in Utah, and was
found in considerable numbers during April, often in company with
its relative the song sparrow. Being almost entirely terrestrial in
its feeding, it is seldom seen by the casual observer.

This bird renders its best service as an enemy of the weevil in
destroying hibernating adults hidden in the localities it frequents in
early spring. Each of three birds examined had fed on the insect,
and it composed 8f per cent of the food. Adult insects were taken in
every case and were eaten at an average of about two per bird.
Among the remaining food were found the clover-root curculio
(Sitones sp.), crane flies, aquatic beetles, and weed seeds.

SPURRED TOWHEE.

{Pipilo maculatus montanus.)

The spurred towhee is most common over the oak-covered foothills
of the Wasatch, and wherever this growth extends to the close prox-
imity of alfalfa fields it may be considered an enemy of the weevil.
As it is a resident species and terrestrial m habits it comes in touch
with hibernating adults. Only two of these birds were collected, both
in April, and each had fed on the insect. One had eaten but a single
adult, amounting to 1 per cent of its food, and the other had taken

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 87

at least 8, which comprised about an eighth of the stomach con-
tents. Other food items highly in the bird's favor were seeds of
brome grass, ragweed, and filaree ; also the remains of click beetles,
the parents of wireworms, were present in both stomachs.

As other investigations^ have shown that the various subspecific
forms of this towhee are, in other localities, of benefit to man, and
since in Utah it was found to feed on the weevil, there is every reason
for its conservation. Its greatest service as a weevil destroyer is
rendered in the colder months.

GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

(Oreospiza chlorura.)

The older name of canyon finch is one that fittingly describes the
habitat of the green-tailed towhee. Among the oak chaparral of
the lower altitudes of the Wasatch this bird is often met, and as it
frequently follows down the course of a mountain stream it may be
found about the borders of alfalfa fields. This was observed many
times in the valley of the Weber, but at no point in the irrigated
areas of the Salt Lake Valley can the bird be called abundant. Six
of the eight examined had fed on the weevil. One taken in May
had eaten four or five adults (35 per cent) as well as a ground
beetle, three darkling beetles, a hymenopteran, and a stinkbug. An-
other taken in June had the contents of its stomach too finely di-
gested for accurately estimating percentages, but fragments of alfalfa
weevils were recognized. Each of the other four towhees collected
in June had fed on the insect, which formed an average of 57.5 per
cent of the monthly food. One had destroyed 27 larvae and 3
adults. Ground beetles, darkling beetles, Hymenoptera, and bugs
were the more important of the other animal food items, while of
the vegetable food weed seeds predominated.

This towhee's warfare on the weevil is conducted only in com-
paratively few fields located at favorable points in higher altitudes.
Little though this may be, this bird should be carefully protected,
especially since in other directions it is working for the best inter-
ests of the farmer.

BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

(Zamelodia melanocephala.)

The black-headed grosbeak is a fairly common and rather evenly
distributed species in the Salt Lake Valley, and is most frequently
seen about the upper branches of shady cottonwoods.

iBeal, F. E. L., Birds of California. Bull. 34, Part II. Biol. Survey, U. S. Dept.
of Agr., 1810.

S8 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTTJRE.

Investigation of the food habits of eight of these birds, four of
which were young, revealed that every one had fed on the weevil,
though in some instances it amounted to only 1 per cent of the food.
An adult taken in May had, besides one weevil and another beetle,
the pulp and skin of an unidentified fruit. Three adult grosbeaks
collected in June had subsisted on the weevil to the extent of 16, 1,
and 95 per cent of their food, respectively. The first of these had
eaten no less than 35 larvae and 7 adult weevils; the second, 3 adults;
and the third, 83 larvae and 8 adults. Along with these were found
remains of ground beetles, weevils other than Phytonomus^ stinkbugs
(Pentatomidae), the small cicada {Platypedia) ^ the seeds of weeds,
and fruit of a hawthorn {Cratcegus).

The four young grosbeaks were of the same brood, nestlings about
two-thirds fledged. Their nest was located in a creek bottom flanked
on one side by a badly infested alfalfa field. The consumption of
weevils by these birds was at an average of 3 per cent for the brood,
while 7 adults was the largest number taken by a single bird.
The presence in the immediate neighborhood of large numbers of the
small cicada, Platypedia putnami, may account for the relatively
small proportion of weevils taken. The former insect occurred in
each of the stomachs and averaged 88.5 per cent of the food. These
young birds had also eaten small quantities of ground beetles, clover-
root weevils, carrion beetles {Silpha) , and a click beetle.

The number of stomachs available for this investigation is too lim-
ited to say how great is the work of the black-headed grosbeak as an
enemy of the weevil, but the fact that each of the eight birds exam-
ined had fed on the insect indicates that it is picked up whenever
found. Other investigations ^ have shown that with the exception of
occasional depredations upon small fruit there is nothing objection-
able in the food habits of this bird. When to its already favorable
record we add the destruction of even a limited number of the alfalfa
weevil, no doubt ' remains as to the economic, to say nothing of the
esthetic, worth of this bird to the people of Utah.

LAZULI BUNTING.

(Passerina amama.)

The lazuli bunting is frequently found about shrubbery along
streams and on a few occasions was seen visiting the alfalfa in
search of food. Only three stomachs were examined. One bird,
taken in a wooded ravine some distance from the nearest irrigated
fields, had failed to feed on the insect. The contents of its stomach
were entirely vegetable, consisting of at least 60 seeds of Montia.

iMcAtee, W. L., Food Habits of the Grosbeaks. Bull. 32, Biol. Survey, U. S. Dept.
of Agr., 1908.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 39

Two others had eaten the weevil, and in one of these 12 adults
formed one-half of the contents while 5 adults and 29 larvae in
the stomach of the other composed 99 per cent of the food, a single
seed of dandelion being the only other ingredient. The former of
these had fed also on a cicada, a grasshopper, an ant, and a little
grain. The lazuli bunting, aside from its esthetic value, is a bird
of considerable economic importance. The products of the farm
seldom enter into its diet, while among its customary food may be
found the seeds of troublesome weeds and many noxious insects,
including the alfalfa weevil.

CLIFF SWALLOW.

(Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons.)

With the exception of the rough-winged, the cliff swallow is the
most abundant swallow in the territory covered by the present in-
vestigation. As enemies of the alfalfa weevil the most effective
work of this and other swallows almost continuously on the wing
is either at the time of the spring flight of the weevil or when the
brood of the year takes wing later in the season.

Twenty stomachs of the cliff swallow were examined, three of
which were of adults and the rest nestlings. The adults were col-
lected early in June, when the birds were engaged in nest building
and their stomachs contained 2, 6, and 8 adults, respectively,
which formed about 12 per cent of the contents. Ground beetles
composed over 40 per cent of the food. Besides these were found
fairly large amounts of Hemiptera (bugs), Odonata (dragon flies),
and aquatic, scarabseid, and other beetles.

In the stomachs of 17 nestlings collected later in the month the
weevil formed but a part of 1 per cent of the contents, and was
present in 7 of the 17 stomachs. In only one, however, did this insect
occur in considerable numbers, that of a nestling about a week old
which had been fed 21 adults. Another had eaten 5, and a third, 3.

As these birds were not far distant from extensive marshy areas,
large quantities of the small aquatic beetle {Helophorus lineatus)
were found in their stomachs. These had been eaten by each of
the nestlings and formed about a sixth of their food. As many as
50 of these beetles were found in a single stomach. A small black
ant occurred in each of the stomachs, in some cases in surprisingly
large numbers, and in bulk it comprised a little over half of the
young cliff swallows' food. The remains of flies of several species
formed over a fourth of the stomach contents.

The work of all swallows upon the alfalfa weevil is confined to the
two flight periods of the adult insect. During the earlier flight, when
the life of the weevil is at its lowest ebb, any reduction of its num-

40 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

bers is of the utmost importance in suppressing the number of the
season's brood. Though the cliff swallow does not arrive in Utah in
abundant numbers much before the 10th of May many breeding
alfalfa weevils may still fall as its prey. These birds feed on no
product of the farm unless it is an occasional honey bee, but they
include in their diet many of our most serious insect pests, note-
worthy among which is the cotton-boll weevil in the Southern States.

BANK SWALLOW.

(Riparia riparia.)

The finding of two adult weevils in the stomach of a single bank
swallow is the only evidence that this bird is among the enemies of
the insect. Other elements in the food were numerous dung beetles
(Aphoditos) and several flies, including a syrphid.

ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

{Btelgidopteryx serripennis.)

Over much of the alfalfa district of Utah the rough-winged is
the most abundant of swallows. Nesting in banks of streams or
railway cuts, they at times are in close proximity to infested fields.

Examination of twenty-one of these birds revealed the fact that
the greatest consumption of weevils took place late in summer, when
the year's brood had taken wing.

Of five birds collected in May, two had fed on the insect, which com-
prised 4 and 2 per cent, respectively, of their food. The remains
of flies, some of which were of the genus Bihio (March flies) , formed
nearly two-thirds of the stomach contents, while small Hymenoptera
and dung beetles (Aphodiics) also figured prominently in the per-
centages.

During June only three of a series of eight had fed on the weevil,
to an average extent of 1 per cent of the stomach contents for the
month. Flies of various kinds were taken in considerable numbers
and formed about three- fourths of the food. Small Hymenoptera
were present in six of the stomachs.

In July the birds began to prey upon the flying adults of the year's
brood. Six of the eight swallows examined had fed on the insect,
which composed 23 per cent of their food. The weevils had been
taken on the average of nearly 8 per bird, 18 being the highest num-
ber recorded from a single stomach. In this case it formed over
a third of the contents, and in another 11 weevils made up nearly a
half. Ants, found in each of the stomachs, amounted to over half of
the swallow's food. Neuropterous insects were also detected in
several cases.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 41

No rough-wings were collected in August, but in all probability
these birds continue to prey on the insect during late summer when-
ever a flight takes place.

The rough-wing probably is as effective an enemy of the weevil as
the cliff swallow, but, like the latter, its work is limited to warm, fair
days of spring and late summer. In addition to the good work of
this bird upon this insect its economic status, based on other activities,
is in its favor.

YELLOW WARBLER.

(Dendroica cestiva cestiva.)

The yellow warbler is the most common of breeding warblers
throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Whenever its favorite nesting
site of willows along the banks of streams and irrigating ditches
occurs about the borders of alfalfa fields, this bird is brought in con-
tact with the weevil.

Five birds were collected in June and two in July. Only those
taken in the latter month were feeding on the weevil. One had eaten
11 larvae and 1 adult, the other 6 larvae. Besides, the latter had in
its bill 3 weevil larvae, a bug, and 9 flies. In bulk the weevil com-
posed nearly a fourth of the food of the two.

The other yellow warblers had fed extensively on caterpillars,
which were found in each of the stomachs and formed nearly
70 per cent of the food. One half-grown nestling had been fed
exclusively on these insects. Small Hymenoptera, some of which
were parasitic, were next in abundance, forming nearly a fifth of the
contents.

Although abundant about the borders of alfalfa fields, yellow war-
blers were seldom observed dropping down to them in search of
food. The upper branches of willows are their favorite resorts and
apparently their food is largely secured from such places.

MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER.

( Opororms tolmiei. )

Listing Macgillivray's warbler as an enemy of the weevil is based
on the examination of only one stomach. Two breeding adult weevils
eaten in May formed about 2 per cent of the contents. There were
also present the remains of a click beetle, a dung beetle, a flea beetle
{Systena sp.), and a large amount of unidentified insect fragments.

LONG-TAILED CHAT.

(Icteria virens longicauda.)

Our knowledge of the long-tailed chat as a weevil destroyer is
based on the examination of three stomachs. In two the insect was
present, one containing a mere trace of an adult, and in the other 2
adults composed about 3 per cent of the food.

42 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The chat's food habits are strikingly like some of the flycatchers.
Hymenoptera form a conspicuous element in its diet, as do also flies
and other forms which the bird may secure from its favorite haunt
in the tree tops. One bird had eaten six wild bees, aggregating 94
per cent of the food, and another had fed on the small cicada {Platy-
pedia putnami)y which formed about two-thirds of the stomach
contents.

As a check upon the weevil little can be expected from the long-
tailed chat, because of its arboreal habits. Its food is of little eco-
nomic importance, much being of a neutral character, while a cer-
tain proportion of beneficial insects appears to offset the good it does
in the destruction of noxious forms. The inestimable value of its
wonderful song, however, is alone sufficient reason for the most
careful preservation of the species.

SAGE THRASHER.

(Oreoscoptes montanus.)

The sage thrasher, a bird of the arid regions, arrives in the Salt
Lake Valley about the middle of March, and its rather weak song
may then frequently be heard about the edges of alfalfa fields bor-
dering on sagebrush areas.

Examination of 10 stomachs showed that the sage thrasher feeds
on the weevil to a considerable extent. In bulk it formed about an
eighth of the food and was present in seven of the stomachs. The
best work appeared to be done in June, when the insect was eaten at
the rate of about 3 adults and 6 larvae per bird. One bird had
eaten 3 adults and at least 34 larvse, which composed 44 per cent
of the stomach contents.

Ground beetles were present in all but two of the stomachs ex-
amined and formed about 30 per cent of the food in June and a
lesser amount in April and July. These beetles and a trace of an ant
formed the entire contents of one stomach. Darkling beetles of the
genera Blapstinus and Eleodes also were frequently eaten, compos-
ing a fifth of the food. Hymenoptera, spiders, and caterpillars were
other important ingredients. The only vegetable food was a quan-
tity of currants found in one stomach.

The sage thrasher can not be regarded as a very effective enemy
of the alfalfa weevil, except when alfalfa fields extend toward its
native haunts among the sagebrush. Under ordinary conditions its
food habits are strongly in the bird's favor, but occasional com-
plaints have been made that it injures small fruits.

LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE.

{Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis.)

The long-tailed chickadee was frequently met along the borders
of alfalfa fields and in the shrubbery of creek bottoms in irrigated

BIEDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 43

sections. Being a resident all the year, in early spring it could be
found searching diligently over the branches and trunks of cotton-
woods or flitting through dense thickets of hawthorn or willows.
In such environment it is quite possible for the chickadee to come in
contact with hibernating weevils.

Six birds were collected in April, and the weevil was present in
the stomachs of three. Two of these contained 2 adults apiece,
while the third had 3,^and this food amounted to about 3 per cent
of the stomach contents.

Much of the food of these small birds was very finely divided
and in some cases unidentifiable. In three of the six stomachs, how-
ever, large numbers of plant lice were detected. Small lepidopterous
cocoons also were found.

Even though the amount of food consumed by one of these birds
is small, there is reason to believe that the chickadees secure many
of those adults which make their winter quarters in crevices in the
bark of trees.

WESTERN ROBIN.

(Planesticus migratorius propinquus.)

The western robin is a resident of parts of the Salt Lake Valley
the year round, but in the more exposed situations and in the higher
valleys surrounding Salt Lake it is a migrant and summer breeder.
In the lower valley it becomes very abundant in April and early May,
while a month or two later, though still common, it is most fre-
quently found in the shade of orchards or in truck-crop areas, where
the more thoroughly watered ground assures it a constant supply of
one of its favorite foods — earthworms. In the valley of the Weber
the robin was an abundant breeder and a frequent visitor to the in-
fested alfalfa fields.

Forty-five birds were collected in April, but four stomachs, being
nearly empty, were not used in the computation. Three of the four
stomachs discarded, however, showed traces of the weevil. Of the
others, 28 contained the insects, adults in every case, which com-
prised a little over 14 per cent of the food. This material gave an
average of 5.63 adult weevils per bird. The best individual work
done by any robin in this month is credited to a male, which had cap-
tured no less than 56 of these insects. Another had eaten upward
of 20.

Caterpillars, many of which were cutworms, were taken with
almost as great avidity as the weevil, occurring in 27 stomachs, but
the larger size of these insects resulted in a much higher percentage,
23.24. One stomach contained at least pO young caterpillars. Click
beetles (Elateridse) and their larvae, wireworms, were found in 18
stomachs and amounted to 11.10 per cent of the contents. One bird

44 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

iiad eaten no less than 5 adults and 40 larvae of Limonius occidentalis.
The other more important elements of the animal food were earth-
worms (8.68 per cent), flies (5.97), dung beetles (Scarabseidse) (5.70),
and ground beetles (3.97). Carrion, unassociated with bone frag-
ments to denote its origin, was found in several stomachs. The rather
careless feeding habits of this bird are attested by a large amount of
rubbish in the food. This occurred in 23 stomachs and amounted to
nearly 12 per cent of the bulk. A little gr^n (2.10 per cent) also
was eaten.

For the month of May only four stomachs are available. Each
contained the weevil, totaling 7.25 per cent of the food. Ko very
large numbers of the insect were recorded, but this is attributed to
the limited amount of material. The other food items maintained
approximately the same relative proportions as in April.

During June a series of 17 stomachs was collected largely about
Coalville, in the Weber Valley, where these birds bred in considerable
numbers. The weevil, present in 10 stomachs, composed 23.77 per
cent of the food, and was taken at an average of about 2 adults and
42 larvae per bird. Two birds had eaten exceptionally large num-
bers of the insect. One destroyed 2 adults and 253 larvae, and the
other 3 adults and about 241 larvse ; the latter composed 80 per cent
of the food. Two other noteworthy records were 1 adult and 75
larvse, and 5 adults and 40 larvse, respectively. Caterpillars, again
a prominent part of the food, were present in all but three of the
stomachs and amounted to nearly a fifth of the contents. Ground
beetles, darkling beetles {Eleodes)^ carrion beetles (Silpha), and
carrion were the other prominent animal food items. Eubbish, com-
prising the bulk of the vegetable element, amounted to more than a
fourth of the contents.

Examination of 18 robins collected in July showed a falling off in
the amount of weevils eaten. Eleven birds had fed on the insect at
the rate of 4 adults and 13.8 larvae per bird and to the extent of 9.39
per cent of the monthly sustenance. One stomach contained 2 adults
and about 220 larvae. Caterpillars, still a conspicuous element (37.72
per cent), occurred in 12 stomachs. Earthworms made up nearly a
fifth of the food, while ground, carrion, and darkling beetles main-
tained about the same proportions as in June. The only vegetable
food other than rubbish worthy of notice occurred in a single stom-
ach, which was filled with the skin and pulp of an unidentified fruit.

Summiary. — ^As is the case with several other resident species the
robin does its most effective work in early spring. Much of its time
is then spent about the borders of alfalfa fields, where many weevils
are emerging from winter quarters. Though the actual percentage
for April (14.29) is less than two-thirds of that for June (23.77),
there is no question that the good done is much greater in the earlier

BIRDS IN. RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 45

month, when the rigors of winter have reduced the insect to its lowest
ebb ; and any agency in the work of destruction that can be brought
to bear at this time is of the utmost importance. The food of the
robin in Utah speaks highly in its favor. Some complaint was heard
that it injures cherries, but this trait does not seem sufficiently uni-
form to offset the good it does. Until the weevil is reduced in num-
bers the services of the robin as a destroyer of breeding adults alone
ought to earn for it the utmost protection.

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.

(Sialia currucoides.)

The mountain bluebird is an abundant breeder throughout the
higher altitudes of Utah and in spring and fall is a migrant in the
irrigated valleys. In the spring flocks of 5 to 15 often may be seen
in the vicinity of infested fields. In their search for food, usually
confined to the borders of fields and along roadsides where fences and
telephone poles afford favorite perches, the bluebirds come in contact
with hibernating or recently emerged adult alfalfa weevils. A con-
siderable number of bluebirds were encountered in April in the Salt
Lake Valley, and in July they were found in post-breeding flocks in
alfalfa fields in the Weber Valley. At the latter place the fully
fledged young were feeding extensively on the larvae, which were then
present in great numbers.

Of seven birds collected in April five had fed on breeding weevils.
In bulk the weevils composed over 4 per cent of the food and were
taken at an average of about two and one-half per bird. Twelve
was the highest number recorded for any individual.

The major portion of other animal food at this time of year con-
sisted of caterpillars (32.5 per cent) and ground beetles (31.3 per
cent). In one stomach eight cutworms formed about four-fifths of
the food and in another a similar number composed over 72 per cent.
Among the ground beetles the genus Amara predominated. Crickets
appeared prominently in two, and in one a large number of dung
beetles (Aphodius) formed about two-thirds of the food.

Each of the nine birds collected during July had fed on the insect,
which amounted to 11 per cent of the food. One, a juvenile bird,
had eaten at least 70 of the larvae, forming 40 per cent of its food ;
another, 17 larvae and 5 adults; and a third about 12 larvae and 3
adults.

The remaining animal food of the bluebirds at this time was char-
acterized by a large proportion of hemipterous remains made up
largely of the small cicada (Platypedia putnami) , so abundant among
the oak chaparral of the foothills.

The mountain bluebirds, like many other spring and fall migrants,
render their most valuable services as weevil destroyers in early
spring. More extensive investigations of their general food habits

46 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ACJEICULTTJRE.

have established the fact that, as a family, they are among the most
persistent of insect feeders and at the same time molest no product
of the farm. Their presence should be fostered at every opportunity,
and there is reason to believe that as our western country becomes
more thickly settled these gentle birds may become as familiar about
dooryards as are their eastern relatives.

ENGLISH SPARROW.

(Passer domesticus.)

From its enormous abundance throughout much of the weevil-
infested region of Utah, as well as from the fact that, individually,
it is a most effective enemy of the alfalfa weevil, the English or house
sparrow must be placed very high in the scale of weevil enemies.
There is no bird in which the people of Utah are more interested than
this much-criticized foreigner and, as its efficiency as an insect de-
stroyer has frequently been questioned, special pains have been taken
to present as thorough a. consideration as possible of the relation of
the sparrow to the alfalfa weevil.

The English sparrow presents a problem in Utah somewhat dif-
ferent from that in many other parts of its range. Though by no
means uncommon in the city streets, the never-ceasing chatter of hun-
dreds of these birds heard along country roads and about farmyards
readily makes an observer realize that in many rural sections of the
Salt Lake Yalley this species is by far the most abundant.

A factor partly responsible for this condition is the presence on
almost every farm of one or more straw-thatched sheds for hous-
ing live stock and in these the birds nest. (See PL I, fig. 2.) These
sheds are constructed usually with the ceiling about 8 or 9 feet
from the ground. The framework is made of heavy logs overlaid
with limbs and smaller boughs, and upon this the straw is placed
to a depth of 2 to 5 feet. Into the straw the sparrows dig holes about
the size of one's arm and sometimes extending inward for a foot
or 18 inches. Masses of nest material also may be found placed upon
the beams or limbs used in the framework. Frequently upward of
100 nest holes, both occupied and deserted, may be found in a roof
about 20 or 30 feet in dimensions. Lombardy poplars, cottonwoods,
and box elders, abundant in the valley, are also favorite nesting sites.

FOOD OF YOUNG BIRDS.

For investigating the food habits of young English sparrows 1,039
stomachs, mostly of nestlings, are available. These were secured as
follows : First half of May, 16 ; second half, 530 ; first half of June,
382; second half, 36; first half of July, 40; and second half, 35.
The bulk of this material was collected from the middle of May to
the middle of June, which about coincides with the period of
greatest abundance of these young birds as well as of the larval form
of the weevil. The largest number was from the vicinity of Murray,

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 47

Midvale, West and South Jordan, Sandy, and Riverton, an area in
which this bird is by far the most abundant species.

May 1 to May 15. — Examination of birds collected during this
interval showed that the parent birds were already visiting alfalfa
fields for food for the hungry nestlings. The weevils fed to the
young were adults which had hibernated, a very important economic
service when is considered the potential harm of each pair of weevils
during the course of a season, as embodied in their progeny.

About one-half of the total animal food, 14 per cent, consisted of
the weevil. Thirteen of the 16 birds collected had fed on this insect,
indicating that this food is probably picked up whenever found.
These nestlings had eaten a total of 218 adult weevils, or an average
of 13f per bird. A brood of three, about 2 or 3 days old, had eaten 60,
50, and 32 per cent, representing 58, 41, and 28 weevils, respectively.

The contents of these stomachs consisted of 28.06 per cent animal
and 71.94 per cent vegetable matter. Of the animal food other than
weevils 4.19 per cent was caterpillars, while 4.37 per cent consisted
of scarabaeid beetles of the genus Aphodius. Ground beetles aggre-
gated 2.56 per cent; Hymenoptera, 1.12 per cent; and Orthoptera
(grasshoppers and crickets), slightly less than 1 per cent. The
remaining portion of animal matter was composed of other insects
in small quantities.

The largest portion of the vegetable food was wheat, found in 15
of the 16 stomachs, and amounting to 65.62 per cent.

May 16 to May 31. — ^The weevil was eaten by the 530 birds to the
extent of 36.12 per cent of the stomach contents, which is the highest
proportion of this food eaten in any of the semimonthly periods cov-
ered. As this figure was obtained from the examination of so large
a series of stomachs, it doubtless is not far from a true representation
of what these young birds do at this time of year. The remarkable
persistency with which the parent birds seek this food for their
young is well shown. Of 530 young birds, only 19, or 1 out of about
every 28, had failed to eat the weevil.

Among the birds notable for their stomach contents were 7 in
which the weevil composed the entire food, 11 in which it amounted
to 90 per cent or over, and 16 in which it was 80 per cent or over.
The number of insects that may be contained in the stomachs of these
young birds is remarkable. A nearly fledged young of a brood of
four had eaten no less than 20 adults and 110 larvae, while the re-
maining three had consumed 27 adults and 29 larvae together. Two
young birds, about a week old, had eaten 62 adults and 92 larvae
between them. A brood of four, about 4 days old, had taken, respec-
tively, 38 adults and 33 larvae, 33 adults and 65 larvae, 41 adults and
67 larvae, and 25 adults and 60 larvae, or an average of 34^ adults and
66 J larvae apiece, equaling 51 per cent of the stomach contents. An-

48 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

other brood had eaten a total of 53 adults and 200 larvse, averaging
lOf adults and 40 larvae for each bird. Four other young, about 2
days' old, had devoured 4 adults and 195 larvae.

A brood of three, 3 or 4 days old, had taken a total of 210 adults
and 12 larvae from a badly infested field adjacent to the shed in
which the nest was located. Another brood of the same number had
eaten 190 and 15 ; a brood of two, 129 and 5 ; while three other young
birds, 3 or 4 days old, had taken no larvae, but had consumed 183
adult weevils. On May 27 the writer collected a brood of five young
birds, 5 or 6 days old, whose stomachs contained a total of 308 adults
and 151 larvae, an average of 61.6 and 30.3 per bird, and amounting
to 70.4 per cent of the contents.

Of the 530 stomachs collected for this period, there was one which
contained over 100 larvae, 7 which had from 75 to 99, 29 with from
50 to 74, and 90 with from 25 to 49. As to adult weevils, there were
5 stomachs containing from 75 to 99, 21 with from 50* to 74, and 74
with from 25 to 49. Many stomachs contained from 15 to 25 larvae,
as well as adults, the total frequently exceeding 40 individuals.

The food, other than weevils, next most important was Lepidoptera,
comprising 18.36 per cent of the contents, and almost entirely made
up of caterpillars. In 28 stomachs caterpillars composed three-
fourths or more of the contents. Though at present these insects
are not causing so milch damage as the weevil, yet the good service
of the birds in destroying them must be recognized. Ground beetles
(Carabidae) made up 4.65 per cent of the stomach contents, the prin-
cipal portion being of the genus Amara. Diptera, made up largely
of Tipulidae (crane flies), comes next in order, with a percentage of
3.9. Spiders, eaten principally during the first 2 or 3 days of the
nestlings' life, composed 3.78 per cent, and scarabaeid beetles, mainly
of the genus Aphodius, represent 2.75 per cent. Hymenopterous in-
sects made up 2.08 per cent of the contents. The remainder of the
animal food, a little less than 3 per cent, was scattered among several
groups of insects, of which carrion beetles (Silphidae), grasshoppers,
and bugs (Hemiptera) were most important.

The vegetable food, as usual, was composed almost entirely of
wheat and oats. Much of this must be considered waste, though
some complaints that sparrows steal chicken feed are verified by this
examination.

June 1 to June 15. — A percentage of 26.75 shows the extent to
which the 382 young, examined in this period, were feeding on the
weevil. A total of 4,907 adults and 5,336 larvae were eaten, an aver-
age of 12.85 adults and 13.97 larvae for each bird. In 1911 of 22
birds 3 had failed to feed on the insects, while in 1912 only 1 out of
360 did not eat them, this being a very young bird in which spiders
and caterpillars formed much of the stomach contents.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 49

Stomachs containing remarkably large numbers of these insects
for so small a bird are to be found in this material, Ojne brood of
five half-grown young consumed, respectively, 55 larvae and 1 adult;
110 larvae and 2 adults; 95 larvae and 3 adults; 85 larvae and 4 adults;
and 123 larvae and 1 adult, an average of 93.6 larvae and 2.2 adults for
each bird. A brood of three averaged 5f adults and 88 larvae apiece,
one of these having eaten ITO larvae and 5 adults, the largest number
recorded for a young of this species. Four young collected on
June 1, 1912, were still busy with the breeding adults, which were
abundant, 272 adults as well as 4 larvae being consumed, an average
of 68 adults and 1 larva apiece. Another hatch of 4, about two-
thirds grown, had taken a total of 54 larvae and 176 adults, one of
these alone having eaten 42 larvae and 60 adults. Another brood of
4 were making heavy inroads on the larvae, a total of 218 larvae and
26 adults being their record. A single bird of another hatch had
destroyed 150 larvae and 14 adults, while another made away with
95 larvae and 8 adults. Numerous other cases occurred where indi-
vidual nestlings had eaten upward of 50 weevils in one stage or
another of development.

Of the 382 birds examined 5 had eaten more than 100 larvae; 6
had taken from 75 to 99; 17, from 50 to 74; and 49, from 25 to 49.
•The adults were not taken in quite so large numbers, two birds having
eaten from 75 to 99 ; 9, from 50 to 74 ; and 46, from 25 to 49.

The total animal food in this period was 60.81 per cent, of which
35.06 was other than weevil. About one-third of this, or 11.3 per
cent, consisted of Lepidoptera, principally caterpillars ; 7.15 per cent
was ground beetles (Carabidae) ; 5.31 per cent Diptera, mainly Tipu-
lidae; while the remainder, 11.3 per cent, was made up of various
insects, of which dung beetles (Aphodius) ^ bugs (Hemiptera), grass-
hoppers, spiders, and parasitic Hymenoptera were most important.

The vegetable food (comprising 39.19 per cent of the contents) is
again characterized by the predominance of wheat, with a little other
grain and some weed seeds.

Jime 16 to June SO. — ^Most of the first crop of alfalfa has been cut
by this time, and in badly infested regions the fields are kept barren
by the work of the larvae, which prey on every green shoot of the new
crop as it makes its appearance. English sparrows still frequent the
fields after food for their young, though the increased percentages of
some of the other food items, especially grasshoppers, indicate that
the weevil is becoming less abundant. Many insects have pupated,
and in that stage are little eaten by birds. Thirty-six stomachs col-
lected in this half of the month show a percentage of 18.25 of weevil
food. All but three of these contained the insect. Examination
revealed a noticeable decrease in the number of these insects taken
by young birds at this time — an average of but 4.97 adults and 6.36

50 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGKICULTURE.

larvae apiece. A single pupa was eaten by one bird, while many of
the adults were those of the new brood. Only a few stomachs are
especially noteworthy. The highest number of weevils taken by any
bird in this period was 52 larvae and 9 adults, eaten by a nestling.
Three other birds had taken 27 larvae, 26 larvae and 3 adults, and 20
larvae, respectively.

Considerable interest is attached to the other animal food, which
amounted to nearly 42 per cent of the contents. Grasshoppers and
crickets occurred in more than half of the stomachs, amounting to
16.3 per cent, while injurious caterpillars totaled 19.64 per cent.
Weevils, other than Phytonomus^ and spiders comprised 1.50 and 1.88
per cent, respectively, while Hymenoptera, mainly parasitic, made up
1 per cent. The vegetable food, 39.78 per cent, showed a slight in-
crease in the consumption of weed seeds, but by far the largest por-
tion, 36.64 per cent, was grain, some of which was that taken from
the newly headed crop.

July 1 to 15. — The 40 stomachs collected in this period show a
remarkable falling off in the amount of weevils eaten, Phytonomus
composing only 0.77 per cent of the contents. This may be largely
accounted for by local conditions. Most of the birds were secured at
a point where grasshoppers were appearing in large numbers and,
though alfalfa fields which had been badly infested earlier in the
season were near-by, but few weevils were found at this time. Most
of those eaten were adults of the new brood, but they averaged less
than one apiece for the birds collected, while the 40 birds together
had eaten but 13 larvae.

The abundance of grasshoppers is readily indicated in the results
of the stomach analysis, which showed a percentage of 35.23,
or nearly three-fourths of the animal food. These insects were
present in 36 stomachs, and in several instances composed more than
90 per cent of the contents. Caterpillars were still frequently
taken, amounting to 8.82 per cent. Of the vegetable food, 52.03 per
cent of the contents, the greatest portion (51.63 per cent) was wheat.
In this case it was almost entirely composed of grain taken from
the growing crop.

July 15 to July 31. — By this time the second crop is well advanced
in most fields and serious damage by the weevil has ceased for the
season. Most of the weevils abroad are adults of the year's brood.
The 35 stomachs collected gave a weevil percentage of 9.2. This
increase over that of the first half of the month may be largely
attributed to more favorable local conditions, though there probably
were more adult weevils available. The birds had eaten an average
of 4.82 adults and 1.63 larvae each, and the insect occurred in 31 of
the stomachs, usually in limited numbers. Were a larger amount of
material available, a gradual decrease in this work as the month

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL.

51

progressed probably would be manifest. The largest amount eaten
by any was by a nestling 3 or 4 days old, which had 13 larvae and
14 adults in its stomach. Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets)
continued to increase and in this series of stomachs comprised nearly
a quarter (24.71 per cent) of the total contents, being eaten by 20
of the 35 birds. Ground beetles, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, and
Hymenoptera, made up the bulk of the remainder. The vegetable
food, practically all grain, amounted to 58.20 per cent.

MAY 1-15

MAY 16-31

JUNE 1-15

viUNE 16-30

JULY 1-15
EXPLANATION

JULY 16-31

CAT£^RJ=VLL/!l/^S G/?^//^

I 1

Fig. 2. — Diagram showing the food of young English sparrows during semimonthly periods

in May, June, and July.

The diagram presented in figure 2 and the following tabulation
represent each of the six semimonthly periods from the first of May
to the end of July, and the proportions of the various food elements
may easily be seen by comparing the various sectors of the different
circles :

Semimonthly periods.

Alfalfa
weevils.

Cfrass-
hoppers.

Caterpil-
lars.

Grain.

Miscella-
neous.

May 1-15..
May 16-31.
June 1-15.
June 1&-30,
July 1-15..
July 1&-31.

14.00
36.12
26.75
18.25
.77
9.20

0.94
.66

1.03
16.30
35.23
24.71

4.19
18.36
11.30
19.64

8.82

65.62
25.05
38.84
36.64
51.83
58.20

15.25
19.81
22.08
9.17
3.35
6.03

62

BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTURE.

Stomach analysis of these birds also revealed the fact that the
value of the young English sparrow as a weevil destroyer varies con-
siderably and rapidly as his nestling life progresses. From the
blind, naked, and helpless bird of a day or two, which must neces-
sarily be fed on the softest and most easily assimilated foods, as
weevil larvae, caterpillars, spiders, etc., to the lusty-lunged fledgling,
whose food is characterized by grain and hard-shelled insects, differ-
ing but little from that of the adult, we find all intermediate stages.
That some idea may be given of the proportion of the several prin-
cipal food items found to occur at various stages of the nestling's
life, the writer has arranged the material into four groups which
represent as nearly as possible birds of the first, second, third, and
fourth quarters, respectively, of the nestling life. Six of the prin-
cipal food items, namely, alfalfa weevils, ground beetles, caterpillars,
flies, spiders, and grain, are considered in showing the change of food
habits as life progresses, and these are illustrated in figure 3. Or-
thoptera (grasshoppers) form an important article of food late in
the season and would have been included had field work been con-
tinued until fall. These insects, especially the nymphs, were eaten
extensively by nestlings of the first and second quarter during July.
The following tabulation shows the changing percentages of foods
during the four quarters of nestling life :

Quarterly periods.

Alfalfa
weevils.

Ground
beetles.

Caterpil-
lars.

Flies.

Spiders.

Grain.

Miscella-

First quarter..
Second quarter
Third quarter.
Fourth quarter

37.95
29.87
26.05
18.75

2.55
5.11
6.23
7.43

26.65
16.09
4.72
3.12

6.71

4.01

2.55

.62

6.43
1.99

.35

5.28
31.69
49.25
63.18

14.43
11.24
10.51
6.55

As the bird becomes older there is a gradual decrease in the con-
sumption of weevils, as well as of other soft and easily digested foods,
as caterpillars, flies, and spiders, while the hard-shelled ground beetles
are taken in greater quantity. Grain, mostly wheat, early becomes
an important food item, and by the time the bird has left the nest it
is well fitted to uphold the reputation of its parents.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS ON THE FEEDING OF NESTLINGS.

Observations also were made of the amount of food given the
young English sparrows and the frequency of the feedings. Parent
birds were timed for a period, usually an hour, and at the end of this
time the incoming bird was captured and the contents of its bill and
throat recorded. By taking the average of a number of such obser-
vations the writer was able to get a fair idea of the amount of food
consumed daily by a nest of these young birds.

BIKDS IN KELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL.

53

In the first observation a sparrow was noticed feeding four nearly
fledged young. The parent bird appeared at the nest with food at
an average of once every Tf minutes. When examined on the last
trip the incoming bird had two grains of wheat in its bill.

JSJ (QUARTER

2>?> QUARTER

3R0 QUARTER

4TH QUARTER

EXPLANATION!

ALFALfA G/=?OUAfO CATSf^/lr FLfeS SP/D£^S G/?A/^

LAA/£rOt/S

Fro. 3. — Diagram showing the food of young English sparrows during the four quarters of

their nestling life.

Another observation gave an average of 5/x minutes for every
feeding. This nest contained two young, about 4 or 5 days old, but
the writer failed to secure the adult at the end of the hour.

Observation of a brood of six young, 4 to 5 days old, showed that
feedings took place at 5-minute intervals. The male, which was
captured, carried 17 larvse of the weevil in his bill.

54 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE.

Another series of observations gave an average of 5 minutes
between the feedings. The female in this case carried a ground
beetle {Harpalus amputatus)^ a caterpillar, and 9 larvae of the
alfalfa weevil in her bill and throat.

Observations of feeding of nestlings on an unoccupied farm showed
that visits were made at the rate of IT trips an hour, or about one
trip every 3J minutes. The female was carrying 28 larvae of the
weevil on her last trip.

From this series of five observations it appears that the parent
English sparrows visited their nest on an average of about once
every 5J minutes, or a little more than 11 trips an hour. The four
adults captured had as food for their young 2 kernels of wheat;
IT alfalfa weevil larvse ; 1 ground beetle, 9 weevil larvae and a cater-
pillar; and 28 weevil larvae, respectively. Three other adults taken
in the fields had food for nestlings in their bills. This amounted to
18 weevil larvae and an aphid in the first, 5 larv8& in the second, and
3 coccinellid larvae, 13 weevil larvae, and 2 pupae in the third.

Though this is a rather heterogeneous assortment, it would appear
that 15 larvae of the weevil or their equivalent in bulk of other insects
would be a fair estimate of an average amount of food brought in at
each trip by adult birds. In fact, it is certain that the material
brought in frequently greatly exceeded this amount.

Allowing, then, 15 larvae at each trip and 11 trips per hour, these
birds would bring in 165 larvae per hour. Then, assuming that the
young were being fed for 12 hours each day, a conservative estimate,
we would have a total of 1,980 larvae consumed by one brood in one
day. As previously stated, straw-thatched sheds containing upward
of 100 nest holes, both old and new, are frequent, and it is not uncom-
mon to find farmyards where this number of nests are occupied.
There are also ample nesting sites about the other buildings and in
the ever-present Lombardy poplar, cottonwood, or box elder. Such
a colony of birds w^ould devour a daily total of 198,000 larvae, or an
equivalent bulk in other food. As the young birds remain in the nest
for at least 10 days and are probably fed several days longer by the
adults, they will have eaten food equivalent to the bulk of 1,980,000
larvae during their nestling life.

As these birds are not feeding exclusively on this insect, the aver-
age amount of weevils eaten by young English sparrows during the
height of the season being about 25 per cent of their food, under
average conditions we would have the young of such a colony eating
495,000 weevils. While there may be some farms where only com-
paratively few larvae are eaten, there must be others where favorable
circumstances will bring the total destroyed by the nestlings of one
brood nearer the larger figure.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 55

To the number of weevils destroyed by the young we must add
those eaten by the adult birds during this time. As four nestlings
appear to be a fair average for a brood, there would be one-half as
many adults as young; and although the food of old birds was only
about 18 per cent weevils during May, June, and July, it amounts
to a considerable quantity in the period that they have young in the
nest to feed.

While the writer does not wish to have too great emphasis placed
upon such somewhat theoretical deductions, at least they serve to
show, with a fair degree of certainty, what might be expected of such
a colony under favorable circumstances.

ADULT ENGLISH SPABROWS.

Careful observation shows that adult sparrows are frequent visitors
to alfalfa fields. Their visits are most often when there are young
to be fed, and at such times the parent birds consume much the same
kind of food as their progeny, especially the adult weevil. Fields
nearest barnyards, where these birds nest, are benefited most, but
numerous cases were observed where the adult birds were traveling
considerably over 100 yards to secure the desired food. Wherever
these birds nested in large numbers a more or less regular stream of
adult sparrows was observed flying to and from the badly infested
portion of some near-by alfalfa field.

In the two seasons' work 104 stomachs of adult English sparrows
were collected, 14 in April, 67 in May, 20 in July, and 3 in August.

April. — But few adult English sparrows were found in alfalfa
fields this early in the season. Breeding and nest building were
occupying their time, and they were seldom seen far from farm
buildings, where they found ample food in horse droppings and
chicken feed.

Weevils (adults in every case) occurred in 6 of the 14 stomachs
and amounted to a little over 1 per cent of the contents. As the
entire animal food amounted to but 2.57 per cent, the weevil formed
almost half of it. In every case save one, only a single insect was
taken, and in that instance two adult weevils composed 10 per cent
of the contents.

The other animal food consisted entirely of dung beetles (Apho-
dius). Seeds of such plants as pigweed {Ohenopodium) ^ amaranth
(Amaranthus retro flexus) , and filaree {Erodium cicutarium) made
up 3 per cent, while the remainder was grain, mostly wheat.

As these birds were collected in April, 1912, when very inclement
weather prevailed, the food was confined almost entirely to that
secured about the barnyard.

May. — The 63 birds taken in May indicate a beginning of the sea-
son's work on the alfalfa weevil. Forty-six had feed on the insect,

56 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE.

which amounted to 8.75 per cent of the stomach contents, and an
average of 2 adult weevils and 2.1 larvae for each bird was recorded
from this series. One bird had eaten 5 adults and 43 larvse, and
another 2 adults and 26 larvae. A bird collected in 1912 had eaten
25 breeding adults.

The remainder of the animal food (1.05 per cent) was divided in
small quantities among insects of several orders. The vegetable
portion, as usual, was conspicuous by the high percentage of grain
(87.19) while the remainder (3 per cent) was weed seeds.

June. — The highest percentages of weevils eaten by the parent
birds were in June. The 20 birds examined had destroyed 26 adults
and 229 larvae, an average of 1.3 adults and 11.45 larvae apiece,
amounting to 29.55 per cent of the contents. Only 4 of the 20 had
failed to eat at least one weevil. One had eaten 49 larvae and 1 adult,
comprising 90 per cent of the contents ; another had taken 41 larvae,
while the 27 larvae and 2 adults eaten by a third amounted to 99 per
cent of its food. Most of these birds had nestings to feed, and the
contents of their bills is recorded under the consideration of the
food of nestlings.

The greater portion of the remaining animal food was composed
of weevils other than Phytono')nus. Of the vegetable portion, 68.4
per cent, a little over 3 per cent was weed seeds, while the remainder
was grain, mostly wheat.

July. — In July only three adult sparrows were examined — far too
small a number from which to make reliable deductions. However,
these showed that weevils were still being eaten, as they were present
in all three stomachs, averaging 18 per cent of the bulk, which, save
a single clover-root weevil (Sitones), was the entire animal food.
This latter insect, known to do damage to alfalfa as well as clover,
was found quite frequently but in small quantities in the stomachs of
both adult and young sparrows.

SUMMARY.

Considering the various phases of the economic relation of the
English sparrow to the alfalfa weevil, it may safely be asserted that
this bird is a most effective enemy of the pest. This is particularly true
of nestling birds in May and June. In view, however, of the ability
of this bird to do serious damage to standing grain, and to take
heavy toll from the farmers' chicken feed, legal protection for the
species can not be advocated. While there doubtless are altogether
too many of these birds about some farms, a reduction in their
numbers may be much more satisfactorily effected by the individual
farmer^ than by the aid of a bounty law, such as has been in force

1 Full directions for trapping and poisoning English sparrows, as well as directions for
their use as food, may be found in Farmers' Bulletin 493. U. S. Dept. of Agr., The
English Sparrow as a Pest, by Ned Dearborn.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 57

in some counties of Utah for the past few years. Such a law, besides
being an incentive to misrepresentation and fraud and expensive in
its operation, very frequently, as in this case, utterly fails in accom-
plishing its object.

BIRDS NOT FEEDING ON THE WEEVIL.

A number of Utah birds w^hich had not fed on the alfalfa weevil
were also examined. From the nature of their food habits or from
the isolation from alfalfa fields of their favorite habitats some are
prevented from becoming potent factors in the control of the weevil,
but additional field work might show others to be enemies of the pest.
The following species were examined, the number of each being
indicated :

Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax ncevius) 1

Avocet {Reciirvirostra americana) 2

Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) 1

Western willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus inornatus) 1

Long-billed curlew (Ntimenius americanus) 1

Snowy plover {^gialitis nivosa) 2

Desert sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius phalwna) 2

Burrowing owl (Speotyto cunicularia hypogcea) 2

Lewis's woodpecker (Asyndesmus lewisi) 2

Black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) 1

Kingbird {Tyrannus tyrannus) 6

Olive-sided flycatcher (Nuttalornis horealis) 1

Pale goldfinch (Astragalinus tristis palUdus) 4

Northern violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina lepida) 1

Cedar waxwing (Bomhycilla cedrorum) 2

White-rumped shrike (Lanius ludovicianus excuMtorides) 1

Rock wren {Salpinctcs ohsolettis ohsoletus) 1

Ruby-crowned kinglet (Regiilus calendula calendula) 2

DOMESTIC FOWLS AS WEEVIL ENEMIES.

The efficient work of domestic fowls in feeding on the alfalfa
weevil had been noted by many farmers, and a few were making
excellent use of broods of young chickens and turkeys by placing
them in badly infested fields. Here these fowls satisfied their appe-
tite for animal food, and when their feeding was confined to a limited
area there was a noticeable improvement in the subsequent growth
of alfalfa.

Mr. William Blood, of Kaysville, conducted experiments with
chickens in the summers of 1911 and 1912. After cutting the first
crop in a field of about 15 acres he set out three colony houses con-
taining 100 eight-weeks-old chicks, 90 five weeks old, and 160 two
weeks old, respectively. These broods were moved from place to
place as the area about the houses was cleaned up. In this way the
work of these diligent workers was distributed over most of the field.

58 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICXJLTURE.

On June 29 the writer made the photographs reproduced in Plate V.
Figure 1 shows the growth at a point in the field where the chickens
were allowed to do their first work after the cutting of the crop.
The second crop responded immediately, and some of the stalks were
9 to 10 inches high. The stake shown in the foreground is about
3 inches high. Figure 2, taken on the same day, shows the bare and
apparently dead stubble of the first crop at a place farthest from the
colony houses w^here the chickens had not been feeding.

There may be danger when a limited area is overstocked with
chickens that their feeding on the growing crop will impair its prog-
ress, but by a judicious scattering and moving of the broods these
young birds may be used to excellent advantage. They not only
materially benefit the subsequent crop of alfalfa, but also find an
abundant supply of animal food.

OTHER VERTEBRATE ENEMIES OF THE WEEVIL.

As toads {Bufo lerdiginosus woodhousei) were abundant in well-
watered fields, and frogs {Rana pipiens) were often found in alfalfa
adjacent to ditches, an investigation was made of their food habits,
and it was found that both were feeding on the weevil. A sala-
mander (Amhystoma tigrinum) collected in 1911 had eaten one adult.
A blue racer {Zamenis constrictor flaviventris) collected north of
Salt Lake City, and another taken near Bountiful, had failed to eat
any. Mr. E. G. Titus records^ horned "toads" {Phrynosoma spp.),
swifts (Lacertilia), and a small garter snake {Eutcenia sp.) as
enemies. He also mentions having found a shrew {Sorex sp.) which
had fed on a single weevil. The stomach of one of these, a Sorex
ohscurus, collected by the writer near Midvale contained none.

As a fairly good series of stomachs of both the Eocky Mountain
toad and the leopard frog were secured, a detailed account of their
relation to the weevil follows.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN TOAD.

{Bufo lentiginosus woodhousei.)

Toads are essentially nocturnal, especially during the hot, dry
months of summer at the altitude of the Salt Lake Valley. Although
on cool, cloudy days they may be abroad in alfalfa fields, ordinarily
they seldom feed much before sundown or after the morning sun has
dried the dew.

As an enemy of the alfalfa weevil the Rocky Mountain toad ren-
ders its best service in the destruction of breeding adults during
spring and early summer. Later in the year the bullr of the larvae

iBuU. 110, Utah Agr. Coll. Exp. Sta., p. 49, Sept., 1910.

Bui. 107, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate V.

Fig. 1.— Work of Chickens on an Infested Field.

[This shows the second crop of alfalfa well started in a part where chickens had been allowed
to feed. The stake in the left foreground is about 3 inches high.]

Fig. 2.— Part of Same Field where Chickens had not Fed.

[Note the dry leafless stubble of the first crop two weeks after cutting. Photographs taken the

same day.]

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 59

are out of its reach, except when the crop has been cut. At such
times larvae which have been dislodged and are seeking new feeding
places are quickly seized by the hungry toad. After raking, the same
condition prevails until the larvae have again established themselves
and become practically stationary during their feeding operations.
Mr. E. G. Titus records having examined the stomach of a toad found
in a recently cut field. ^ Over 800 larvae had been eaten by this
batrachian, " and there was also present a mass of more or less
digested animal matter which apparently contained a good many
more larvae. From this same toad there were also taken 75 (adult)
weevils, and there were in the partly digested mass the wing covers
of more weevils." Though the writer collected toads which had eaten
a considerable number of larvae, none had equaled this remarkable
record.

Twenty-eight specimens of this toad were collected, 2 in April, 8 in
May, and 18 in June.

Each of the two taken in April had fed on the adult weevil, one
having eaten 9 and the other 20, which amounted to over a fifth of
their food. Besides this they had fed on several ground beetles of
the genera Harpcdus^ Amara^ and Pterostichus. These formed over
half of the stomach contents. In one stomach was also a large crane
fly, and in the other a mass of ants.

Seven of the eight toads collected in May had eaten the weevil,
adults in all cases but one. In bulk this element formed nearly 15 per
cent of the food and was taken on an average of about 10 for each
toad. Thirty-eight adults was the highest number recorded for an
individual. Besides the weevil a large quantity (30 per cent) of
ground beetles, mostly of the genera previously mentioned, was con-
sumed. Ants occurred in seven stomachs, forming nearly 18 per cent
of the food. Click beetles {Drasterius elegans and M onocrepidius
vespertinus) , which were abundant in some sections, and do serious
injury to such crops as corn and wheat, were eaten freely. Even the
large sluggish cutworm so common in alfalfa fields was also taken.

Sixteen of the 18 toads secured in June had fed on the weevil to
the extent of about a twelfth of their food, and at an average of
about 15 adults and IJ larvae apiece. One had devoured 83 of the
adults and another had made away with 28 adults and 15 larvae.
Ground beetles were eaten by every one of the toads and formed
nearly a fourth of the food. One toad had taken no less than 68
Angara fallax, which at times are injurious to vegetation. Ants
were present in all but two of the stomachs and in bulk amounted to
over 21 per cent. Among these were found many specimens of the
western harvest ant {Pogonomyrmex occfidentalis) . Numerous other

1 Bull. 110, Utah Agr. Coll. Bxp. Sta., p. 50, Sept., 1910.

60

Coleoptera, including May beetles, click beetles, darkling beetles, and
a few weevils, made up nearly an eighth of the food. Caterpillars
(7.9 per cent), spiders (2.1 per cent), and miscellaneous insects (7.8
per cent) composed the bulk of the remaining contents. About half
of these stomachs contained varying quantities of vegetable rubbish,
doubtless swallowed accidentally along with the insects.

While the toad destroys a considerable number of beneficial ground
beetles, some "ladybirds" (Coccinellidse), carrion and dung beetles
(Silphidse, Aphodius, etc.), and spiders, it also destroys even greater
quantities of insects highly injurious to man. Among these may be
mentioned May beetles (the adults of the white grub) ; click beetles
(parents of the wireworm) ; various snout beetles, including the
alfalfa weevil ; ants ; and caterpillars, including cutworms and army
worms. The function of the toad in nature appears to be a rather
indiscriminate reduction of insect life coming within reach. These
batrachians therefore are especially valuable in the suppression of a
terrestrial insect which has become unduly abundant. As such a
condition prevails in Utah, every effort should be made to conserve
the numbers of this valuable insect destroyer, whose worth is gen-
erally underestimated.

LEOPARD FROG.

(Rana pipiens.)

This alert batrachian often may be found in alfalfa adjacent to
water and in low, damp fields. Like the toad, it is highly insectivor-
ous, but in its more aquatic environment its diet differs somewhat.
Conditions are not so favorable for its becoming as effective an enemy
of the alfalfa weevil as the toad, although adult weevils hibernating
in the brush along ditches may form an appreciable portion of its
food.

Two of the three frogs secured in May had fed on the weevil, in
each case a single insect being taken. In bulk this averaged about
1 per cent of the food. Ground beetles, earthworms, flies, spiders,
and neuropterous insects were the principal other components.

In June four of the six collected had eaten weevils, which formed a
larger proportion of the diet (2^ per cent). One frog had eaten
six adults, and larvae had been taken in three of the four cases.
Ground beetles, which again figured prominently in the diet, occurred
in five of the six stomachs and formed about 40 per cent of the food.
A stink bug {Euschistus varioiarius) , which has been injurious to
vegetation, appeared to be a favorite food. It formed 17 per cent
of the stomach contents. Click beetles, caterpillars, and spiders made
up the greater portion of the remainder. Vegetable rubbish, as in
the case of the toad, was freely taken while swallowing insect food.

BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 61

The food habits of the leopard frog stamp it as one of the most
beneficial of the lower vertebrates. Its only harm lies in the destruc-
tion of beneficial predaceous and parasitic insects, but this is out-
weighed by its persistent attack upon such insect pests as mosquitoes,
crickets, grasshoppers, and the predaceous water beetles injurious to
small fish fry. It is deplorable that so many of these batrachians
are being slaughtered, either for fish bait or for the small morsel of
food which their legs afford.

CONCLUSION.

The investigation of the food habits of the birds of Utah in rela-
tion to the alfalfa weevil verifies the statement frequently made that
the abundance of an insect, and consequently the ease with which it
may be secured, are important factors governing the food habits of
birds. With the exception of a few restrictions placed upon certain
species by their methods of feeding, insectivorous birds are to a
certain degree indiscriminate in their choice of food. Flycatchers,
swallows, nighthawks, etc., are limited in a large measure to flying
insects; thrushes, meadow^lari^s, blackbirds, and gallinaceous species
secure most of their insect food from the ground; while warblers,
chickadees, woodpeckers, cuckoos, etc., feed largely among the tree
tops. It is the ground- feeding birds which come into most intimate
contact with the alfalfa weevil, but birds that feed on the wing may
secure the insect at the time of its spring and summer flights; and
such species as search for their food over trunks of trees may come
into contact with a few hibernating adults. Over much of the terri-
tory covered by the writer in his two seasons' work these bird enemies
of the weevil had learned to search for the insect as a food in the
comparatively short period of four or five years, a fact which makes
the large proportion of this food eaten by some species the more
remarkable.

With the possible exception of a fungous disease, which in some
localities destroyed large numbers of the pupae, there probably was,
at the close of 1912, no other natural agency which had done more in
holding the alfalfa weevil in check than the native birds. Being
alert to detect any unusual abundance of suitable food in the insect
world, they were among the first to turn their attention to this new
pest, and when once a convenient supply of this food was found in
the alfalfa these fields became popular with many species. It is
quite possible that in the case of some of the birds examined a knowl-
edge of the location of this insect had been only recently acquired,
and a few years more experience with it would place these species
much higher in the scale of weevil enemies.

62 BULLETIN 107, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The laws enacted in the State of Utah for the protection of bird
life are, on the whole, adequate and well enforced, and the love for
bird life by the people of Utah has been a powerful agency in making
this possible. Since the writer's investigations in 1911-12 a law was
passed (effective March 11, 1913) giving protection to one of the
effective enemies of the alfalfa weevil — Brewer's blackbird. How-
ever, during the present crisis of the insect outbreak, it appears wise
to suggest that added protection be given to another enemy of the
weevil, and that there be removed from the statute books a bounty
law on a third.

The species deserving added protection, for a short period at
least, that its good work in the suppression of the weevil may continue
unimpaired, is the valley quail. Its numbers at present throughout
most of the alfalfa area are too limited to threaten serious harm to
grain crops. In fact, from what was learned regarding the food
habits of this bird in relation to the weevil, it is far too scarce for
the best interests of the Utah farmer. A shorter open season or even
absolute protection for a few years would rapidly increase its num-
bers to a point where it could do effective work on the insect.

Kemoval of the bounty law on the English sparrow is recom-
mended, not so much because the bird requires added protection, as
for the reason that this law, as is the case with most laws of this
nature, utterly fails to materially reduce the number of these birds,
and at the same time it has been the reason for the destruction of many
birds of other and beneficial species. A reduction in the numbers of
the sparrow, if desired, can be much more effectively accomplished
either by the efforts of individual farmers or by the employment of
competent men to make a thorough and extensive campaign of trap-
ping, poisoning, or nest destruction. Where chicken feed can be
protected and where grain fields will not be jeopardized these birds
may well be allowed to continue unmolested their good work on the
alfalfa weevil.

INDEX,

Agelaius phoenlceus fortis, 18-20.
Alfalfa weevil. See Weevil, alfalfa.
Ambystoma tigrinum, 58.
Aphelocoma woodliousei, 14-15.
Arkansas kingbird, 9.

Bank swallow, 40.

Birds feeding on weevil, distribution of,
3-4.

list of, 4-5.

not feeding on weevil, list of, 57.
Blackbird, Brewer's, 23-27, 62.

red-winged, 18-20.

yellow-headed, 17-18.
Black-headed grosbeak, 37-38.
Bluebird, mountain, 45-46.
Bobolink, 15.

Bounty laws, 36, 56-57, 62.
Brewer's blackbird, 23-27, 62.

sparrow, 34-35.
Bufo lentiginosus woodhousei, 58-60.
Bullock's oriole, 22-23.
Bunting, lazuli, 38-39.

California gull, 5-6.

Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis, 27-28.

Chat, long-tailed, 41-42.

Chickadee, long-tailed, 42-43.

Chipping sparrow, western, 33.

Chondestes grammacus strigatus, 31-33.

Cliff swallow, 39-40.

Colaptes cafer colearis, 9.

Conclusion, 61-62.

Cowbird, 15-16.

Cyanocitta stelleri diademata, 14.

Dendroica sestiva aestiva, 41.
Desert homed lark, 10-11.

song sparrow, 35-36.
Distribution of weevil-eating birds, 3-4.
Dolichonyx oryzivorus, 15.
Domestic fowls as weevil enemies, 57-58.
Dove, western mourning, 8-9.

Empidonax trailli trailli, 10.
Enemies of alfalfa weevil, birds as, list of,
4-5.

domestic fowls as, 57-58.

other vertebrate, 58.
English sparrow, 46-57, 62.
Euphagus cyanocephalus, 23-27.
Eutsenia sp., 58.

Finch, house, 27-28.
Flicker, red-shafted, 9.

Flycatcher, Traill's, 10.

Fowls, domestic, as weevil enemies, 57—58.

Frog, leopard, 60-61.

Garter snake, 58.
Green-tailed towhee, 37.
Grosbeak, black-headed, 37-38.
Gull, California, 5-6.

Horned lark, desert, 10-11.

" toad," 58.
House finch, 27-28.

Icteria virens longicauda, 41-42.

Icterus bullocki, 22-23.

Importation and spread of alfalfa weevil,

1-2.
Introduction, 1.

Jay, long-crested, 14.

Woodhouse's, 14-15.

Killdeer, 6-7.
Kingbird, Arkansas, 9.

Lacertilia, 58.

Lark, desert horned, 10-11.

sparrow, western, 31-33,
Larus californicus, 5-6.
Lazuli bunting, 38-39.
Leopard frog, 60-61.
Life history of alfalfa weevil, 2-3.
Lincoln's sparrow, 36.
Long-crested jay, 14.
Long-tailed chat, 41-42.

chickadee, 42-43.
Lophortyx californica vallicola, 8.

Macgillivray's warbler, 41.
Magpie, 11-14.
Meadowlark, western, 20^22.
Melospiza lincolni lincolni, 36.

melodia fallax, 35-36.
Molothrus ater ater, 15-16.
Mountain bluebird, 45-46.
Mourning dove, western, 8-9.

Oporornis tolmiei, 41.

Oreoscoptes montanus, 42.

Oreospiza chlorura, 37.

Oriole, Bullock's, 22-23.

Otocoris alpestris leucolaema, 10-11.

Oxyechus vociferus, 6-7.

Passer domesticus, 46-57.
Passerculus sandwichensia alaudinus, SC-
SI.

63

64

BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE.

Passerina amcena, 38-39.

Penthestes atricapillus septentrjonalis, 42-

43.
Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons, 39-40.
Phalarope, Wilson's, 6.
Phoebe, Say's, 10.
Phrynosoma spp., 58.
Pica pica hudsonia,^ 11-14.
Pine siskin, 28.

Pipilo maculatus montanus, 36-37.
Planesticus migratorius propinquus, 43-45.
Pooecetes gramineus confinis, 28-30.

Quail, valley, 8, 62.

Rana pipiens, 60-61.
Red-sliafted flicker, 9.
Redwing, thick-billed, 18-20.
Riparia riparia, 40.
Robin, western, 43-45.
Rocky mountain toad, 58-60.
Rough-winged swallow, 40-41.

Sage thrasher, 42,

Salamander, 58.

Savannah sparrow, western, 30-31.

Sayomis sayus, 10.

Say's phoebe, 10.

Shrew, 58.

Sialia currucoides, 45-46.

Siskin, pine, 28.

Snake, garter, 58.

Song sparrow, desert, 85-36.

Sorex sp., 58.

Sparrow, Brewer's 34-35.

desert song, 35-36.

English, 46-57, 62.

Lincoln's, 36.

western chipping, 33.
lark, 31-33.
savannah, 30-31.
vesper, 28-30.

white-crowned, 33.
Spinus pinus, 28.
Spizella breweri, 34-35.

passerina arizonaj, 33.
Spurred towhee, 36-37.
Steganopus tricolor, 6.

Stelgidopteryx serripennis, 40—41.
Sturnella neglecta, 20-22.
Swallow, bank, 40.

cliflE, 39-40.

rough-winged, 40-41.
Swift (Lacertilia), 58.

Thick-billed redwing, 18-20.
Thrasher, sage, 42.
" Toad," horned, 58.

Rocky Mountain, 58-60.
Towhee, green-tailed, 37.

spurred, 36-37.
Traill's flycatcher, 10.
Tyrannus verticalis, 9.
Valley quail, 8, 62.
Vertebrate enemies, other, of alfalfa weevil,

58.
Vesper sparrow, western, 28-30.

Warbler, Macgillivray's, 41.

yellow, 41.
Weevil, alfalfa, birds feeding on, distribu-
tion of, 3-4.
list of, 4-5.

birds not feeding on, list of, 57.

domestic fowls as enemies of, 57-58.

importation and spread of, 1-2.

life history of, 2-3.

vertebrate enemies of, other, 58.
Western chipping sparrow, 33.

lark sparrow, 31-33.

meadowlark, 20-22.

mourning dove, 8-9.

robin, 43—45.

savannah sparrow, 30-31.

vesper sparrow, 28—30.
White-crowned sparrow, 33.
Wilson's phalarope, 6.
Woodhouse's jay, 14-15.

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, 17-18.

Yellow-headed blackbird, 17-1 S.
Yellow warbler, 41.

Zamelodia melanocephala, 37-38.
Zenaidura macroura marginella, 8-9.
Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys, 33.

WASHINGTON : GOVERNME.XT PKIXTING OFFICE : 1914

Y. B. Separate 564.

BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLING MOTH.

W. L. McATEE,

Assistant Biologist, Bureau of Biological Survey.

[From Yearbook of Department of Agriculture for 1911.]

39333"— 12

WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE ; 1912

CONTENTS.

Page.

Relation of birds and insects 237

Losses due to the codling moth 237

Life history of the codling moth 237

Destruction of larvae by birds 238

Efficiency of bird enemies 243

Foreign bird enemies of the codling moth 244

Summary 245

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Plate X. Larva and pupae of codling moth 240

XL Holes and cracks in trees enlarged by woodpeckers searching for

codling-moth larvae and pupae 240

II

BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLING MOTH.

By W. L. McAtee,
Assistant Biologist, Bureau of Biological Survey.

RELATION OF BIRDS AND INSECTS.

Most birds are to some extent insectivorous, and many species live
almost exclusively upon insects. There is no doubt that their com-
bined attack has an important influence on the numbers of the
insect army. In spite of birds and other enemies, however, it not
rarely happens that certain insects suddenly increase in numbers
and threaten great damage locally to crops. Instances of the sup-
pression by birds of such strictly local outbreaks of insects are
numerous. Rarely, however, do they exercise a noticeable degree
of control over an insect so widely distributed and so important
economically as the codling moth. Nevertheless, since 1746 nearly
all entomologists who have published accounts of the codling moth
have paid high tribute to its avian enemies, and they are almost
unanimous in declaring birds to be the most efficient natural enemies
of the pest.

LiOSSES DUE TO THE CODLING MOTH.

The experts of the Bureau of Entomology state that the codling
moth causes greater loss to apples and pears than all the other
insect enemies of these fruits combined. They estimate the damage
the insect does to the apple crop of the United States at approxi-
mately $12,000,000 annually.^ If account be taken of expenses
incurred in attempts to control the insect, as for labor, arsenicals,
and spraying apparatus, an additional sum of probably not less
than $3,000,000 or $4,000,000, or a total of at least $15,000,000, must
be charged to the presence of this insect in the apple orchards of the
United States.

LIFE HISTORY OF THE CODLING MOTH.

The life history of so important a pest has, of course, been care-
fully studied. It has been found by entomologists that as a rule the
eggs are laid upon the leaves or the fruit. There are usually two
broods of the insects and consequently two periods of oviposition,
namely, in early spring and in midsummer. The eggs hatch in

1 Yearbook, U. S. Dept Agric. p. 435, 1007.

237

238 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

from 9 to 18 days, and the minute larvae immediately hunt for the
fruit. Those finding it bore in at once and spend from 10 to 30
days feeding upon the seeds and flesh around the core. At maturity
the larvae emerge, chiefly at night, and seek sheltered places, such as
holes or cracks in the trees or ground, crevices under bark scales on
the trunk, or refuges under boards or other litter on the ground in
which to spin their cocoons. (PL X, figs. 2 and 3.) Here they either
pupate at once in preparation for the second brood of the season, or,
if winter is near, pupation is postponed till the following spring.
The adults fly mostly by night.

DESTRUCTION OF LARV^ BY BIRDS.

Thus the nocturnal habits of the species in its active stages and
the fact that it is hidden at other times leave few opportunities for
birds to attack it. In spite of this, however, birds destroy great
numbers. Some larvae are no doubt captured during the interval
between emergence from the fruit and spinning the cocoon, but as
this period is brief and usually occurs at night, a great majority of
them probably reach a hiding place in safety. But woodpeckers
drill through the bark flakes under which larvae or pupae lie in
their cocoons, or enlarge cracks that shelter large numbers of these
insects in immature stages, and the titmice, chickadees, nuthatches,
and creepers find them in shallow crevices or by prying off loose
scales of bark. Probably most of the other birds, also, which feed
upon the larvae and pupae get them chiefly by these latter methods.

WOODPECKERS.

The most effective enemies of codling moths are those that can
best attack them in their pupal chambers. It is not surprising,
therefore, that woodpeckers, accustomed as they are to obtaining
their food from crevices and under bark flakes, should take high
rank among the foes of this pest. (PL XI.)

Roesel, the first man who published an accurate account of the
codling moth, noted the beneficial work of woodpeckers. He says
of the larvae seeking places to pupate : " They conceal themselves so
thoroughly as scarcely to be found by men ; but the woodpeckers and
similar birds know how to discover quickly their retreats."^

Trimble, an American investigator, was the first to ascertain how
the downy woodpecker " finds where to peck through the scales of
bark, so as to be sure to hit the apple worm that is so snugly con-
cealed beneath." After stating that the sense of smell will not ac-
count for it, he says :

1 Roesel von Rosenhof, A. J. Insecten-Belustigen : l^er Theil, Der NachtvSgel, 4*«
Classe, No. 13, p. 36, 1746.

BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLINO MOTH. 239

This little bird finds the concealed larvae under the bark, not from any noise
the insect makes; it is not a grub of a beetle having a boring habit and liable
to make u sound that might betray its retreat, in seasons of the year when not
torpid. A caterpillar makes scarcely an appreciable noise, even when spinning
its cocoon, and when that is finished it rests as quietly within as an Egyptian
mummy in its sarcophagus. There is no evidence that the downy woodpecker
ever makes a mistake; it has some way of judging. The squirrel does not
waste time in cracking an empty nut. There is no reason to believe that this
bird ever makes holes through these scales merely for pastime or for any
other purpose except for food. He knows before he begins that if he works
through, just in that spot, he will find a dainty morsel at the bottom of it, as
delicious to him as the meat of the nut is to the squirrel. But how does he
know? By sounding — tap, tap, tap, just as the physician learns the condition
of the lungs of his patient by what he calls percussion. . . . Watch him.
See how ever and anon he will stop in his quick motions up and down, and
give a few taps upon the suspected scale, and then test another and another,
until the right sound is communicated to that wonderful ear.^

Dr. Trimble examined the stomachs of three downy woodpeckers
and found codling-moth larvae in two of them. This was in the
sixties; the observation has been confirmed many times since, and
the downy has been praised on all sides. Well does he deserve
appreciation. In most apple orchards in the United States in fall
and winter the sound of the tapping of the downy woodpecker may
be heard almost every day, and many a codling-moth larva or pupa
do the birds devour. The insects have been found in stomachs of
this species from New York, New Jersey, Texas, and California,
and no fewer than 20 larvae have been taken from a single stomach.
The downy woodpecker not only gets codling worms from the trunks
of apple trees, but takes them from the fruit itself.

F. M. Webster notes that Mrs. S. H. Hine, of Sedan, Ind., a most
careful observer of birds, stated that she had seen this species feed-
ing on these larvae, extracting them from apples which were hanging
to the tree. She had watched a downy woodpecker on a tree in her
yard until it worked upon an apple within her reach, and, keeping
her eye on this apple, she had approached the tree and picked it.
She found that the young larva had made some progress into the
fruit, starting from the calyx, but that it had been deftly extracted by
the woodpecker and without injury to the fruit. Mr. Webster says
further :

In a conversation with Judge McBride, of Elkhart, Ind., also a careful ob-
server of birds, he stated that he had also observed downy woodpeckers ex-
tracting the worms from young apples, and he had never observed that in so
doing the birds in any way injured the fruit. It seems, then, that the labors
of this bird act not only as a preventive, but also afford actual and immediate
relief to the infested fruit.'

1 Trimble, Isaac P. Treatise on the Insect Enemies of Fruit and Fruit Trees, pp.
116-117, 1865.

2 Insect Life, III, p. 348, Apr., 1891.

\

\

240 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Two western species of woodpeckers also are known to extract
larvae in the same way. Mr. W. Otto Emerson, of Haywards, CaL,
in a letter to the Biological Survey, dated March 14, 1909, says:

Several cases have come under my observation when in the fall months
* * * the California and Lewis woodpeckers made their appearance in
canyon apple orchards and went through them, picking open the apples for
the codling-moth worms they contained.

Other woodpeckers known to feed on the codling-moth larvae are
the hairy woodpecker {Dryohates villosus), Texan woodpecker {Dry-
ohates scalaris hairdi)^ red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes ery-
throcephalus) ^ red-shafted flicker {Colaptes cafer coUaris), and
pileated woodpecker {Phlceotomus pileatus). Plate XI illustrates
work of woodpeckers, probably mostly that of the pileated, in search
of codling-moth larvae. The red-shafted flicker is given great credit
by Mr. A. P. Martin, of Petaluma, CaL, who —

writing to the Pacific Rural Press of June 27, 1890, states that in looking
over his orchard last spring and examining all crevices and bark of the trees
for the codling-moth larvae, he failed to find any, where there were thousands
last fall. He discovered plenty of cocoons, but in every case the former occu-
pant was absent. It was too early for transformation to have taken place,
and he found small holes in the bark scales which had been made by some bird.
His belief is that the good work was done by a bird whose scientific name he
does not know, but which is variously called the " yellow hammer," " flicker,"
or " high hole," and which Dr. Merriam informs us is, in California, Colaptes
cafer. During the early spring months Mr. Martin states that they were to
be seen by hundreds in his orchard, industriously examining the trunks and
larger limbs of the fruit trees, and he also found great numbers of them around
sheds where he stored his winter apples and pears. As the result of several
hours' search Mr. Martin found only one worm, and this one escaped only by
an accident, for several had been within a quarter of an inch of it.^

So eager are woodpeckers in search of codling worms that they
have often been known to riddle the shingle traps and paper bands
which are placed to attract the larvae about to spin cocoons. In fact,
the beneficial work of woodpeckers in relation to this pest has every-
where been so conspicuous as to call forth laudations of the birds and
recommendations for protecting them and attracting more of them
to the orchards.

FLYCATCHEBS.

One would not expect birds so expert in catching insects on the
wing to resort much to tree trunks for food, but at least tw^o spe-
cies, the kingbird {Tyrannus tyrannus) and the western yellow-
bellied flycatcher {Empidonax diffieilis), are known to prey upon
the codling moth. No fewer than 15 larvae were found in the
stomach of a bird of the latter species collected at Haywards, CaL,
in September.

1 Insect Life, III, pp. 79-80, Sept., 1890.

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1911,

Plate X.

Fig. 1. — Larva. (3 times natural size.)

Fir.S. 2 AND 3. — PUP/E (Jn

Larva and Pup/e of

DER Bark Scales.

Codling Moth.

Yearbook U. S. Dept, of Agriculture, 1911.

Plate XI

Holes and Cracks in Trees Enlarged by Woodpeckers Searching for
Codling Moth Larv/e and Pup/e.

BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLING MOTH. 241

THE CROW FAMILY.

The blue jay {Cyanocitta cristata)^ the California jay {Aphelocoma
calif omica)^ and the magpie {Pica pica hudsonia) give the crow
family representation among codling-moth enemies. It is reported
that in the State of AVashington magpies frequently tear loosely fas-
tened bands off the trees while searching for the hibernating larvae.^
Pupsp of the codling moth have been found in several stomachs of the
California jay, collected at Haywards, Cal., in May.

BLACKBIRDS AND ORIOLES.

Three species of this family are on the list of foes of the apple
worm, namely, the crow blackbird {Qiiiscalus quiscula), Brewer
blackbird {Euphagus cyanocephalus)^ and Bullock oriole {Icterus
hullocki) . Pupae were found in the stomachs of many Brewer black-
birds collected at Haywards and Watsonville, Cal., in May and June.
Twenty-six Bullock orioles taken in the same localities from April to
August had eaten enough pupae and larvae of the codling moth to
make about 20 per cent of their food. One of these birds had taken
14 larvae and pupae.

THE SPARROW lAMILY.

Members of this family that prey upon the codling moth are : Eng-
lish sparrow (Passer domesticus), chipping sparrow {Spizella pas-
serina)^ California towhee {Pipilo crissalis), cardinal {Cardinalis
cardinaUs), black-headed grosbeak {Zamelodia melanocephala) , and
lazuli bunting. {Passerina cyanea). The adult California towhees,
besides eating the pupae of the codling moth themselves, feed them
to their nestlings. Black-headed grosbeaks have the same habit and
to such an extent that they rank among the most important enemies
of the insect. No fewer than 12 larvae were found in one stomach
and 29 pupae in another. Twenty-one black-headed grosbeaks col-
lected at Haywards and Watson ville, Cal., in May, had made over
20 per cent of their diet of codling larvae and pupae.

SWALLOWS AND VIREOS.

On the Pacific coast the barn swallow {Hirundo erythrogastra) is
said to catch adult codling moths, but probably its services in this
direction have been overstated.

The stomachs of several western warbling vireos {Vireosylva gilva
swainsoni), taken in California in April, May, and June, contained
pupae of the codling moth.

I Melander, A. L., and Jenne, E. L. Bui. 77, Wash. Agr, Exp. Sta., p. 39, 1906.

242 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

WARBLERS.

Only two warbters, the summer or yellow warbler (Dervdroica
(estiva) and the lutescent warbler (Verrmvora celata lutescens), are
now known to prey upon codling moths, but it is certain that fur-
ther study of the food of this much neglected family will add a con-
siderable number of species to the list. The lutescent warbler shows
a strong liking for the pupae, two taken in California in May having
eaten 10 and 18 pupae, respectively.

CREEPERS AND NUTHATCHES.

Each of these families has a single species on the list of enemies of
the apple worm, namely, the brown creeper (Oerthia familiaris
americmia) and the white-breasted nuthatch {Sitta carolinensis) .
It is reasonable to suppose that all the subspecies of creepers and
nuthatches will in time be found to eat codling larvae and pupae.

TITMICE AND CHICKADEES.

Next to woodpeckers, titmice are probably the most important
enemies of the codling moth. Their habits of searching every nook
and cranny, however small or difficult of access, and the thorough
way they go over trees and stumps, enable them to find the favorite
hibernating quarters of the larvae. A description of their methods
of hunting is given by Trimble, who remarks (p. 120), after detail-
ing that he had taken 5 larvae from the stomach of a black-capped
chickadee {Penthestes atricapillus) :

The day had been dry and windy, following a warm wet day and night;
and it is in just such weather that the bark of the buttonwood, shellbark
hickory, and other shaggy trees will be found curling out and falling off.

I have never seen anything that would lead me to believe that this minute
bird makes the holes in the scales of bark that lead directly to the cocoons
of these caterpillars; they are made by the downy woodpecker and probably
by it alone. The chickadee most likely finds these worms only or chiefly on
such days as this, when the warping of these scales exposes them to the
prying eyes of these busy little friends.

Besides the black-capped chickadee, the following four species of
this family are known to eat codling moth larvae or pupae: Plain
titmouse (Bceolophus inomattts), Carolina chickadee (Penthestes
carolinensis), mountain chickadee (Penthestes gambeli), and Cali-
fornia bush tit (Psaltriparus ndnirmis calif omicus).

Ten stomachs of the last-named species, examined by Prof. F. E. L.
Beal, contained, on the average, 25 per cent of pupae of the codling
moth. Eight of these stomachs were of nestlings, containing pupae
as follows : Two stomachs contained 2 each, two contained 3 each, one
contained 4, one 7, one 9, and one 11, making 41 in all, or an average
of over 5 to each.

\

BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLING MOTH. 243

The economic value of these nestlings is commented upon by Prof.
Beal as follows:

The oak tree in which these birds were found was in a belt of timber along
a creek, and just across the stream was a considerable area of neglected
orchard. It is evident that the parent birds used this orchard as a foraging
ground and did their best toward remedying the neglect of the owner. As with
nestling birds feeding and digestion are almost continuous during the hours of
daylight, it follows that the above record would be several times repeated dur-
ing a day's feeding There were probably not less than a dozen nests of the
bush tit (several were seen) along the border of this orchard, and if, as is
possible, the occupants all did as good work as the ones recorded, it is evident
that the birds must exert a powerful restrictive influence upon the increase of
the codling moth, as well as other insects.* •

KINGLETS AND THRUSHES.

One species of kinglet, the ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula)^ eats
codling larvae, as do also two species of the thrush family — the robin
{Planesticus migratorius) and the bluebird {Sialia sialis). The
robin eats this insect in both the East and the West, and a stomach
from Pullman, Wash., contained 11 larvae.

EmCIENCY OF BIRD ENEMIES.

We find that in the United States there are 36 species of birds,
belonging to 18 families, that feed on the codling moth. The three
important families seem to be woodpeckers, titmice, and sparrows.
Probably, however, future investigation may place some other family,
possibly warblers, among the first three.

We have shown that certain species, as the downy woodpecker,
Bullock oriole, black-headed grosbeak, and bush tit, consume large
numbers of codling-moth larvae and pupae. It is probably only be-
cause of insufficient investigation that the same can not be said of
other birds. Although we can not accurately rank the species in
importance, we can confidently declare their utility collectively.

Almost every entomologist who has written on the subject substan-
tially agrees with Slingerland that " by far the most efficient aids
to man in controlling the codling moth are the birds." ^ The two
facts that have chiefly led to this conclusion are the great scarcity of
intact hibernating cocoons and the abundance of empty ones which
have evidently been rifled by birds. Long ago Walsh and Eiley said : ®

From the careful inspection of several large orchards in the early spring
months, we are convinced that almost all of the cocoons of the apple-worm moth
that have been constructed in the autumn on the trunks and limbs of apple
trees are gutted of their living tenants by hungry birds long before the spring
opens.

1 Bui. ';0, Biol. Survey, pp. 79-80. 1007.

a Bui. 142, Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 41, 1898.

* American Entomology, I, p. 113, 1869.

244 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

In Virginia " counts of over 400 cocoons observed on apple trees
revealed the fact that * * * birds had destroyed fully 85 per
cent of the worms." ^

From New Hampshire comes this report : ^

Only from 5 to 20 per cent of the larvae survived the winter. An examination
of 7 trees, which averaged over 38 cocoons per tree in the fall, showed but
5 per cent alive in the spring, 87 per cent having been killed by birds, 4 per
cent by disease, and 3 per cent by cold. In another orchard 1,096 cocoons
were examined in May, 1907, with 19 per cent alive, 66 per cent having been
killed by birds, 6 per cent by disease, and 9 per cent by cold. It is quite evident
that the birds, particularly the downy woodpeckers and the nuthatches, are
the most important enemies of the codling moth in New England and that they
should be given every protection and attracted to the orchard in every way
possible. * * * They annually save us barrels of apples by destroying the
apple worms under the bark in winter. They should therefore be encouraged
and allured to the orchard whenever possible. Bits of suet and meat suspended
from the trees will often attract them and sometimes help them through a
hard winter.

Other measures recommended to aid birds in the warfare on this
destructive moth are cementing up cavities suitable for the hiber-
nation of the moth, thus forcing the larvae to spin cocoons where
birds can get them, and scraping off loose flakes of bark, especially
those below the snow line, as under these the largest numbers of
larvae survive.

FOREIGN BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLING MOTH.

The suggestion has been made that foreign birds with an estab-
lished reputation as codling-moth destroyers be imported into this
country. The bird most frequently mentioned is the great titmouse
or Kohlmeise {Parus major) of Europe. However, European
records fail to show that this bird pays any particular attention to
the codling moth. Moreover its food habits, while apparently bene-
ficial on the whole, include some bad traits, such as eating bees,
budding trees, attacking pears, and killing smaller birds. Thus the
species is distinctly not a promising one for trial in the exceptionally
hazardous field of international importation. Among foreign birds
that have been definitely recorded as enemies of the codling moth
are the European nuthatch (Sitta ccesia),^ European wren {N annus
parvulus)^^ tree creeper {Certhia familiaris)^^^^ blue titmouse
{Cyanistes ccBruleus)^^ kinglets {Regulus cristatus and Regulus

iRuck, J. E. Ann. Rep. Va. Exp. Sta., p. 55, 1908.

2 Sanderson, E. D. New Hampshire Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 143, pp. 64 and 82, 1909.

3 Hooper, C. H. Reprint from Country Gentleman's Estate Book, pp. 5 and 16, Lon-
don, 1907.

* Bos, J. Ritzema. Tierische Schadlinge und Niitzlinge, p. 527, Berlin, 1891.
6 Hooper, C. H. Agr. Students Gazette, new ser. 13, p. 123, 1907.
6 Theobald, F. V. Text-Book of Agr. Zoology, p. 403, London, 1899.

BIRD ENEMIES OF THE CODLING MOTH. 245

igriicapillits) ^^ one of the babblers {Pomatorhinus superciliosus)^^
the white-eye {Zosterops cmrulescens) ^^ and the white-throated tree-
creeper (Climac'teris leucopJioea) ^* of Australia. Woodpeckers and
sparrow^s are said to share in the work in Europe.

With three exceptions these birds belong to the same families as
native species which we know devour the codling moth. These fam-
ilies are the creepers (Certhiidse), nuthatches (Sittidse), titmice
(Paridse), and kinglets (Sylviidee). The United States already has
a sufficient number of species of these families, besides numerous
members of other families, which, if properly protected and encour-
aged, will probably destroy more codling moths than foreign species.
To favor the increase and efficiency of our own useful species is not
only far more profitable than to introduce foreign ones, but avoids
the danger, acknowledged by all authorities as great, of opening
our doors to a bird that in its new home may become obnoxious. It
is a well-known fact that a very large number of our crop pests,
both plant and animal, are imported. Furthermore, it is clear that
the fundamental idea underlying proposals for introducing bird
enemies of the codling moth is false. This idea is that each pest has
some specific enemy or set of enemies which, if introduced, will
control it to such a degree that the usual combative measures like
spraying can be abandoned. This is a most alluring theory, but it is
not borne out by practical experience. Birds exert a constant re-
pressive influence on the number of insects, but those who expect
either native or introduced birds to control a widespread insect pest
to the degree necessary for the commercial success of the crop at-
tacked will be disappointed.

SUMMARY.

Birds are recognized as the most effective natural enemies of the
codling moth. In some localities they destroy from 66 to 85 per cent of
the hibernating larvse, and their work in large measure accounts for
the small spring broods of the insect. This annual reduction in
numbers of the pest is a very valuable factor in its control.

Thirty-six species of birds are known to prey upon the codling
moth in the United States. These species belong to 13 families, of
which the most important, so far as number of species on the list is
concerned, are the woodpeckers, titmice, and sparrows. Especially
valuable species are the downy woodpecker, Bullock oriole, black-
headed grosbeak, and bush tit.

1 Bos, J. Ritzema. Tierische SchSdlinge und Niitzlinge, p. 527, Berlin, 1891.

2 CuiTiow, S. H. .Toum. Agr. S. Australia, p. 20, Aug., 1909.
8 Emu, VII, pt. 1, p. 36, July, 1908.

* Journ. Agr. Victoria, IX, pt. 8, p. 552, Aug., 1911.

246 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

At least 10 species of foreign birds have been recorded as enemies
of the codling moth, and there has been considerable agitation for
the introduction of one or more of them. The importation of for-
eign species is, however, notoriously dangerous, and if successful
would result in crowding out native species probably of greater value.

Exaggerated claims have been made for all sorts of natural enemies
of insects, including birds, but all that can be truthfully claimed for
them is that their influence is to lower the number of insect pests and
hence is for the good. The amount of good done varies in different
cases, and admittedly the bird enemies of the codling moth deserve
the best protection and encouragement in recognition of their rank
as the chief natural enemies of the pest.

O

^

THE pC^LISHSPARROW AS A PEST.

,C>^'

INTRODUCTION. . , <-v,
DISTRIBUTION. ' —

h

The English sparrow was introduced into America a little more
than 60 years ago, and is now distributed over nearly all of the
United States and southern Canada. This rapid dissemination is a
result of the bird's hardiness, extraordinary fecundity, diversity of
food, aggressive disposition, and almost complete immunity from
natural enemies.

ECONOMIC STATUS.

The English sparrow among birds, like the rat among mammals,
is cunning, destructive, and filthy. Its natural diet consists of seeds,
but it eats a great variety of other foods. While much of its fare
consists of waste material from the streets, in autumn and winter it
consumes quantities of weed seed and in summer numerous insects.
The destruction of weed seed should undeniably count in the spar-
row's favor. Its record as to insects in most localities is not so
clear. In exceptional cases it has been found very useful as a de-
stroyer of insect pests. For example, during a recent investigation
by this bureau of birds that destroy the alfalfa weevil in northern
Utah, English sparrows were feeding their nestlings largely on
weevil larva) and cutworms, both of which are very injurious to
alfalfa. In this case the sparrows, attracted by grain in the fields
and poultry runs and by the excellent nest sites afforded by the
thatched roofs of many farm buildings, had left the city and taken
up their abode in the country where the weevil outbreak subsequently
occurred. Unfortunately, however, farmers can rarely expect such
aid against their insect foes. Wherever this bird proves useful, how-
ever, it is entitled to protection and encouragement in proportion to
its net value.

Under normal conditions its choice of insects is often unfavorable.
Out of 522 English sparrow stomachs examined by the Biological
Survey ,1 47 contained noxious insects, 50 held beneficial insects, and

* TT. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy,
Bulletin 1, The English Sparrow in North America, p. 143, 1889. An exhaustive account
now out of print.

493 5

6 THE ENGLISH SPAKROW AS A PEST.

31 contained insects of little or no importance. The bulletin just
referred to shows conclusively that, aside from the destruction of
weed seed, there is, in general, very little to be said in the sparrow's
favor.

On the other hand much is to be said against the bird. It destroys
fruit, as cherries, grapes, pears, and peaches. It also destroys buds
and flowers of cultivated trees, shrubs, and vines. In the garden it
eats seeds as they ripen, and nips off tender young vegetables, espe-
cially peas and lettuce, as they appear above ground. It damages
wheat and other grains, whether newly sown, ripening, or in shocks.
As a flock of 50 sparrows requires daily the equivalent of a quart of
wheat, the annual loss caused by these birds throughout the country
is very great. It reduces the numbers of some of our most useful
and attractive native birds, as bluebirds, house wrens, purple martins,
tree swallows, cliff swallows, and barn swallows, by destroying their
eggs and young and by usurping nesting places. It attacks other
familiar species, as the robin, wren, red-eyed vireo, catbird, and
mocking bird, causing them to desert parks and shady streets of
towns. Unlike our native birds whose place it usurps, it has no song,
but is noisy and vituperative. It defiles buildings and ornamental
trees, shrubs, and vines with its excrement and with its bulky nests.

The evidence against the English sparrow is, on the whole, over-
whelming, and the present unfriendly attitude of the public towards
it is reflected in our State laws. Nowhere is it included among pro-
tected birds.

LOCALIZATION.

Although English sparrows are widely distributed as a species,
individuals and flocks have an extremely narrow range, each flock
occupying one locality to which its activities are chiefly confined.
This fact is favorable to their extermination, for when a place has
once been cleared of sparrows some time elapses before it is reoccu-
pied. This tendency to remain on special territory was well shown
during a recent experiment with a flock in a small city garden.
During the fall steady trapping reduced the resident flock in the
garden to a dozen individuals, 274 birds having been trapped. The
survivors were poisoned. Though another flock lived in the street
just beyond the fence, the garden was sparrow free for three months.
In the following spring a fcAv sparrows appeared, but were soon
trapped. After this the garden continued throughout the summer
without a resident flock, and only rarely was it visited by sparrows
from other parts of the neighborhood.

493

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST. 7

AIDING NATIVE BIRDS AGAINST THE ENGLISH
SPARROW.

One of the greatest objections to the English sparrow is its ag-
gressive antagonism toward the small native birds, especially those
familiar species which, like itself, build their nests in cavities. Nest

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boxes provided for bluebirds, martins, or wrens — ^birds both useful
and pleasing — too often fall into the possession of this graceless
alien, either by the right of discovery or by piratical assault. For-
tunately it is possible to aid the native birds by selecting suitable
nest boxes. Thus, a box having an entrance 1 inch in diameter will
admit house wrens, but not sparrows. Boxes for larger birds, as

493

8

THE ENGLISH SPAKKOW AS A PEST.

illustrated in figures 2, 3, and 4, may be constructed so that unwel-
come tenants can be readily evicted and at the same time acceptable
to more desirable species. When a sparrow has had its nest and eggs
removed from a box, it not only as a rule seeks another place for its
next nest, but is likely to avoid that type of nest box in future.

Figure 2 represents a nest box designed for the interior of a dilap-
idated building, a hole being cut in an outer wall of the building to
form the entrance. The box illustrated in figure 3 is intended to be

hung on the out-
side of a build-
ing or on a tree
where it may be
readily exam-
ined. Its floor is
6 inches square
and its height at
the eaves 8 inches.
The roof is cross
cleated on the
underside and
hinged at th e
top. If it is de-
sired to place
such a box where
it will be out of
reach, it may be
constructed, a s
shown in figure 4,
with the bottom
hinged instead of
the roof. In this
case a light pole
may be used to
open and close
the box and to
dislodge sparrow nests. As the cost of such boxes is slight, enough
should be provided to accommodate all the resident sparrows at once,
in order that their nests may be broken up and the birds compelled
to seek other quarters as early in the breeding season as possible. All
nest boxes designed to be occupied by native birds should be carefully
built to avoid warping of parts and consequent drafts of air.

493

Fig. 2.-

-Perspective and sectional drawings of an improvised
nest box for the interioi* of buildings.

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST. 9

DRIVING SPARROWS FROM ROOSTS.

Sparrows frequently become a nuisance b}^ roosting in ornamental
vines and in crevices about buildings. If scared out late at night,
several nights in succession, they will usually desert the roost. A
stream of water from a garden hose is a potent ejector, particularly
on frosty nights. Where' water is not available small Roman candles
may be employed.

Though sparrows may be driven from a given neighborhood, the
relief thus obtained is only temporary, and has the further objection
that the nuisance is simply transferred elsewhere. More drastic
action is therefore preferable.

PREVENTION OF INCREASE.

The most effective method of preventing the increase of sparrows
in a locality is to destroy their nests at intervals of 10 or 12 days
throughout the breeding season. In a town
of 4,000 inhabitants, where this method of
attack has been practiced during the past
four years, 20,000 eggs have been de-
stroyed and the number of sparrows has
been greatly reduced. This work, how-
ever, should not be entrusted to boys or
persons unfamiliar with the native species,
as otherwise valuable birds may be de-
stroyed under the belief that they are
English sparrows. Occasionally they
build large covered nests in trees, but as a
rule they build open nests in bird houses,
electric-light hoods, cornices, waterspouts,
and similar places. While it is often difficult to reach nests by hand,
they can usually be torn down by means of a long pole having an iron
hook at the tip. By concerted and continuous efforts to destroy every
nest after the eggs are laid, the numbers of English sparrows in any
locality may be rapidly reduced.

METHODS OF DESTROYING.

Nest box opening at
the top.

CATCHING ON NESTS.

The sparrow's habit of nesting in cavities can be turned to account
against it. By providing one-room bird houses, similar to those
illustrated in figures 3 and 4, or even packing boxes or tin cans, and
putting them in trees or on poles or buildings at a height of about
10 feet, the birds may be captured after dark with a long-handled

32544°— Bull. 493—12 2

10

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

net. The net should have a deep bag and a small hoop. After the
net has been quietly placed over the entrance, a few raps on the box
will send the occupant into it. By distributing a number of nest
boxes about orchards, shade trees, and outbuildings, and catching the
sparrows that occupy them, the Avork of extermination may be car-
ried on at a season when other methods are least effective.

SHOOTING.

Sparrows are accustomed to feed in close flocks, and when thus
assembled in favorable places a large number may be killed by a
charge of No. 10 shot. The best way is to scatter grain over long,
narrow areas and shoot the sparrows at these baiting j)laces. AVhere
sparrows infest poultry yards, the bait may be placed on a horizontal
boardy supported at such an elevation that the birds can be shot
without danger to the poultry.

H/NGED

Fig. 4. — Perspectives of a nost box opening at the bottom.

TRAPPING.

In a general campaign against English sparrows, a vigorous and
widespread attack is absolutely essential. The problem is not to
drive them away from a certain locality, but to accomplish as nearly
as possible their complete extermination. As each city square has
a sparrow population of its own, which must be destroyed there if
at all, certain effective methods of destruction are out of the question.
Neither law nor public sentiment will allow the use of firearms or
the unrestricted use of poison. The use of traps therefore is strongly
recommended. Besides being safe to employ, properly designed
sparrow traps have other advantages. They permit the use of spar-
rows for food, as they leave the flesh uninjured, and these birds may
be kept alive, like poultry. The fact that native birds, when caught
in such traps, can be liberated unharmed, is particularly important
in suburban localities.

493

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

11

Sparrow traps may be classified, according to their nature, as nest-
box traps and bait traps. Inasmuch as sparrows usually feed in
flocks, but approach nest boxes only singly or in pairs, the annual
catch of a bait trap will exceed that of a nest-box trap many fold.
During the breeding season, however, nest -box traps are decidedly
useful.

c

NEST-BOX TRAPS.

A nest-box trap, as its name im2)lies, looks like an ordinary nest
box. The weight of a bird entering such a trap puts into operation
a mechanism which catches the bird and sets the trap for another.
There are a number of devices to accomplish this. In designing a
nest -box trap one should bear in mind that English sparrows, like
other birds, dislike drafty quarters, and
that a mechanism delicate enough to be
operated by a sparrow's weight is likely
to get out of order unless the parts are
few and well protected from the weather.

Tesch trap. — Probably the simplest
nest-box trap yet designed is the one
illustrated by figure 5. The trap de-
scribed below is a modification of the
one invented by Mr. Charles H. Tesch,
of Milwaukee, Wis., who furnished plans
of his trap and kindly placed at our dis-
posal the results of his experiments.
With his trap Mr. Tesch caught spar-
rows bent on finding a home as fast as
they came along. The essential parts of
the trap are: (1) A box, (2) a tipping
chamber within the box, (3) a down
spout below it, and (4) a bag at the
lower end of the down spout. The di-
mensions of the several parts are given
in figure 6. The tipping chamber is made of tin, the down spout
of wood or tin, the box of wood. The roof board is cleated across
the ends, and also lengthwise between the cross cleats, for the at-
tachment of the sides, as shown in the right-hand drawing, figure
6. The close weave of a 2-bushel bag makes it suitable for the lower
end of the down spout. One of coarser fabric would allow a draft
through the spout and thus detract from the efficiency of the trap.
In building this trap the front wall is the last piece to go in place.
It is fastened there by screws, so the trap can easily be overhauled.
It is a good plan to fasten with shellac a few feathers or bits of hay

493

Fig. 5. — Tesch nest-box trap.

12

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

to the floor of the tipping chamber near the rear end to excite the
interest of sparrows and hasten their entrance.

BAIT TRAPS.

The selection of a bait trap depends somewhat upon the conditions
under which it is to be used. A"\Tiere food is plenty, as in stable
yards, poultry runs, and open markets, sparrows have no incentive to

1 L

Pig. 6. — Sections showing construction of Tescli nest-box trap.

run risks; and under such circumstances a trap to be etffective must
be simple so as not to excite suspicion.

Sieve Trap. — The sieve trap shown in figure 7 is adapted for serv-
ice where food is abundant. In the duck yards of the National
Zoological Park, Washington, D. C, it is the only trap that has
proved successful. It consists of a shallow box not less than 4 feet
square, open on one side, covered with woven wire on the other, and
having a small door near one comer. In setting this trap, one side

493

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST. 13

rests on the ground, which is carefully smoothed where the trap will
fall, while the opposite side is supported by a stick 18 inches long.
Near the upper end of this stick is attached a long cord, and between
the top of it and the edge of the trap (see fig. 7) is placed a chip.
By setting the trap over bait and pulling the cord from a sheltered
point of observation numbers may be caught. Instead of the box
described above, by which the birds are taken alive, an old door or
similar device may be employed as a deadfall. In either case the
trap should be kept set and baited until the sparrows are not afraid
to go under it. During this interval, to avoid accidents to creatures
for which it is not intended, as well as to insure stability, it may be
supported by a stake driven into the ground instead of by the stick
used to spring it. Although the sieve trap is easy to construct and
effective in operation, it has the disadvantage that someone must be
on hand to j^ull the string at the proper instant.

Miller Trap. — The trap shown in figures 8, 9, and 10 was designed
by Mr. Charles W. Miller, director of the Worthington Society for
the Study of Bird
Life, who has kindly
furnished photo-
graphs and drawings
showing its construc-
tion and has given
suggestions for oper-
ating it. With one Fig. 7.— sieve trap.

of these traps over

300 sparrows were caught in less than three months on the society's
grounds at Shawnee on Delaware, Pa. It is especially adapted to
poultry and pigeon yards, where it can be permanently installed.
The poultry or pigeons are fed in the trap, the door being left open
until sparrows are accustomed to feed there w^ith them. Later the
door is closed and by putting a little bait on the shelf and consider-
able on the ground inside, the sparrows are enticed to enter through
the open corners at the top (fig. 10-a). After they have learned the
way in and out over the shelf, the corners are closed. The sparrows
now enter between the partitions (fig. 10-Z>, b) and are unable to
return. Captives are removed from this trap by means of a short-
handled net, from which they can be taken by hand. A few birds
should be left in the cage as decoys. Captives are removed and the
decoys supplied with food and water at dusk when outside birds are
at roost.

The construction of the Miller trap may be described under four
heads: (1) The cage^ (2) the frame, (3) the partitions, and (4) the

shields. Figure 10 shows the skeleton of this trap without the wire
493

14

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

netting. This should be painted green or gray before the netting is
applied. Regular aviary netting of 1 by J inch mesh, or poultry
netting of f -inch mesh, may be used. The door has a hook on each
side and spring hinges. Around the top of the cage extends a shelf
(fig. 10-6^) about 8 inches wide.

The underside of the frame (fig. 10-d) is perfectly fiat all the way
around, in order that the partitions may be attached at a uniform
height. The ends of two opposite sides extend 6 inches beyond the
square to allow the supporting blocks to be placed where they will
not hinder the entrance of sjoarrows when the corners are open

Fig. 8.— Miller trap.

(fig. 10-/). The outside measurement of the frame is an inch larger
all the way around than the inside measurements of the shelf. After
the frame has been painted and covered with wire on the uneven
side, it is placed in its final position with relation to the shelf, but
without the supporting blocks, and is marked by a pencil drawn
along the inner edge of the shelf to show the position for the outer
edges of the partitions.

The partitions are sheets of tin 5 inches wide and 6 inches long,
having a flap turned over at the top for attachment to the frame and
another flap on the outer edge for attachment to the shelf (fig. 10-h).

493

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

15

As the sides of the frame are G inches wide and the shelf extends
inward beneath them 1 inch, the inner edges of the partitions Avill
come even with the inner edge of the frame. The partitions are first
nailed to the frame, 2 inches apart, beginning at the middle of each
side. The side flaps are nailed to the shelf after the frame has been
fastened in position on the corner blocks, which are 2-J inches high.
The entrances are thus 2 inches wide and 2J inches high. The shields
are strips of tin nailed to the inner edge of the frame, and extending
below it 4{ inches in contact with the inner edges of the partitions,
to prevent sparrows in the trap from escaping (fig. 10-e). Both

Fig. 0. — Top of Miller trap.

shields and partitions should be painted to prevent rusting. The
corners between the series of entrances (fig. lO^a) are closed by
pieces of tin or thin board hinged or otherwise arranged so as to be
easily opened when sparrows are to be enticed to enter.

In case several traps are to be built, it will be advantageous to use
unit trap tins (fig. 10-.47i), held in place by w^ay plates (fig. 10-Ak),
instead of separate partitions and shields. In this case, as unit trap
tins can be removed from a way plate at any time, the corners may
be closed permanently by the blocks supporting the frame, the
projecting ends thus being unnecessary.

493

16

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

Fig, 10. — Details of Miller trap.

493

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

17

Funnel trap. — When extensive trapping is undertaken, the traps
employed must fulfill certain requirements in addition to ultimate
efficiency. P]specially important are simple and prompt action, port-
ability, and cheapness, all of which are found in the funnel trap.

Fiu. 11. — Funnel trap. (Side raised to show interior.)

(Fig. 11.) Numerous experiments show that funnel traps usually
make a catch on the first day they are set'. This trap has no loose
parts to become disarranged and requires no tools to keep it in order.
Although somewhat bulky, it weighs but little, and when painted

Fig. 12. — Outline of funnel trap.

green or gray is inconspicuous. It is easy to construct, and the cost
of material is slight. The funnel trap has been tested on the Agri-
cultural Grounds in Washington with excellent results, and one sent
for trial to the Missouri Botanical Gardens at St. Louis during the

493

18 THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

past summer caught 300 sparrows in six weeks. Its usefulness in a
city garden has already been referred to under " Localization."

The essential parts of this trap are: (1) A half funnel leading
into (2) an antechamber, which ends in (3) a complete funnel lead-
ing into (4) a final chamber. It is made of woven- wire poultry
netting of |-inch mesh and is reenforced around the open end and
along the sides at the bottom by No. 8 or No. 10 wire, which is used
also aroun4 the aperture for the door and around the door itself.

Fig. 13. — Pattern for first funnel of a trap to be 36X18X12 inches.

The angles between the first funnel and the walls of the antechamber
are floored wdth netting, and the final chamber is floored with the
same material. The accompanying drawings will enable anybody
handy with tools to construct one of these traps in a few hours.
These plans are for a trap 3 feet long, a foot and a half wide, and a
foot high. At ordinary retail prices the cost of material will be
about 70 cents. Paper patterns for the two funnels can be made by
first drawing the concentric circles, as shown in figures 13 and 14,
and then laying off the straight lines, beginning with the longest.

493

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

19

The wavy outlines indicate that the pattern is to be cut half an inch
outside of the straight lines to allow extra wire for fastening the
cones to the top and sides of the trap. Figure 15 shows how all the
parts of a trap having the above dimensions may be cut from a piece
of netting 4 feet wide and 6 feet long. The full lines in this figure
indicate where the netting is to be cut and the broken lines where it
is vO be bent. The numbers at the angles in figures 13, 14, and 15
correspond with those in figure 12, which shows in outline the rela-

Fio. 14. — Pattern for second funnel of a trap to be 30X18X12 inches.

tion of the different parts as they appear when assembled. A trap,
of the above dimensions is as small as can be used satisfactorily.
Where sparrows are very numerous a larger size is recommended.
Figure IG shows how a trap 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 15 inches
high may be made from a piece of netting 4 by 10 feet. This is a
very good size for parks and large private grounds.

In setting a funnel trap a place should be selected where sparrows
are accustomed to assemble. Often there are several such places in

493

20

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST.

a neighborhood, in which case it is advisable to move the trap daily
from one of them to another, because the birds appear to associate
the locality rather than the trap with the distress of their imprisoned
comrades. Canary seed, hemp seed, wheat, oats, and bread crumbs
are excellent baits. The bait should be scattered in the antechamber
and first funnel and also, sparingly, outside about the entrance. A
live sparrow kept in the trap as a decoy will facilitate a catch. In
case native birds enter a trap they may be released without harm.
Trapping may begin at any time after young sparrows are able to
take care of themselves, which is usually by July 1. Each day's
catch should be removed from the trap at nightfall, and if a decoy
is used it should be comfortably housed and otherwise cared for
when off duty.

/2'- — -)jf— /a" i(r— ^/2" -^ |< — 7'-^

Fig. 15. — Diagram for cutting out the parts of a funnel trap SGX 18X12 inches.

In removing sparrows from either a funnel or a sieve trap the
receiving box shown in figure 17 will be found useful. It should be
about 6 inches square and 18 inches long, inside measurement. The
door, hinged at the bottom and turning inward, is controlled by the
part of its wire frame extending through the side of the box to form
a handle. The box as it appears in the figure is ready to be placed
before the open door of a trap from which birds are to be driven.

POISONING.

Where the use of poison is not prohibited by law it may be em-
ployed effectively to reduce the number of sparrows. Of the dif-
ferent poisons tested the most satisfactory is strychnine, which is

493

THE ENGLISH SPAKROW AS A PEST.

21

easy to prepare and acts quickly. Wheat has proved to be a good bait
as well as an excellent vehicle for administering the drug. A con-
venient method of preparing poisoned bait is as follows: Put one-
eighth ounce of pulverized strychnine into three-fourths of a gill of

Fig. 16. — Diagram for cutting out the parts of a funnel trap 48X24X15 inclies.

hot water, add IJ teaspoonfuLs of starch or wheat flour moistened
with a few drops of cold water, and heat, stirring constantly till
the mixture thickens. Pour the hot poisoned starch over 1 quart of

Fig. 17.— -Receiving box for removing sparrows from traps.

wheat and stir until every kernel is coated. Small-kerneled wheat
sold as poultry food, if reasonably clean, is preferable to first-quality
grain, being cheaper and more easily eaten by the sparrows. A
2-quart glass fruit jar is a good vessel to mix in, as it is easily shaken

493

22 THE ENGLISH SPAKROW AS A PEST.

and allows the condition of the contents to be seen. If the coated
wheat be spread thinly on a hard, flat surface, it will be dry enough
for use in a short time. It should be dried thoroughly if it is to be
put into jars and kept for future use. Dishes employed in preparing
poison may be safely cleansed by washing.

Other seeds, as oats, hemp, or canary seed, may be used instead of
wheat in the above formula, but they are less economical because
much of the poison is lost when they are hulled, though enough of
it usually sticks to the mouths of the sparrows to produce fatal
effects. As wheat has no hull that a sparrow can remove, it is ordi-
narily preferable to other seeds. Bread, in thin slices, spread with
the strychnine-starch mixture may be used to advantage alternately
with seeds.

In case it is impracticable to poison sparrows at their regular feed-
ing grounds, they may be attracted to a suitable place by preliminary
baiting. In northern latitudes the best time to put out poison is
just after a snowstorm, when other food is covered. The feeding
place should be cleared of snow and the poison laid early in the
morning. The poison should be well scattered, so that many birds
may be able to partake at the same time, since after a few are affected
their actions excite the suspicion of their comrades. Usually a few
sparrows get only enough strychnine to paralyze them for a few
hours, after which they recover. It is important, therefore, to visit
the feeding places a short time after distributing poison to prevent
such birds from escaping. It is well also to remove dead birds
promptly to avoid exciting the suspicious of those that are unaffected.
In deciding the amount of poisoned wheat to put out at one time,
it is well to estimate the number of sparrows frequenting a feeding
place and to allow about 20 kernels for each sparrow. Although 2
kernels of wheat coated with the solution described below have been
known to kill a sparrow, 6 or 7 kernels are required to insure fatal
results, and much more than a fatal dose is frequently taken. The
sparrows that recover after taking poison or that become frightened
by the death of comrades, will forsake a feeding place if poison is
kept there constantly. If, therefore, one wishes merely to keep them
off his land, he can do so by maintaining a supply of poisoned bait for
them. On the other hand, if extermination is the object sought, un-
poisoned bait should be put out after each killing until the birds have
recovered confidence. There is an advantage in having several feed-
ing grounds that may be used in rotation with different kinds of
bait. Under these circumstances the sparrows forget their fear of
each feeding ground while the others in turn are baited. Only as
much poison should be put out as is likely to be eaten in one day,
since exposure to moisture reduces its virulence. Any grain coated

493

OOKTETsTTS.

Page.

Introduction 5

Distribution 5

Economic status 5

Localization 6

Aiding native birds against the English sparrow 7

Driving sparrows from roosts 9

Prevention of increase 9

Methods of destroying 9

Catching on nests 9

Shooting 10

Trapping 10

Nest-box traps 11

Tesch trap 11

Bait traps 12

Sieve trap 12

Miller trap 13

Funnel trap 17

Poisoning 20

English sparrows as food , . . . 23

Summary 24

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Fig. 1. English sparrows 7

2. Nest box for the interior of buildings 8

3. Nest box opening at the top 9

4. Nest box opening at the bottom 10

5. Tesch nest-box trap 11

6. Sections showing construction of Tesch nest-box trap 12

7. Sieve trap. 13

8. Miller trap 14

9. Top of Miller trap 15

10. Details of Miller trap 16

11. Funnel trap 17

12. Outline of funnel trap 17

13. Pattern for first funnel 18

14. Pattern for second funnel 19

15. Diagram for cutting out the parts of a funnel trap 36 by 18 by 12 inches. 20

16. Diagram for cutting out the parts of a funnel trap 48 by 24 by 15 inches. . 21

17. Receiving box for removing sparrows from traps 21

493 3

^

Issued April 8, 1911,

United States Department of Agriculture,

BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— Circular No. 79,
HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief of Bureau.

OUR YANISHING SHOREBIRDS.

By W. L. McAtee, Assistant, Biological Survey.

The term shorebird is applied to a group of long-legged, slender-
billed, and usually plainly colored birds belonging to the order
Limicola^. More than GO species of them occur in Xorth xVmerica.
True to their name they frequent the shores of all bodies of water,
large and small, but many of them are equally at home on plains
and prairies.

Throughout the eastern United States shorebirds are fast vanish-
ing. While formerly numerous species swarmed along the Atlantic
coast and in the prairie regions, many of them have been so reduced
that extermination seems imminent. The black-bellied plover or
beetlehead, which occurred along the Atlantic seaboard in great
numbers years ago, is now seen only as a straggler. The golden
plover, once exceedingly abundant east of the Great Plains, is now
rare. Vast hordes of long-billed dowitchers formerly wintered in
Louisiana ; now they occur only in infrequent flocks of a half dozen
or less. The Eskimo curlew within the last decade has probably been
exterminated and the other curlews greatly reduced. In fact, all the
larger species of shorebirds have suffered severely.

So adverse to shorebirds are present conditions that the wonder is
that any escape. In both fall and spring they are shot along the
whole route of their migration north and south. Their habit of
decoying readily and persistently, coming back in flocks to the decoys
again and again, in spite of murderous volleys, greatly lessens their
chances of escape.

The breeding grounds of some of the species in the United States
and Canada have become greatly restricted by the extension of agri-
culture, and their winter ranges in South America have probably
been restricted in the same way.

82306°— Cir. 79—11

Z OUR VANISHING SHOEEBIRDS.

Unfortunately, shorebircls lay fe\Yer eggs than any of the other
species generally termed game birds. They deposit only three or
four eggs, and hatch only one brood yearly. Xor are they in any wise
immune from the great mortality known to prevail among the smaller
birds. Their eggs and young are constantly preyed upon during the
breeding season by crows, gulls, and jaegers, and the far northern
country to which so many of them resort to nest is subject to sudden
cold storms, which kill many of the young. In the more temperate
climate of the United States small birds, in general, do not bring up
more than one young bird for every two eggs laid. Sometimes the
proportion of loss is much greater, actual count revealing a destrac-.
tion of 70 to 80 per cent of nests and eggs. Shorebirds, with sets of
three or four eggs, probably do not on the average rear more than two
young for each breeding pair.

It is not surprising, therefore, that birds of this family, with their
limited powders of reproduction, melt away under the relentless war-
fare waged upon them. Until recent years shorebirds have had al-
most no protection. Thus, the species most in need of stringent pro-
tection have really had the least. No useful birds Avhich lay only
three or four eggs should be retained on the list of game birds. The
shorebirds should be relieved from persecution, and if we desire to
save from extermination a majority of the species, action must be
prompt.

The protection of shorebirds need not be based solely on esthetic
or sentimental grounds, for few groups of birds more thoroughly
deserve protection from an economic standpoint. Shorebirds perform
an important service by their inroads upon mosquitoes, some of
which play so conspicuous a part in the dissemination of diseases.
Thus, nine species are known to feed upon mosquitoes, and hundreds
of the larvae or " wigglers " were found in several stomachs. Fifty-
three per. cent of the food of 28 northern phalaropes from one
locality consisted of mosquito larvae. The insects eaten include the
salt-marsh mosquito {Aedes sollicitans)^ for the suppresion of which
the State of New Jersey has gone to great expense. The nine species
of shorebirds known to eat mosquitoes are :

Northern phalarope (Lobipes lohatus). Baird sandpiper (PisoMa bairdi).

Wilson phalarope {Steganopus tri- Least sandpiper (Pisobia minutilla).

color). Semipalmated sandpiper (Ereunctes

Stilt sandpiper (Micropalama himan- pusillus).

topus). Killdeer {Oxyechus vociferus).

Pectoral sandpiper (Pisobia macu- Semipalmated plover (Aegialitis semi-

lata). palmata).

Cattle and other live stock also are seriously molested by mosqui-
toes as well as by another set of pests, the horse-flies. Adults and

OUR VANISHING SHOREBIRDS.

3

Fig. 1. — Killdeer (Oxyechus vociferus.)

4 OUR VANISHING SHOREBIRDS.

larvae of these flies have been found in the stomachs of the dowitcher,
the pectoral sandpiper, the hudsonian godwit, and the killdeer. Two
species of shorebirds, the killdeer and upland plover, still further be-
friend cattle by devouring the North American fever tick.

Among other fly larva? consumed are those of the crane flies
(leatherjackets) devoured by the following species:

Northern phalarope (LoMpes lohatus). Pectoral sandpiper (Pisohiamaculata).

Wilson phalarope (Stcganopus tri- Baird sandpiper (Pisohia hairdi).

color). Upland plover {Bartimmia longi-

Woodcock {Philohela minor). cauda).

Jacksnipe (GalUnago dcUcata). Killdeer {Oxyeclius vociferus).

Crane-fly larva? are frequently seriously destructive locally in grass
lands and wheat fields. Among their numerous bird enemies, shore-
birds rank high.

Another group of insects of which the shorebirds are very fond is
grasshoppers. Severe local infestations of grasshoppers, frequently
involving the destruction of many acres of corn, cotton, and other
crops, are by no means exceptional. Aughey found 23 species of
shorebirds feeding on Kocky Mountain locusts in Nebraska, some
of them consuming large numbers, as shown below.

9 killdeer stomachs contained an average of 28 locnsts each.

11 semipalmated plover stomachs contained an average of 38 locusts each.
16 mountain plover stomachs contained an average of 45 locnsts each.
11 jacksnipe stomachs contained an average of 87 locnsts each.
22 upland plover stomachs contained an average of 36 locusts each.

10 long-billed curlew stomachs contained an average of 48 locusts each.

Even under ordinary conditions grasshoppers are a staple food
of many members of the shorebird family, and the following species
are known to feed on them :

Northern phalarope (Lohipes lobatus). Upland plover {Bartramialongicauda).

Avocet (Recurvirostra americana). Bufl'-breasted sandpiper (Tryngitcs
Black-necked stilt {Himantopus ynexi- suhruficollU-).

canus). Spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularia).

Woodcock (Philohela minor). Long-billed curlew {Niimenius ameri-
Jacksnipe (GalUnago delicata). canus).

Dowitcher (Macrorhamphus grlseus). Black-bellied plover (Sqiiatarola squat-
Hob in snipe (Tringa canutus). arola).

White-ramped sandpiper (Pisohia fus- Golden plover (Charadriiis dominicus).

cicollis). Killdeer (Oxycchus vociferus).

Baird sandpiper (Pisohia bairdi). Semipalmated plover (^gialitis semi-
Least sandpiper (Pisobia mimiiilla). palmata).

Marbled godwit (Limosa fedoa). Ringed plover (JEgiaUiis hiaticula).

Yellowlegs (Totanus flavipcs). Mountain plover (Podasocys monta-
Solitary siindpiper (Helodromas soli- nus).

tarius.) Turnstone (Arcnaria intcrpres).

OUK VA2sISLllNG SllOKEBIRDS.

Fio. 2. — Yellowleys (Totanas flavipcs).

6 OUR VANISHING SHOREBIRDS.

Shorebirds are fond of other insect pests of forage and grain
crops, including the army worm, which is known to be eaten by the
killdeer and spotted sandpiper ; also cutworms, among whose enemies
are the avocet, woodcock, pectoral and Baird sandpipers, upland
plover, and killdeer. Two caterpillar enemies of cotton, the cotton
worm and the cotton cutworm, are eaten by the upland plover and
killdeer. The latter bird feeds also on caterpillars of the genus
Phlegethontiiis^ Avhich includes the tobacco and tomato worms.

The principal farm crops have many destructive beetle enemies
also, and some of these are eagerly eaten by shorebirds. The boll
Aveevil and clover-leaf Aveevil are eaten by the upland plover and
killdeer, the rice weevil by the killdeer, the cowpea weevil by the
upland plover, and the clover-root curculio by the following species
of shorebirds :

Northern plialarope (Lohipes lohatus). White-rnmped sandpiper (Pisohia fus-
Pectoral sandpiper ( Pisohia macnlata ) , cicoIHs ) .

Baird sandpiper {Pisohia hairdi). \JY)land i)\o\ev (Bartramialongicauda).

Killdeer {Oxycclms vociferiis).

The last two eat also other weevils which attack cotton, grapes,
and sugar beets. Bill-bugs, which often do considerable damage to
corn, seem to be favorite food of some of the shorebirds. They are
eaten by the Wilson phalarope, avocet, black-necked stilt, pectoral
sandpiper, killdeer, and upland plover. They are an important
element of the latter bird's diet, and no fcAAer than 8 species of them
have been found in its food.

Wireworms and their adult forms, click beetles, are devoured by
the northern phalarope, Avoodcock, jacksnipe, pectoral sandpiper,
killdeer, and upland plover. The last three feed also on the southern
corn leaf -beetle and the last tAvo upon the grapevine colaspis. Other
shorebirds that eat leaf-beetles are the Wilson phalarope and
doAvitcher.

Crayfishes, Avhich are a pest in rice and corn fields in the South
and Avhich injure levees, are favorite food of the black-necked stilt.
and several other shorebirds feed upon them, notably the jacksnipe,
robin snipe, spotted sandpiper, upland ploA^er, and killdeer.

Thus it is evident that shorebirds render important aid by de-
A^ouring the enemies of farm crops and in other Avays, and their
services are appreciated by those Avho have observed the birds in the
field. Thus W. A. Clark, of Corpus Christi, Tex., reports that up-
land plovers are industrious in folloAving the plow and in eating the
grubs that destroy garden stuff, corn, and cotton crops. H. W.
Tinkham, of Fall River, Mass., says of the spotted sandpiper: " Three
pairs nested in a young orchard behind my house and adjacent to my
garden. I did not see them once go to the shore for food (shore

OUR VANISHING SHOREBIRDS.

Jm^^<i£fix ^a^rl

Fig. 3. — Upland Plover {linrirumni lowjioauda).

8 OUR VANISHING SHOREBIRDS.

about 1,500 feet away), but I did see them many times make faithful
search of my garden for cutworms, spotted squash bugs, and green
flies. Cutworms and cabbage worms were their especial prey. After
the young could fly, they still kept at work in my garden, and showed
no inclination to go to the shore until about August 15. They and
a flock of quails just over the wall helped me wonderfully."

In the uncultivated j^arts of their range also, shorebirds search out
and destroy many creatures that are detrimental to man's interest.
Several species prey upon the predaceous diving beetles (Dytiscidse),
which are a nuisance in fish hatcheries and which destroy many in-
sects, the natural food of fishes. The birds now known to take these
beetles are :

Northern phalarope (LoMiJes lobatus). Dowitcher {Macrorhamplius griseus).

Wilson phalaroiie (Stcganopus tri- Robin snipe (Trincja canutiis).

color). Pectoral sandpiper (PisoMa maculata).

Avocet { Recur virostra americana) . Red-backed sandpiper (Pclidna alpina
Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexi- snkhaVina) .

canus). Killdeer (Oxyechus vocifcrus).
Jacksnipe (GalUnago delicata).

Large numbers of marine w^orms of the genus Nereis^ which prey
upon oysters, are eaten by shorebirds. These w^orms are common on
both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and are eaten by shorebirds where-
ever they occur. It is not uncommon to find that from 100 to 250 of
them have been eaten at one meal. The birds known to feed upon
them are:

Northern phalarope {Lobipcs lobatus). White-rumped sandpiper (Pisobia fus-

Dowitcher (Macrorhamphus griseus). cicolHs).

Stilt sandpiper {Micropalama Mman- Red-backed sandpiper {Pelidna alpina

topus). sakhalina).

Robin snipe {Tringa canutus). Killdeer (Oxyechus vocifcrus).
Purple sandpiper {Arquatella mari-

tima ).

The economic record of the shorebirds deserves nothing but praise.
These birds injure no crop, but on the contrary feed upon many of
the worst enemies of agriculture. It is worth recalling that their
diet includes such pests as the Rocky Mountain locust and other inju-
rious grasshoppers, the army worm, cutworms, cabbage worms, cotton
worm, cotton cutworm, boll w^eevil, clover leaf weevil, clover root
curculio, rice weevil, corn bill-bugs, wireworms, corn leaf -beetles, cu-
cumber beetles, white grubs, and such foes of stock as the Texas fever
tick, horseflies, and mosquitoes. Their warfare on crayfishes must
not be overlooked, nor must we forget the more personal debt of
gratitude we owe them for preying upon mosquitoes. They are the
most important bird enemies of tliese pests known to us.

OUK VANISHING SHOKEBIKDS. 9

SUMMARY.

Shorebirds have been hunted until only a remnant of their once
vast numbers is left. Their limited powers of reproduction, coupled
with the natural vicissitudes of the breeding period, make their in-
crease slow, and peculiarly expose them to danger cf extermination.

In the way of protection a beginning has been made, and a con-
tinuous close season until 1915 has been established for the follow-
ing birds : The killdeer, in Massachusetts and Louisiana ; the upland
plover, in Massachusetts and Vermont; and the piping plover, in
Massachusetts. But, considering the needs and value of these birds,
this modicum of protection is small indeed.

The above-named species are not the only ones that should be
exempt from persecution, for all the shorebirds of the United States
are in great need of better protection. They should be protected,
first, to save them from the danger of extermination, and, second,
because of their economic importance. So great, indeed, is their
economic value, that their retention on the game list and their de-
struction by sportsmen is a serious loss to agriculture.

Approved :

James Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture.
Washington, D. C, February P, 1911.

o

Issued Ma V 24, 1913.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

BIOLOGICAL SURVEY -BULLETIN No. 45

HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief

h

DISTRISUTIQjj_AND MIGRATION OF

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS

AND THEIR ALLIES

BY

WELLS W. C^OOKE

Assistant, Biological Survey

.y

/'

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1913

LETTER OF TRANSMIHAL.

U. S. Department of Agriculture,

Bureau of Biological Survey,
Washington, D, C, February 3, 1913.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for publication as
Bulletin No. 45 of the Biological Survey, a report on "The Dis-
tribution and Migration of North American Herons and Their
Allies," by Wells W. Cooke, Assistant in the Biological Survey.
Formerly widely distributed in the United States, and very abundant
in certain localities, the herons in recent years have everywhere been
greatly depleted in numbers, chiefly because of the demand for their
plumage for millinery purposes. Several species of egrets bearing
the coveted " aigrettes " have, indeed, been almost exterminated,
and the few that remain in the United States owe their existence to
protective laws and to an aroused public sentiment. This bulletin
aims to give precise information as to the range of the several
species, especially the breeding range, and in regard to their migra-
tion. These data are believed to be amply sufficient to form a basis
for protective legislation by the States inhabited by the various
species.

Respectfully,

Henry W. Henshaw,

Chief, Biological Survey,
Hon. James Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture,

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction 7

Distribution 8

Migration 9

North American herons and their allies 10

Flamingo {Phoenicopterus ruber) 10

Roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja) 12

White ibis {Guara alba) 14

Scarlet ibis {Guara rubra) 16

Glossy ibis (Plegadis autumnalis) 17

White-faced glossy ibis {Plegadis guarauna) 19

Wood ibis ( Mycteria americana) 22

Cayenne ibis {Harpiprion cayennensis) 24

Jabiru ( Jabiru mycteria) 24

Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) 26

Pinnated heron {Botaurus pinnatus) 29

Least bittern {Ixobrychus exilis) 29

Cory least bittern {Ixobrychus neoxenus) 32

Great white heron {Ardea ocddentalis) 33

Great blue heron {Ardea herodias herodias) 33

Ward heron {Ardea herodias wardi) 36

Treganza heron {Ardea herodias treganzai) 36

Northwestern coast heron {Ardea herodias fannini) 36

California great blue heron {Ardea herodias hyperonca) 37

West Indian great blue heron {Ardea herodias adoxa) 37

Mexican great blue heron {Ardea herodias lessoni) 37

Lower California great blue heron {Ardea herodias sanctilucae) 38

Galapagos great blue heron {Ardea herodias cognata) 38

European heron {Ardea dnerea) 40

Egret {Heiodias egretta) 40

Snowj' egret {Egretta candidissima) 45

Reddish egret {Dichromanassa rufescens) 49

Louisiana heron {Hydranassa tricolor ruficollis) 51

Demi-egret {Hydranassa tricolor tricolor) 52

Little blue heron {Florida caerulea) 52

Zeledon boatbill ( Cochlearius zeledoni) 55

Pileated heron {Pilherodius pileatus) 55

Green heron {Butorides virescens virescens) 56

Anthony green heron {Butorides virescens anthonyi) 58

Frazar green heron {Butorides virescens frazari) 59

Green heron {Butorides virescens subspp) 59

Lembeye green heron {Butorides brunescens) 60

Striated heron {Butorides striata) 60

Black-crowned night heron {Nycticorax nycticorax naevius) 60

Agami heron {Agamia agami) 64

Yellow-crowned night heron {Nyctanassa violacea) 64

Lineated tiger-bittern ( Tigrisoma lineatum) 67

Nicaraguan tiger-bittern ( Tigrisoma excellens) 67

Mexican tiger-bittern {Heterocnus mexicanus) 67

Index 69

5

ILLUSTRATIONS

DISTRIBUTION MAPS.

Page.

Fig. 1. Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) 11

2. Roseate spoonbill {Ajaia ajaja) 13

3. White ibis {Guara alba) ; 15

4. Scarlet ibis {Guara rubra) , 16

5. Glossy ibis {Plegadis autumnalis) 18

6. White-faced glossy ibis {Plegadis guarauna) 20

7. Wood ibis ( Mycteria americana) 23

8. Jabiru ( Jabiru mycteria) , 25

9. Bittern {Botaurus lentiginosus) 26

10. Least bittern {Ixobrychus exilis) 30

11. Cory least bittern {Ixobrychus neoxenus) 33

12. Great white heron {Ardea occidentalis) 34

13. Great blue heron {Ardea herodias) 35

14. Egret {Herodias egretta) 41

15. Snowy egret {Egretta candidissima) ,......: 46

16. Reddish egret {Dichromanassa rufescens) 50

17. Louisiana heron {Hydranassa tricolor) 51

18. Little blue heron {Florida caerulea) 53

19. Green heron {Butorides virescens) 60

20. Black-crowned night heron {Nycticorax nycticorax naevius) 61

21 . Yellow-crowned night heron {Nyctanassa violacea) 65

6

DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF NORTH AMERICAN
HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

INTRODUCTION.

The herons have attracted wide attention during late years, particu-
larly because of the earnest efforts that have been made to prevent the
utter destruction of the aigrette-bearing members of the family.
The horrors necessarily attending the collection of the aigrettes have
aroused bird lovers to unprecedented activity. As a result, in some
parts of the Union stringent laws have been enacted, and the State
machinery for bird preservation has been supplemented by large
private subscriptions. Probably no family of birds ever had fuller
protection on the statute books than is now enjoyed by the herons,
while certainly no birds have ever been the recipients of more zealous
care than is now accorded to the remaining colonies of the larger
and smaller egrets.

The friends of the birds became aroused none too soon. The large
breeding colonies of egrets have been completely destroyed, and only
a few scattered remnants exist to serve as centers for reestablishing
the species.

Most herons are colony breeding birds, and this fact has been one
of the most potent factors in bringing about their destruction. A
colony could easily be discovered by watching the lines of flight to and
from the feeding grounds, and the succeeding operations were woe-
fully simple. The hunter merely waited until the eggs hatched and
then, taking his stand within the colony, shot the parent birds as they
brought food to the young. No matter how much shooting was done,
the old birds — ^then bearing the nuptial plumes in their greatest
perfection — continued to return to their hungry young until the
last one was killed. The starving of the young and the utter extinc-
tion of the colony were necessary sequels.

So long as these plumes could be sold for their weight in gold
and there was an unlimited market for them, neither State laws nor
the efforts of zealous game wardens availed much in checking the
slaughter. More hopeful conditions are being secured at the present

8 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

time by decreasing the market. Already in several of the States it
has been made unlawful to sell the aigrettes or even to have them in
possession with intent to sell. Could such a law be made general
throughout the United States, the killing of aigrette-bearing birds
would cease, because the slaughterer would have no market for his
plumes.. The birds will never be safe until this condition exists.

The larger egret and the snowy egret are the two species that have
suffered most severely from the persecutions of the plume hunters,
but the millinery trade has also levied a heavy toll on many other
members of the group. The flamingo has ceased to breed anywhere
in the United States. The roseate spoonbill has become extinct over
more than half of its former range in the United States, and its total
numbers are probably less than 5 per cent of what they were 50
years ago.

The reduction of numbers in the other herons and in the ibises
lias not been so pronounced, but several of the species have been
driven from the northern two-thirds of their former breeding range
and are now restricted to the wildest and most inaccessible parts of
the Gulf States.

The food habits of herons and heronlike birds have not been thor-
oughly investigated. The flamingo is believed to subsist largely on
shellfish and Crustacea. The spoonbill and the ibises partake of the
same fare, but add insects to the bill. The larger wood ibis feeds
also on frogs and fishes.

All of the true herons are fond of fish, but in addition they con-
sume many injurious creatures, such as crawfish, water snakes,
meadow mice, and other rodents. In the West the great blue heron
spends much of its time hunting for pocket gophers. There is no
doubt that the herons — especially the black-crowned night heron and
the great blue heron — do much damage about fish hatcheries and
ponds used as fish preserves, and in such places they should be held
in check. But their food habits have redeeming features, and pend-
ing conclusions based on careful study of the whole subject, no
general aggressive measures against the birds should be permitted.

DISTRIBUTION.

The herons and their allies as a whole are tropical birds, barely
extending to the warmer parts of the southern United States. This
bulletin treats of 32 species, all that are known to occur in North
America south to and including the West Indies and Panama.

One of these, the European heron, is accidental in Greenland ; two
are stragglers to the southern United States ; and several have n^ver
been taken within the limits of the United States.

MIGRATION.

9

Southern Species not Ranging Nobth to the United States.

Scarlet ibis (Ouara nihra). Acci-
dental five times in the United
States.

Cayenne ibis ( Harpiprion cayenncnsis ) .

Jabirii (Jabini mycteria). Accidental
once in the United States.

Zeledon boatbill {Cochlearius zclcdoni).

I'lnnated heron {Botaurus pinnalufi).

lA»nil)eye green heron {Butoridcs bru-
nescens).

Striated heron {Butorides striata).
A garni heron (Agamia a garni).
Pileated heron (Pilherodius pileatus).
Lineated tiger-bittern {Tigrisoma line-

atum ) .
Nicaraguan tiger-bittern (Tigrisoma

exccllens).
Mexican tiger-bittern ( Jlcterociiiis ca-

hanisi).

Species Occurring During the Breeding Season not Farther North than
THE Southern Part of the United States.

Flamingo (Phoenicopterus riiher). No
longer breeds in the United States,
but occurs as a rare visitor.

Roseate spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja).

White ibis (Guara alha).

Glossy ibis (Plegadis autumnalis).

Wood ibis (Mycteria americana).

Great white heron (Ardea occidentalis) .

Egret (Herodias egretta).

Snowy egret (Egretta candidissima) .
Reddish egret (Dichromanassa rufes-

cens).
Louisiana heron (Hydranassa tricolor

ruficolUs ) .
Little blue heron ( Florida caerulea ) .
Yellow-crowned night heron (Nycta-

nassa violacea).

Species of Wide Range in the United States and Canada During the

Breeding Season.

White-faced glossy ibis (Plegadis gua-

rauna).
Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus).
Least bittern (Ixohrychus exilis).
Cory least bittern (Ixohrychus neox-

enus).

Great blue heron (Ardea herodias).
Green heron (Butorides virescens).
Black-crowned night heron (Nyetico-
rax nycticorax naeviiis).

summary.

Species of wide range in the United States 7

Species ranging north to the southern United States 12

Species not ranging north to the United States 10

Tropical species occurring as stragglers in the United States 2

Species occurring as a straggler from Euroi)e 1

Total - - 32

MIGRATION.

The herons that breed south of the United States are for the most
part nonmigratory. The same is true of the herons breeding in the
tropical parts of Florida and Texas. All herons breeding farther
north are at least partially migratory, for although a few individuals
may remain through the winter in the vicinity of the nesting site,

10 KORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THElR ALLIES.

yet the great majority retire at this season to more genial climes.
Those breeding north of the Gulf States are almost completely migra-
tory, though occasionally a bittern, a great blue heron, or a black-
crowned night heron elects to spend the winter where large swamps
or warm springs offer a precarious livelihood far north of the
freezing line.

The most striking peculiarity of the migrations of the herons is
their northward movement in the fall. Though not universal, yet
it is a common habit for the young herons to wander in the late
summer and early fall long distances, even several hundred miles,
north of the district where they were hatched. They remain from
a week to a month at their picnic grounds and finally depart for
their winter home.

A still more remarkable migration habit is that of the snowy egret.
Numbers of these birds migrate in the spring far north of the
breeding range and remain throughout the summer in these northern
districts as nonbreeders. The birds are, of course, adults, and some-
times they are found during the summer 500 to 1,000 miles north
of the nearest known breeding grounds of the species. This habit
of the snowy egret seems not to be shared by any other North
American species.

The data in this bulletin on the distribution and breeding of the
several species have been obtained largely from the printed records
in ornithological literature. The extended migration tables are made
possible by the reports of many hundred observers who have filled
out migration schedules for the Biological Survey. Occasion is
taken herewith to extend to these observers well-merited thanks for
their painstaking care and for the large amount of time they have
devoted to the study of bird movements.

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Flamingo. Phoenicopterus ruber Linniens.

Range. — Florida, Yucatan, and the Bahamas, and southeast through
the West Indies to Venezuela, the mouth of the Amazon, and the
Galapagos ; accidental in South Carolina and Louisiana.

Breeding range. — The flamingo is not a migrant in the ordinary
sense of the word, and its occurrence outside of the breeding range
is due to its wandering into contiguous regions in search of food.
The species nested formerly among the keys of southern Florida
in the vicinity of Indian Key (Audubon), and Cape Sable (Scott),
but was driven away many years ago, and there seems to be no
certain record of breeding in Florida during the past 20 years.

The principal breeding range seems to have been the Bahamas,
which furnished in abundance the peculiar natural conditions re-

I'LAMINGO.

11

quired for the nesting site. Nests have been known throughout the
Bahamas from Great Abaco (Allen), on the north to Great Inagua
(Bryant), on the south, and as late as 1905 the birds were still nest-
ing in considerable numbers on Andros Island (Riley) . Large breed-
ing colonies have existed in the vicinity of Cienfuegos, Cuba, and this
port has been for many years one of the principal places of shipment
for live flamingos. The flamingo is also known to have nested on the
Isle of Pines (Gundlach) ; Rio Lagartos, Yucatan (Boucard) ; Bon-
aire Island, oif the coast of Venezuela (Hartert) ; near the mouth
of Waini Creek on the coast of British Guiana (Lloyd) ; on the
coast of French Guiana near Cayenne (Waterton) ; and south to

Fig. 1. — Flamingo {Phoenicopterua ruber).

the vicinity of the mouth of the Amazon River at Praia de Cajutuba,
Brazil (Pelzeln), and to the Galapagos Islands (Beck).

Eggs have been found in the Bahamas, May 14, 1884 (Maynard) ;
June 7, 1886 (Blake) ; and May 8, 1904 (Chapman) ; young out of
the nest in the Bahamas, May 28, 1898 (Chapman) ; young on the
Galapagos, April 1^ 1902 (Beck).

Migration range. — Outside of the breeding season the flamingo
used to be not uncommon on the west coast of Florida north to Tampa
Bay (Scott), and a few probably still visit Florida, for they were
noted at Upper Matecumbe Key, March 7, 1906 (Brodhead), and
Lake Worth, May, 1905 (Ryman), but none probably winter any-
where in Florida. The flamingo has been noted also at Warrington,
Fla. (Stone) ; Charleston, S. C. (Audubon) ; Georgetown, S. C, Sep-
tember, 1876 (Loomis) ; and at Cameron, La., December 6, 1910

12 NOBTH AMEEICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

(McAtee). One visited Bermuda September 24, 1849 (Hurdis,
and the species has been recorded as a visitor to Jamaica (March),
Haiti (Ritter), Porto Rico (Gundlach), Guadeloupe, Antigua,
Anegada (Clark), Colombia (Masquera), and the Orinoco River in
Venezuela (Burger).

EfOseate SpoonbilL Ajaia ajaja (Linnaeus).

Range. — Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and central Mexico, south to
southern Patagonia ; formerly north casually to South Carolina
and Indiana; accidental in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, Colo-
rado, and California.

Breeding range. — The roseate spoonbill as a breeder in the United
States was confined to the extreme southern parts of Texas, Louisi-
ana, and Florida. It has been known to nest in the lower Rio Grande
Valley (Merrill) ; Grigsby, near Beaumont, Tex. (Rachford) ; Cal-
casieu (Kopman), Lake Arthur (Beyer), and Bayou Sara, La.
(Beckham) ; and on the coast of southern Florida north to Indian
River (Bryant) and Anclote Keys (Scott). Though sadly depleted
in numbers and on the verge of extinction, yet the species probably
still breeds near Cape Sable, Fla. (Bowdish), and Lake Arthur, La.
(Beyer, Allison, and Kopman), while as late as July, 1910, a flock
of about 50 was seen at the Indian Key Bird Reservation in Tampa
Bay, Fla. (Pillsbury). Late records in Texas are at Rockport,
August, 1905 (Howell) and at Brownsville June, 1907, and August,
1909 (Smith).

The pink curlew, as this bird is often called, has a wide distribu-
tion south of the United States. It is resident on both coasts of
Mexico and on the large lakes of the interior, ranging on the Pacific
Coast north to Mazatlan (Lawrence). It is known to breed in
Nicaragua (Ridgway) and Costa Rica (Nutting) and has been re-
corded as occurring in Guatemala (Goss), Panama (Sharpe), and
Colombia (Robinson). It used to be a common breeder in Great
Inagua Island, Bahamas (Cory), in Cuba (Gundlach), and on the
Isle of Pines (Poey), but is now rare if not extinct throughout this
region. It has been recorded as a rare visitant to Jamaica (March),
Haiti (Tristram), Porto Rico (Bowdish), and several of the Lesser
Antilles including Trinidad Island (Leotaud), while from the coast
of Venezuela (Ernst) south to Bahia Blanca, Argentina (Barrows)
and to Santiago, Chile (Philippi), it is not rare either on the coast
or in the interior on the larger rivers. A few have wandered south
to the Falkland Islands (Abbott) and the Strait of Magellan (Scla-
ter and Hudson) .

The breeding season is evidently exceedingly variable and greatly
extended. The National Museum contains eggs taken near Key

ROSEATE SPOONBILL.

13

Fig, 2. — Roseate spoonbill {Ajaia ajaja),

14 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

West, Fla., January 16, 1886, and at Lake Okeechobee, Fla., March
14, 1874. young nearly fledged were found April 1, 1858, on Indian
Elver, Fla. (Bryant), and young in the nest April 19, 1882, at La
Palma, Costa Rica (Nutting) ; both eggs and young May 1, 1903,
at Cuthbert Lake, Fla. (Bent and Job) and fresh eggs at the same
place March 29, 1908 (Chapman) ; eggs in June, Inagua, Bahamas
(Cory) ; eggs June 2, 1886, Grigsby Bluff, Tex. (Rachford) ; fresh
eggs in Cuba in early August, and both eggs and young at intervals,
throughout the fall, until finally young were found in the nest in
December (Gundlach).

Migration range. — The roseate spoonbill is resident throughout its
breeding range, but wanderers have been taken or noted at Cumber-
land, Ga., April 13, 1902 (Helme) ; Charleston, S. C, June, 1879
(Wayne) ; Yemassee, S. C, fall of 1885 (Wayne) ; Lancaster, Pa.,
(Warren) ; Rodney, Miss., June 27, 1889 (Mabbett) ; Vincennes,
Ind., spring of 1856 (Butler) ; Portland, Ind., July 14, 1889 (But-
ler) ; Janesville, Wis., August, 1845 (Kumlein) ; near Wichita, Kans.,
March 20, 1899 (Matthews) ; Silverton, Colo., spring of 1888 (Mor-
rison) ; near Pueblo, Colo., August, 1890 (Smith) ; San Bernardino,
Cal., June 20, 1903 (Stephens).

White Ibis. Guara alha (Linnseus).

Range. — Tne Gulf States and central Mexico, south through
Central America and the Greater Antilles to Venezuela and Peru;
casual north to Vermont, Illinois, South Dakota, Colorado, and Utah.

Breeding range. — Throughout Florida the white ibis has been one
of the most abundant breeding birds, and it has suffered so little at
the hands of the plume hunters that it is still common in many parts
of the State and in some places is really abundant. At Cuthbert and
Alligator Lakes, near Cape Sable, Fla., two breeding colonies of
more than a thousand birds each were found in 1903, and still larger
ones reported farther inland (Bent). A colony of 4,000 nests was
found in 1911 at Orange Lake, Fla. (Pearson). The species becomes
less common to the northward, but has been known to nest north to
St. Marys, Ga. (Arnow), southern South Carolina (Wayne), and
Chipley, Fla. (Pleas). Though not so common west of Florida, yet
it is not a rare breeder in southern Mississippi (Allison), southern
and southwestern Louisiana (Beyer), and north to Natchez, Miss.
(Audubon) . It is less common on the Texas coast, breeding at Corpus
Christi (Sennett) and Brownsville (Merrill), and occurs thence
along the coast of eastern Mexico, on the larger inland lakes, and on
the Pacific coast north to Mazatlan (Lawrence) and to Santa Mar-
garita Island (Anthony). Though formerly abundant and still com-
mon in Cuba (Gundlach) and Isle of Pines (Bangs and Zappey), it
seems not to have been common in the rest of its range in the West

WHITE IBIS.

15

Indies, though recorded from Jamaica (Field), Haiti (Christi), and
Dominica (Clark). It occurs locally and not rarely along the whole
Pacific coast of Central America south to the Rio Sabana, Panama
(Salvadori and Festa), and has been recorded at the following places
in northern South America : Zulia and Lake Valencia, Venezuela
(Ernst) ; Vaqueria, northwestern Ecuador (Hartert) ; and Santa
Luzia, northwestern Peru (Taczanowski).

Eggs have been taken March 28, 1898, at Lake Okechobee, Fla.
(specimens in Thayer collection) ; April 24, 1888, at Tarpon Springs,

Fig.

-White ibis (Guara alba).

Fla. (Scott) ; fresh eggs. May 1, 1903, at Cuthbert Lake, Fla.; and
young able to fly. May 15, 1903, at Alligator Lake, only a few miles
distant (Bent). In Cuba these birds are said to nest from April to
September.

Winter range. — The white ibis is resident throughout its range in
Central and South America and the West Indies. It winters in the
United States north to Gainesville, Fla. (Chapman), and to southern
Louisiana (Beyer, Allison, and Kopman), and in western Mexico
north to La Barca (Goldman), Mazatlan (Lawrence), and to La Paz
(Belding).

16

NOKTH AMERICAN" HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

S'p7ing migi'ation. — A slight northward migration occurs in spring,
bringing the birds to Whitfield, Fla., March 17, 1903 ( Worthington) ;
Pensacola, Fla., March 19, 1886 (Evermann) ; St. Marys, Ga., March
17, 1904 (Arnow). Beyond this they have been taken as wanderers
at Beaufort, N. C, July 26, 1908 (Pearson) ; Philadelphia, Pa.
(Warren) ; Great Egg Harbor, N. J., 1858 (Turnbull) ; Moriches
and Eaynor South, N. Y. (Giraud) ; Milford, Conn., May 23, 1875
(Merriam) ; South Woodstock, Vt., summer of 1878 (Tracy) ;

•^ RESIDENT

O OCCURRENCE Ifi SUMMER

Fig. 4. — Scarlet ibis (Guara rubra).

Memphis, Tenn. (Audubon) ; Quincy, 111. (Widmann) ; Mt. Carmel,
111., May 8, 1878 (Ridgway) ; Vermilion, S. Dak., May, 1879 (Agers-
borg) ; Barr Lake, Colo., 1890 (Smith) ; Ogden, Utah, September,
1871 (Allen).

Scarlet Ibis. Guara rubra (Linnaeus),

The range of the scarlet ibis is northern South America from
eastern Colombia to the mouth of the Amazon ; north casually to the
United States.

GLOSSY IBIS. 17

The principal home of this bird is the northern coast of South
America from Zulia, Venezuela (Ernst), and Trinidad Island
(Leotaud) to the mouth of the Amazon (Allen). It penetrates the
interior of Colombia to the Meta River (Burger), follows the
Amazon up to the Rio Negro (Ihering), and goes south on the coast
of Brazil to Iguape, Sao Paulo (Ihering). When Waterton visited
South America in 1812, he found scarlet ibises in innumerable flocks
along the coast of British Guiana near GeorgetoAvn and four years
later found them equally abundant on the coast of French Guiana,
both east and west of Cayenne. The brilliant coloring of the bird
early drew to it the attention of the plumage hunter, and about 1895
its skins formed a not inconsiderable part of the $200,000 worth of
plumage exported j^early from Para, Brazil (Goeldi). Though
sadly depleted in numbers, yet it is still far from extinction, for as
late as March, 1909, several hundred were in sight at once on the
Waini River, British Guiana (Beebe).

The scarlet ibis is only a very rare straggler in the United States
and the West Indies. The records north of South America are:
Costa Rica (Zeledon) ; Jamaica previous to 1847 (Denny) ; Fort
Ogden, Fla., May, 1888 (Scott) ; Bayou Sara, La., July 3, 1821
(Audubon) ; Los Pinos, N. Mex. (Coues) ; Fort Lowell, Ariz., Sep-
tember 17, 1890 (Brown) ; Grape Creek, Wet Mountain Valley, Colo.
(Lowe). Linnseus based his name of this species on Catesby's plate
and description of birds that were said to have come from the
Bahamas, but since the scarlet ibis has no other record for the
Bahamas, it is probable that Catesby was misled as to the origin of
his birds and that they really came from South America.

Eggs were taken May 2, 1901, in Dutch Guiana (specimens in
Thayer collection).

Glossy Ibis. Plegadis autumnalis (Linnaeus).

The glossy ibis has a wide range in the tropical and subtropical
regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, extending north to Spain, Hun-
gary, Greece, Persia, Turkestan, and China, and south to southern
Africa, Borneo, and Australia. A very small percentage of the
species occurs in the Western Hemisphere, where it is found prin-
cipally in Jamaica. Cuba, Florida, and Louisiana; casual north to
Nova Scotia, Ontario, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Colorado.

The status of this species in Florida is not well defined. Both
this and the white-faced glossy ibis occur in Florida, breeding in
close proximity, and they agree so closely in appearance that they
can not be distinguished by sight at ordinary distances. Hence it is
possible that some of the following records of the glossy ibis refer
really to the white-faced species. The former is recorded from
80652"— 13 2

18

NOKTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Fort Myers, spring of 1886 (Scott) ; Caloosahatchee Kiver, April 20,
1881 (specimen in U. S. National Museum) ; Orlando, nested 1909
(Hyer) ; Gainesville, nested 1910 (Baynard) ; Micanopy, nested
(Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway) ; Tortugas, 1860 (specimen in U. S.

Fig. 5. — Glossy ibis (Plegadis autumnalis).

National Museum) ; Upper St. Johns, summer 1903 (Bent) ; near
Cape Sable, summer 1903 (Bent) ; Orange Lake, Fla., eggs May 4-12,
1911 (Philipp).

The Louisiana records also are in an unsatisfactory condition.
Apparently both species of glossy ibis occur at Lake Arthur and

WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS. 19

both breed there, but their relative distribution in the rest of the
State remains to be determined.

The glossy ibis is known locally as a wanderer along the whole
Atlantic coast of the United States: Frogmore, S. C, June 30, 1884
(Hoxie) ; Washington, D. C, about 1817 (Audubon) and Septem-
ber, 1900 (Daniel) ; Baltimore, Md., May, 1817 (Audubon) ; Great
Egg Harbor, N. J., May 7, 1817 (Ord) ; near Philadelphia, Pa.,
1866 (Turnbull) ; 10 occurrences in New York State since 1844,
between April and September, the latest being at Cayuga, May 21.
1907 (Fuertes) ; Middletown, Conn., May 9, 1850; near Cambridge,
Mass., 5 birds, May 7 and 8, 1850 (Browne) ; Nantucket, Mass., Sep-
tember, 1869 (Allen) ; Cape Cod, Mass., May 4 and 5, 1878 (Alien) ;
Alton, N. H., October, 1858 (Palmer) ; Pictou County, Nova Scotia,
about 1865 (McKinlay) ; Prince Edward Island (Baird, Brewer,
and Ridgway) ; Montreal, Canada, May 27, 1900 (specimen in Thayer
collection). The species has been observed a few times inland: In
Illinois, opposite St. Louis, February 27, 1880 (Hurter) ; Fairport,
Ohio, 1848 (Wheaton) ; Bay City, Mich., October 6, 1884 (Eddy) ;
Hamilton, Ontario, May, 1857 (Mcllw^raith) ; Horicon, Wis., Novem-
ber 3, 1879 (Kumlein and Hollister) ; Denver, Colo. (Cooke) ; Barr
Lake, Colo., June, 1905 (Hersey and Rockwell). These last two
records are far west of the normal range of the species and would
be expected to be the white -faced glossy ibis, but there is no question
of the correctness of the identification of the specimens.

The glossy ibis has been found as a rare breeder in western Cuba,
at Zapata, Cardenas, and Habana (Gundlach), and was taken un-
doubtedly breeding at Spanishtown, Jamaica, May 16, 1865 (speci-
men in U. S. National Museum). One Avas taken February 22, 1900,
at Cay Lobos Light, Bahamas (Bonhote), and one was seen in 1909 on
Great Inagua, Bahamas (Worthington). There are rather uncer-
tain records for four others of the West Indies.

White-faced Glossy Ibis. Plegadis guarauna (Linnaeus).

The range of this bird is from central Mexico north to Louisiana,
Utah, and Oregon ; casual north to Minnesota, Wyoming, Idaho, and
southern British Columbia ; also in the southern half of South Amer-
ica; accidental in Costa Rica.

The white- faced glossy ibis is one of the few species of the heron
tribe that are considered by law as game birds, and it is so considered
in the United States in California only. Here it has an open season
from October 15 to March 1, except in game district 6 (comprising
the southern counties), where the season opens October 1. The bag
limit is 20 birds in any one day and all sale.within the State or ship-
ment without the State is prohibited. The species is most common

20

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

^4\

60*

-f- RESIDENT

• BREEDING

O OCCURRENCE IN SUMMER

U^'

'^eS^,

70'

Fig. 6. — White-faced glossy ibis {Plegadis guarauna).

WHITE-FACED GL06SY IBIS. 21"

in the southern and central parts of the State, especially in the San
Joaquin Valley.

In all but three of the other States where the white-faced glossy
ibis occurs it is protected by law for the most part under the pro-
visions of the general law that protects all but certain specified
game birds. In Nevada, Kansas, and New Mexico, however, the
species is not protected by law^ at any time in the year.

The habitat of the white-faced glossy ibis presents one of the best
examples of a discontinuous range. The bird is apparently absent
from the whole of Central America and from northern South Amer-
ica and the valley of the Amazon River. To the northward it ranges
from latitude 18° to 44°, while south of the equator the range extends
from 12° to 55°.

The white- faced glossy ibis breeds from the Valley of Toluca
(Goldman), Manzanillo Bay (Lawrence), and San Jose del Cabo
(Belding), Mexico; north to Great Salt Lake, Utah (Goodwin), and
Malheur Lake, Oreg. (Finley). It also breeds along the coast of
Texas, at Lake Arthur, La. (specimen in U. S. National Museum),
and at Lake Washington, Fla. (Brewster). The species probably
ranges regularly east to southwestern Louisiana, but, as already re-
marked under the last species, how common or regular it is in Florida
remains yet to be determined. The species has wandered north to
Rippey, Iowa, April, 1891 (Nutting) ; Spirit Lake, Iowa, May 15
to 21, 1890 (Mosher) ; Heron Lake, Minn., nested in 1894 and 1895
(Peabody) ; near Omaha, Nebr., August 19, 1893, and April 6, 1897
(Bruner, Wolcott, and Swenk) ; Red Bank, Wyo., 1893 (Knight) ;
Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho, 1909 (Moody) ; Salt Spring Island and
the mouth of the Fraser River in southwestern British Columbia
(Fannin).

The white- faced glossy ibis winters throughout its range in Mexico
and north to Brownsville, Tex. (Merrill) ; Gum Cove, La. (McAtee) ;
Tombstone, Ariz. (Willard) ; and Los Angeles County, Cal. (Grin-
nell).

The breeding range in South America extends from near Callao,
Peru (Cassin) ; and Rio Janeiro, Brazil (Sharpe) ; south to the Strait
of Magellan (Dabbene) ; and the species is common on the larger
rivers of the interior north to Ypanema, Brazil, on the Paraguay
River at 16° south latitude (Pelzeln). It retires in the winter from
the southern part of this breeding range, but remains at this season
as far south as Cape San Antonio, Argentine (Gibson) ; and San-
tiago, Chile (specimen in U. S. National Museum).

The regular ranges in North America and South America are sep-
arated by 30° of latitude and 22° of longitude. There is only one
record for the species in the whole 3,000 miles — a single bird, taken
on the Diquis River in southwestern Cost Rica (Cherrie), which

22 NOKTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

had wandered about 1,200 miles from the nearest part of the bird's
regular home.

Eggs are most commonly found in Argentina during November
(Holland) and in Chile during November and December (Germain).
North of the equator eggs have been taken at Lake Washington,
Fla., April 18, 1886 (Brewster) ; Heron Lake, Minn., June 26,
1894, June 22 and July 2, 1895 (Peabody) ; Brownsville, Tex., May
16, 1877 (Merrill) ; Waco, Tex., April 22, 1900 (specimens in Thayer
collection) ; San Diego, Cal., May 29, 1893 (Shields) ; Quinn River,
Nev., May 11, 1881 (specimens in U. S. National Museum).

Wood Ibis. Mycteria americana Linnseiis.

The range of the wood ibis is from the Gulf States and central
Mexico south through Cuba and Central America to Argentina;
casual north to New England, Ohio, Wisconsin, Montana, and
California.

This bird is a tropical species of wide distribution in Central and
South America. It is common in the United States only in Florida
and along the Gulf coast to southern Texas. It breeds less com-
monly north to Colleton County, S. C. (Wayne) ; and to Rodney,
Miss. (Mabbett) ; while in Mexico the breeding range extends north
to Mazatlan and La Paz.

After the breeding season and when the young are fully grown
both old and young are in the habit of moving northward to the
swamps along the Mississippi River, particularly in southeastern
Missouri and southern Illinois, which at this season of the year are
swarming with their favorite food. Here they are common from
July to September, while occasional flocks or individuals wander still
farther and have been recorded at New Haven, Mo., August 11 to
September 11, 1902 (Eimbeck) ; Brookville, Ind., August, 1855
(Evermann) ; Lyons, Ind., June 27, 1910, and June to September,
1911 (Van Gorder) ; Cleveland, Ohio (Jones) ; near Monroe, Mich.,
June 19, 1910 (Taverner) ; Racine, Wis., September, 1868 (Hoy) ;
La Crosse, Wis., 1852 (Kumlein and Hollister) ; Ellis, Kans., March
26, 1885 (Goss) ; Waldron, Kans., June 29, 1908 (Matthews) ; Fort
Thorn, N. Mex. (Henry) ; near Denver, Colo., August 30, 1902 (Fel-
ger) ; Ennis, Mont., October, 1902 (Cooley) ; Idaho City, Idaho,
June 25, 1910 (Jewett).

The breeding birds of the coast of western Mexico also work north-
ward in the fall^ are especially common in the valley of the lower
Colorado River, and are irregular visitants to southern California.
They have been taken thence north to Fort Mohave, Ariz. (Coues) ;
Rush Lake, Utah, October 1, 1872 (Yarrow and Henshaw) ; Nevada,
July, 1871 (specimen in U. S. National Museum) ; and Hayward,
Gal. (Grinnell).

WOOD IBIS.

23

60*

O OCCVnR£NCE IN SUMMER

«fKree-f

70*

Fig. 7. — Wood ibi» {Mycteria americana).

24 KOETH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

The wood ibis has been noted in the eastern United States at
Raleigh, N. C, July, 1884 (Brimley) ; Morganton, N. C. (Wayne) ;
Vinitaville, Va., July 18, 1896 (Palmer) ; Bloomery, W. Va., about
July 28, 1884 (Wall) ; Washington, D. C, July 2, 1892 (Palmer) ;
Silver Hill, Md., July 20, 1896 (Palmer) ; Laurel, Md., July 27,

1896 (Palmer) ; Williamsport, Pa., June 21, 1876 (Allen) ; Eliza-
bethtown, Pa., July 10, 1884 (Sherratt) ; Troy, N. Y., June 24, 1876
(Allen) ; near Glasco, N. Y., July 8, 1884 (Fisher) ; near East
Marion, N. Y., June 21, 1890 (Dutcher) ; Barrington, R. I., August
8, 1896 (Hathaway) ; Georgetown, Mass., June 19, 1880 (Allen) ;
Seekonk, Mass., July 17, 1896 (Brewster) ; Williston, Vt., about

1897 (Perkins) ; and Berwick, Me., July 16, 1896 (Knight).

The wood ibis occurs in favorable localities throughout Central
America, much of northern South America, and south to Tumbez,
Peru (Taczanowski) ; Cordoba, Argentina (Dabbene) ; and Concep-
cion, Argentina (Barrows). It is a rare resident of Cuba (Gund-
lach) ; occasional in the Isle of Pines (Cory) ; accidental in Jamaica
(Denny) ; rare in Haiti (Christi) ; and recorded from Trinidad
Island (Leotaud).

The larger part of the most northern breeding wood ibises retire
a few miles to the southward during the winter season, but enough
remain to,allow the species to be called resident throughout its breed-
ing range.

This species is one of the earliest breeding birds, since eggs are in
the United States National Museum taken in Florida, December 8,
1859; Cape Sable, Fla., January 5, 1892; and in southeastern Yuca-
tan, March 15, 1890.

[Cayenne Ibis. Harpiprion cayenne iiMs (Gmelin).

Ranges from southern Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Ecuador north and west to the
Panama Canal.]

Jabiru. Jahiru myctcria ( Lichtenstein ) .

The range of the jabiru is from Colombia and Guiana to Argen-
tina ; rare in Central America ; accidental in Mexico and Texas.

The sole claim of the jabiru to a place in the list of United States
birds rests on a specimen donated to the museum of the Philadelphia
Academy of Sciences and claimed to have been taken near Austin,
Tex. The species is a rather rare resident of the lower parts of
Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and has been recorded once from southern
Guatemala at Haumudial (Salvin) ; and once from southern Mexico
at Cosamaloapam (Sumichrast).

The jabiru seems not to have been reported as yet from eastern
Costa Rica, Panama, or western Colombia, but it occurs from north-
eastern Colombia (Robinson) ; Venezuela (Ernst) ; Tobago Island
(Jardine) ; and British Guiana (Cabanis) ; south throughout Brazil

JABIRU.

25

• BRCEDINQ

o occurrence: in SUM/^ER

^\

>^'5^^^^*^«^

70*

70'

eo*

Fig. 8. — Jablru {Jal)iru mycteria).

26

KOKTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

and Paraguay to Cordoba, Argentina (Dabbene) ; and to Buenos
Aires, Argentina (Hudson). It also ranges west to central Peru
(Taczanowski). Eggs were taken October 10, 1904, on the Chaco of
Argentina (Hartert and Venturi).

• BREED tNQ

O OCCURREnCC IN SUMMER
,j^ + YtlNTERlNG

-^ OCCURRENCE IN niHTe/i
•4" RESIDENT

Fig. 9. — Bittern {Botaurus lentiginosus) .
Bittern. Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu).

flange. — Nearly the whole of North America, from Panama and the
Greater Antilles north to British Columbia, Mackenzie, and New-
foundland.

Breeding range. — The bittern is one of the most northern breed-
ing members of its family. During the sununer it ranges north to

BITTERN.

2T

the southern part of the Cariboo District, B. C. (Brooks) ; Peace
River Landing, Alberta (Macoun) ; Fort Norman, Mackenzie (Pre-
ble) ; Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (Ferry) ; Fort Churchill, Kee-
watin (Clarke) ; Fort George, on the east side of James Bay
(Selwyn) ; Godbout, Quebec (Comeau) ; Anticosti Island, Quebec
(Verrill) ; Humber River, Newfoundland (Porter) ; and St. John,
Newfoundland (Howley). It was once seen at Cape St. Francis near
the Strait of Belle Isle (Bigelow). The southern boundary of the
normal breeding range extends from Buena Vista Lake, Cal. (Gold-
man) ; Pahranagat Valley, Nev. (Merriam), and Utah Lake, Utah
(Johnson), east to Barr Lake, Colo. (Felger), Wichita, Kans.
(Matthews), Henderson, Ky. (Alves) ; Variety Mills, Va. (Micklem),
and Cape May, N. J. (Hand). South of this normal summer range,
the species has been found breeding at Lerma, Mexico (Goldman) ;
Alamitos, Los Angeles County, Cal. (Robertson) ; Mormon Lake,
Ariz. (Mearns) ; Raleigh, N. C. (Brimley) ; and Yemassee, S. C.
(Wayne).

Winter range. — The principal winter home is in the southern
United States, from which a few pass south throughout Mexico and
as far south as Coban, Guatemala (Salvin) ; Reventazon, Costa Rica
(Bangs) ; Cariblanco and Turrucares, Costa Rica (Lankester) ;
Laguna de Ochomogo, Costa Rica (Carriker) ; and Isthmus of
Panama (Lawrence). The species is not rare in western Cuba
(Gundlach), the Isle of Pines (Gundlach), and the northern Ba-
hamas (Bonhote). It winters north to Marysville, Cal. (Belding),
the lower Ohio Valley, and North Carolina; and is rare or casual
at Canton, 111. (Cobleigh), and Washington, D. C. (Coues). One
was seen December 28, 1904, at a warm spring near Fort Morgan,
Colo. (Felger), far north of the usual winter home.

Migration range. — Specimens have been taken in Jamaica (Denny)
and Porto Rico (Gundlach), though the species is not known to
occur regularly in either of these islands. Many individuals have
found their way, spring and fall, to Bermuda (Jardine), though their
appearance there is so irregular as to suggest accident rather than
design. A straggler to Piddletown, England, became the basis of
the original description of the species.

Spring migration.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
spring
anival.

Earliest date
of spring
arrival.

Raleigh, N.C

Pea Island, N. C...

Andrews, N. C

WeaverviUe, N. C.
Washington, D. C.

Baltimore, Md

Erie, Pa

Renovo. Pa

Apr. 1

Apr. 22
Apr." "7"

Apr. 12
Apr. 10

Mar. 19,1908

Feb. 11,1901

Apr. 18,1902

Apr. 12,1891

Mar. 22,1894

Mar. 31,1898

Apr. 4,1888

Mar. 29,1907

28

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.
Spring migration — Continued.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
sprine
arrival.

Earliest date
of spring
arrival.

Northern New Jersey

Ithaca, N.Y

Canandaigua, N. Y. (near)..
Jewett City, Conn. (near). . .

Beverly, Mass

West Groton, Mass

Monadnock, N. H

PhilHps, Me

Pittsfield, Me

Fort Kent, Me

Montreal, Canada

Quebec, Canada

Pictou, N. S

Halifax, N.S

Blackville, N. B. (near)

North River, P. E. I

Godbout, Quebec.

Fayette ville, Ark. . . '.

Monteer, Mo

Odin, 111

Canton, 111

Vincennes, Ind

Oberlin, Ohio

Detroit, Mich

Vicksburg, Mich

Point Pelee, Ont.

Guelph, Ont

Ottawa, Ont

Tampico, 111

Chicago, 111

Ripon, Wis

La Crosse, Wis

Palmer, Mich

Central Iowa

Heron Lake, Minn

Elk River, Minn

Lake Andrew, Minn

White Earth, Minn

Central Kansas

Kansas City, Mo

Valentine, Nebr. (near)

Huron, S. Dak

Sioux Falls, S. Dak

Harrisburg, N. Dak. (near).

Aweme, Manitoba

Indian Head, Sask. (near) . .

Denver, Colo

Salida, Colo

Utah Lake, Utah

Terry, Mont

Edmonton, Alberta

Fort Providence, Mack

Aumsville, Oreg

Grays Harbor, Wash

Chilliwack, B. C ,

Okanagan Landing, B. C. . .

Apr. 11

Apr. 22

Apr. 21

Apr. 20

Apr. 22

Apr. 16

Apr. 25

Api
Ma

Apr. 25

Apr. 27

Apr. 22

May 7

May 11

Apr. 5

Apr. 4
Apr. 10
Mar. 31
Apr. 7

Apr. 2i

Apr. 24

Apr. 10

Apr. 19

Apr. 22
May 6
Apr. 17
Apr. 20
Apr. 23
Apr. 24

Apr. 17

Apr. 18

Apr. 27

Apr. 17

Apr. 11

May 2

May 3

May 11

Apr. 20

May 21

May 9
Mar. 28

Apr. 26

Mar.
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
May
May
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
May
May
May
May
Mar.
Mar.
Apr.
Jan.
Apr.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Jan.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
May
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
May
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.
May
May
Mar.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.

27,1909
28,1908
14,1905
17,1906
15,1909
17,1898
14, 1905
11,1905
4,1895
4,1905
20,1908
25,1906

15. 1892
5,1902
7,1906

20,1888

12, 1895

31,1883

26,1904

1,1892

15,1894

3,1888

30,1908

17,1905

30,1908

25,1907

13,1895

16, 1897

7,1884

29,1907

12, 1879

8,1909

5, 1895

4, 1890

8,1889

9,1887

19. 1893
17,1880
12,1907
17,1902
21,1896
12,1884
10,1910
22,1883
19, 1909

1,1910
10,1897
16, 1908
30,1899
23,1893
14,1908

6,1904
21,1889

3,1890
17,1889
23,1908

The last bittern seen in the spring at Nassau, Bahamas, was on
March 6, 1902 (Bouhote) ; Frogmore, S. C, April 4, 1887 (Hoxie) ;
New Orleans, La., April 7, 1904 (Allison) ; Whitfield, Fla., April 22,
1903 (Worthington).

Eggs have been taken at Variety Mills, Va., May 12, 1884 (Mick-
lem) ; Salem, N. »T., May 28, 1904 (Stone) ; Lake Umbagog, Me., June
4, 1883 (Carpenter) ; Magdalen Islands, Quebec, July 14, 1887
(Bishop) ; Kewanee, 111., May 22, 1893 (Murchison) ; Fays Lake,
Mich., May 30, 1894 (Watkins) ; Detroit, Mich., May 21, 1899
(Swales) ; Leech Lake, Minn., June 6, 1902 (Currier) ; Julesburg,
Colo., May 17, 1899 (Daw^son) ; Alamitos, Los Angeles County, Cal.,
May 14, 1899 (Robertson) ; Fort Crook, Cal., May 12, 1861 (speci-

LEAST BITTERN.

29

mens in U. S. National Museum) ; near Crane Lake, Saskatchewan,
June 7, 1905 (Bent). Young out of the nest were found at Guelph,
Ontario, at the early date of June 1, 1901 (Walker), and young a
week old at Meridian, N. Y., May 31, 1898 (Tabor).

Fall migration.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
the last

Latest date
of the last
one seen.

Chilliwack, B. C

Indian Head, Sask

Whitford Lake, Alberta.

Aweme, Manitoba

Marstonmoor, N. Dak. . .

Sioux Falls, S. Dak

Barr Lake, Colo

Nebraska City, Nebr

Delavan, Wis

Chicago, 111

Ottawa, Ont

Palmer, Mich

Vicksburg, Mich

Keokuk, Iowa

Kansas City, Mo

Minerva, Ohio

Greensburg, Ind

North River, P. E. I

Montreal, Canada

Scotch Lake, N. B

Pictou, N. S

Pittsfield, Me

Nantucket Island, Mass.

Canandaigua, N. Y

Renovo, Pa

Erie, Pa

Cape May, N. J

Chester County, Pa

Oct. 15
OctV'io'
Nov."?

Oct. 13
Oct. 16
Oct. 23

Nov. 5
Oct. 31

Oct. 22
Oct." 6

Oct. 21
Oct. 24

Dec.
Oct.
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
Dec.
Nov.
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
Dec.
Sept.
Nov.
Nov.
Oct.
Oct.
Nov.
Oct.
Nov.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.

19,1889
16,1907
29,1909

5,1909

9,1909
20,1910
28,1904

8,1909
16,1894
28,1895

2,1896
31,1894
12,1902

9,1903
23,1904
10,1892
25,1892
13,1887
11,1894
22,1900
20,1894

9,1895

3,1896
30,1905
11,1900
28,1893
19,1878

8,1879

The first in fall migration arrived at Frogmore, S. C, August 26,
1886 (Hoxie), and at St. Marys, Ga., September 12, 1905 (Arnow).

[Pinnated Heron. Botaurus pinnatus (Wagler).

This species ranges in South America, in Argentina, Brazil, and Guiana, and
has one somewhat doubtful record for Nicaragua (Lawrence).]

Least Bittern. Ixohrychus exilis (Gmelin).

Range. — North America north to Oregon, Saskatchewan, and New
Brunswick, and thence south in winter to Chile and southern Brazil.

Breeding range. — The least bittern is a regular and common breeder
in the eastern United States north of latitude 39° and west of New
England. The breeding range extends north to St. John, N. B.
(Chamberlain); Ottawa, Ontario (AVhite) ; Grand Eapids, Mich.
(Milliken) ; Ripon, Wis. (Cooke) ; AVhite Earth, Minn. (Cooke) ;
Crane Lake, Saskatchewan (Macoun) ; and probably in southern
Manitoba. Its western limit is near the hundredth meridian at Hays,
Kans. (Lantz) ; Long Pine, Nebr. (Bates) ; and Eoscoe, S. Dak.
Throughout the Rocky Mountain region the species is absent as a
breeder, but appears again in small numbers along the Pacific coast
at San Luis Rey, Cal. (Sharp) ; Los Angeles, Cal. (Grinnell) ; and

30

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Fig. 10. — Least bittern {Ixohrychus exilis).

LEAST BITTERN.

31

Tiile Lake, Oreg. (Bailey). It breeds rarely along the Atlantic coast
from Washington, D. C. (Coues), to Raleigh, N. C. (Brimley), and
Lake Ellis, N. C. (Philipp), and more commonly on the coast of
South Carolina (Wayne), in Georgia (Perry), throughout most of
Florida, and along the Gulf coast to the mouth of the Rio Grande
(Merrill). There is thus a large part of the eastern United States
south of the thirty-ninth parallel and back from the coast in which
the species is either lacking or very rare.

The least bittern nests locally in a few places in central Mexico —
Ocotlan, Jalisco (Nelson) ; La Lagima, Jalisco (Nelson) ; Patzcuaro,
Michoacan (Stone) ; and the valley of Toluca (Goldman). It breeds
also in Cuba (Gundlach) ; and Porto Rico (Gundlach).

Winter range. — The least bittern winters north to Micanopy, Fla.
(Baynard) ; and Orlando, Fla. (Hyer) ; also in the Bahamas (Bon-
hote). In Mexico it occurs in winter north to San Bias, Tepic
(Lawrence) ; Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan (Jouy) ; and the valley of
Toluca (Goldman). Thence it ranges south to Lion Hill, Panama
(Sharpe) ; Georgetown, Guiana (Loat) ; Iguape, Brazil (Ihering) ;
Paraguay (Berlepsch and Stolzmann) ; and to Yaldivia, Chile
(Boeck).

Migration range. — Records of migration or of wandering have been
made at Halifax, N. S., March 16, 1896 (Piers) ; Quebec City, Can-
ada (Dionne) ; Beaumaris, Ontario (Fleming) ; Shoal Lake, Mani-
toba, June, 1901 (Chapman) ; San Angelo, Tex., September 10, 1885
(Lloyd) ; Fort Thorn, N. Mex. (Henry) ; Boulder, Colo., May 25,
1910 (Betts) ; Cheyenne, Wyo. (Knight) ; Truckee Valley, Nev.
(Ridgway) ; Malheur Lake, Oreg. (Bendire) ; Mazatlan, Sinaloa,
September (Lawrence) : San Jose del Cabo, Lower California, com-
mon in the fall (Brewster).

Spring migration.

Place.

Savannah, Ga ,

Frogmore, S. C

Manteo, N. C

Raleigh, N.C

Washington, D. C

Erie, Pa

Wilhamsport, Pa

Brockport, N. Y

Providence, R. I

Belmont, Mass

Opelousas, La

Corpus Christi . Tex

Escondido. Cal

Quincy, 111

Turti ngton, Nebr

Oberlin, Ohio

Waterloo, Ind

Chicago, 111

Southwestern Ontario.
White Earth, Minn. . . .

Heron Lake, Minn

Sioux Falls, S. Dak...,

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
spring

arrival.

May 5
May 20
May 23

Apr. 27

May 1
May 3
May 14
May 16
May 11
May 18

Earliest date
of spring
arrival.

Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
May
May
May
May
May
Feb.
May
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Apr.
Apr.
May
May
May
May
May

6,1908

5,1888
20,1899

3,1889
18,1907
19, 1892

6,1896

5,1894
28,1881
11,1876
13,1837

5,1889
28,1896
22,1888

6,1900
25,1904
30,1907

6,1890
13,1905
10,1881

9,1889
11,1908

32 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Eggs have been taken at Fort Thompson, Fla., March 25, 1893
(specimens in U. S. National Museum) ; Titusville, Fla., April 10,
1905 (Worthington) ; St. Johns, Fla., April 18, 1902 (Bent) ; Rod-
ney, Miss., May 10, 1887 (Mabbett) ; Raleigh, N. C, May 23, 1893
(young in nest) (Brimley) ; Philadelphia, Pa., May 29, 1907 (Miller) ;
Portland, Conn., June 10, 1883 (Neff) ; Oak Forest, Ind., May 21,

1902 (Honecker) ; Canton, 111., May 28, 1884 (Cobleigh) ; Des Moines,
Iowa, May 26, 1885 (Keyes) ; Detroit, Mich., May 26, 1891 (Wood) :
Fort Snelling, Minn., May 28, 1903 (specimens in U. S. National
Museum) ; Mud Lake, Minn., June 3, 1887 (Brownell). Eggs have
been found in Porto Rico on May 7 (Gundlach) ; in Jamaica from
May 29 (Field) to June 25 (Scott) ; in Guatemala June 1 (Gates) ;
and at Purissima, Lower California, May 17, 1909 (Thayer).

Fall migration. — The latest fall date of the least bittern at Mon-
treal, Canada, was on September 2, 1897 (Wintle) ; Middletown,
R. I., September 14, 1901 (King) ; Erie, Pa., September 25, 1902
(Todd) ; Washington, D. C, September 19, 1881 (Richmond) ; Wa-
terloo, Ind., October 1, 1906 (Link) ; Vicksburg, Mich., October 5,

1903 (Corwin) ; Oberlin, Ohio, October 17, 1909 (Jones) ; Indianola,
Iowa, October 18, 1902 (Jeffrey) ; Toronto, Ontario, November 28,
1894 (Fleming) ; Dunlap, CaL, September 24, 1890 (Eaton) ; Sioux
Falls, S. Dak., October 8, 1911 (Larson) ; Lincoln, Nebr., September
20, 1900 (Wolcott) ; Corpus Christi, Tex., September 29, 1886 (Sen-
nett) ; and Bermuda, October 23, 1847 (Hurdis).

The earliest fall record at Lima, Peru, was on October 10, 1889
(Berlepsch and Stolzmann).

Cory Least Bittern. Ixobrychus neoxcnus (Cory).

The Cory least bittern has a strange distribution, judging from the
little as yet learned about the species. It is known to breed at the
northern limit of the range in Ontario and also at its southern limit
in Florida. It is known as a migrant only in the intervening region
and is not known in winter anywhere.

It has been found nesting near Toronto, Ontario, and near Fort
Thompson, Fla. ; at the former place eggs were found June 15, 1898
(Fleming), and at the latter, young in the nest, June 8, 1890 (Scott).
Near Toronto about 16 specimens have been taken in the suimner,
the earliest date being May 14, 1897, and the latest September 9, 1899,
and young birds have been found from August 3 to 17. One speci-
men has been secured at each of the following localities : Watkins Lake,
Jackson County, Mich., August 8, 1894 (Watkins) ; St. Clair Flats,
Mich., May 14, 1904 (Taverner) ; Toledo, Ohio, May 25, 1907 (Ruth-
ven) ; Lake Koshkonong, Wis., May 22, 1893 (Cherrie) ; and Scituate,

CORY LEAST BITTERN.

33

May 18, 1901 (Brewster). The above are probably all the
records that have been published for this species north of Florida.

The records in this latter State come from a restricted area in the
vicinity of the western side of Lake Okechobee and extend over the
three summer months from May 19, 1890, to August 15, 1891. A
number of specimens have been taken, showing that the bird is not
rare in that region, but so far there are no winter records for the
species anywhere, and
nothing to indicate
where the birds spend
the time from Sep-
tember to May.

Great White Heron. Ar-
dea occidentalis Audu-
bon.

The great white
heron has the most
restricted range of
any of the herons of
North America. It is
confined during the
breeding season to the
extreme southern part
of Florida, where it
has been know^n to
nest from Indian Key
(Audubon) ; west to
Marquesas Key (Fow-
ler) ; and north to
Cape Romano (Scott).
It is normally non-

FiG. 11. — Cory least bittern (Ixobrychus neoxenus).

migratory, but a few individuals have wandered north on the east
coast of Florida to Brevard County (Chapman) ; in the interior to
Cypress Lake (Palmer) ; and on the west coast to Anclote River
(Scott). South of the United States it has been taken on the Rio
Lagartos, Yucatan (Brown), in Jamaica (March), and near Trini-
dad, Cuba (Chapman). Eggs have been taken on the Florida Keys
from October ( Scott) all through the winter and spring to the middle
of June (Thayer).

Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias herodias Linnaeus.

Range. — The great blue heron with its several subspecies ranges
from ocean to ocean and north to southern Canada and southern

80652°— 13 3

34

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Alaska. It occurs throughout Mexico, Central America, Bermuda,
the Bahamas, and the West Indies, while a few birds have been re-
corded from northern South America and from the Galapagos
Islands.

Breeding range. — The typical form herodias breeds north to Bad-
deck, N. S. (Dwight) ; Magdalen Islands, Quebec (Job) ; Chatham,
N. B. (Baxter) ; Quebec City, Canada (Dionne) ; Cobalt, Ontario
(Hubel) ; Riding Mountain, Manitoba (Seton) ; Osier, Saskatchewan
(Colt); and Spotted Lake, Alberta (Loring). It has been known
to occur north to Anticosti (Schmitt) ; Godbout, Quebec (Comeau") ;
Moose Factor}^, Ontario (Turner) ; and Fort Chimo, Quebec (Tur-
ner). It breeds south on the Atlantic coast to Mount Pleasant, S. C.

• BREEDING

O OCCUR ft £/^C£ fN SUMMEff

Pig. 12. — Great white heron (Ardea accidentaUs).

(Wayne), and south in the Mississippi Valley to Winnebago County,
Iowa (Abbott). It occurs west in migration to Prospect Lake, B. C.
(specimen in American Museum of Natural History), and probably
breeds in southeastern British Columbia.

The species once nested in Bermuda in 1846 (Wedderburn), but
has since then been known there as a migrant only.

Winter range. — The regular winter range of typical herodias ex-
tends south to Micco, Fla. (Bangs) ; Castleberry, Ala. (Matthews) ;
and to Camargo, Tamaulipas (Goldman). The species ranges north
in winter to Raleigh, N. C. (Brimley) ; Cape Charles, Va. (Chap-
man) ; and to Fayetteville, Ark. (Harvey). In mild winters some
individuals remain much farther north, as far as the lower Ohio
Valley (Butler) and New Jersey (Fisher), while stragglers have
been noted at Randolph, N. H., December 31, 1910 (Allen) ; Milton,
Vt., December 22, 1884 (Howe) ; Boston Harbor, Mass., January 1,

GREAT BLUE HERON.

35

1882 (Job) ; West Roxbmy, Mass., January 1, 1890 (Faxon) ; Point
Judith, E. I., December 11, 1899 (Hathaway) ; Bridgeport, Conn.,

1 ^- -0. . ,. .. ,1

^

S^^56«S2rC\

6<<
\ /

\

>Cjl 'T^^Xy^^

^"

/m4T7^

ur A~^^:y^c.^'

/ ^^7^^$i^^i^==^^^-'~^^^

^Zfcy^J^^

^P\

t\ J ^-

_aJui^.*?t^^^^-4 ' \

^ c*r;'

i^ 7

J^^A

/ ^vN""* '

'&>r^.

6i5

ie( • BREEDING
1 O OCCURRENCE Itl SUMMER

''*>3_L^^

fe.

^-^^i^^^/o^:-

11 -20* "0* I0(>- 90- -sb-- ■

"^^ '

Fig. 13. — Great blue heron (Ardea herodias). Subspecies: 1, herodias; 2, ivardi; 3, tre-
gan::ai ; 4, fannini; 5, hyperonca ; 6, adoxa ; 7, lessoni; 8, sanctilucae; 9, cognata
(Galapagos, not shown on map) ; 10, South American birds not j^et determined or
named.

January 1884 (Foster) ; Madison County, N. Y., January 12, 1900,
and December 27, 1900 (Embody) ; Frankfort, Ind., January 14,
1903 (Ghere) ; Lansing, Mich., December 23, 1897 (Hawkinson).

36 NOKTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Ward Heron. A idea herodia.s wardi Ridgway.

The form of the great blue heron breeding in Florida has received
the name of wardi. It includes not only all the Florida breeding
birds, but also those breeding on the Atlantic coast north to Hilton-
head, Beaufort County, S. C. (Prentiss) ; along the Gulf coast to
Corpus Christi, Tex. (Sennett) ; and up the middle of the Missis-
sippi Valley to Knox County in southwestern Indiana (Ridgway) ;
and Henry County in southeastern Iowa (Savage).

This form is resident throughout its range with the exception of
those individuals that migrate up the Mississippi Valley. These
retire in the fall to spend the winter on the Gulf coast. A specimen
taken December 25, 1902, at Ocotlan, Jalisco (Nelson and Goldman),
apparently represents a bird that had wandered far from its normal
range.

Treganza Heron. Ardea Jierodias treganzm Court.

The large, dark, great blue herons of the Mississippi Valley are
cut off from those of the Pacific by a small pale form occupying the
Great Basin and the semiarid regions to the eastward. This form
has been separated under the name of treganzaiy and birds of this
character breed north at least to Douglas, Wyo. (Dwight) ; Gallatin.
Mont. (Richmond) ; and Grace, southeastern Idaho (Walcott) ; and
south to the Salton Sea, Cal. (Grinnell).

During migration it spreads westward into California to the Sac-
ramento Valley (Williamson).

It ranges south in winter to the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas
(Dwight) ; and in northern Mexico south to Colima (Nelson and
Goldman) ; while it remains in winter north to Fort Clark, Tex.
(Mearns) ; Dona Ana, N. Mex. (Henry) ; and St. George, Utah
(Bailey).

Northwestern Coast Heron. Ardca hcrodias fannini Chypmaii.

As its name implies, the northwestern coast heron is confined to the
Pacific coast. It is known to breed north to Glacier Bay, Alaska
(Grinnell), and it probably breeds still farther north, for it was seen
occasionally during the summer of 1906 near Yakutat Bay (Black-
welder) ; and at Hope, Cook Inlet, during August, 1900 (Heller).
This form breeds south to Cape Flatteiy, Wash. (Trowbridge) ; and
to Nisqually Flats near Tacoma, Wash. (Rhoads).

Alaska is deserted in winter, and most of the individuals spend this
season in the vicinity of Puget Sound north to Chilliwack, B. C.
(Brooks).

GREAT BLUE HERON. 87

California Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias hyperonca Oberbolser. '

The great blue herons of the Pacific coast from Oregon to southern
California have lately been segregated by Oberholser under the name
of hyperonca. A specimen from Oregon (Peale) without any defi-
nite locality indicates the probability that the coast-breeding birds
of that State should be assigned to this form^ and thence it extends
south to San Diego, Cal. (Cooper). How far back from the coast
this form ranges, and to which form should be assigned the great
blue herons of the interior valleys of California are points not yet
decided.

West Indian Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias adoxa Oberhholser.

According to Oberholser, who has recently described this form,
this subspecies includes all the breeding birds of the entire Greater
and Lesser Antilles, with the addition of the Bahamas on the north
and Curagao Island off the coast of Venezuela on the south. iV strange
fact in the life history of this form is that it is a pronounced migrant.
It is known in the winter season as a not rare visitant to the whole
Lesser Antilles, but is not known to breed on any of them, nor is it
probable that it breeds on either Porto Rico or Haiti. While fairly
common in winter on many of the Bahamas, it has not yet been found
breeding on any of them, though birds have been noted at what
might have been and probably was the breeding season. The species
is recorded as more common in Jamaica during the winter than in
summer, hence no great numbers probably leave this island.

The status of the birds of the Isle of Pines and of Cuba, in which
latter country it is a common breeder, remains entirely unsettled,
nor is it known whether they belong to this new form or to wardi.
The most that can be said at present is that the great blue heron is
a winter resident in Haiti, Porto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles south
to the islands of Trinidad and Curasao, but that there is nothing
certain known as yet concerning the summer home of these in-
dividuals.

Mexican Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias lessoni Wagler.

Many years ago the great blue herons of the mainland of Mexico
were named as above and these birds breed in favorable localities
over much of Mexico south to Guerrero and east to Campeche. They
occur as migrants and winter residents throughout the whole of
Central America to central Costa Rica.

The status of the great blue herons of northwestern South America
is not yet settled, but the bird occurs in the breeding season from

38

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Merida, Venezuela, to the Canal Zone, Panama, and also winters in
this region and on the islands off the north coast of Venezuela.

Lower California Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias sanctilucae Thayer and

Bangs.

The name sanctilucae applies to the birds of the Cape region of
Lower California, where they have been found breeding on San
Jose and Espiritu Santo Islands and wintering south to San Jose
del Cabo.

Galapag-os Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias cognata Bangs.

Eestricted to the Galapagos Islands, where it is a constant resident.

Migration and breeding of the Great Blue Heron and its subspecies.

The following records of migration and breeding are not separated
according to subspecies, but it is easy to tell from the preceding
statements of range which particular form is intended,"

Spring migration.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
spring
arrival.

Earliest date
of spring
arrival.

Raleigh, N. C

Weaverville, N. C

Lick Run, Va

White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

Washington, D. C

Erie, Pa

Renovo, Pa

Morristown, N. J

Branchi)ort, N. Y

Canandaigua, N. Y

Bridgeport, Conn

Hartford; Conn

Jewett City, Conn

Fitchburg, Mass

Framingham, Mass. (near)

Southern New Hampshire

Plymouth, Me

Westbrook, Me

Portland, Me

Grand Manan, New Brunswick

St. John, New Brunswick

Scotch Lake, New Brimswick

HaUfax, Nova Scotia (near)

North River, Prince Edward Island.

Quebec City, Canada

Shawneetown, 111

Oilman City, Mo

Camden, Ind

La Porte, Ind

Waterloo, Ind

Chicago, 111

Rockford, 111

Yovmgstown, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio

Oberlin, Ohio

Detroit, Mich

Vicksburg, Mich

Petersburg, Mich

Plymouth, Mich

Plover Mills, Ontario

Durmville, Ontario

Guelph, Ontario

Toronto, Ontario

Apr. 2

Apr. 6

Apr. 1

Apr. 6

Apr. 3

Apr. 5

Apr. 15

Apr. 9

Mar. 31

Mar. 25

Apr. 9

Apr. 11

Apr. 12

Apr. 12
Apr. 16
Apr. 11
Apr. 15
Apr. 15
Apr. 8
Apr. 12
Apr. 11
Apr. 17
Apr. 12
Apr. 16
Mar. 9
Mar. 18
Mar. 19
Mar. 29
Mar. 30
Mar. 31
Mar. 31

Apr. 1

Apr. 1

Mar. 13

Mar. 25

Mar. 30

Apr. 2

Mar. 31

Apr. 2

Apr. 4

Apr. 9

Rare
Mar.
Mar.
Apr.
Jan.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Mar.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Mar.
Feb.
Mar.
Mar.
Feb.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Feb.

winter.
29,1894
27,1888

4,1898
21,1912
27,1902
24,1903
27,1886
24,1899
24,1906

4,1905

4,1897
27,1901
20,1898

6,1887
28,1908

6,1879
24,1894

9,1905

3,1889

3,1892
30,1902
31,1904

8,1888
14,1905

7,1885
16,1904
14,1885
26,1893
23,1887
28,1890
21,1893
12,1909
13,1907
20,1897
11,1891
16,1908
17,1897
30,1897
23,1897
29, 1897
26,1902

1,1891

GREAT BLUE HERON.
Spring migration — Contiuued.

39

Place.

Numbir
of years'
records.

Average
date of
spring

arrival.

Earliest date
of spring
arrival.

Ottawa. Ontario

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Hillsboro, Iowa

Indianola, Iowa

Grinnell, Iowa

Laporte, Iowa

Madison, Wis. (near)

Meridian, Wis

Lake Andrew, Minn

Heron Lake, Minn

Elk River, Minn

White Earth, Minn

Richmond, Kans. (near)

Nebraska Cityj Nebr. (near).

Reaburn, Manitoba

Indian Head, Saskatchewan.

Salida, Colo

Denver, Ck)lo. (near)

Cheyenne, Wyo

Sheridan, Wyo

Terry, Mont

Brownfield, Alberta

Apr. 11

Mar. 25
Mar. 26

Mar. 29
Apr. 9

Apr. 3
Apr. 5
Apr. 5

Mar. 25

Apr. 11

Apr. 19

M^y 9

Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Mar.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.
Apr.

Mar
Mar.
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.

Apr. 2

May 7

3,1909
19,1884
22, 1897
21,1901
12, 1890
21,1886
1,1892
5,1897
27,1895
1,1889
Mar. 21,1907
Apr. 14,1882
17,1885
21,1896
15,1902
20,1907
19, 1909
Mar. 24,1908
Apr. 3,1888
Apr. 13,1907
May 2,1905
May 7,1907

In the southern part of the breeding range the time of nesting is
variable. Gundlach found eggs in Cuba through all the months
from September to January. Eggs were taken on the Galapagos
September 2, 1897 (Rothschild and Hartert). The young found
February 5, 1910, at Upper Matecumbe Key, Fla. (Brodhead),
w^ere hatched from eggs that must have been laid in December, while
at Charleston, S. C, Wayne says that the earliest eggs are deposited
the middle of March and that eggs are most common in late March.
Young w^ere in the nest May 25, 1875, at Cobb Island, Va. (Bailey) ;
eggs at Wilmington, Del., April 29, 1906 (Pennock) ; Tully, N. Y.,
April 29, 1884 (Dakin) ; Penn Yan, N. Y., May 3, 1896 (Burtch) ;
Oneida Lake, N. Y., May 1, 1884 (Northup) ; Little Spruce Island,
Me., May 16, 1896 (Knight) ; Kentville, N. S., May 10 (Bishop) ;
Camden, Ind., May 21, 1883 (Evermann) ; New Bremen, Ohio,
April 27, 1908 (Henninger) ; Dorset, Ohio, May 12, 1900 (Keck) ;
Sunfield, Mich., May 2, 1891 (White) ; Minneapolis, Minn., May 8,
1888 (Morrison) ; San Jose Island, Lower California, February
15-18, 1909 (Thayer) ; Refugio County, Tex., late February, 1896
(Strecker) ; Beaumont, Tex., March 22, 1887 (Rachford) ; Laramie,
Wyo., May 12, 1901 (Gilmore) ; Terry, Mont., April 23, 1905
(Terry) ; San Diego, Cal., April 24, 1861 (Cooper) ; Napa, Cal.,
April 4, 1901 (Hottel) ; Malheur Lake, Oreg., April 16, 1875 (Bend-
ire) ; and Sumner, Wash., April 20, 1905 (Bowles). Young were
noted at Isabella Island, Mexico, April 10, 1905 (Bailey) ; fledged
young at Redwood City, Cal., April 14, 1907 (Carriger and Pember-
ton) ; and young three weeks old near Salt Lake City, Utah, April
9, 1907 (Treganza).

40

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.
Fall migration.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
the last

one seen.

Latest date
of the last
one seen.

Flagstaff, Alberta

Terry, Mont

Littleton, Colo

Margaret , Manitoba. . . .
SiouxFalls, S. Dak....
Nebraska City, Nebr. .

Lanesboro, Minn

Keokuk, Iowa

Lake Forest, 111

Ottawa, Ontario

Southwestern Ontario .

Vicksburg, Mich.
Northern Ohio. . .

North River, Prince Edward Island.

Pictou, Nova Scotia

Scotch Lake, New Brunswick

St. John, New Brunswick

Quebec City, Canada

Montreal, Canada

Pittsfleld, Me

Woods Hole, Mass

Renovo, Pa

Erie, Pa

Washington, D. C

Weaverville, N. C

Sept. 21

Sept. 13
Oct. 26

Sept. 17
Oct. 10

Nov. 1
Oct. 24
Not. 2
Nov. 12
Oct. 16

Nov. 5
Oct. 14

Oct. 31
Oct. 24
Nov. 1
Oct. 17

Sept. 23, 1906
Sept. 24, 1905
Nov. 3,1908
Sept. 15, 1910
Oct. 31,1909
Nov. 8,1909
Oct. 1, 1892
Nov. 11,1900
Nov. 22,1906
Nov. 17,1909
Dec. 1,1906
Nov. 18,1902
Dec. 19,1910
20, 1890
11, 1894
8, 1904
30, 1889
4, 1894
Nov. 13, 1897
Nov. 13, 1896
Nov. 21, 1891
Nov. 10,1911
Nov. 22, 1902
Dec. 5, 1S94
Oct. 11,1890

Oct
Oct.
Nov
Oct.
Oct.

European Heron. Ardea cinerea Lhmseus.

The European heron is entitled to a place in the list of North
American birds solely on the strength of its occurrence in Greenland,
where it has been taken several times. It is recorded from Nanor-
talik, 1856, Godthaab, 1862, and January 14, 1877, and Nunarsuit,
1888, all these places being on the west coast; from Eggers Island,
at the south extremity of Greenland, the fall of 1893 ; and once from
the east coast.

This heron has a wide distribution in the Eastern Hemisphere,
ranging north in Europe and Asia to about latitude 60°, and south
to southern Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia, the Malay Islands,
and Australia.

Egret. Herodias egretta (Gmelin).

Range. — The Gulf States and Mexico and north to Oregon, Wis-
consin, and New Jersey; the West Indies, Middle and South Amer-
ica to Patagonia ; has wandered north to Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

Breeding range. — In -the case of the egret a distinction must be
made between the present and the former breeding range, because
this is one of the species which has been almost exterminated for the
sake of obtaining the dorsal plumes known as aigrettes that are
borne at the breeding season. Fifty years ago, before the demands
of fashion had called for its slaughter, the egret nested in great
colonies in Florida, the other Gulf States, and several States of the

EGRET.

41

Fig. 14. — Egret {Herodiaa egretta).

42 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Mississippi Valley. The nests were usually placed on large trees
growing in water, and hence the colonies were restricted to the
heavy swamps near the coast or to the bottom lands of the larger
rivers inland. The birds nested commonly north along the Atlantic
coast to Charleston, S. C. (Audubon). They undoubtedly nested in
some of the man}^ favorable localities on the coasts of North Caro-
lina and Virginia, where actual records are very few, and thence
north to southern New Jersey, where in Wilson's time a small colony
bred near Cape May. The egret once nested in Arlington Cemetery,
Virginia, near Washington, D. C. (Wm. Palmer).

The bottom lands of the Mississippi Kiver and its larger tribu-
taries furnished an abundance of suitable nesting sites, and here
were the largest colonies outside of Florida. As many as a thousand
birds have been seen in a single colony in Daviess County, Ind. So
generally distributed were these herons in Indiana that they have
been known to nest in Knox, Gibson, Daviess, Dekalb, Steuben,
Noble, Jasper, Porter, Lake, and Starke Counties. The southern
third of Indiana marked the northern limit of the larger breeding
colonies, but smaller colonies nested north to northern Indiana and
even two-thirds of the way up the western shore of Lake Michi-
gan to Two Rivers, Wis. (Kumlein and Hollister). The egret also
nested as far north as Grand Ridge, 111. (Soule) ; Canton, 111. (Cob-
leigh) ; Lincoln County, Mo. (Widmann) ; and Texarkana, Tex.
(Oberholser).

The Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain region offered little
inducement to the egret, and it seems to have been absent during the
breeding season from the whole of this great area except that a few
nested near Great Salt Lake, Utah (Ridgway). A few small colo-
nies existed in California, at Buena Vista Lake (Linton) ; Summit
Lake (Goldman) ; and Sacramento (RidgAvay) ; also in the Truckee
Valley, Nev. (Ridgway) ; and north to Malheur Lake, Oreg. (Bend-
ire), which was formerly the home of probably the largest colony
on the Pacific slope. Here, contrary to their habit in most parts of
their range, the birds were necessarily forced to nest among the reeds.

South of the United States the former breeding range of the
egret seems to have included all of Central America and the whole
of South America south to Port Otway, Patagonia (Sclater and
Salvin). It is to be understood, of course, that the species was
very local throughout this whole region, being restricted to the few
places favorable for nesting sites situated principally on the coasts,
the larger lakes, and the borders of the lower parts of the larger
rivers, especially the Parana, the Paraguay, and the upper Orinoco.
The egret nested on the four large islands of the Greater An-
tilles, but seems to have been rare in the West Indies east of

EGRET. 43

Porto Rico, though recorded from Dominica (Verrill), Barbados
(Manning), and Trinidad (Leotaud), and from the islands of New
Providence, Andros, Eleuthera, Watlings, and Long, in the Bahamas
(Riley). It nested on the Galapagos (Rothschild and Hartert).

Many herons have the strange habit of migrating northward after
the breeding season and are often common for several weeks in the
fall in districts far north of the breeding range. The egret is a
conspicuous example of birds with this habit, and these northward
movements in the fall have brought them to many places in Ohio,
New York, and New England, and north to Halifax, N. S. (Jones) ;
Grand Manan, N. B. (Deane) ; Calais, Me. (Boardman), near Port-
land, Me. (Knight) ; Godbout, Quebec (Comeau) ; Montreal, Canada
(Wintle) ; Rockcliffe, Ontario (Mcllwraith) ; Lake Nipissing, On-
tario (Seton) ; Rondeau, Ontario (Mcllwraith) ; Kalamazoo, Mich.
(Gibbs) ; Lanesboro, Minn. (Hvoslef) ; also northwestward in the
Missouri River Valley to Emporia, Kans. (Kellogg) ; Fairbury,
Nebr. (Swenk) ; Colorado Springs, Colo. (Aiken) ; Denver, Colo.
(Rockwell) ; Barr, Colo. (Hersey and Rockwell) ; Badger Lake,
Iowa (Lewis and Clark) ; Fort Lincoln, N. Dak. (Grinnell) ; and
even north to Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba (Seton).

The above statement represents the range of the egret before the
demands of the millinery trade had so woefully depleted its numbers.
Now the great colonies are entirely a thing of the past. The plume
hunter has made a clean sweep of all the heronries that were large
enough to make their exploitation profitable. Nor has the de-
struction been confined to the birds of the United States. The
same story of wholesale slaughter comes from Mexico, Central
America, the West Indies, and lastly from South America. It is
probable that the largest colonies still in existence are to be found in
Venezuela or near the equator, but even in these regions, remote and
difficult of access, the high market value of the plumes has proved a
sufficient incentive for the overcoming of all hardships, and the
colonies remaining are but a small part of the original numbers. A
few small colonies still exist in widely separated parts of Florida,
where breeding birds have been reported during the last few years
from Monroe County (Bent) ; Kissimmee (Beers) ; Sebastian (Chap-
man) ; Orange Lake (Baynard) ; and Tallahassee (Williams). The
si:>ecies nested in 1910 near Charleston, S. C. (Wayne) ; a small flock
was seen during the breeding season of 1909 near Ellis Lake, N. C.
(Philipp) ; and a few birds nested in 1911 near Orton, Bnmswick
County, N. C. (Brimley). It nested in 1908 near the delta of the
Mississippi, La. (Bowdish) ; and there were a few nests in 1910 at
Walkers Lake, Ark. (Widmann). On the Pacific slope, the great
heronry at Malheur Lake, Oreg., has been wiped out, except a few

44 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

birds that still lingered in the vicinity in 1911, and the few remain-
ing birds of California are to be found in the vicinity of Tulare Lake
(Goldman) and Clear Lake (Finley). Birds still wander north
occasionally in the fall and during the last 10 years have been re-
corded from Eastham, Mass., 1911 (Cobb) ; Plymouth, Mass., 1911
(Farley) ; Marshfield, Mass., 1911 (Barrett) ; East Greenwich, R. I.,
Augiist 16, 1904 (Allen) ; Point Judith, R. I., August 2,1909 (Howe) ;
Connecticut, 1911 (Howes) ; Montauk, N. Y., July 23, 1900 (Brais-
lin) ; Ontario County, N. Y., August, 1905 (Reed) ; East Windham,
N. Y., July 18, 1906 (Weber) ; Ridgwood, N. J., July, 1902 (Hales) ;
Wading River, N. J., August, 1905 (Stone) ; Englewood, N. J., July
22, 1906 (Lemmon) ; Black Point, N. J., July 6, 1908 (Howe) ; Sea-
bright, N. J., August 5, 1908 (Howe) ; Berwyn, Pa., July 26, 1902
(Burns) ; Bristol, Pa., July 20, 1906 (Harlow) ; Ashbourne, Pa., July
30, 1906 (Harlow) ; Washington, D. C, August 19 to 24, 1912
(Appel) ; Cincinnati, Ohio, August, 1902 (Stone) ; West Huron,
Ohio, September, 1911 (Klein) ; Waterloo, Ind., April 22, 1905
(Link) ; Nehawka, Nebr., May 2, 1905 (Swenk) ; near Denver,
Colo., April 26, 1907 (Rockwell) ; and Lawen, Oreg., May 5, 1909
(Hibbard).

Winter range, — The egret is resident throughout its range in Cen-
tral and South America and the Greater Antilles. In the United
States it winters in the southern half of Florida north to Gainesville
(Chapman) ; on the coast of Louisiana (Beyer) ; on the coast of
Texas (Audubon) ; and in southern California north to Santa Cruz
(Breninger) ; and San Rafael (Mailliard). One was taken January
8, 1878, near Fort Klamath, Oreg. (Mearns), but the species does
not winter regularly in that locality.

Spring migration. — The egret breeds so little north of its winter
home that its regular migrations are short and quickly accomplished.
Most of the movements are in March and early April, as shown by
the following dates of spring arrival: Cumberland, Ga., March 7,
1902 (Helme) ; Charleston, S. C, March 28, 1909 (Weston) ; Rodney,
Miss., March 22, 1889, and March 19, 1890 (Mabbett) ; St. Louis^
Mo., April 9, 1886 (Widmann) ; Canton, 111., April 11, 1895 (Cob-
leigh) ; Bloomington, Ind., April 10, 1887 (Evermann) ; near Vin-
cennes, Iowa, April 17, 1894 (Currier) ; Tucson, Ariz., April 23,
1881 (Brewster) ; Fresno County, Cal., April 5, 1890 (Eaton) ; and
Stockton, Cal., April 1, 1878 (Belding).

The egret breeds through such a wide range of latitude, both north
and south of the equator, that it is natural that the nesting dates
should show a wide variation. At the south end of the range in
Chile and Argentina the height of the nesting season is in October
and November; British Guiana, eggs in June (Lloyd) ; Haiti, Feb-
ruary 18, 1895 (Christy) ; Cuba, March to June (Gundlach) ; Port

SNOWY EGRET. 45

Henderson, Jamaica, June 25, 1890 (Field) ; Lake Okechobee, Fla.,
February 4, 1896 (Stone) ; Gainesville, Fla., June 14, 1893 (speci-
mens in U. S. National Museum) ; near Charleston, S. C, April 7,
1910 (Wayne) ; Brownsville, Tex., young half grown May 15, 1877
(Sennett) ; eggs near Corpus Christi, Tex., April 4, 1882 (specimens
in U. S. National Museum) ; Camp Harney, Greg., April 16, 1877
(Bendire).

Fall migration. — The northward migration after the close of the
breeding season begins in early July, and by the middle of the month
the young birds are far north of the home of their birth. These
wanderings last for a month to six weeks, and by late August or early
September most of the birds have returned to the winter home. Oc-
casionally a few birds remain in the north much later: Stockton,
Cal., December 7, 1878 (Belding) ; near Richmond, Me., August 20,
1896 (Knight) ; Nantucket, Mass., September 20, 1890 (Mackay) ;
Ipswich, Mass., November 22, 1892 (Vickary) ; Orleans County,
N. Y., November 28, 1883 (Davison) ; Marcy, N. Y., November 10,
1889 (Ralph and Bagg) ; Jamaica Bay, N. Y., October 1, 1897 (Brais-
lin) ; Ocean City, Md., September 23, 1894 (Taylor) ; and St. Louis,
Mo., September 2, 1896 (Widmann).

Snowy Egret. Egretta candidissima (Gmelin).

Range. — The Western Hemisphere from Chile and Argentina north
to the Gulf States and Mexico ; has wandered north to Nova Scotia,
Ontario, and British Columbia.

Breeding range. — The snowy egret is another plume bird which,
like the larger egret, has been sadly diminished in numbers by the
demands of fashion for the beautiful aigrettes that are carried during
the breeding season. In fact, the snowy egret has suffered a severer
persecution than any other heron and has been practically extermi-
nated over large areas where once it was common. Formerly this
species had a wide distribution, breeding abundantly in the Gulf
States and commonly along the Atlantic to Charleston, S. C. (Wayne) .
Smaller colonies occurred on the coast of North Carolina and Vir-
ginia, and a large colony near Cape May, N. J., marked the northern
limit of the breeding range. This last colony was visited by Wilson
in 1812 and found to cover an extensive area. It was still well
populated in 1886, but in 1888 only one pair remained, and the ex-
planation was: "They have been almost exterminated, though for-
merly very abundant, one ornithologist having recently shot 73 birds
in one day" (Parker).

Though abundant as a breeder near the mouth of the Mississippi,
the snowy egret seems never to have nested in large colonies far
back from the coast. In Audubon's time the bird was fairly common
north to Memphis, Tenn., but only a few have nested to the north-
ward, and their northern limit seems to have been reached in Knox

46

KORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Fig. 15. — Snowy egret (Egretta candidissima) .

SNOWY EGRET. 47

County, Ind. (Ridgway). The nesting of this species, June, 1895,
at Lincoln, Nebr. (Eiche), was probably fortuitous.

West of Louisiana numbers of this species become less, though
it nested at favorable localities along the whole Texas coast, and
there was a large colony near the mouth of the Rio Grande (Merrill) ;
it also nested up some of the larger streams to Tarkington (Gaut)
and Texarkana (Oberholser). xVs a breeder it was absent from the
whole Rocky Mountain region and Pacific slope of the United States,
the northern limit of the breeding range on the Pacific being found
near San Jose Island, Lower California (Brown), and Rosario,
Sinaloa (Nelson).

The snowy egret nested on both coasts of Mexico and on the larger
interior waters. These breeding haunts were invaded by the plume
liunters after the United States birds had been killed off and for
several years furnished large shipments of aigrettes. Even as late
as 1900 some of these colonies had not yet been destroyed. In the
spring of that year, at Paligada, Tabasco, the owner of a tract of
land containing a large heronry sold for a thousand dollars the right
to shoot them, and the birds were exterminated that season. The
breeding range also included the lower parts of Central America and
South America, south to Valdivia, Chile (Boeck), and to Cape San
Antonio, Argentina (Gibson). The species was also a common
breeder in the Greater Antilles and less common in the Lesser An-
tilles, but seems to have been rare in the Bahamas, being recorded
only from Inagua (Cory) and Great Bahama (Cory), while only
a few specimens have been taken in Bermuda at the times of spring
and fall migration.

The snowy egret has the same habit as the larger egret {Herodias
egretta) of migrating north of the breeding grounds, though the
number of such migrants has not been so great nor have the wander-
ings been so extensive as in the case of the larger relative. There
are some half dozen records for Long Island, N. Y. (Braislin), and
one for Buffalo, N. Y. (Eaton). The species is recorded from Strat-
ford, Hartford, Saybrook, and Groton Long Point, Conn. (Mer-
riam) ; Nantucket, Mass., March, 1882 (Purdie) ; St. Albans, Vt.,
October, 1890 (Howe) ; Grand Manan, N. B. (Boardman) ; near
Halifax, N. S., 1868, and Windsor, N. S., 1872 (Downs) ; in each of
tlie counties in Ohio along Lake Erie (Jones) ; Dunnville and Long
Point, Ontario (Mcllwraith) ; Keokuk, Iowa (Praeger) ; Des Moines,
Iowa (Keyes) ; Lake Koskonong, Wis., xVugust, 1886 (Skavlem) ;
Topeka, Kans., August 15, 1872 (Prentice) ; Fremont, Nebr., Sep-
tember 4, 1893 (Trostler) ; near Laramie, Wyo., early May, 1902
(Knight) ; Buffalo, Wyo., about April 11, 1904 (Felger) ; near Cal-
gary, Alberta, May 11, 1901 (Dippie) ; Burrard Inlet, B. C, May,
1879 (Fannin).

48 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

It will be noticed that many of these are spring records, and they
differ from those of the larger egret in representing the wandering
of adult birds rather than of newly fledged young. The same thing
is shown still more strongly by the Colorado records. More than 50
instances of the occurrence of the bird in the State are on record,
showing that it is a regular visitant, and nearly half are in the
spring — earliest April 15, 1906, near Nucla (Warren) — and the re-
mainder at intervals through the season to October 4, 1897, the latest
at Pueblo (Doertenbach). Yet the bird is not known to nest in Col-
orado and probably does not breed anywhere within 500 miles of the
State. The same conditions occur in California, where at Stockton
the bird was found common in 1878 from March 6 to November 20
(Belding)^ yet did not nest. Thus it seems that in the case of the
snowy egret many adult birds went north at the time of the spring
migration far beyond the regular breeding range of the species and
spent the summer there as nonbreeders. This species is an exception
to the general rule that "all birds breed at the northern limit of
their range." This remaining of nonbreeders throughout the sum-
mer north of their breeding range is just the opposite of what hap-
pens among the shore birds, many of which remain as nonbreeders
all summer far south of the breeding range.

The snowy egret produces plumes selling for more than their
weight in gold, and consequently the birds have been persistently
persecuted until in the United States they have reached the verge of
extinction. A few small colonies still remain, however, to serve as
centers of distribution now that better laws and a better public sen-
timent in favor of bird protection bid fair to allow this beautiful
species a chance to reoccupy its former range. Within late years the
birds have been known to breed in Florida, near Cape Sable, in 1903
(Bent) ; Charleston, S. C, 1910 (Wayne) ; on the Audubon bird res-
ervation at the mouth of the Mississippi Eiver, La., 1908 (Kopman) ;
the species probably nested in 1909 near Beaufort, N. C, where
they were s^en June 23 (Bowdish) ; and a few nested in 1911 near
Orton, Brunswick County, N. C. (Brimley). The largest colony
now existing in the United States is on the great bird refuge of
Avery Island, La., where in 1910 it was estimated that fully 2,000
pairs were nesting (Ward). Some other late records of migrants or
wanderers have been made near Deming, N. Mex., November 5, 1906
(Munson) ; Sapillo Creek, N. Mex., October 21, 1908 (Bergtold) ;
Delair, N. J., July 16, 1904 (Miller) ; and San Quintin Bay, Lower
California, April, 1910 (Howell).

Winter range. — The snowy egret remained throughout the winter
in full numbers in southern Florida, but from central Florida north-
ward most of the birds retired during the cold season. A few were
found in winter at Anclote Keys, Fla. (Scott) ; Gainesville, Fla.

REDDISH EGRET. 49

(Chapman) ; and at St. Marys, Ga. (Helme) ; while in Auduboirs
time a few wintered as far north as Charleston, S. C. The birds
winter rarely on the coast of Louisiana (Beyer), but, even in the
early days when they were abundant, only a few remained through
the winter near Galveston, Tex. (Audubon), or even as far south as
Brownsville, Tex. (Merrill). In western Mexico the snowy egret is
resident as far north as it breeds, and seems to be nonmigratory
throughout all of its range in Central and South America.

Spring migration. — The northward movement began in early
March: Cumberland, Ga., March 7, 1902 (Helme) ; Warrington, Fla.,
March 22, 1885 (Stone) ; Frogmore, S. C, average date of arrival for
five years March 23, earliest March 22, 1889 (Hoxie) ; southern New
Jersey, arrived in early May (Audubon) ; Rodney, Miss., April 18,
1887,'April 13, 1888 (Mabbett).

The nesting season is exceedingly variable in different parts of
the extensive breeding range; in the extreme south, at Buenos Aires,
Argentina, eggs are laid in November (Gibson) ; Man-o'-war Cay,
British Honduras, young nearly grown May 8, 1862 (Salvin) ; Cuba,
nests from June to October (Gundlach) ; Tarpon Springs, Fla., eggs
August 26, 1886 (Scott) ; Charlotte Harbor, Fla., May 6, 1886
(Scott) ; Kissimmee Lake, Fla., April 19, 1908 (Nicholson) ; Charles-
ton, S. C, April 27, 1910 (Wayne) ; Cape May, N. J., May 19, 1812
(Wilson) ; Louisiana, eggs April 10 to June (Baird, Brewer, and
Ridgway) ; Brownsville, Tex., young just hatched May 15, 1877
(Sennett) ; San Jose Island, Lower California, eggs June 19-24, 1908
(Thayer).

Fall migration, — The presence of nonbreeding birds throughout the
simimer north of the normal breeding range obscures the records of
the northward migration of the young birds in the fall, but this
seems to have taken place in July, as in the other species of herons,
but never to have been on a large scale. The Long Island records
occur from July 1 to August 4 (Braislin) ; latest in Maryland at
Marlboro, August 25, 1893 (Kirkwood) ; Frogmore, S. C, October
4, 1886 (Hoxie) ; Canadian River, Okla., still common September 3
to 5, 1820 (Long).

Reddish Egret. Dichromanassa rufescens (Gmelin).

The range of the reddish egret extends from the Gulf States to
Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater Antilles.

This bird is more restricted than most of the herons in its breed-
ing range, which includes Florida north to Pelican Island (Bryant) ;
and lower Suwanee River (Brewster and Chapman) ; the coast of
Louisiana (Beyer) ; Corpus Christi, Tex. (Sennett) ; and Browns-

80652°— 13 4

50

NOKTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

ville, Tex. (Merrill). It breeds somewhat commonly in the Bahamas
from Great Bahama (Cory) and Abaco (Ridg^vay) on the north to
Caicos (Cory) on the south; is rare in Cuba (Gundlach), and is
recorded from Jamaica (March) and Haiti (Cory). It breeds at
San Jose Island, Lower California (Brown) ; near San Bias, Tepic
(Nelson) ; and on the coast and islands of Yucatan (Salvin, Law-
rence, and Nelson). It has been taken at Chiapam, Guatemala (Sal-
vin) ; and at Tehauntepec, Oaxaca (Sumichrast) ; and, as the species
is largely nonmigratory, probably it breeds at or near both these
localities.

A few instances have been noted of the wandering of the reddish
egret north of its breeding range. Several were seen in August, 1875,

U---ma»^r^, 1

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PM

K

i

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K

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jiT T^"^

Fig. 16. — Reddish egret (Dichroinanasi<a rufescens).

near Cairo, 111. (Nelson) ; one was taken near Colorado Springs,
Colo. (Aiken) ; and one near Golden, Colo. (Berthoud) ; and several
were seen at San Quintin, Lower California (Anthony).

It is partially migratory along the north limit of the breeding
range, and few, if any, remain in Louisiana through the whole of
the winter, but the species does w^inter in southern Florida (Scott)
and in Mexico as far north as Mazatlan, Sinaloa (Lawrence), and
La Paz, Lower California (Belding).

Eggs were found near Corpus Christi, Tex., March 24, 1878
(Sennett) ; young in the nest. May 3, 1890, at Captive Pass, Fla.
(Jamison) ; and young on the wing, April 15, 1901, Cozumel Island,
Yucatan (Nelson). Gundlach says that in Cuba it nests from July
to October.

LOUISIANA HERON

51

Louisiana Heron. Hydranassa tncolor ruficoUis (Gosse).

The Louisiana heron, as a whole, ranges from the Gulf States and
Mexico south to northern South America. It has been separated into
two subspecies, of which the northern, ra-flcollis^ extends north to
North Carolina, Texas, and central Mexico, and south throughout
the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and Middle America to Ecuador
and Venezuela.

Tlie principal breeding range of the Louisiana heron in the United
States is found in Plorida and along the Gulf coast to Texas. On
the x\tlantic coast it is common north to Charleston, S. C. (Wayne) ,
and in Audubon's time it was considered abundant on the coast of

Fig. 17. — Louisiana heron {Hydranassa tricolor ruflcollis).

North Carolina, where it was still not uncommon near Beaufort in
1898 (Pearson), and nested commonly near Orton, Brunswick County,
in 1911 (Brimley). This seems to be the northern limit of the
breeding range.

In the Mississippi Valley it has nested north to Rodney, Miss.
(Mabbett) ; and Texarkana, Tex. (Oberholser). It seldom wanders
far north of its breeding ground, but a few have been noted at Cobb
Island, Va. (Ridgway) ; Patchogue, N. Y., the summer of 1836 (Gi-
raud) ; Sand Ridge, Clark County, Mo., April 13, 1890 (Currier) ;
near Hanna, Ind., June 26, 1876 (Nelson) ; Stockton, Tex. (Dres-
ser) ; and Terlingua, Tex. (Oberholser).

52 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

The Louisiana heron breeds along the whole eastern coast of Mex-
ico and north on the west coast to Mazatlan, Sinaloa (Lawrence) ;
La Paz, Lower California (Belding) ; and Santa Margarita Island.
Lower California (Bryant). It breeds south throughout Central
America to the Rio Sabana, Panama (Salvadori and Festa) ; Don
Diego, Santa Marta, Colombia (Allen) ; the islands of Aruba and
Margarita, off the coast of Venezuela (Cory) ; and to Vaqueria in
northwestern Ecuador (Hellmayr). It is one of the commoner
herons in the Bahamas north to Berry Island (Cory) ; abundant in
Cuba (Gundlach) ; abundant in Jamaica (Field) ; and in Porto
Rico (Gundlach).

The Louisiana heron is only partially migratory. While many of
the most northern breeding birds retire a short distance southward
in winter, a few remain at this season at Charleston, S. C. (Wayne) ;
Matamoras, Tamaulipas (Phillips) ; Mazatlan, Sinaloa (Lawrence) ;
and La Paz, Lower California (Belding). On the other hand, it is
stated that the birds do not winter in Louisiana (Beyer, Allison, and
Kopman) nor on the Texas coast, even as far south as Brownsville
(Merrill).

Young have been taken in June in Jamaica (Scott) ; and eggs in
Cuba from June to October (Gundlach) ; young a quarter grown at
Brownsville, Tex., May 15, 1877 (Sennett) ; eggs at Nassau, Ba-
hamas, May 17, 1902 (Bonhote) ; Old Tampa Bay, Fla., March 15,
1880 (Scott) ; Sarasota Bay, Fla.^ March 30, 1874 (Bryant) ; Tarpon
Springs, Fla., August 26, 1886 (Scott) ; Micanopy, Fla., December
8, 1859 (specimens in U. S. National Museum) ; Charleston, S. C,
April 7, 1910, two weeks earlier than usual (Wayne) ; Rodney, Miss.,
April 16, 1888 (Mabbett). At places where the birds do not winter
the first arrived in the spring as follows: Tallahassee, Fla., March
25, 1901 (Williams) ; New Orleans, La., March 11, 1894 (Beyer) ;
Rodney, Miss., March 23, 1889, and March 21, 1890 (Mabbett).

Demi-Egret. Hydranassa tricolor tricolor (Muller).

The typical form, tncolor, is restricted to the Guianas and Brazil,
occurring in the latter country south to Cajutuba and Garape (Pel-
zeln).

Little Blue Heron. Florida caerulea (Linnseiis).

The little blue heron is common throughout tropical America,
breeding north to South Carolina (formerly to New Jersey), Arkan-
sas, and central Mexico, and south to Argentina and Peru; has
wandered to Nova Scotia, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.

The little blue heron is one of the commoner herons now found in
the southern United States, and is most common in Florida and in
the immediate vicinity of the Gulf coast, thence to Texas. Along

LITTT>E BT.TTE HERON.

53

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• BREEDING

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-f RESIDENT

^)^>x;

><:^^i^ii=^««*^^

><^^^-^^K^

70- 70- 60-

Fia. 18. — Little blue heron (Florida caemka),

64 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

the Atlantic coast the bird breeds commonly as far north as Charles-
ton, S. C. (Wayne), Orton, Brunswick County, N. C, 1911 (Brimley),
and used to be common as a breeder even to Currituck Sound, N. C.
(White). In Wilson's time a few nested near Cape May, N. J. This
heron penetrated inland to breed to a greater extent than many of
the species and has been known to nest near Chester, S. C. (Loomis) ;
Greensboro, Ala. (Avery) ; on the Mississippi River as far north as
Osceola, Ark. (Richardon) ; and in Texas as far as Texarkana (Ober-
holser), and Long Lake (Oberholser).

The breeding range extends along the eastern coast of Mexico and
on the western coast north to San Bias, Tepic (Nelson) ; thence
throughout Central America and northern South America south to
Santa Elena, Uruguay (Aplin) ; Mercedes, Argentina (Burmeister) ;
and Tumbez, Peru (Taczanowski) ; also in the whole of the West
Indies and in the northern Bahamas, Andros, and New Providence
(Cory).

The little blue heron is another of the species that has the habit
of wandering north in fall far beyond the breeding range. At this
season it is tolerably conamon along the Potomac near Washington,
D. C, from July 7, 1894 (Richmond) to September 24, 1911 (Preble),
and has occurred north nearly to Baltimore, Md., October 7, 1892
(Fisher) ; Maplewood, N. J., July 27, 1897 (Owen) ; Seaford, N. Y.,
August 13, 1902 (Braislin) ; Old Lyme, Conn., July 21, 1899 (Brock-
way) ; Saybrook, Conn., August 12, 1881 (Clark) ; Warwick, R. I.,
July 13, 1878 (Deane) ; Stoughton, Mass., August 22, 1908 (Mc-
Kechnie) ; Amherst, N. H., April 28, 1897 (Melzer) ; Vinalhaven,
Me., April 1, 1902 (Arey) ; T\Tiitneyville, Me., August 16, 1906
(Knight) ; Scarborough, Me., September, 1881 (Brown) ; once in
Nova Scotia (Downs) ; L'Anse au Loup, Quebec, May 23, 1900
(Bangs) ; near Quebec City, Canada, October, 1881 (Dionne) ; abun-
dant in southeastern Missouri July to September (Widmann) ; Sey-
mour, Ind., October 8, 1911 (Peter) ; Loramie Reservoir, Ohio, July
16, 1909 (Henninger) ; near Oberlin, Ohio, one about 1882 (McCor-
mick) ; Aylmer, Ontario, August 15, 1901 (Ames) ; Detroit, Mich.,
May 2, 1882 (Taverner) ; Racine County, Wis., August 28, 1848
(Hoy) ; Cedar Rapids, Iowa, fall 1903 (Berry) ; near Omaha, Nebr.,
August 15, 1903 (Trostler) ; Neosho Falls, Kans. (Goss) ; Howard
Creek, Tex., August, 1902 (Hollister) ; and Montrose, Colo., Septem-
ber 14, 1910 (Walker). In Bermuda it has been taken in April,
May, September, and October (Hurdis).

The little blue heron was found building in April on Tobago
Island, West Indies ( Jardine) ; eggs have been taken in Porto Rico,
May to July (Gundlach) ; Grenada, West Indies, April 14 to June 21

LITTLE BLUE HERON. 55

(Gates) ; Jamaica, June 3 to July 8, 1890 (Field) ; Cuba, May to July
(Gundlach) ; Alachua County, Fla., April 8, 1890 (Pearson) ; Tar-
pon Springs, Fla., August 26, 1886 (Scott) ; Charleston, S. C, April
7, 1910, much earlier than usual (Wayne) ; Avery Island, La., May
4, 1895 (Knight) ; Corpus Christi, Tex., June 12, 1884 (specimens in
U. S. National Museum).

Winter range. — This species remains in winter throughout the
larger part of its coastal breeding range in the United States, stay-
ing north regularly and commonly as far as Charleston, S. C.
(Wayne), and a few on Currituck Sound (McAtee). It is not rare
in winter on the coasts of Louisiana and Texas (McAtee), though
the larger part of the breeding birds in all the above-mentioned
places retire farther south for the winter. The winter range on the
Pacific coast of Mexico includes the district north to Ocotlan, Jalisco
(Goldman), and to Mazatlan, Sinaloa (Lawrence).

Spring migration. — The arrival of the species in the spring was
noted at Whitfield, Fla., March 21, 1903 (Worthington) ; Chipley,
Fla., March 12, 1903 (Pleas); Cumberland, Ga., March 8, 1902
(Helme) ; Frogmore, S. C, average of four years March 31, earliest
March 22, 1886 (Hoxie) ; New Orleans, La., average March 13,
earliest March 11, 1894 (Beyer) ; Bay St. Louis, Miss., March 13,
1902 (Allison) ; St. Louis, Mo., Aprir30, 1880 (Hurter) ; and Bick-
nell, Ind., April 18, 1896 (Chansler).

The last two dates, taken in connection with several others already
given, show that a few little blue herons migrate or wander north in
the spring beyond the normal breeding range, but there are no dates
to indicate that such birds remain the rest of the summer in tlie
north as nonbreeders, and probably they soon return southward.

The birds of the southern part of the range have been separated
as the subspecies ccerulescens (Latham), which includes all of South
America and parts of the Antilles and Central America. The divid-
ing line between these two forms is not yet definitely known.

[Zeledon BoatbilL Cochlearius zeledoni (Ridgway).

The Zeledon boatbill occupies nearly the whole of Mexico and Central Amer-
ica from Sinaloa (Mazatlan), Tamaulipas (Alta Mira), and Yucatan (Cozumel
Island), south and east to Porto Bello, Panama (Goldman).]

[Pileated Heron. Pilherodius pileatus (Boddaert).

This heron is a South American species that was once taken 50 years ago
along the line of the Panama Railroad (Lawrence). Since it has not been
noted by the many collectors who have visited Panama in the last few years,
it is probably now extinct in that country. The range in South America ex-
tends south to Peru (Pebas, Santa Cruz, and Nauta) and to Sao Paulo, BrasU.]

56 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Green Heron. Butorides virescens virescens (Linnaeus).

Range. — The green herons as a whole include several forms which
range over most of the United States, all of Mexico, Central Amer-
ica, and the West Indies, and in South America are found in north-
eastern Colombia, northern Venezuela, and northeastern Brazil.

Breeding range. — The typical form, true virescens., breeds norlli
to St. John, New Brunswick (Chamberlain) ; Montreal, Canada
(Wintle) ; Loughboro Lake, Ontario (Clarke) ; Guelph, Ontario
(Klugh) ; Kelley Brook, Wis. (Shoenebeck) ; Minneapolis, Minn.
(Grant); and Vermilion, S. Dak. (Agersborg). In the west the
species seems to be absent as a breeder from the western part of the
plains and the whole of the middle and northern Rocky Mountains.
The breeding range extends westward to about the ninety-ninth
merdian, except in the Rio Grande Valley, up which the species
ranges to the Rio Conchas (J. W. Audubon). The birds have wan-
dered north in summer to Prospect, Nova Scotia (Downs), and on
April 15, 1881, after a storm, they were actually common at West-
port, Nova Scotia (Chamberlain). They have also been seen north
to Ottawa, Ontario (Whit«) ; Neebish Island, Mich. (Boies) ; Fort
Sisseton, S. Dak (McChesney) ; and west to Loveland, Colo., July
23, 1895 (Preble) ; Rinconada, N. Mex. (Surber) ; and Pecos City,
Tex. (Donald).

The breeding range extends south to include the whole of Florida
and the Gulf States, eastern Texas, the eastern coast of Mexico, the
whole of southern Mexico, Yucatan, and south to Duenas, Guate-
mala (Salvin and Sclater), and east to Ceiba, Honduras (Bangs).
The species breeds also on the west coast of Mexico north to Tepic
(Nelson and Goldman).

Winter range. — The green heron winters throughout its range in
Mexico and Central America, but no migrating birds from the United
States seem to pass any farther south in winter than the region in-
habited by the species in summer. Not even in Cuba or the Ba-
hamas has the form of the green heron breeding in Florida and the
eastern United States been as yet detected. Since the species is very
rare in winter in southern Florida and southern Texas and is absent
at this season from the rest of the Gulf States, it follows that nearly
all of the tens of thousands of green herons that breed in the eastern
United States must reach a winter home in Yucatan and southward
by a direct flight across the Gulf of Mexico. The species has been
noted in winter north to Gainesville, Fla. (Chapman) ; Sarasota
Bay, Fla. (Bryant) ; Capers Island, S. C. (Wayne) ; and Browns-
ville, Tex. (Merrill).

GREEN HERON.
Spring migration.

57

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
spring
arrival.

Earliest date
of spring
arnval.

Central Florida

St. Marys, Ga. (near)

College Park, Ga

Frogmore, S, C

Raleigh,N.C

WeavervUle, N. C

White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

Washington, D. C

Waynesboro, Pa

Philadelphia, Pa. (near)

Renovo, Pa

Morristown, N. J

New Providence, N. J

Ithaca, N.Y

New York, N. Y. (near)

Branc hport, N. Y

Ballston Spa, N. Y

New Haven, Conn, (near) ,

Hartford, Conn, (near)

Providence, R. I

Fitchburg, Mass

Needham, Mass

Randolph, Vt

Portland, Me ,

Montreal, Canada

New Orleans, La

Rodney, Miss, (near)

Athens, Tenn

Lexington, Ky

Monteer, Mo

Iberia, Mo

St. Louis, Mo

Bloomington, Ind

Terre Haute, Ind

Greencastle, Ind

Brookville, Ind

Fort Wayne, Ind

Waterloo, Ind , (near)

Delaware, Ohio

Youngstown, Ohio

Oberlin, Ohio

Vicksburg, Mich

Guelph, Ontario (near)

Keokuk, Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

Laporte, Iowa

Chicago, 111

Delavan, Wis

Madison, Wis, (near)

Lanesboro, Minn

Beaumont, Tex

Kerrvaie, Tex

Manhattan, Kans

Onaga, Kans

Southeastern Nebraska

Mar. 17
Mar. 23

Mar. 26
Apr. 7
Apr. 20
Apr. 23
Apr. 19
Apr. 21
Apr. 24
May 7
Apr. 25
Apr. 30
Apr. 20
M:ay 4
May 1
May 8
Apr. 29
Apr. 28
May 5
May 7

Apr. 10

Apr. 20

Apr. 23

Apr. 30

May 2

Apr. 19

Apr. 20

Apr. 21

Apr. 21

Apr. 24

May 2

Apr. 25

Apr. 25

Apr. 26

May 6

May 14

May 1

May 1

Apr. 28

Apr. 28

May 5
May 4

Apr. 20

Apr. 25

May 7

Apr. 30

Feb.
Feb.
Mar.
Mar,
Mar
Apr
Apr.
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr

Apr.
[ay
Apr.
Apr.
Mar.

8,1905
8,1902
23,1906
21,1889
29, 1893
10, 1891
14,1892
9.1905
17, 1896
16, 1884
24,1899
18,1909
Apr. 23,1893
Apr. 18,1906
Apr. 24,1890
Apr. 21,1900
May 7, 1890
Apr. 27,1886
Apr. 26,1896
Apr. 25,1899
May 5, 1907
Apr. 9, 1905
May 7,1887
25,1905
30, 1895
21,1894
Mar. 26,1889
Mar. 30,1904
Apr. 11,1904
Apr. 10,1905
Apr. 27,1905
Apr. 17,1886
Apr. 10,1903
Apr. 13.1889
Apr. 16,1894
Apr. 17,1888
Apr. 22,1909
Apr. 13,1905
Apr. 21,1906
Apr. 21,1906
Apr. 14,1899
Apr. 25,1908
May 11,1900
Apr. 21,1893
Apr. 24,1891
Apr. 24,1884
Apr. 11,1908
Apr. 20,1896
Apr. 26,1901
Apr. 23,1885
Apr. 4, 1887
Apr. 7, 1906
Apr. 16,1883
Apr. 21,1904
Apr. 15,1899

Eggs have been found at Manatee River, British Honduras, April
21, 1906 (Thayer) ; Sarasota Bay, Fla., April 18 to June 1 (Bryant) ;
near Orange Hammock, Fla., March 23, 1895, well incubated (Pal-
mer) ; Fcogmore, S. C, April 13, 1870, and June 11, 1886 (Hoxie) ;
Chatham County, N. C, April 20, 1886 (Brooks) ; Baltimore, Md.,
April 22, 1881, to June 12, 1894 (Kirkwood) ; Holland Patent, N. Y.,
May 16, 1890 (Williams) ; Canaan, Conn., May 15, 1886 (Tobey) ;
Sunapee, N. H., June 16, 1886 (Bowles) ; Avery Island, La., April
9, 1893 (specimens in U. S. National Museum) ; Bernadotte, 111.,
May 5, 1891 (Knight) ; Bloomington, Ind., May 11, 1903 (McAtee) ;

58

NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Sedan, Ind., May 14, 1897 (Hine) ; Philo, 111., May 21, 1905 (Hess) ;
Polo, 111., May 25, 1884 (Kline) ; Seneca County, Ohio, May 10,
1904 (Henninger) ; Vicksburg, Mich., June 1, 1904 (Eapp) ; Charles-
ton Lake, Ontario, June 14, 1899 (Clarke) ; Davenport, Iowa, May
7, 1892 (Wilson) ; Brownsville, Tex., May 2, 18T7 (specimens in U. S.
National Museum) ; Manhattan, Kans., May 13, 1884 (Lantz) ; Peru,
Nebr., June 2, 1882 (Taylor and Van Vleet).

Fall migration.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average

date of

the last

one seen.

Latest date
of the last
one seen.

Montreal, Canada;...

2
3
3

8

Sept. 1
Sept. 21
Sept. 18
Sept. 19

Sept. 2,1897
Oct. 2, 1898
Sept. 22, 1909
Oct. 4, 1903

Pittsfield, Me

Southwestern Ontario . .

Southern Michigan

Madison, Wis

Sept. 14,1910
Sept. 25,1891
Sept. 24, 1904
Oct. 5, 1909
Sept. 20, 1889
Oct. 17,1897
Sept. 22, 1907
Oct. 7, 1894
Sept. 30, 1905
Oct. 1, 1898

Lanesboro, Minn

4

Sept. 13

Dunbar, Nebr

Onaga, Kans

8

Sept. 16

"Ronhftm, Trt

Southern Iowa

4

Sept. 24

Chicago, HI

Greensburg, Ind

Waterloo, Ind. (near)...

4

Sept. 19

Waverly, Ohio

Oberlin, Ohio

Nov. 13,1897
Oct. 10,1902
Oct. 13,1900

Athens, Term

Durham, N. H...

North Truro, Mass

Oct. 5, 1889
Sept. 29,1897
Oct. 1, 1894

Providence, K. I

9
5
12
4
4
3
6
5

Sept. 15
Sept. 11
Sept. 19
Sept. 17
Sept. 17
Sept. 21
Sept. 21
Aug. 27

Hartford, Conn, (near)

Central New York. . . .

Oct. 2, 1902
Oct. 2, 1905
Oct. 10,1894
Sept. 25, 1907
Oct. 14,1909
Oct. 2, 1910
Oct. 10,1891
Oct. 4, 1886
Oct. 24,1905
Nov. 18,1885

Morristown, N. J

New Providence, N. J..

Beaver, Pa

Renovo, Pa

Washington, T>,C

Weaverville,' N. C

Frogmore, S. C

St. Marys, Ga

Orlando, Fla

Anthony Green Heron. Butorides virescens anthonyi (Mearns).

The breeding range of the Anthony green heron extends north to
Ukiah, Cal. (McGregor), and to Colusa, Cal. (HoUister). The spe-
cies has wandered north to Yreka, Cal., August 20, 1883 (Townsend),
and to Fort Klamath, Oreg., May 4, 1887 (Merrill). It breeds south
as far as the Coronados Islands, Lower California (Anthony), Yuma,
Ariz. (Coues), and Tombstone, Ariz. (Willard), and northeast to
Big Sandy, Ariz. (Stephens), and Camp Yerde, Ariz. (Mearns).

It winters in Mexico from Ocotlan, Jalisco (Nelson and Goldman),
and the Yalley of Mexico (specimen in U. S. National Museum)
south to Zamora, Michoacan (Nelson and Goldman), and to Tehuan-
tepec, Oaxaca (Lawrence).

In migration it occurs at San Jose del Cabo, Lower California
(Brewster), and Victoria, Tamaulipas (Sennett), A specimen taken
November 27, 1896, at San Jose, Costa Rica, is undistinguishable from
the Mexican bird.

GREEN HERON. 59

In spring migration the earliest appearance at Tombstone, Ariz.,
was on April 22, 1009 (Willard) ; Sebastopol, Cal., March 12, 1885
(Belding) ; Stockton, CaL, average April 9, earliest April 4, 1885
(Belding). Eggs are in the U. S. National Museum that were taken
May 24, 1890, at Silver Lake, near Tucson, Ariz., and eggs were taken
on the Sespe Eiver, Ventura County, Cal.^ May 12, 1910 (Peyton).

Frazar Green Heron. Butorides virescens frazari (Brewster).

The Frazar green heron is restricted to the southern end of Lower
California, where it is resident at La Paz, in the region around Mag-
dalena Bay and north to San Ignacio (Nelson and Goldman). Eggs
were taken near La Paz May 8 to 26, 1910 (Thayer).

Green Heron. Butorides xnrescens (siibspp.).

The two forms of the green heron virescens and anthonyi are the
only ones that occur in the United States. These two forms include
the migratory green herons, which have a wide range and perform
migrations extending often more than a thousand miles. In south-
ern Central America, northern South America, and throughout the
whole of the West Indies the green herons seem to be strictly resi-
dent, and as a consequence they have become modified into a large
number of local forms or subspecies.

Mr. H. C. Oberholser has recently made an extended study of the
green herons, and his conclusions as to the ranges of the various
forms are given below :

Chihuahua Green Heron, Butorides virescens eremonomus Ober-
holser. Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico, in summer; south to
Michoacan, Mexico, in winter.

Nicaragua Green Heron, Butorides virescens rrvesatus Oberholser.
Western Nicaragua.

Panama Green Heron, Butorides virescens hypernoteus Oberholser.
Costa Rica, Panama, and northern South America, south to Medellin,
Colombia, and Para, Brazil.

Swan Island Green Heron, Butorides virescens saturatus Ridgway.
Swan Island, Caribbean Sea.

San Miguel Green Heron, Butorides virescens margaritophihu
Oberholser. San Miguel Island, Panama.

Bahama Green Heron, Butorides viresceins hahamensis (Brewster).
The Bahama Islands.

Cuba Green Heron, Butorides virescens cuhanus Oberholser. The
Greater Antilles and east in the Lesser Antilles to Guadeloupe Island.

St. Christopher Green Heron, Butorides virescens christophorensls
Oberholser. St. Christopher Island, Lesser Antilles.

Dominica Green Heron, Butorides virescens dormnicanus Ober-
holser. Dominica Island, Lesser Antilles.

m

KORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Martinique Green Heron, Butorides virescens maculatus (Bod"
daert). Martinique Island, Lesser Antilles.

St. Lucia Green Heron, Butorides virescens lucianus Oberholser.
St. Lucia Island, Lesser Antilles.

Barbados Green Heron, Butorides virescens harbadensis Ober-
holser. Barbados Island, Lesser Antilles.

Grenada Green Heron, Butorides virescens grenadensis Oberholser.
Grenada Island to St. Vincent Island, Lesser Antilles.

Fig. 19, — Green heron (Butorides virescens). Subspecies: 1, virescens; 2, anthonyi; 3,
frazari; 4, eremonomus; 5, mesatus ; 6, hypernotius ; 7, saturatus ; 8, margaritophilus ;
9, hahamensis ; 10, cuhanus ; 11, curacensis; seven other subspecies are on as many
islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Tobago Green Heron, Butorides virescens tohagensis Oberholser.
Tobago Island, Lesser Antilles.

Curagao Green Heron, Butorides virescens curacensis Oberholser.
Curagao Island, off the coast of Venezuela.

[Lembeye Green Heron. Butorides hrune.wens (Lembeye).

Resident in Cuba and tbe Isle of Pines.]

[Striated Heron. Butorides striata (Linnaeus).

A resident species occurring commonly in northern South America south to
Peru and Argentina. The only record north of South America is that of a sijeci-
men taken May, 1904, on the savanna of Panama (Thayer and Bangs).]

Black-crowned Night Heron. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius (Boddaert).

Range. — The black-crowned night heron, including all of its vari-
ous forms, is one of the most widely distributed of birds. In the

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.

61

Fw, 20, — Black-crowned night heron {Nycticorax nycticorax naeviua).

62 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Eastern Hemisphere it occurs throughout Africa and north to south-
ern and central Europe and thence east across Asia to China and
Japan. The subspecies naevius occupies nearly the whole of the
Western Hemisphere, north to southern Canada and south to
Patagonia.

Breeding range. — The black-crowned night heron breeds north to
Woodstock, N. B. (Adney) ; Quebec City, Canada (Dionne) ; Ottawa,
Ontario (White) ; Toronto, Ontario (Nash) ; Eochester, Mich.
(Bretherton) ; Oak Center, Wis. (Hatch) ; Lake Andrew, Minn.
(Skoglund) ; Shoal Lake, Manitoba (Gunn) ; Sterling, Colo. (Cary) ;
Laramie, Wyo. (Knight) ; Bear Lake, Utah (Bailey) ; Ruby Valley,
NeA^ (Bailey) ; and Willows, Oreg. (Bailey). Stragglers have been
noted north to Halifax, N. S., about November 18, 1888, and July
4, 1889 (Austen) ; St. John, N. B., January 5, 1887 (Chamberlain),
and April 20, 1888 (Banks) ; Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island
(MacSwain) ; Gaspe, Quebec, July 14, 1881 (Brewster) ; Lake Mis-
tassini, Quebec, August 6, 1885 (Macoun) ; near Burks Falls, Ontario,
May, 1899 (Fleming) ; 140 miles west of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Tal-
bot) ; Portland, Oreg., July 29, 1908 ( Jewett) ; and Douglas County,
Wash., early June, 1906 (Bowles).

The breeding range includes Mexico, Central America, the whole of
South America south to the Falkland Islands (Wagler) and southern
Patagonia (Oustelet), the Greater Antilles, several of the Lesser
Antilles — Granada (Sharpe), Trinidad (Leotaud), St. Christopher
(Cory), St. Vincent (Sharpe), Tobago (Jar dine), and Antigua
(Cory) — and the Hawaiian Islands (Henshaw).

Winter range. — Throughout the larger part of its extensive breed-
ing range, the black-crowned night heron is nonmigratory, but it re-
tires for the winter from much of its United States summer home
and occurs at that season in Florida, the entire Gulf coast, and north
on the Atlantic coast to Pea Island, N. C. (Bishop), and on the
Pacific slope to Marysville, Cal. (Belding). A few have been noted
in winter in Bermuda (Hurdis) ; at Cambridge, Mass. (Allen) ;
Providence, E. I. (Billson) ; Shelter Island, N. Y. (Griffing) ; Tren-
ton, N. J. (Abbott) ; Anna, 111. (Butler) ; Barr Lake, Colo. (Smith) ;
Provo Lake, Utah (Yarrow and Henshaw) ; and Fallon, Nev. (Mills).
The Zoological Park at Washington, D. C., has a large flying cage
in which many black-crowned night herons live all the year out-
doors. A year or two after this was built, herons appeared on the
outside as well as the inside of the cage, and these wild birds have
become rather common through the summer and a few remain all
winter.

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.
sSpring migration.

63

Philadelphia, Pa. (near)

Morristown, N.J

New Providence, N.J

New York, N. Y. (near)

Hartford, Conn

Providence, R.I

Southeastern Massachusetts.

Monadnock, N. H

Portland, Me

Quebec City, Canada

Rodney, Miss

St. Louis, Mo

Urbana,Ill

Rockford,Ill

Chicago, 111

Sandusky, Ohio

Ottawa, Ontario

Grinnell, Iowa

Forest City, Iowa

Heron Lake, Minn

East-central Kansas

Eastern Nebraska

Larimore, N. Dak

Denver, Colo, (near)

T'laro.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
spring
arrival.

Apr. 22
Apr. 22
Apr. 10
Apr. 16
Apr. 9
Apr. 6
Apr. 24

Apr. 14
Mar. 24
Apr. 22
MTar. 31

Apr. 23

Apr. 16

Apr. 24

Apr. 17

Apr. 12
Apr. 19
Apr. 22

Apr. 25

Earliest date
of spring
arrival.

Feb.
Apr.

15, 1902
19,1885
Mar. 23,1884
Mar. 4, 1895
Mar. 28,1902
Mar. 17,1907
Mar. 28,1893
Apr. 11,1902
Apr. 18,1906
Apr. 10,1905
Mar. 22,1884
Apr. 20,1886
Mar. 26,1904
Apr. 5,1890
Apr. 8, 1894
Apr. 14,1902
Apr. 18,1894
Apr. 8,1887
Apr. 3, 1897
Apr. 6, 1890
Apr. 16,1907
Apr. 2,1904
May 1,1893
Apr. 21,1906

As would be expected from a species with such an extended range,
the eggs are deposited at widely different times in different parts of
the breeding range. Wliile eggs are most commonly found in Chile
during the months of October and November (Germain), in Cuba,
the eggs are usually deposited in April and May (Gundlach) ; San
Mateo, Fla., March 29, 1882 (specimens in U. S. National Museum) ;
Alachua County, Fla., April 18, 1890 (Pearson) ; Charleston, S. C,
April 25, 1908 (Wayne) ; Charleston, S. C, April 7, 1910 (Wayne)
(unusually early) ; Mattamuskeet Lake, N. C, April 30, 1908 (Pear-
son) ; Baltimore, Md., April 30, 1892 (Gray) ; Syracuse, N. Y., May
14. 1881 (Rich) ; Portland, Conn., April IT, 1872 (Merriam) ; Essex
County, Mass., May 12, 1896 (Mann) ; Penobscot Bay, Me., May 26,
1897 (Knight) ; Philo, 111., May 12, 1902 (Hess) ; Manawa Lake,
Iowa, May 15, 1904 (Trostler) ; near San Francisco, Cal., April 21,
1904 (Finley).

Eggs were just hatching April 13, 1895, at Tallahassee, Fla., which
must have been laid in March (Williams) ; young just out of the
nest June 20, 1903, at Falmouth, Me. (Norton) ; young in nest Sep-
tember 15, 1901, at Alameda, Cal. (Cohen) ; full-grown young April
23, 1878, at Lomita, Tex. (Sennett). The average date of finding
eggs at Barr Lake, Colo., was May 12, earliest May 9, 1909, but
young in nest May 24, 1907, indicated that some eggs had been laid
at a still earlier date (Rockwell).

64 NOKTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Fall mif/ration.

Place.

Number
of years'
records.

Average
date of
the last

one seen.

Latest date
of the last
one seen.

Philadelphia, Pa. (near)

New York, N. Y. (near)

Hartford, Conn

Providence, R.I

Southeastern Massachusetts.

Durham,N. H

Portland, Me

Montreal, Canada

Quebec City, Canada

Chicago, 111

Ottawa, Ontario

Delavan, Wis

Heron Lake, Minn

Richmond, Kans

Lincoln, Nebr

Huron, S. Dak

Sioux Falls, S. Dak

Barr Lake, Colo

Oct. 23
Oct. 8

Oct. 24
Oct. 10

Sept. 13

Sept. 23
Oct. 13
Sept. 23

Oct. 7

Nov.
Oct.
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
Oct.
Sept.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Sept.
Nov.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Nov.
Oct.

7,1893
17,1904
11,1888
22,1908
6,1890
1,1900
16,1907
11,1895
15, 1894
20,1906
27, 1894
24, 1894
14,1885
15,1885
27,1900
18,1887
20,1910
11,1908

[Agami Heron. Agamia agami (Gmelin).

A nonmigratory species ranging west to Palenque, Chiapas (Nelson and Gold-
man), and to Rio Coatzacoalcos, Vera Cruz (Siimichrast). It is rare and local
in British Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, more common in Panama,
and has a wide range in northern South America, south to Yurimaguas, Peru,
and to Matto Grasso, Brazil.]

Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Nyctanassa violacea (Linnaeus).

Range. — Temperate and tropical America, north to South Carolina,
Illinois, Kansas, and Lower California; south throughout the West
Indies and Central America to Brazil and Peru.

Breeding range. — The yellow-crowned night heron is a common
breeding bird in Florida and the lower parts of the Gulf States. On
the Atlantic coast it breeds north to Charleston, S. C. (Wayne). It
nests much farther north, however, in the Mississippi Valley even at
the mouth of the Illinois Kiver (Widmann) ; to Mount Carmel, 111.
(Nelson) ; Bicknell, Ind. (Chansler) ; Crooked Creek, Kans. (Goss) ;
Fort Eeno, Okla. (Merrill) ; Gurley, Tex. (Howell) ; and Laredo,
Tex. (Butcher). The northern limit of the breeding range on the
Pacific coast is found at Mazatlan, Sinaloa, at Magdalena Bay, Lower
California, and on Socorro Island. The species is a common breeder
in the Bahamas and the West Indies, and less commonly and some-
what locally throughout Central America and northern South America
south to Paranagua, Brazil (Pelzeln) ; and Tumbez, Peru (Tacza-
nowski).

Winter range. — The yellow-crowned night heron seems to desert
the United States during the winter, though an injured bird spent
the winter of 1909-10 at Upper Matecumbe Key, Fla. (Brodliead),
and two birds were seen during January, 1912^ near Brownsville,

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON,

66

Fig. 21. — Yellow-crowned night heron (Ni/ctana»sa violacea).
80652*'— 13 5

66 NORTH AMERICAK HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Tex. (Smith). It winters, however, in Cuba (Gimdlach) ; Andros
Island, Bahamas (Bonhote) ; Santa Ana, Vera Cruz (Ferrari-Perez) ;
Mazatlan, Sinaloa (Lawrence) ; and La Paz, Lower California
(Brewster) .

Spring inigration. — The earliest migrants reached Catfish Creek,
Polk County^ Fla., February 14, 1901 (specimen in U. S. National Mu-
seum) ; Savannah, Ga., March 28, 1909 (Perry) ; Charleston, S. C,
average March 25, earliest March 23, 1907 (Wayne) ; New Orleans,
La., average March 19, earliest March 9, 1895 (Allison) ; Rodney,
Miss., average March 25, earliest March 20, 1890 (Mabbett) ; St.
Louis, Mo., April 10 (Hurter) ; Bicknell, Ind., April 13, 1908 (Chans-
ler) ; Corpus Christi, Tex., March 8, 1877 (Sennett) ; Galveston,
Tex., March 20, 1892 (Lloyd) ; Dallas, Tex., March 28, 1898 (Mayer) ;
Crooked Creek, Kans., April 17, 1878 (Goss).

The yellow-crowned night heron is apt to appear in districts
north of the breeding range, as shown by the following records:
Bermuda, April, 1848, September, 1849 (Hurdis) ; Raleigh, N. C,
June 25, 1894 (Brimley) ; Cobb Island, Va. (Rives) ; Washington,
D. C, August, 1901 (Palmer) ; Woodbine, N. J., May 23, 1892
(Stone) ; Freeport, N. Y., April, 1893 (Dutcher) ; Bellport, N. Y.,
1897 (Babson) ; Wading River, N. Y., April, 1901 (Hoffman) ;
Orient, N. Y., May 4, 1905 (Braislin) ; Newport, R. I., June 15, 1778
(Howe) ; Tiverton, R. I., April 23, 1886 (Howe and Sturtevant) ;
Lynn, Mass., October, 1862 (Allen) ; Provincetown, Mass., March 8,
1891 (Small) ; Deering, Me., April 13, 1901 (Brock) ; Portland, Me.,
April 11, 1906 (Norton) ; Hawk Point, N. S., late March, 1902 (Ken-
nard) ; Sable Island, N. S., April 13, 1904 (Bontelier) ; Toronto,
Ontario, August 15, 1898 (Williams) ; near Council Bluffs, Iowa,
May 10, 1843 (Audubon), and May 1, 1892 (Trostler) ; Sabula, Iowa,
September 15, 1892 (Gidd'ings) ; Beatrice, Nebr., July 19, 1901
(Swenk) ; Florence Lake, Nebr., August 23, 1903 (Trostler) ; Salida,
Colo., May 1, 1908 (Warren).

The above dates indicate that at the time of the spring migration
it is no rare thing for individuals of this species to journey farther
north than they usually breed. These birds probably return in a few
days to the normal breeding range,, and then in July and August a
second northward migration of a smaller number of individuals
occurs after the breeding season.

Eggs are deposited in December in Brazil (Euler) ; San Miguel
Island, Panama, March 14, 1904 (Thayer) ; Grenada, W. I., April
and May (Wells) ; Cuba, April and May (Gundlach) ; Port Hen-
derson, Jamaica, June 12, 1890 (Field) ; near Passage Key, Fla.,
April 18, 1906 (Pearson) ; Alachua County, Fla., April 25, 1888
(Pearson) ; Charleston, S. C, April 20, 1896 (Wayne) ; Wheatland,
Ind., April 27, 1881 (Ridgway) ; Mount Carmel, III, May 6, 1874

MEXICAN TIGER-BITTERN. 67

(Nelson) ; Xueces County, Tex., May 22, 1884 (Benners) ; Socorro
Island, Mexico, fledged young May 14, 1897 (Anthony). An unusu-
ally early nesting was that of birds which had already laid their
eggs by March 23, 1907, at Charleston, S. C. (Wayne), while the eggs
that were found hatched March 5, 1890, at Key West, Fla., must have
been laid in early February.

[Lineated Tiger-bittern. Tigrisoma Uneatum (Boddaert).

The lineated tiger-bittern ranges north to Panama, where it has been taken
at Lion Hill, March, 1900 (Brown), and at Rio Indio, Febrnary 23, 1911 (Gold-
man). Thence it spreads over much of northern South America, south to Peru
(Pebas and Yurimaguas) and to Barretos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.]

[Nicaraguan Tiger-bittern. TigrUoma excellens Ridgway.

Restricted to Middle America, where it has been taken from the Segovia
River. Honduras (Townsend), to the Rio Escondido, Nicaragua (Richmond).]

[Mexican Tiger-bittern. Heterocnus mexicanus (Swainson).

The Mexican tiger-bittern is one of the common members of the family in
Mexico and Central America and ranges north almost to the United States, to
Alamos, Sonora ; Victoria, Tamaulipas; and Cozumel Island, Yucatan. The
southern limit is found in Panama, where it has been taken east to the Bay of
Panama (Kellett and Wood) and to the line of the Panama Railroad (McLean-
nan).]

INDEX

Page. I

adoxa, A rdea herodias

Agami heron

Agamia agami

Ajaia ajaja

alba, Guara

americana, Mycteria

Aathonj' green heron

anthonyi, Butorides virescens

Ardea cinerca

herodias adoxa

cognata

fannini

herodias

hyperonca

leasoni

sanctilucae

treganzai

wardi

occidentalis

OAJbtumnalis, Plegadis

Bittern

Cory least

Least

Black-crowned night heron

Blue heron, California great

Galapagos great

Great

Little

Lower California great .

Mexican great

West Indian great

Boatbill, Zeledon

BotauTus lentiginosus

pinnatus

Butorides brunesccTis

striata

virescens

anthonyi

frazari

brunescens, Butorides

caerulea, Florida

California great blue heron

candidissima, Egretta

cayennensis, Harpiprion

Cayenne ibis

cinerea, A rdea

Cochlear ius zeledoni

cognata, Ardea herodias. . ^

Cory least bittern

Demi-egret

Dichromanassa rufescens

Distribution of herons

Page.

E gret 40

Reddish 49

Snowy 45

Egretta candidissima 45

egretta, Herodias 4()

European heron 40

excellens, Tigrisoma 67

exilis, Ixobrychus 29

fannini, Ardea herodias 36

Flamingo 10

Florida caerulea 52

Frazar green heron 59

frazari, Butorides virescens 59

Galapagos great blue heron 38

Glossy ibis .'. 17

White-faced 1 19

Great blue heron 33

California 37

Galapagos 38

Lower California 38

Mexican 37

West Indian 37

Great white heron 33

Green heron 56

Anthony 58

Frazar 59

Lembeye 60

Guara alba 14

rubra 16

guarauna, Plegadis 19

Harpiprion cayennensis 24

Herodias egretta 40

herodias adoxa, Ardea 37

cognata, A rdea 38

fannini, Ardea , 36

herodias, A rdea 33

hyperonca, A rdea 37

lessoni, A rdea 37

sanctilucae, A rdea 38

treganzai, A rdea 36

tvardi, A rdea 36

Heron, Agami 64

Anthony green 58

Black-crowned night 60

California great blue 37

European 40

Frazar green 59

Galapagos great blue 38

Great blue 33

Great white 33

Green 56

Lembeye green 60

70

NOKTH AMERICAN HEEONS AND THEIR ALLIES.

Page.

Heron, Little blue 52

Louisiana 51

Lower California great blue 38

Mexican great blue 37

Northwestern coast 36

Pileated 55

'Pinnated 29

Striated 60

Treganza 36

Ward 36

West Indian great blue 37

Yellow-crowned night 64

Herons, distribution 8

migration 9

tables of ranges 9

Heterocnus mexicanus 67

Hydranassa tricolor ruficollis 51

tricolor 52

hyperonca, Ardea herodias 37

Ibis, Cayenne 24

Glossy 17

Scarlet 16

White 14

White-faced glossy 19

Wood 22

Ixobrychus exilis 29

neoxenus 32

Jabiru 24

mycteria 24

Least bittern 29

Cory 32

Lembeye green heron 60

lentiginosus, Botaurus 26

lessoni, Ardea herodias 37

Lineated tiger-bittern 67

Hneatum, Tigrisoma 67

Little blue heron 52

Louisiana heron 51

Lower California great blue heron 38

Mexican great blue heron 37

tiger-bittern 67

mexicanus, Heterocnus 67

Migration of herons 9

Mycteria americana 22

mycteria, Jabiru 24

naevius, Nycticorax nycticorax 60

neoxenus, Ixobrychus 32

Nicaraguan tiger-bittern 67

Page.

Night heron, Black-crowned 60

Yellow-crowned 64

Northwestern coast heron 36

Nyctanassa violacea 64

Nycticorax nycticorax naevius 60

occidentalis, Ardea 33

Phoenicopterus ruber 10

Pileated heron 55

PiUierodius pileatus 55

Pinnated heron 29

pinnatus, Botaurus , 29

Plegadis autumnalis 17

guarauna - 19

Reddish egret 48

Roseate spoonbill 12

ruber, Phoenicopterus 10

rubra, Guara 16

rufescens, Dichromanassa 49

ruficollis, Hydranassa tricolor 51

sanctilucae, A rdea herodias 38

Scarlet ibis 16

Snowy egret 45

spoonbill. Roseate 12

striata, Butorides 60

Striated heron 60

Tiger-bittern, Lineated 67

Mexican 67

Nicaraguan 67

Tigrisoma excellens 67

Hneatum 67

Treganza heron 36

treganzai, Ardea herodias 36

tricolor ruficollis, Hydranassa 51

tricolor, Hydranassa 52

violacea, Nyctanassa 64

virescens anthonyi, Butorides .' 58

frazari, Butorides 59

virescens, Butorides 56

Ward heron 36

wardi, A rdea herodias ^ 36

West Indian great blue heron 37

White-faced glossy ibis 19

White heron, Great 33

ibis 14

Wood ibis 22

Yellow-crowned night heron 64

Zeledon boatbill 55

zeledoni, Cochlearius 55

Issued May 6, 1912.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

FARMERS' BULLETIN 497,

SOME_C0™ON_^AME^^
AND^RAPACIOUS]JlRDS IN
RELATION TOllANr

BY

W. L. McATEE and F. E. L. BEAL,
Assistants, Biological Survey.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1912.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

United States Department of Agriculture,

Bureau of Biological Survey,

WasUngton, D. C, March 18, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith and to recommend
for publication as a Farmers' Bulletin a report on Some Common
Game, Aquatic, and Rapacious Birds in Relation to Man, by W. L.
McAtee and F. E. L. Beal, assistants in the Biological Survey. Care-
ful study of the food habits of the game birds, including the group
known as shore birds, shows that these birds are of great value to
the farmer. The water birds, as the grebes, gulls, and terns, have
greater economic value and do less harm than is ordinarily supposed;
while some species, like Franklin's gull and the black tern, are
markedly beneficial. It is pointed out in this bulletin that many
birds of prey are exceedingly valuable to the farmer, but the opposite
is true of the Cooper's hawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, and the gos-
hawk, which should be destroyed as the determined foes of poultry,
game birds, and most of the smaller insectivorous species.
Respectfully,

Henry W. Henshaw,
Chief, Biological Survey.
Hon. James Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture.

497

2

OONTEKTS.

Page.

Introduction 5

Prairie chicken ( Tympanuchus americanus) 5

California quail (Lophortyx californica) 7

Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) 12

Introduced pheasants {Phasianus torquatus and P. colchicus) 13

Upland plover (Bartramia longicauda) 14

Killdeer (Oxyechus vodferus) 16

Horned grebe {Colymhus auritus) 18

Franklin's gull {Lams franklini) 19

Terns (Sterna maxima, S. forsteri, S. hirundo, S. antillarum, and Hydrochelidon

nigra surinamensis) 22

Cooper's hawk {Accipiter cooperi) 26

Rough-legged hawk {Archihuteo lagopus sancti-johannis) 27

Sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius) 28

Long-eared owl {Asio wilsonianus) 29

Screech owl (OtiLS asio) 29

ILLUSTRATIOl^rS.

Pa«:e.

Fig. 1. Prairie cliicken 6

2. California quail 8

3. Ruffed grouse 12

4. Ringneck pheasant 13

5. Upland plover 15

6. Killdeer 17

7. Horned grebe 19

8. Franklin's gull 20

9. Common tern 23

10. Black tern 25

11. Cooper's hawk 26

12. Rough-legged hawk 27

13. Sparrow hawk 28

14. Screech owl 30

497 3

SOME COMMON GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS
IN RELATION TO MAN.

INTRODUCTION.

Game and aquatic birds, as a rule, have less economic interest
than the species more closely associated with man. Nevertheless
nearly all aquatic birds have important relations with the fishing
industry. One of the birds, the horned grebe, sometimes accused
of living entirely upon fish, is here shown to feed largely on craw-
fish, other crustaceans, and insects. Terns also have been held
responsible for the serious reduction of food fishes in some localities,
but a careful study of their food habits demonstrates that only a
small proportion of their diet consists of such fishes. On account of
the relatively small number of terns it is manifestly impossible for
them to do all the damage attributed to them even if they fed exclu-
sively on food fishes. Certain aquatic birds approach the land birds
in feeding habits; examples are Franklin's gull and the black tern,
both of which by their destruction of insects are beneficial to man
All the shore birds are strikingly beneficial in their food habits, and
the slaughter of these game birds deprives the farmer of valuable
allies against some of the worst crop pests. The food habits of the
upland plover and killdeer are here described as illustrating the
beneficial qualities of the group. The gallinaceous game birds, as
quail, grouse, and pheasants, take far less insect food than the shore
birds, yet all of them do a certain amount of good. Because of
their close contact with crops it is important that their economic
relations be made widely known.

The hawks and owls have a bad name, but for the most part it is
undeserved, and indiscriminate persecution of these birds is a serious
mistake. Accounts of six species are given in this bulletin in order
to point out the distinction between injurious hawks and owls and
useful ones. The latter should be carefully protected.

PRAIRIE CHICKEN.

{Tympanuchus americanus.)

The prairie chicken (fig. 1), now common only in Kansas, Nebraska,
Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Manitoba, is one of the birds which
formerly occurred over a much wider range than at present and in

Note. — A list giving the titles of all Farmers' Bulletins available for distribution
will be sent free upon application to a Member of Congress or the Secretary of Agri-
culture.

497 5

6

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

far greater abundance. It has been reduced principally by hunters,
as have so many of our finest species of birds. Many sportsmen
declare allegiance to the highest principles of game preservation yet
fail to practice these principles. Our present game laws, even
though efficiently administered, will save no species of birds, as the

rapid growth of the
army of sportsmen
and ' pot hunters
more than coun-
terbalances the
effect of the short-
ening of open sea-
sons and reduction
of bag limits.
Moreover, game
laws, as a general
rule , are not
strictly obeyed.
In southern Wis-
consin, where there
was a closed season
on prairie chickens
for a term of years,
to the writers'
knowledge these
birds were killed at
every opportunity.
The customary ex-
cuse was: '^They
are so scarce they
won't breed up
again anyway."
Aside from show-
ing culpable will-
ingness to assist
in the birds' ex-
termination, this
remark is untrue.

Fig. l.-Prairie chicken. Like all birds of

its family the prairie chicken is very prolific, and if adequately
protected would soon become numerous in its old haunts. The bird
is easily domesticated, hence is eminently suited for propagation on
preserves. . As the increase of game in this manner is the only way to
preserve it indefinitely and at the same time allow hunting, the plan

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 7

should be actively put into operation by those most interested in
the preservation of game — the sportsmen.

The prairie chicken is valuable not only as game, but as an efficient
destroyer of farm pests, and any farmer would profit by having
these birds reared on his place. Almost 15 per cent of the bird's food
consists of weed seeds, including those of such pests as foxtail grass,
smartweeds, and ragweed. More than 10 per cent of the diet con-
sists of rose hips. A few other fruits are eaten and more than a
fourth of the food consists of leaves, flowers, and shoots, collectively
known as browse. The prairie chicken eats a great deal of grain,
but takes most of it from stubble. The bird is fond of such mast as
hazelnuts and acorns.

Nearly 15 per cent of the bird's food consists of insects, the bulk
of them being grasshoppers. Almost every kind of grasshopper,
locust, or cricket appears to be acceptable, and nearly 20 different
kinds were identified from the stomachs. The prairie chicken made
itself especially useful during the destructive invasions of the Rocky
Mountain locust. Sixteen birds examined at that time were found
to have eaten 866 locusts. Among other pests eaten by this species
are the Colorado potato beetle, 12-spotted cucumber beetle, sugar-
beet leaf-beetle. May beetles, cotton worm, army worm, cutworms,
the yellow bear caterpillar, and chinch bug. — w. L. M.

CALIFORNIA QUAIL.

(Lophortyx calif ornica.)

The California quail (fig. 2) is common and generally distributed
over the States west of the Sierra, except at the higher altitudes, and
is especially abundant in the fruit-raising sections. Like the bob-
white of the East, this quail never goes far from cover, and it delights
to dwell on unimproved land where trees and chaparral alternate
with small areas of open ground. In settled regions it is somewhat
domestic in habits and soon becomes accustomed to living in orchards,
gardens, and cultivated grounds. The writer has seen a female
sitting upon her eggs in a garden within 30 feet of a house, between
which and the nest carriages and foot passengers passed many times
each day. In winter a covey frequently feeds with the farmer's
chickens, and if not disturbed will continue to do so until pairing
time.

The natural food of the quail consists of the seeds of the vast num-
ber of plants known as weeds, with a little foliage of the same,
especially in winter, when the leaves are young and tender. Con-
sidering how small is the amount of fruit usually found in the stomach
of this bird, it is a surprise to learn that it sometimes does serious
damage to vineyards. Investigation, however, shows that, as in most
other similar cases, the injury results only when too many birds gather

497

8

GAME, AQUATIC, AND EAPACIOUS BIBDS.

in a limited area. Nearly all the complaints against the quail for
eating fruit are that it visits vineyards in immense numbers and eats
grapes. When thousands visit a vineyard, even if only occasionally,
and each bird eats or spoils at least one grape, the result is disastrous.
An observer states that he once saw a flock of about 1,000 quail

eating Zinfandel
grapes in a vineyard
in the central part of
the State, and an-
other says that in
southern California
he has seen as many
as 5,000 feeding up-
on Muscat grapes.
In the writer's inter-
views with Califor-
nia fruit growers,
only one mentioned
the quail as harmful.
His ranch was situ-
ated along the hills
on the side of a nar-
row valley, adjacent
to wild grazing land
with much chapar-
ral and forest, among
which the quail
lived. In this case
the annual loss was
estimated at 2 or 3
tons of grapes.

In the laboratory
investigation of the
food of the Califor-
nia quail 619 stom-
achs were examined.
They were collected
in every month ex-

riG.2.-CalIfomIaquaU. ^^p^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^j^jy

one was obtained in March. The other montns are well represented.
Animal food, principally insects, amounts to but 3 per cent, and
most of this was found in the stomachs of young birds, mere brood-
lings. Vegetable food amounts to 97 per cent and consists mainly

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 9

of seeds of plants most of which are of noxious or troublesome
species.

Animal food. — Ants appear to be a favorite food. They were
found in 82 stomachs, and were eaten by adults as well as by young.
They amount, however, to less than 1 per cent of the whole diet.
The rest of the animal food aggregates a little more than 2 per cent
and is distributed as follows: Beetles in 30 stomachs, bugs (Hemip-
tera) in 38, caterpillars in 11, grasshoppers in 7, flies in 2, spiders in 6,
millepeds in 1, and snails in 2. The most interesting point in this
connection was the stomach of a broodling only 3 or 4 days old.
Besides several adult Hemiptera, some ants, caterpillars, and spiders,
and a few seeds, it contained 280 minute insects, which constituted
76 per cenfc of the stomach's contents, and were identified as an imma-
ture form of species of scale, PJienacoccus JieliantJii.

In this connection the following extract from a letter dated at
Los Angeles, Cal., October 28, 1908, by Dr. W. G. Chambers to the
Secretary of Agriculture, is interesting:

Last May during the hatching season one of my female quail died a week prior to
completing the hatch. An incandescent light of 8 candlepower was substituted,
the result being 15 baby quail, very wild at first, not understanding human sounds or
language, but finally becoming as docile as pet chickens. They were raised in my
back yard, running at large after the first week.

A number of Marguerite bushes which grow in profusion in the yard were so infested
with black scale that I had decided to uproot them and had postponed doing so as the
little quail worked so persistently among the branches; upon investigation I discov-
ered them eating the scale and twittering happily; they would swallow the fully
developed scale and thoroughly clean the branches of all those undeveloped.

The young in the first week of life eat animal matter to the extent
of from 50 to 75 per cent of the food, but by the time they are 4
weeks old they take little if any more animal food than the adults. "

Vegetable food. — The vegetable part of the quail's food may be
divided into fruit, grain, seeds, and forage. Fruit appeared in 106
stomachs and aggregates 2.3 per cent of the yearly diet. It was
distributed as follows: Grapes in 7 stomachs, prunes in 9, apples in
3, rubus (blackberry or raspberry) in 4, olive in 1, elderberry in 21,
snowberry in 8, Manzanita in 2, huckleberry in 11, and rose haws in 3.
Pulp and skins, identified as fruit only, were found in 27 stomachs,
and unknown seeds, probably those of some small fruit or berry,
occurred in 10 stomachs. It is evident that the percentage of any
one of the above is insignificant. Stomach examination throws no
new light upon the quaiFs grape-eating habits, except to show that
the ravages complained of are exceptional. That fruit does not con-
stitute any important part of the bird's annual food is clearly
proved.

37181°— Bull. 497—12 2

10 GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

Grain was found in 133 stomachs and constitutes 6.4 per cent of
the food. It was distributed as follows: Corn in 14 stomachs, wheat
in 15, oats in 13, barley in 89, and rye in 2. The principal complaints
against the quail on the score of grain eating are that flocks some-
times visit newly sown fields and eat large quantities of the seed.
Walter E. Bryant says on this point:

Two males which I shot one evening as they were going to roost for the night after
having been feeding on a newly sown field contained the following, mainly in the crop:
(a) Two hundred and ten whole grains of barley, 6 pieces of broken barley, 3 grains of
"cheat," and 1 of wheat, besides a few barley hulls, some clover leaves, and alfilaria;
(6) 185 whole grains of barley, 5 broken pieces, 4 grains of "cheat," and 2 of wheat;
also barley hulls, clover, and alfilaria. The flock numbered nearly or quite 20 birds.*

Only one report accuses the bird of eating grain from the harvest
field. Mr. W. T. Craig, of San Francisco, writing to the United States
Department of Agriculture, says:

I have observed the quail enter a field of wheat to the number of thousands, and had
they not been driven away they would have destroyed the whole crop.

Stomach examination does not indicate any month in which grain
is eaten in excess of other food. January shows the highest percent-
age, 12.4, but November is nearly as high, while December, although
between the two, shows less than 3 per cent. A little more than 3
per cent was eaten in February, and none at all in March and April,
though the newly sown grain would be accessible in one at least of
these months. June and July, the harvest months, show, respectively,
4.1 per cent and 10.7 per cent. In fact the stomach record plainly
indicates that the quail does not make special search for grain, but
being naturally a seed eater takes grain when it comes in the way.

The seeds of a multitude of plants which have no apparent useful
function except to increase by their decay the deposit of humus in the
soil constitute the staff of life of the quail. In this particular inves-
tigation they aggregate 62.5 per cent of the food of the year. They
appear in stomachs taken in every month and reach a good percentage
in each, the only months that show much diminution in quantity
being January, February, March, and April, when new forage partly
replaces seeds. The percentage is highest in June, 85.9, but shows no
great falling off from July to December, inclusive. Seventy-three
kinds of seeds were identified, at least generically, and more than half
of them were determined specifically. Many more were ground up
so as to be unrecognizable.

Bur thistle, lupines, bur clover, and turkey mullein appear to be the
favorite seeds; that the others are not distasteful is shown by the
quantities found in some stomachs. For instance, mayweed was
identified in o^ily 27 stomachs, yet one stomach contained at least
2,000 of these seeds; pigweed (Chenopodium) in but 11, yet 1 con-

» Zoe, IV, pp. 55-56, 1893-94.
497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 11

tained 1,000. One stomach held 83 kernels of barley, 592 seeds of
geranium, 560 of tarweed, 40 of bur thistle, 48 of clover, 80 of alfilaria,
704 of timothy, 32 of catchfly, and 5 of snowberry, or 2,144 seeds in all.
Another contained 1,696 geranium seeds, 14 bur thistle, 24 knotweed,
14 tarweed, 38 bur clover, 148 alfilaria, 12 ray grass, and 1 unknown
seed, and a pod of uncertain origin — in all, 1,947 seeds and a pod. In
both cases the contents of the crop is included with that of the stom-
ach or gizzard. These samples indicate considerable variety in the
quail's diet, even in one meal.

Grass and other forage constitute a little over 25 per cent of the
quail's annual food. Forage amounts to less than 1 per cent in June,
remains about the same until October, and increases somewhat in
November. In January it becomes important, and it reaches nearly
60 per cent of the food for the next four months. The maximum, 85
per cent,*occurs in March; but this percentage, based on only one
stomach, can not be considered final. Seeds and forage are practi-
cally complementary to each other ; that is, as one increases the other
decreases. June, which shows the least forage, has the largest per-
centage of seeds. Leaves of red and of bur clover and of alfilaria
were the favorite kinds, and in some cases constituted the whole
stomach contents. Blades of grass are frequently taken. A few bits
of acorn, and perhaps other nuts, were eaten, but the quantity is
insignificant.

Summary. — From the above analysis of the food of the California
quail it is apparent that under normal conditions the farmer and fruit
grower have nothing to fear from its ravages. When, however, large
areas of chaparral land are cleared and brought under cultivation, it
is natural that the products of garden and vineyard should be eaten to
a greater or less extent by quail, which abound in such localities. On
the other hand, its seed-eating record is in its favor. Usually there
is little difficulty in getting rid of a superfluity of game birds; in
fact, in most cases the trouble is to prevent their extermination.
This is strikingly illustrated by the fact that, in order to restock its
depleted covers, an attempt is now being made in southern California
to import quail from the peninsula of Lower California. A bird so
large, so easily trapped, so valuable for food, and withal one whose
pursuit affords such excellent sport as the valley quail, will rarely
become numerous enough to do serious damage, and then only locally
and under unusual conditions. When such conditions arise, a reduc-
tion of numbers is the easiest and simplest cure. Permits to trap
quail on one's own premises are obtainable in California on application
to the State fish commissioner. After the birds have been sufficiently
reduced they can be kept within reasonable limits by a moderate
amount of shooting in the proper season. — f. e. l. b.

497

12

GAME, AQUATIC, AND EAPACIOUS BIRDS.

RUFFED GROUSE.

. (Bonasa umbellus.)

The ruffed grouse {R.g. 3), called ''partridge" in the northeastern
States and pheasant in some other parts of its range, is one of our
most widely ranging game birds. It inhabits wooded regions from

Canada and Alaska

south to California,
Colorado, Tennes-
see, and northern
Georgia. It is usu-
ally a wild and wary
bird and well with-
stands the attacks
of hunters, but it
responds to protec-
tion in a gratifying
manner and has
proved to be well
adapted to propaga-
tion under artificial
conditions. On ac-
count of these quali-
ties and its desira-
bility as a game spe-
cies it is a good sub-
ject for game farm-
ing.

Wild fruits, mast,
and browse make up
the bulk of the vege-
table food of this
species. It is very
fond of hazelnuts,
beechnuts, chest-
nuts, and acorns and
it eats practically all
kinds of wild berries
and other fruits.
Nearly 60 kinds of

fruits have been identified from the stomach contents examined.

Various weed seeds are also consumed.

Slightly more than 10 per cent of the food consists of insects, about

half of which are beetles. The most important pests devoured are the

Colorado potato beetle, clover-root weevil, the pale-striped flea

497

Fig. 3.— Euffed grouse.

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS,

13

beetle, grapevine leaf- beetle, May beetles, grasshoppers, cotton
worms, army worms, cutworms, the red-humped apple caterpillar,
and sawfly larvae. — w. l. m.

INTRODUCED PHEASANTS.

(PhasianiLS torquatus and P. colchicus.)

While introduced pheasants may hardly seem to deserve a place
on a list of common birds, the extent to which they are being imported
and propagated in
the United States
makes it desirable
that information be
made available as
to their feeding
habits when liber-
a t e d . Ringneck
pheasants (fig. 4)
have long been es-
tablished in Ore-
gon, Washington,
and British Colum-
bia, and are less
common in the wild
state in Massachu-
setts, New York,
Indiana, and Kan-
sas. But persist-
ent efforts, in some
cases on a very
large scale, are be-
ing made to estab-
lish pheasants in
other States, and
the farmers whose
land they are hkely
to range over
should have access
to information con-
cerning their eco-
nomic value.

Severe criticism

of pheasants and Fig. 4.-Ringneck pheasant.

fulsome praise are about equal in volume. The birds are accused
of digging newly planted and sprouting corn, oats, barley, and beans,
and seeds of melons, cucumbers, and squashes. It is claimed that

497

14 GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

because of their depredations it has been necessary to replant whole
fields of corn. They are said to drive chickens away from their food
and even to kill young poultry. Some landowners in Ontario County,
N. Y., claim that the loss suffered on account of pheasants has been
more than twice the amount of their taxes.

On the other hand the birds have not proved a nuisance in Oregon
and Washington, where they have been numerous for years. Some
farmers even value them so highly that they will not permit hunting
on their property.

The few pheasant stomachs examined indicate that these birds
are very fond of grain. Oats and wheat compose about 34 per cent
of the food of 12 ringneck pheasants collected in Oregon and Wash-
ington, and 82.5 per cent of the stomach contents of two English
pheasants from British Columbia. But all of these birds were taken
in September, October, and December; hence it is probable that all
of this grain was waste. The next largest item of food in these
stomachs was insects, consisting entirely of larvae of March flies
(Bihio). One stomach contained no fewer than 360 of these larvsB
a«id another 432. The remainder of the food included acorns, pine
seeds, browse, peas, rose hips, snowberries, and seeds of dandelion,
lupine, bur clover, black mustard, and chickweed.

From 200 to 960 kernels of wheat and oats were taken by various
birds; about 200 peas were found in one stomach, but it w^as evident
that these were the old and partly decomposed refuse of the harvest.
Twenty-three acorns and 200 pine seeds were taken by the bird which
ate the largest amount of mast, and about 800 capsules of chickweed,
containing more than 8,000 seeds, were in the stomach of the best
weed-seed eater.

What is most evident is that pheasants are gross feeders; their
capabiHties for good or harm are great. If a number of them attack
a crop they are likely to make short work of it, or if they devote
themselves to weed seeds or insect pests they do a great deal of good.
It seems therefore that the question of the economic value of pheas-
ants is peculiarly a local one. Much depends on the proportion of land
under cultivation, the kind of crops raised, and the quantity of wild
food available. Apparently the chances are about even that imported
pheasants will or will not become useful economic factors. — w. l. m.

UPLAND PLOVER.

(Bartramia longicauda.)

The upland plover (fig. 5) forms a striking exception in habits to
its closest relatives, the sandpipers. While sandpipers love the
vicinity of water, the upland plover frequents dry hills and prairies

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND KAPACIOUS BIRDS.

15

and is most abundant in the interior. This so-called plover breeds
from Oregon, Oklahoma, and Virginia north to Alaska, Mackenzie,
and Maine, and migrates over the more southern parts of the con-
tinent, passing to the pampas of Argentina to spend the winters.

From its habits the upland plover would naturally be expected
to have a closer relation to agriculture than most sandpipers, and
such proves to be the case. Almost half its food is made up of
grasshoppers, crick-
ets, and weevils, all
of which exact
heavy toll from
cultivated crops.
Among the weevils
eaten are the cot-
tonboll weevil;
greater and lesser
clover-leaf weevils;
clover-root weevil;
Epic3erus imhrica-
tus, which is known
to attack almost all
garden and orchard
crops; cowpea cur-
culios ; Tanymecus
confertus, an enemy
of sugar beets; The-
cesternus JiumeraliSj
which has been
known t o injure
grapevines; and
bill bugs. Theces-
ternus alone com-
poses 3.65 per cent
of the seasonal food
of the 163 stom-
achs examined, and

bill bugs constitute fig. 5.— upland plover.

5.83 per cent. No fewer than 8 species of bill bugs were identified
from the stomachs. These weevils injure, often seriously, such crops
as corn, wheat, barley, and rye, as well as forage plants of many
kinds.

The upland plover further makes itself useful to the farmer by
devouring leaf -beetles, including the grapevine colaspis, southern
corn leaf-beetle, and other injurious species; wireworms and their
adult forms, the click beetles; white grubs and their parents, the May

497

iSk . -^

16 GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

beetles; cutworms, army worms; cotton worms; cotton cutworms,
sawfly larvae; and leatherjackets or cranefly larvae. They befriend
cattle by eating horseflies and their larvae, and cattle ticks.

They eat a variety of other animal forms, such as moths, ants, and
other Hymenoptera, flies, bugs, centipeds and millepeds, spiders,
snails, and earthworms. Practically 97 per cent of the food consists
of animal matter, chiefly of injurious and neutral forms. The
vegetable food comprises the seeds of such weed pests as buttonweed,
foxtail grass, and sand spurs, and hence is also to the credit of the
bird.

Notwithstanding that the upland plover injures no crop and con-
sumes a host of the worst enemies of agriculture, it is one of the
numerous shore birds that have been hunted to the verge of extinc-
.tion. Can it be that the American public will allow one of the best
friends of agriculture to be exterminated by hunters who care only
for the momentary excitement of dropping these swiftly flying birds
and the pleasure of devouring tlie few mouthfuls of savory flesh they
afford? — w. l. m.

KILLDEER.

(Oxyechus voci/erus.)

The killdeer (fig. 6) is one of the best known American birds. It
frequents cultivated lands and even roads and the vicinity of build-
ings. It is well named ''vociferus," for it delights in repeating the
loud and penetrating call of "kill-dee, kill-dee," from which its com-
mon name is taken. The killdeer nests throughout the United States
and southern Canada. Some individuals spend the winter in the
southern half of the United States or occasionally even farther north,
while others go as far south as northern South America.

Like the upland plover the killdeer spends much of its time away
from water. It frequently nests in cornfields or pastures and, as
noted above, even comes about the abode of man. These preferences
naturally influence the food habits of the species, affording it an
opportunity to destroy insects which are directly related to agricul-
ture. The food of the killdeer is varied, being composed of the fol-
lowing principal items: Beetles, 37.06 per cent; other insects, as
grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, bugs, caddis flies, dragon flies, and
two-winged flies, 39.54 per cent; and other invertebrates, as centi-
peds, spiders, ticks, oyster worms, earthworms, snails, crabs, and
other Crustacea, 21.12 per cent. Vegetable matter composes 2.28
per cent of the total food, and is chiefly made up of weed seeds, such
as buttonweed, smartweed, foxtail grass, and nightshade.

Among the injurious beetles consumed are the following weevils:
Alfalfa weevil, cotton-boll weevil, clover-root weevil, clover-leaf

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

17

weevil, rice weevil, cowpea curculio, white-pine weevil, and bill bugs.
The latter alone constitute more than 2 per cent of the whole food.
The alfalfa weevil, a new and destructive pest, is relished by the
killdeer, 41 being found in a single stomach. Other destructive
beetles devoured are white grubs and their adult forms, the May
beetles; wireworms and their images, the click beetles; larvse of the
genus Ligyrus, which attack sugar cane, corn, and carrots; brown-
fruit beetles, which
injure apples and
corn; the grapevine
leaf-beetle; south-
ern corn-leaf beetle;
two-striped tortoise
beetle, which injures
sweet potatoes; and
a flea beetle which
attacks tobacco and
sugar beets.

Cicadas, buffalo
tree hoppers, and
negro bugs, the last
named injuring
parsley and rasp-
berries, are some of
the true bugs rel-
ished by the kill-
deer. Caterpillars
are a favorite article
of diet, and several
very injurious spe-
cies are eaten, as
the cotton worm,
cotton cutworm,
other cutworms, and
caterpillars of the
genus PMegeihoTh-
tius, which damage
tomatoes and tobacco. Grasshoppers and crickets, including mole
crickets, are a staple food. Two-winged flies or Diptera furnish
11.91 per cent of the food of the killdeer. Such pests as crane flies
and their larvae, known as leather jackets, are eaten, as well as horse-
flies and mosquitoes and their larvae. One stomach contained hun-
dreds of larvae of the salt marsh mosquito (Aedes sollicitans), wliich
is one of the most troublesome of the biting species. The State of

497

Fig. 6.— Killdeer.

18 GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

New Jersey has spent thousands of dollars in trying to reduce the
numbers of this pest. The killdeer thus befriends man, but it does
something also for the domestic animals, not only by eating horseflies
and mosquitoes, as just mentioned, but also by preying upon ticks,
including the American fever or cattle tick, which has caused such
enormous losses in some parts of the South.

Crawfish, well-known pests in levees, and even in corn, cotton, and
other fields in certain localities, are another item of the killdeer's
food, and 3o62 per cent of the subsistence of the 228 birds examined
was composed of worms of the genus Nereis, which prey upon oysters.

In all, 97.72 per cent of the killdeer's food is composed of insects
and other animal matter. The bird preys upon many of the worst
crop pests and is a valuable economic factor. There can be no
logical reason for continuing to regard it as a game bird. — w. l. m.

HORNED GREBE.

( Colymhus auritus.)

Grebes are among the most interesting of water birds. Their
power of diving as quick as a flash or of sinking beneath the surface
without leaving a ripple has earned for them such names as hell-diver,
sprite, and water witch. Grebes are not only accomplished divers,
but swim well under water for long distances — not exclusively by
aid of the feet, however, as is often stated. The writer has more
than once seen the pied-bill grebe using its wings in underwater
progression. Grebes have difficulty in rising from the water, but fly
well when under way. When alighting they strike the water with a
splash, gliding some distance on the breast. The nests are built of
water-soaked vegetation, a portion of which is used to cover the eggs
in the absence of the parents.

To illustrate the food habits of grebes, the horned grebe (fig. 7) is
chosen. This species has a circumpolar range. In North America
it breeds from the northern tier of the United States northward, and
winters from the southern boundary of the breeding range south to
Florida and California. The most remarkable point about the food
habits of grebes is that the stomachs almost invariably contain a
considerable mass of feathers. Feathers are fed to the young, and
there is no question that they play some essential though unknown
part in the digestive economy. As they are finely ground in the
gizzards it is probable that finally they are digested and the available
nutriment assimilated. Feathers constituted practically 66 per cent
of the contents of the 57 horned grebe stomachs examined. How-
ever, it is not likely that they furnish a very large percentage of the
nourishment needed by the birds. As the nutritive value of the
feathers is unknown, this part of the stomach contents is ignored.

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

19

The other items of food are assigned 100 per cent, and the percentages
are given on that basis. Various beetles, chiefly aquatic, compose
23.3 per cent of the food; other insects (including aquatic bugs,
caddis and chironomid larvae, dragon-fly nymphs, etc.), nearly 12
per cent; fishes, 27.8 per cent; crawfish, 20.7 per cent; and other
Crustacea, 13.8 per cent. A httle other animal matter is taken,
including snails and spiders, and a small quantity of vegetable food
was found in two stomachs.

It has been claimed that grebes live exclusively on fishes and do
mischief in fish hatcheries. The results obtained by stomach exam-
inations show that they do not depend wholly or even chiefly upon

Fig. 7.— Horned grebe.

fish. On the contrary, they eat a large number of crawfishes, which
often severely damage crops, and consume numbers of aquatic insects
which devour small fishes and the food of such fishes. — w. l. m.

FRANKLIN'S GULL.

{Larus franklini. )

The term '^guU" usually suggests a vision of dashing spray or far-
extending beaches with reedy bays and outreaching points of sand
or islets on which the birds rest to preen their feathers after their
long ffights, and where perchance they make their nests and rear
their young. The species under consideration (fig. 8), however,
spends little time on the seacoast but is an inhabitant of far-
inland prairies and broad reaches of marsh land, where it lives and
breeds during the warm season. In winter it retires southward, but
lingers long enough in some of the Southern States to be of material

497

20

GAME, AQUATIC, AND EAPACIOUS BIRDS.

assistance to agriculture. Its center of abundance in North America
during the breeding season is west of the Mississippi River and north
of Iowa, east of the Rocky Mountains, but it is known to breed to
some extent both south and east of these limits. The marshy lakes
of this region afford ideal nesting sites for the species, while the
adjoining broad stretches of prairie land yield an abundance of their
favorite food. A few decades ago these birds occupied this vast
region undisturbed, but to-day the plow is turning up the sod and
the mower cutting the grass of the boundless fields over which for
centuries they have foraged. With the advent of agricultural oper-
ations some changes harmful to the birds must necessarily take place,
but it behooves the tillers of the soil to leave the gulls unmolested
as far as possible, for where they abound they are a most potent

Fig. 8.— Franklin's gull.

factor in the reduction of insect Hfe. They do not by any means
confine themselves to marshes when seeking for food, but fly over
the dry prairie and even visit cultivated fields, looking for grubs,
grasshoppers, and other insects. When unmolested they become
quite fearless and follow the plowman to gather the grubs and worms
from the newly turned furrows.

In an investigation of the food of Franklin's gull 93 stomachs were
examined. Nearly all were taken from their breeding grounds and
in the breeding season. Unfortunately none were secured during
July, which is probably the very height of the reproductive period.

Of the whole food 94.46 per cent consisted of animal matter and
5.54 per cent of vegetable. Of the latter nearly all was of no sig-
nificance, probably being taken accidentally, except the contents of

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 21

2 stomachs collected in May in North Dakota. About 75 per cent
of the contents of each of these consisted of wheat probably gathered
from newly sown fields. This was the only vegetable food found in
any stomach that was of the least economic value.

Of the animal food the most important item is grasshoppers.
These amount to 43.43 per cent of the food of the season, and in Sep-
tember and October constitute over four-fifths of the whole diet. As
an example of the number these birds can eat at a single meal, the
following may be cited. Stomach A contained 70 entire grasshop-
pers and jaws of 56 more, with remains of 3 crickets. Stomach B
contained 20 beetles, 66 crickets, 34 grasshoppers, and 3 other insects.
Stomach C contained 90 whole grasshoppers, the jaws of 52 more,
with 8 crickets, 1 bug, and 1 caterpillar. Stomach D contained 82
beetles, 87 bugs, 984 ants, 1 cricket, 1 grasshopper, and 2 spiders, or
1,157 insects in all. Stomach E was filled with 327 nymphs of dragon
flies. Several other stomachs were completely filled with grasshop-
pers and crickets, too far advanced in digestion to be counted.
Adults and larvae (grubs) of May beetles were also a large component
of the food and these were probably taken upon cultivated ground.
Stomachs collected in Louisiana during the fall migration contained
in addition to grasshoppers and beetles large numbers of true bugs
(Hemiptera), including several species which are injurious to cotton,
tobacco, and squashes. From this brief statement of the food of
Franklin's gull, farmers will readily perceive that these birds are
very desirable neighbors and will do all in their power to protect
them.

There are several other species of gulls and terns that, like Frank-
lin's, take up their residence about the lakes and marshes in the
interior of the country. Their food habits, as far as known, are all
beneficial to the farmer. They are great eaters of grasshoppers and
have been seen catching those insects on the wing and also may often
be seen following the plow in search of the grubs and beetles turned
up. Among these are the California gull (Larus calif ornicus) , the
ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) , and the black tern (Hydrocheli-
don nigra surinamensis) . The latter lives and breeds about marshes
where there is often little or no open water.

An illustration of the value of gulls as insect destroyers is fur-
nished by the experience of the Mormons when they settled in Utah
and raised their first crops of grain. This is graphically described
by Hon. Geo. A. Cannon, temporary chairman of the Third Irriga-
tion Congress:

Black crickets came down by millions and destroyed our grain crops; promising
fields of wheat in the morning were in the evening as smooth as a man's hand — de-
voured by the crickets. At this juncture sea gulls [California gulls] came by hundreds
and thousands, and before the crops were entirely destroyed these gulls devoured the

22 GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

insects, so that our fields were entirely freed from them. The settlers at Salt Lake
regarded the advent of the birds as a heaven-sent miracle. * * * I have been
along the ditches in the morning and have seen lumps of these crickets vomited up
by these gulls, so that they could again begin killing.

These '4umps of crickets" were undoubtedly ^'pellets" of the indi-
gestible parts habitually disgorged by the birds. At the time of
the Nevada mouse plague in Humboldt Valley in 1907, gulls, as
well as hawks and owls, were noted feasting on the destructive
rodents. — F. e. l. b.

TERNS.

Like the gulls, terns are usually associated in the mind with the
seacoast, but at least six species breed in the interior of the continent.
The terns are expert in flight, and so trim and graceful in appearance
that they have received the name sea swallows. They breed in
colonies, usually nesting on low islands. This leads to the destruc-
tion of large numbers of eggs and young by high tides. Formerly
terns were slaughtered for millinery purposes to such an extent that
some species have been almost extirpated.

Persons engaged in the plumage business have made the not
disinterested charge that terns devour large numbers of food fishes
and hence should be destroyed. In order to ascertain the truth of
the matter the Biological Survey has made a thorough examination
of the question. Too few stomachs of the Caspian, roseate, and
arctic terns have been examined to form a basis for satisfactory con-
clusions, but a fair number of stomachs of five other species were
available — the royal tern, Forster's tern, common tern, least tern,
and black tern.

Royal tern {Sterna maxiina), — Twenty-four stomachs were ex-
amined. They contained 3 per cent of Crustacea and 97 per cent of
fish. The fishes were yellow perch (Perca flavescens) , 4 per cent,
taken in North Carolina in July; bluefish {Pomatomus saltatrix), 8
per cent, taken in Florida in March; menhaden {Brevoortia tyrannus),
65 per cent, taken in Georgia in November and December, Alabama
in October, and Florida in February, August, October, November,
and December; and unidentified fishes, 20 per cent.

Thus it is probable that not more than 16 per cent of the normal
food consists of fishes eaten by man. The feeding upon menhaden,
tons of which are made into fertilizer, is insignificant economically.

Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri). — The food of 34 specimens of
this species consisted of Crustacea, 2 per cent, and fish, 98 per cent.
The largest item of finny food was menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus),
28.2 per cent, found in stomachs taken in South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida in November, December, and January, respectively.
Silvery anchovies (StolepTiorus) (not the anchovies of commerce),

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND BAPACIOUS BIRDS.

23

forming 24.1 per cent, were next in rank. They were taken in
California in September and December, and in Georgia and Florida
in November, December, and January. Fresh-water minnows
{Cyprinidae) composed 20.5 per cent of the food. Following these
in importance were pompanos {Trachinotus carolinus), 5.9 per cent;
round herrings
( Etrumeus sadina) ,
5.8 percent; mum-
michogs ( Fundu-
lus zebrinus) and
fresh-water stick-
lebacks {Eucalia
inconstans) ,2.6 per
cent each. Uni-
dentified fish made
up 7.3 per cent of
the food.

Thus only 5.9 per
cent of the food of
Forster's tern, as
at present known,
consists of food
fishes; 92 per cent
consists of fishes of
no direct value to
man, among which
are sticklebacks,
which feed upon
the spawn of other
fishes.

Common tern
(Sterna Tiirundo) . —
One hundred and
sixteen stomachs
of the common tern
(fig. 9) have been
examined. One
per cent of their
food consists of
mollusks, Crusta-
cea, and the worms (Nereis) which feed upon oysters. Two per cent
is composed of moths and 1.5 per cent of other insects, including
grasshoppers, crickets, ants, dragon flies, caddis flies, beetles, and
bugs. The remaining 95.5 per cent consists of fishes. The largest

497

Fig. 9.— Common tern.

24 GAME, AQUATIC, AND BAPACIOUS BIRDS.

item is fresh-water minnows ( Cyprinidx) , 23.3 per cent. Sand launces
(Ammodytes americanus) make 17.8 per cent of the food. Other fishes
eaten are menhaden {Brevoortia tyrannus), 5.1 per cent; yellow perch
{Perca Jlavescens) and sticklebacks {Gasterosteus hispinosus), 4.3 per
cent each ; and silvery anchovies (StolepTiorus) , chub mackerel (Scomber
colias), and silversides (Menidia), 1 per cent each.

Only 6 per cent of the bird's food is composed of food fishes. To
offset this, 3.5 per cent consists of insects, mostly injurious, and 4.3
per cent of sticklebacks, of which a distinguished naturalist (Giinther)
says: '^It is scarcely to be conceived what damage these little fishes
do, and how greatly detrimental they are to the increase of all the
fishes among which they live, for it is with the utmost industry,
sagacity, and greediness that they seek out and destroy all the young
fry that come their way."

Almost 85 per cent of the food consists of fishes of neutral im-
portance.

Least tern {Sterna antiUarum). — Almost half (43.1 per cent) of the
food of 49 least terns consists of silver anchovies (StolepTiorus) . They
were captured from New Jersey to Florida and Louisiana in May and
June. Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) compose 6.8 per cent; mum-
michogs (Fundulus), 6.3 per cent; silversides (Menidia), 1.1 per
cent; and unidentified fish, 37.7 per cent. The remaining 5 per cent
of the food is made up of Crustacea. No food fishes were identified
from stomachs of the least tern.

Black tern (Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis) , — The food of the
black tern (fig. 10) is more varied than that of any other
species. Fish, chiefly minnows (Cyprinidae) and mummichogs (Fun-
dulus), compose a little more than 19 per cent of the total con-
tents of 145 stomachs. Dragon flies make more than 20 per cent;
May flies, 13 per cent; grasshoppers, 12 per cent; predaceous diving
beetles, almost 6 per cent; scarabaeid beetles, almost 5 per cent; leaf
beetles, 3i per cent; gnats and other flies, more than 8 per cent;
Crustacea, 3J per cent. Other items of food are ground-beetles
(Carabidse), click beetles (Elateridae), weevils, stone flies, caddis flies,
water striders, moths, and ants.

The bird preys upon no food fishes, as far as known, but does feed
extensively upon such fish enemies as dragon-fly nymphs, dytiscid
beetles, and crawfishes. It takes a great variety of insects, including
some of economic importance, as the moth of the cotton bollworm
and the fall army worm, click beetles (adults of wireworms), weevils,
and grasshoppers.

Summary. — The average percentage of food fishes in the regimen
of these five species of terns is only 4.8 per cent. This refutes the
charge that they live largely on food fishes. Among the other fishes

497

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

25

eaten, menhaden are prominent, forming an average of 21 per cent
of the food. Since these fish are so enormously abundant that their
chief economic value is for fertilizer and oil, hundreds of tons of which
are made, the number of them consumed by terns is insignificant.
Silvery anchovies (Stolephorus) and fresh water minnows (Cyprinidse)
compose about 13
per cent each.
These little fishes
swarm in shallow
waters and are of
no direct value to
man.

The charge that
terns prevent the
increase of food
fishes by eating the
small fishes which
are their natural
food is wholly un-
founded, since there
is no scarcity in the
food supply, but on
the contrary a con-
stant superabun-
dance. In this con-
nection we would
point out that some
largely herbivorous
food fishes, such as
the buffalo fishes,
with whose food
supply the terns
have very little to
do, have alarmingly
decreased, just as
have some of the
carnivorous ones.
The cause of re-
duction in the num- Fig. lO.-Black tem.

ber of food fishes is not chiefly failure of the natural food supply,
but, as has been pointed out by experts of the United States Bureau
of Fisheries, too close fishing.

The responsibility for the scarcity of certain food fishes, therefore,
can not justly be placed upon the terns, especially since it is shown
that a very small proportion of their diet is composed of these fishes.

497

26

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

Moreover, it must be remembered to their credit that part of their
food consists of economically injurious fishes, and that in the case of
some species a considerable proportion of insects is taken, most of
which are directly injurious to the fishing industry. — w. l. m.

COOPER'S HAWK.

{Acdpiter cooperi.)

Cooper's hawk (fig. 11) may be taken as a type of the group of
hawks whose habits are responsible for the condemnation of birds of
prey as a whole. This group includes three species: Cooper's hawk,

the sharp-shinned
hawk, and the gos-
hawk. They are
often spoken of as
blue darters, a name
which expresses a
characteristic dif-
ference in their
manner of hunting
from that of other
hawks . They
course over the
country at great
speed and capture
their prey by sud-
den darts. The
blue darters are
long- tailed hawks,
but they should
not be confounded
with that other
conspicuously long-
tailed bird, the
marsh hawk. The
latter usually flies
slowly and may be recognized by the white rump. The red-
tailed, red-shouldered, and other large hawks usually watch for
their prey from some convenient lookout station or soar slowly
over meadow and forest, watching a chance to pounce upon their
quarry. These hawks almost always seize their victims on the
ground, while hawks of the darter group often take them in full
flight. This difference is of course chiefly due to the character of
the prey, the darters feeding almost exclusively upon birds, which
usually must be caught on the wing, while the other hawks prey upon

497

Fig. 11

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

27

mice and other small mammals, snakes, and grasshoppers and other
insects, which as a rule must be sought on the ground.

Cooper's hawk, which occurs throughout the United States, is pre-
eminently a ''chicken hawk," and it is by far the most destructive
species we have to contend with, not because it is individually worse
than the goshawk,
but because it is so
much more numer-
ous that the aggre-
gate damage done
far exceeds that of
all other birds of
prey. It is strong
enough to carry
away a good-sized
chicken, grouse, or
cottontail rabbit.
It is especially
fond of domesti-
cated doves and
when it finds a
cote easy of ap-
proach it usually
takes a toll of one
or two a day.
Practically every
stomach of Coop-
er's hawk exam-
ined contained re-
mains of wild
birds or poultry. —

w. L. M.

THE ROUGH-
LEGGED HAWK.

(Archibuteo lag op us
sancti-johannis.)

The rough-leg-
ged hawk (fig. 12),
whose range, in
general terms, is
North America north of Mexico, is a representative of the class of
almost wholly beneficial hawks. In regard to its habits Dr. Fisher
says:

The rough-leg is one of the most nocturnal of our hawks, and may be seen in the fad-
ing twilight watching from some low perch, or beating with measured, noiseless flight,

497

Fig. 12.— Rough-legged hawk.

28

GAME, AQUATIC, AND KAPACIOUS BIRDS.

over its hunting ground. It follows two very different methods in securing its food,
one by sitting on some stub or low tree and watching the ground for the appearance of
its prey, as the red tail does; the other by beating back and forth just above the tops
of the grass or bushes, and dropping upon its victim after the manner of the marsh
hawk. Its food consists principally, if not almost exclusively, of the smaller rodents,
and most prominent among these are the arvicoline mice and lemmings. As is well
known, the meadow mice (Arvicolae) are widely distributed over the north temperate
zone, and often occur in immense numbers, overrunning certain sections of country,
and doing irreparable damage to crops as well as to fruit and ornamental trees.
Repeatedly young orchards, consisting of hundreds of trees, and representing great

money value, have been
totally destroyed by
these pests. The dam-
age is done in winter,
under the snow, where
the mice eat the bark
from the trees, often
completely girdling
them and causing death.
Usually meadow mice
are fairly common if not
abundant over a large
part of the meadow and
marsh lands of the cen-
tral and northern United
States and temperate
Canada. To show how
important meadow mice
are to the rough leg aa
an article of food, it
may be stated in general
terms that the southern
limit of its wandering
in winter is nearly coin-
cident with the southern
boundary of the region
inhabited by meadow
mice. In the north lem-
mings are abundant over
the country in which the rough leg makes its summer home, and furnish a never-
failing supply of food for old and young. ^

Meadow mice were found in 28 stomachs, 5 or 6 occurring in
several, and as many as 12 in 1. A few rats, house mice, shrews, and
other small mammals also were found, birds appearing in only 3
stomachs. — w. l. m.

SPARROW HAWK.

(Falco sparverius.)

The sparrow hawk (fig. 13) ranges over almost the whole of North
America. It is the smallest as well as one of the handsomest of our
hawks and one of the best known. It is further distinguished by its

Fig. 13.— Sparrow hawk.

497

1 Bull. 3, Biological Survey, p. 87, 1893.

GAME, AQUATIC, AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 29

swallowlike flight, its habit of hovering over the luckless grasshopper
or meadow mouse it hopes to make a meal of, and its repeated shrill
wavering cry. "It is the only one of the true falcons," as has been
pointed out by Dr. Fisher, ''which can be placed in the mainly
beneficial class." He says further:

At times it attacks small birds and young chickens, but these irregularities are
so infrequent that they are more than outweighed by its good services in destroying
insects and mice. Grasshoppers, crickets, and other insects form its principal food
during the warm months, while mice predominate during the rest of the year. Ter-
restrial caterpillars, beetles, and spiders also are eaten to a considerable extent. As
might be expected, a large proportion of the birds captured are taken during the
nesting season, the hawks then having less time to secure their favorite food. It is
at this time also that they commit depredations in poultry yards. During late fall
and winter, meadow mice and house mice form a large part of their food, the former
being taken in fields and meadows and the latter around com stacks and about bams
and outbuildings. Because of its confidence and lack of fear the sparrow hawk is
one of the species which suffers most from unjust bounty laws. Any vandal who can
carry a gun is able to slaughter this little hawk. Mr. W. B. Hall, of Wakeman, Ohio,
writes us that while the hawk law was in force in Ohio he was township clerk in his
native village and issued 86 certificates, 46 being for sparrow hawks. He examined
the stomachs and found 45 of them to contain the remains of grasshoppers and beetles,
while the remaining one contained the fur and bones of a meadow mouse. ^

W. L. M.

LONG-EARED OWL.

(Asio wilsonianus.)

The long-eared owl occurs throughout the United States. It is
nocturnal in its habits and is one of our most beneficial species.
Mice, principally meadow mice, are its staple food. One hundred and
fifty pellets collected by Dr. Fisher under the roost of a bird of this
species at Munson Hill, Va., contained remains of 95 meadow mice,
19 pine mice, 15 house mice, 5 white-footed mice, 3 Cooper's mice, 26
shrews, and 13 birds, of which 11 were sparrows, 1 a bluebird, and the
other a warbler. Eighty-six out of 92 stomachs examined also con-
tained mice. The bird is common all over the United States and
does a great deal of good. It is not wary, hence is one of the great-
est sufferers where bounties are paid for the destruction of birds of
prey. — w. l. m.

SCREECH OWL.

{Otus asio.)

The little screech owl (fig. 14), in the South aptly called ''sliivering
owl," in allusion to its quavering whistle, or perhaps to the effect
of that call upon the listener, ranges from coast to coast and far
beyond both the northern and southern boundaries of the United
States. With the exception of the burrowing owl it feeds more

1 Circ. 61, Biological Survey, p. 9, 1907.
497

30

GAME, AQUATIC, AND BAPACIOUS BIRDS.

It is also, accord-

extensively on insects than any of the other owls,
ing to Dr. Fisher —

a diligent mouser, and feeds more or less on crawfish, frogs, toads, scorpions, lizards,
and fish, * * * Among insects, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and cutworms

are most often eaten.
As many as 50 grasshop-
pers have been found
in one stomach, 18 May-
beetles in another, and
13 cutworms in another.
During the warmer
parts of the year it is ex-
ceptional to find a stom-
ach not well filled with
insect remains. Meadow
mice, white-footed
mice, and house mice
are the mammals most
often taken, while chip-
munks, wood rats, fly-
ing squirrels, and moles
are less frequently
found. The screech
owl is fond of fish and
catches many , e s p e -
cially in winter, when
he watches near the
breathing holes in the
ice, and seizes the luck-
less fish which comes
to the surface. Most of
the birds destroyed by
this owl are killed
either in severe winter
weather or during the
breeding season, when
it has hard work to feed
its young. As nearly
three - fourths of the
owl's food consists of
injurious mammals and
insects, and only about
one-seventh of birds (a
large proportion of
Fig. 14.— Screech owl. ^Thich are destructive

English sparrows), there is no question that this little owl should be carefully

protected.^

*^ W. L. M.

I Circ. 61, Biological Survey, pp. 12-13, 1907.

497

.. •^

BULLETIN OF THE

C

No. 58

Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey, Henry W. Henshaw, Chief. J
February 7. 1914. ^-^^I^ —

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS.

By AV. L. McAtee, Assistant Biologist.

Numerous requests for Circular Xo. 81, containing information on
the value, appearance, distribution, and propagation of three impor-
tant wild-duck foods, namely, wild rice, wild celery, and pondweeds,
attest the widespread demand for knowledge about plants attractive
to wild fowl. The data gathered by the Biological Survey relating
to duck-food plants has been widely used by State game commissions,
game protective associations, and individuals interested in the pro-
tection, preservation, and propagation of our native species of ducks
and geese. To make available further information of this nature the
present account has been prepared, which treats of G.Ye other plants
of great intrinsic value. Though at present of local importance, all
of them are suitable for propagation over most of the United States,
and there is no reason why they should not be introduced and take
rank among the staple foods of wild ducks in many localities where

now unknown.

DELTA DUCK POTATO.

VALUE AS DUCK FOOD.

In the latter part of January and early February, 1910, the writer,
under authorization of the Biological Survey, visited the Mississippi
Delta, La. One of the principal objects of this trip was to find out
what it is that attracts large numbers of canvasbacks to this shoal-
water region, the shallow ponds and lakes of which are so different
from the comparatively deep water bodies frequented by canvas-
backs in the northern States. The attraction was found to be a
species of Sagittaria (-S'. platypliylla) , which is known to the hunters
of this and other parts of Louisiana as wild potato or wild onion.
From an examination of a large number of stomachs it was found that
about 70 per cent of the food of the canvasbacks collected consisted
of the tubers of this plant, as did also more than 65 per cent of the food
of the mallards. The pintail also was found to feed upon the tubers.
The gullet of one canvasback was filled to the thr^t with the duck
potatoes, 24 entire ones being present, besides gro^^l-up remains of
several others. Other individuals had 14 to 17 of the tubers in their
gullets. There is no doubt that Sagittaria platyphylla is an impor-
19610°— Bull. 5a— 14 1

2 BULLETIN 58, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

tant food for the larger species of ducks not only in the Mississippi
Delta but throughout the whole range of the plant.

DESCRIPTION OF PLANT.

The Delta duck potato (fig. 1) when well developed stands about
18 inches above the soil. The broadly elliptical leaves have a char-

FiG. 1.— Delta duck potato. (Scale is 18 inches long.)

acteristic firm appearance and a beautiful clear green color. Like
all plants of its genus, this species produces the flowering peduncles
from about the center of the group of leafstalks ; these peduncles bear

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS. 3

flowers in whorls of three, and the individual flowers each have three
white petals and a yellow center. The petals soon fall and the small
green balls of immature seeds remain. These enlaro:e during the
summer, and when ripe are brown and nearly haK an inch in diameter.
They are easily crushed, separating into hundreds of thin triangular
seeds.

The tubers are of irregular globular shape and vary up to an inch
in diameter. They are formed at the ends of runners (thicker than
the roots) and bear on the side opposite the attachment to the runner
a scale-sheathed bud which may be an inch or more in length. Run-

FiG. 2.— Tubers of the delta duck potato. (About two-thirds natural size.)

ning around the body of the tuber are two or three darker lines from
which originate fibrous sheaths. A glance at the illustration of the
tubers (Rg. 2) of this species shows the aptness of the name wild
potato. It should be explained, however, that normally the tubers
would be more widely separated than is the case with those on this
particular specimen, which was grown in a flower pot.

DISTRIBUTION.

In ancient times the Mississippi River emptied into a vast bay
which extended at least as far north as the region now known as

southern Illinois. Its actively growing delta (which is still apparently
in fuU vigor) made thick deposits of silt over some thousands of
square miles of this area while the remainder was being slowly ele-
vated. Sagittaria platypJiylla is so nearly confined in its distribution
to this ancient basin, and is so characteristic of the present delta, that
the name delta duck potato is eminently fitting. The outlying points
of the range of the plant as now known are San Antonio, Tex., Lake
City, Mo., Chattanooga, Tcnn., and Mobile, Ala. (See fig. 3.)

PROPAGATION.

The delta duck potato undoubtedly can be propagated from seed,
but all things considered, transplanting the tubers is probably much
the better method. This insures a large percentage of success, the

Fig. 3.— Range of the delta duck potato.

plants will be larger, and as they will produce other tubers the first
year they are much more valuable. Extraordinary precautions to
prevent drying are not necessary, but the tubers should be kept cool
and well exposed to the air to prevent heating or fermentation.

To plant, embed the tubers in mud bottom where the water is not
more than a foot deep, preferably not more than 6 inches. It is better
to err on the shallow side. The plant will grow thriftily on soil never
covered by water but which has plenty of moisture. In such situa-
tions, however, the tubers are not available to ducks unless over-
flowed in winter. The delta duck potato is not injured by a slight
amount of salt in the soil. The plant is probably hardy an3rwhere in
the southern half of the United States and may prove to be so farther
north.

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS.

WAPATO.

VALUE AS DUCK FOOD.

The tubers of wapato (Sagittaria latifolia and Sagittaria arifolia)
have been known to white men as an important food for wild fowl
since the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806. These
famous explorers state that in the Columbia River Valley large num-
bers of ducks, geese, and swans
occur where this plant is
abundant and that the swans
in particular feed extensively
upon the plant. A corre-
spondent of the Survey, George
W. Russell, of Gaston, Oreg.,
writes that the wapato is fed
upon most by the diving ducks,
as the canvasback, redhead,
and bluebills (scaups), and
that they seek it whenever
they are present in the country
where it grows. Prof. David
Dale Owen in his report of a
geological survey of Wisconsin,
Iowa, and Minnesota notes
that these tubers afford much
nourishment to the larger
aquatic fowls. The vernacu-
lar names swan potato and
duck potato that have been
applied to these plants give
further evidence of their value
to wild fowl. Other local
names are swamp potato,
muskrat potato, Chinese onion,
and water nut. TheBiological
Survey has found various parts of Sagittaria plants in stomachs of
the followmg species of waterfowl: Mallard, widgeon, green-winged
teal, blue-winged teal, spoonbill, pintail, canvasback, little bluebiU,
ruddy duck, Canada goose, and whooping swan.

Fig. 4.— Young eastern plant of the wapato with sin-
gle tuber. (Two-thirds natural size.")

DESCRIPTION OF PLANT.

The general relations of the stems, flowers, and tubers are the same
in the wapato (fig. 4) as in the delta duck potato. The shape of the
leaves, however, is entirely different. Both S. latifolia and S. arifolia
have arrowhead-shaped leaves. These vary greatly in the length,
width, and shape of the point and barbs and in the degree of

6

BULLETIN 58, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

divergence of the latter. Various forms of leaves are illustrated by
figure 5. The wapato plant sometimes reaches a height of 4 feet.
The appearance of the flowers and seed balls is much the same as in
the delta duck potato.

The tubers of S. latifolia (fig. 6), from six to nine in number per
plant, are formed on runners in the same manner as those of the delta
duck potato, but they attain a much larger size. The largest speci-
men examined by the writer is 2 inches in its longest diameter and 1
inch thick. Including the bud and a short stalk at the base, the entire
tuber may measure as much as 5 inches in length. The mature
tubers of plants from the northwest are more or less flattened, the
shape being comparable to that of the ordinary edible crab. The
smaller tubers are more nearly spherical (varying to ovoid), and this
is the shape of even the largest tubers of eastern plants that the writer
has seen. The sheaths of the tuber being of a darker color than the
body are conspicuous.

Various shapes of wapato leaves. (About one-tenth natural size.)

DISTRIBUTION.

Sagittaria latifolia is found from the Altantic to the Pacific coast,
its range covering practically the whole United States. Areas from
which it apparently has not been reported are peninsular Florida,
the southern two-thirds of Louisiana and Texas, New Mexico, Arizona,
and southern California. The northern limit of its range is marked
by the following localities: Vancouver Island, Saskatchewan River,
and southern Ontario and Quebec. Sagittaria arifolia is confined to
States from Michigan and Kansas westward. Its range is largely
included in that of latifolia, although it has been collected in New
Mexico. The two species are only distinguishable with certainty
upon the basis of mature seeds, and for all practical purposes may be
considered as one. (See fig. 7.)

PROPAGATION.

Wapato may be transplanted by means of both seeds and tubers,
but the latter are the most reliable and give the quickest results.
They may be set with the bud just beneath the surface in mud bottom
under a foot, or preferably less, of water. The plants will grow in

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DICK FOODS. 7

wet soil, but the tubers are not available for duck food in such places
unless overflowed in fall and \vinter.

The tubers of this plant are known to retain their vitality when
dried, but more uniform success will probably be liad if drying is not

Fig. 6.— Wapato tubers. (About two-thirds natural size.)

carried to an extreme. We recommend that the tubers be shipped
promptly after gathering, in well ventilated packages, and that they
be planted immediately upon receipt. Wapato is suitable for culti-
vation in practically all j)arts of the United States.

CHUFA.

VALUE AS DUCK FOOD.

Like some of the other duck foods mentioned in this circular, chufas
are at present known to be of only local importance. Those best ac-
quainted with conditions at Big Lake, Ark., one of the most famous
hunting grounds of the South, believe that the chufa, or nut grass,
as it is there called, is the principal element in rendering that lake
so attractive to waterfowl. Examination of stomachs from that local-
ity seems to justify this belief. Six out of a series of nine mal-
lards collected at Big Lake in December, 1910, had fed on sedge
tubers, the average percentage of which in the total food of the nine

Fig.

-Range of the wapato.

was 56. Tubers of tliis species or others of its genus have been found
also in duck stomachs from Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, and California.
The species of ducks now known to feed on chufas are the wood duck,
mottled duck, mallard, and canvasback.

DESCRIPTION OF PLANT.

The chufa (Oyperus esculentus) (fig. 8) belongs to the group of
plants known as sedges. These are grass-like and usually classed with
the grasses by nonbotanists. Many of the sedges, however, including
the chufa, have triangular, not round, stalks. The members of the
genus Cyperus have a group of leaves at the base from which rises
the stalk bearing the flowers and seeds. In the chufa these stalks
are from 1 to 3 feet high. Several flower clusters on peduncles of

FIVK IMPORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS.

9

varying length rise from the top of the stalk. From the same point
three rather long grass-like loaves project below the fruiting clusters.
Many members of the genus have a very similar appearance
and it is not expected that nonbotanical observers can distinguish
them. This is unnecessary, however, as tubers of the chufa for

Fig. 8.— S<>ed-V)('ariiig and immature plants of the chufa. (Much reduced.)

propagation may be obtained from most seedsmen. The tubers
of the chufa are formed at the ends of scale-covered roots tocks.
The plant is extremely prolific, cultivated forms usually producing
100 tubers to the plant, and instances are known in which more than
600 tubers were ])roduced in one season from one tuber planted in
the spring.

lOeiO'^— Bull. 58- \4 2

10 BULLETIN 58, U. S. DEPARTMP^XT OF AGRICULTURE.

Well-developed tubers of the cultivated variety average about
three-fourths of an inch in length by three-eighths of an inch in
diameter when dried. Tubers from wild plants are usually much
smaller and have a greater proportion of fiber. The general appear-
ance of chufas and of tubers from a wild sedge are well shown by
figure 9.

Chufas are known also by the vernacular names, earth almonds
and ground nuts, and the plant as nut grass and cache-cache.

Fig. 9.— Tubers of wild Cypcrus and cultivated chufas. (Natural size.)
DISTRIBUTION.

The northern boundary of the natural range of the chuf a is marked
by the following locaUties: Southern New Brunswick, southern
Ontario, northern Nebraska, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Columbia
River Valley. The plant seems to be absent from most of the Great
Basin and Rocky Mountain regions. From the northern line specified
the plant ranges southward over the remainder of the continent. (See
fig. 10.) It is widely distributed in warm climates over the entire
world.

FIVE IMPOBTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS.

11

PROPAGATION.

Although the chufa seems not to grow naturally in a large area in
the western United States, there is no doubt that it can be cultivated
everywhere except in the higher parts of the Rocky Mountain region.
It is said to do fairly well at the altitude of Denver.

Chufas can be obtained from most seedsmen and are so cheap that it
will pay sportsmen to buy new stock every few years, if earher
plantings show degeneration in size of the tubers and hence reduction
in value as duck food. Chufas do best on Hght or somewhat sandy
but rich soils. They are only available for duck food when planted

Fig. 10.— Range of the chufa.

on land dry in summer and overflowed in winter. In the open they
should be planted thickly so as to give the plants a better chance in
competition with weeds. In timbered land they need not be planted
so tliickly, but they will do well only in rather sparse growths, where
considerable light penetrates to the ground. When possible the
land where planting is intended should be broken up and freed from
weeds. Plant the tubers just beneath the surface in spring.

WILD MILLET.

VALUE AS DUCK FOOD.

Wild millet (Echinochloa crus-gaUi) is an important food for ducks
in widely separated regions of the United States. At Mud Lake,

12 BULLETIN 58, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGKICULTUKE.

Ark., the writer found seeds of this plant to constitute more than
10 per cent of the food of the 41 mallards collected; at Belle Isle, La.,
it made up more than half of the food of the few mallards examined,
and at Cameron, La., over 75 per cent of the diet of a collection of
50 ducks of the same species. Pintails, teal, and other shoal-
water ducks are almost equally fond of it. Geese eat the stems
and leaves of the plant, as also do ducks when they are hard pressed.
Testimony as to the value of the plant has come from Wisconsin and
Oregon, and the Biological Survey has found seeds of wild millet
in duck stomachs from Massachusetts, South Dakota, Missouri, and
Nebraska in addition to the States above mentioned.

The plant is popularly known throughout lower Louisiana as wild
rice and is given about the same rank as a duck food as the plant
(Zizania aquatica) known by that name in the north. Other popular
names referring to the ])reference of wild fowl for the plant are goose
grass and blue duck food.

DESCRIPTION OF PLANT.

Wild millet is a coarse, leafy grass which grows from 1 to 6 feet in
height. The stems and foliage are not especially remarkable, but
the fruiting head has characters which enable us easily to distinguish
this from other species of native grasses. The chaff or outer seed
coverings is set with rows of short, stiff, outstanding spines. These
project beyond the general outline of the body of the seeds and
give them an easily visible spiny appearance (fig. 11). The inner
scale of the chaff terminates in a spine which is always stouter and
longer than the others. This spine or awn may be very short or
it may be from 2 to 3 inches long or more, surpassing by many
times the length of the seed. One of the other scales also may bear
a long spine at the tip. The prickly character of the seed coverings
is referred to in the name cockspur grass. The longer awns in
particular and sometimes the whole fruiting heads may have a deep
purplish color. This, no doubt, suggested the name blue duck
food used in the Mississippi Delta. The long-awned form has been
given the varietal name longearistata but for present purposes we may
consider all the types illustrated in figures 11 and 12 under the same
name. It is probable also that the form named EcJiinocJiloa walteri
is fully connected with crus-galli by intergrades, and deserves only
varietal rank. This form has the lower or all lea f sheaths rough hisjnd.

DISTRIBUTION.

The northern limit of the range of wild millet so far as known t(^ us
does not much surpass the latitude of the northern boundary of the
United States. From there the plant ranges indefinitely to the
southward, occurring generally in rich moist soils or swamps at least
to Central America.

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DI^CK FOODS.

13

Fig, 11.— Part of fruiting head of wUd millet. (Natural size.)

14

BULLETIN 58, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

PROPAGATION.

Wild millet is easily cultivated and reseeds itself. It requires a
moist and preferably a rich soil, such as the edge of a marsh or lake,
and it will grow in water at least a foot in depth. Break up the
soil (mainly for the purpose of discouraging other plant growth) and
sow thickly in spring. Once established, the plant will take care of
itself. The nearer to water it is planted the more available it will be
for duck food. It is a splendid plant to use for low lands that are
flooded in winter.

The seeds are sold by most seedsmen under the name barnyard
grass. A variety has been widely advertised as Japanese barnyard

Fig. 12.— Fruiting heads of wild millet. (One-third natural size.)

millet or billion-dollar grass. The plant is also known as cockspur
grass and sour grass. It may be cultivated in any part of the ITnit(^d
States having the proper soil conditions.

BANANA WATER LILY.

VALUE AS DUCK FOOD.

The writer has investigated the value of the banana water lily
{NympJisea mexicana) as a food for wild ducks in only one locality —
Lake Surprise, Tex. The proofs of its importance are so great, how-
ever, that they should be brought to the attention of American
sportsmen. At Lake Surprise the banana water lily alone made up

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS. 15

nearly half of th:» entire food of the 10 vegetarian species of ducks
occurring there at the time. This showing is much more significant
from th(» fact that sago pond weed (Potamogeton pectinatus) also was
abundant in th(^ lake. The latter plant, in the writer's opinion, is the
best all-round duck food ^ in North America, yet at Lake Surprise it
furnished somewhat less than 29 per cent of the food of the ducks in
comparison with more than 48 per cent supplied by Nymphdea
mexicana.

Thirty-seven canvasbacks collected at Lake Surprise had eaten
various parts of this plant to the extent of 7L6 per cent of their diet.
This is a second illustration of the unusual phenomenon of the canvas-
back's being attracted to shallow water by a highly prized food.
Six ring-necked ducks or blackjacks mado more than 91 per cent of
their food of this plant, and two southern black ducks (Anas ful-
vigula) 98 per cent. The parts eaten are the rootstocks, stolons,
tubers, and seeds. Mr. Charles W. Ward has sent us rootstocks
of Nymphsea mexicana from Avery Island, La., with the information
that this plant and wild celery ( Vallisneria spiralis) furnish the bulk
of the food of canvasbacks in that locality.

DESCRIPTION OF PLANT.

For the purposes of field identification the water lilies of the United
States may be divided primarily into two groups according to
the shape of the leaf. Two genera, the water shield {BraseniaY
and the American lotus, or water chinkapin (Nelumho),^ have entire
circular leaves with the leaf stalks attached at their centers. The
remaining two genera have more or less heart-shaped leaves or a
circular or oval leaf with a cleft or sinus from the edge to the point of
attachment of the leaf stalk. Of these two genera, one (Nupliar),^
including the spatterdocks or toad lilies, has the top or more of the
ovary plainly visible when in flower, the other has the ovary practi-
cally hidden by the very numerous stamens. To this last group
belongs Nymphsea mexicana, and it is the only native species of the
genus that has yellow flowers.

Both the leaves and flowers of this species may either float on the
surface of the water or stand a few inches above it. The leaves are
green above with brown mottlings and vary from greenish to purplish
red below with small black markings. The edges of the cleft of the
leaf are either somewhat separated or overlapping (fig. 13). The
plant springs from an upright rootstock (fig. 14) which bears some
resemblance to an unopen(*d pine cone. The rootstocks vary in size
up to 2 inches in thickness and 12 inches in length. The smaller ones
(at least up to 1^ inches in length by three-fourths of an inch in
thickness) are swallowed by ducks.

1 See Biological Survey Circular 81, pp. 11-17, for fullacoount.

2 The seeds, at least, of all these plants are eaten by many kinds of ducks.

16

BULLETIX 58, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Tender white stolons or runners extend in various directions from
the rootstock. These runners are from a quarter to half an inch in
diameter. During the active growing season they give rise to new
plants, but in autumn they form peculiar hibernating bodies. These
consist of the short modified tip of the stolon, which bears several
(1-7) upwardly-directed buds on one side and a cluster (2-17) of thick
tuberlike roots on the other. The appearance of these (fig. 15) is
strongly suggestive of a miniature '4iand" of bananas, and for this
reason the name banana water lily is proposed for this plant, which

Fig. 13. — Two types of leaves of the banana water lily. (The iarger outlhie half natural size.)

at present has no distinctive vernacular appellation. The name has
the additional merit of suggesting the yellow color of the tubers and
of the flowers.

DISTRIBUTION.

The banana water Hly has been known chiefly as a native of Florida
and the plants of that State have long gone under tlie name Nym-
pJiaea Jlava. Plants identified from a few localities in Mexico and
from Brownsville, Tex., have been called N. mexicana. Dr. H. S.
Conard, who has monographed the genus, ^ unites these species, as he

1 Publication No. i, Carnegie Institution, 1905.

FIVE TMl'ORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS.

17

Fig. 14.- Small rootstocks of the banana water lily. (Natural size. )

18

BULLETIN 58, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

is fully justified in doing on the basis of their possession in common of
characters unique among water liUes. The new records of the plant
from Galveston, Tex., and Avery Island, La., go far toward bridging

Fig. 15,— Hibernatiug bodies of the banana water lily. (Two-thirds natural size.)

the previous apparent gap in distribution of the plant and to cor-
roborating Dr. Conard's views. The accompanying map (fig. 16)
shows the probable natural range of the species.

Fig. 16.— Range of the banana water lily.

PROPAGATION.

Although the banana water lily is native to only a small portion of
the United States, it can be successfully grown over practically the
whole country. The plant has long been familiar in cultivation and
is sold by most dealers in ornamental aquatics. The water lily expert
of one of the largest firms in the United States has informed us that

FIVE IMPORTANT WILD-DUCK FOODS.

19

NympTidea mexicana is perfectly liardy as far north as New York City
i;srhen covered with a foot of water and he believes that if covered with
2 feet of water it would be hardy at Boston.

The banana water lily needs an abundance of sunlight, water from
1 to 3 feet deep/ and a mud bottom. It is not injured by a trace
of salt, as is shown by its growing in lakes very near the coast The
rootstocks may be planted by weighting them with stones and drop-
ping where desired. They have great vitality ; they may be shipped
with only moderate precautions to prevent them from drying, and
may be transplanted at almost any time of the year.

1 When established it will spread to places where the water is even 5 feet deep.

ADDITIONAL COPIES of this publication
J^ may be procured from the Superintend-
ent OF Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C, at 5 cents per copy

WASHINGTON : GOVERNMBNT PHINTINO OFFICE : 1914

Y. B. Separate 657.

OUR MID-PACIFIO BIRD RESERVATION.

HENRY W. HENSHAW,

Chief, Bureau of Biological Survey.

[From Yearbook of Department of Agriculture for 1911.]

39334° — 12 WASHINGTON : government printing office : 1912

( •

CONTENTS.

Page.

The need for bird reservations 155

Number of bird reservations 155

Birds as carriers of seeds 156

Rabbits as a menace to vegetation. 157

The Nutting expedition of 1911 157

History of Laysan Island 158

Description of Laysan Island 158

The land birds of Laysan Island 160

The sea birds of Laysan Island 161

Ravages of plume hunters - 163

Protection essential to preservation of reservation and species 164

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATES.

Page.
Plate I. Fig. 1.— Laysan albatrosses dancing. Fig. 2.— Nesting colony of

Laysan albatrosses 158

11. Fig. 1.— Man-o'-war birds nesting, Laysan Island. Fig. 2.— Colony

of gray-backed terns, Laysan Island 158

TEXT FIGURES.

Fig. 1. — Hawaiian Islands Reservation for protection of native birds 156

2. — Bird rookeries of Laysan Island 159

n

OUR MID-PACIFIC BIRD RESERVATION.

By Henry W. Henshaw,
Chief, Bureau of Biological Survey.

THE NEED FOR BIRD RESERVATIONS.

The spread of civilization and the utilization of wild lands, added
to the destruction of animals for food, adornment, clothing, and
sport, threaten the very existence of many species of native birds
and mammals. The necessity of regulating the killing of game was
perceived early in our colonial history, and even the need of caring
for our insectivorous birds found recognition about 1850. Only in
comparatively recent years, however, has the importance been recog-
nized of protecting the large class of birds which, although they do
not destroy insects or other creatures inimical to agricultural inter-
ests, are nevertheless worthy of preservation because of their beauty,
grace, and harmlessness. If such birds add nothing to our material
wealth, they beautify the world and greatly increase the joy of
living.

Though by no means the first to recognize the importance of pro-
tecting its wild life, the United States has taken a leading place
among the nations of the world in this respect. One of the most
efficient of the conservation measures adopted by the Government is
the setting apart here and there of islands and sterile tracts of land,
worthless for other purposes, upon which our native wild birds and
mammals may live and perpetuate their kind for the pleasure and
profit of our own and future generations.

NUMBER OF BIRD RESERVATIONS.

The National bird reservations under the care of the Department
of Agriculture already number 51 and play a very important part in
the preservation of our wild game and birds. One of the most
unique and interesting of these is the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reserva-
tion in the mid-Pacific (fig. 1), which, at certain seasons of the year,
harbors millions of sea fowls that repair thither to establish rookeries
and rear their young. The following is the executive order setting
apart this refuge :

Executive Order No. 1019.

It is hereby ordered that the following islets and reefs, namely : Cure Island,
Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lysianski or Pell Island, Laysan Island, Mary Reef,
Dowsetts Reef, Gardiner Island, Two Brothers Reef, French Frigate Shoal,
Necker Island, Frost Shoal and Bird Island, sitnated in the Pacific Ocean at
and near the extreme western extension of the Hawaiian Archipelago between
latitudes 23° and 29° north, and longitudes 160° and 180° west from Green-

155

156

YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

wich, and located within the area segregated by tlie brolcen lines shown upon
the diagram hereto attached and made a part of this order, are hereby re-
served and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the De-
partment of Agriculture as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.
It is unlawful for any person to hunt, trap, capture, wilfully disturb, or kill
any bird of any kind whatever, or take the eggs of such birds within the limits
of this reservation except under such rules and regulations as may be pre-
scribed from time to time by the Secretary of Agriculture. Warning is ex-
pressly given to all persons not to commit any of the acts herein enumerated
and which are prohibited by law.

This reservation to be known as the Hawaiian Islands Reservation.

Theodore Roosevelt.

The White House, February 3, 1909.

Fig. 1. — Hawaiian Islands Reservation for protection of native birds, Territory of Hawaii,
embracing reefs and islets segregated by the brolcen lines and designated " Hawaiian
Islands Reservation."

This refuge consists of a dozen or more islands, reefs, and shoals
that stretch westward from the archipelago proper for a distance
of upwards of 1,500 miles toward Japan. The average distance
between them is something like 100 miles. Some of them, like
Necker, Bird Island, and French Frigate Shoal, are masses of vol-
canic rock thrust up out of the ocean and so steep and rugged as
generally to be inaccessible to anything without wings. Others are
little more than diminutive sand spits, snatched from the grasp of
ocean by the aid of coral animals. Still others are larger, and a
few, like Laysan, being covered with sandy soil, are clothed with a
more or less flourishing growth of shrubs, vines, and grasses.

BIRDS AS CARRIERS OF SEEDS.

The sources of the vegetation and the means by which the seeds of
plants and shrubs were originally transported to these distant ocean-
girt islands, thousands of miles from the nearest mainland, are a most
inviting field of speculation. The winds are capable of conveying
minute seeds to great distances, and favorable ocean currents also
materially aid as plant distributors. Birds, however, are doubtless

MID-PACIFIC BIRD RESERVATION. 157

the most important of nature's seed carriers. Viscid and hooked
seeds attach to their plumage, or seeds may be carried in smears of
earth or mud on feathers, bill, or feet. Such seeds may be trans-
ported indefinite distances and, once in a thousand years or so,
dropped on soil favorable to growth. The members of the most
recent expedition to the island, the Nutting party in 1911, were espe-
cially requested to examine carefully all their specimens of Laysan
birds for the presence of seeds, and actually found attached to the
foot of a Laysan albatross a seed of a species of the bean-caper
family, which is generally distributed in the South Sea islands. So
far as known the plant does not grow on Laysan, and had this seed
chanced to fall in a favorable spot the flora of the island might have
been enriched by another species. A still more striking instance of
a bird acting as a carrier of seeds was observed several years ago
by Mr. Bryan on Marcus Island, where he found no fewer than 40
seeds of a tree of the madder family adhering to the feathers of a
shearwater. These and other similar facts show how the flora of
oceanic islands may be transported by birds from island to island or
from continents to distant shores.

BABBITS AS A MENACE TO VEGETATION.

Unfortunately, rabbits were introduced into Laysan a few years
ago, and now they threaten the very existence of the island vegeta-
tion. Thus Mr. Bryan reports that many plants abundant at the
time of his former visit in 1903 had completely disappeared l:»y
1910. Others, though still living, showed the marks of girdling by
the hungry rodents, a sure indication of their impending fate. If
found impracticable to exterminate these mischievous mammals, it
is hoped so to reduce their numbers as to render them incapable of
much harm. The destruction of the island vegetation would be
unfortunate for the bird reservation for many reasons, especially
as it would end most of the insect life upon which depends the exist-
ence of the land birds and greatly reduce the number of breeding
sea birds, several species of which nest in bushes or on trees. The
shrubbery is necessary also to protect young birds from the rays of
the burning sun.

THE NUTTING EXPEDITION OF 1911.

When the Iowa State University requested the cooperation of
the Department of Agriculture for the purpose of securing for its
museum representative groups of Laysan birds, the opportunity was
welcomed, since it enabled the department to obtain an authentic
report on the present condition of the avian colonies on the island
as a basis for protective measures. The expedition, composed of 5
persons, was organized, though not accompanied, by Prof. C. C.
Nutting, and by him placed under the immediate charge of Prof.
Homer R. Dill. Prof. William A. Bryan, of the Oahu College,

158 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Honolulu, accompanied the party as a representative of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, and his services were particularly valuable,
as he was able to compare present conditions with those obtaining
at the time of his former visit, 8 years before. The party landed
on the island April 24, 1911, and remained until June 5. The pres-
ent paper is largely the result of the observations made by this
expedition.

HISTORY OF LAYSAN ISLAND.

Laysan is the most important island of the group on account of
its size, the extent to which it is covered with vegetation, and the
fact that it is the only island of the chain which is inhabited by
land birds. Its known history is brief. It was named Moller Island
in 1828 by Capt. Sanikowitch, after his ship, in ignorance, ap-
parently, of the fact that it had been previously discovered by an
American ship. In 1834 a brief account of the island and its birds
was published in the Museum Senckenbergianum Abhandlungen by
the well-known traveler and ornithologist F. H. von Kittlitz. He
never visited the island, but obtained his data from the lips of Dr.
C. Isenbeck, ship doctor of the Moller^ who made a small collection
of the island birds. In 1859 Capt. Brooks visited Laysan and
in his interesting account reported, among other things, the presence
on the island of 5 palm trees 15 feet high. These were probably
the same species as the ones on Bird Island and also the one in-
digenous to the Hawaiian Islands proper {Pritchardia gaudechaudii) .
Schauinsland found only the stumps in 1896, and even these have
since disappeared. Capt. Brooks collected 25 species of plants on
the island. He also noted the presence on the shores of numbers of
logs, drift from the northwest coast of America, more than 2,000
miles away. In 1891 Henry Palmer was sent to the island by Hon.
Walter Rothschild and made a collection of its birds. Schauinsland's
visit of three months followed in 1896, and his account, published
in Omithologische Monatsberichte in 1899 and in his Drei Monate
auf einer Koralleninsel, contains many extremely interesting notes
on the island birds. As Schauinsland records 26 species of plants
it is evident that the flora of the island had not diminished in the
37 years following Brooks. The visits of Walter K. Fisher and
W. A. Bryan followed in 1902 and 1903, and their valuable and
interesting accounts bring the ornithological history of the island
down to the date of the visit of the party in 1911 under the coopera-
tive direction of the University of Iowa and the Department of
Agriculture.

DESCRIPTION OF LAYSAN ISLAND.

Laysan is a raised coral atoll, doubtless on a volcanic base, about
2 miles long by IJ broad, and in shape has been likened to a shallow
platter (fig. 2). Its highest part is toward the north, where its

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1911.

Plate I.

Fig. 1.— Man-o'-War Birds Nesting, Laysan Island.

Fig. 2. CuLUNY of Gr>AAT-i_iM<^r\eu rtniNs, i_ATi>AiN ic31_aNu.

Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1911.

Plate II.

Fig. 1.— Laysan Albatrosses Dancing.

Fig. 2.— Nesting Colony of Laysan Albatrosses.

MID-PACIFIC BIRD RESERVATION.

159

/9^/yyxxw-/^ ^/omec/ecr /?/grr//oes
«««»«»*«« Stf/a p/scafor

ooooooooooooo ^/^CfCf/'Cf ClCfOlf/ot

Ster/ict /u//'g/r?asa

FiQ. 2. — Bird rookeries of Laysan Island.

160 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

height does not exceed 30 feet above the sea. Its central lagoon,
now unconnected with the ocean, covers about 100 acres. Not far
from this lagoon is a pond of fresh or slightly brackish water, which
is a favorite haunt of the Laysan teal and the bristle-thighed curlew.

THE LAND BIRDS OF LAYSAN ISLAND.

Though apparently not offering a very inviting permanent home
for land birds, a number of these and one duck, waifs from more
favored regions, have found their way here and become residents.
The duck, though a distinct species, is closely akin to the Hawaiian
teal, still more or less abundant in the archipelago proper. The
little island colony, once numbering upwards of 100 individuals, is
now nearly extinct, probably less than a dozen remaining.

Another of the land birds is a curious little rail, smaller even than
our sora. None of the rail family are notable for wing power, but
this particular species, and others in the South Seas more or less like
it, is quite unable to fly. Where it originally came from is unknown.
It may have reached its present abode by flying from island to island
from Hawaii, where a related species is fairly common. As time
went on, finding no particular need for its wings, it ceased to use
them and became flightless. Whatever may be the ultimate fate of
the Laysan colony of this remarkable so-called "wingless" rail, its
future has been provided for in a measure by the export of a number
to the Midway Island, far to the west, where it is reported to be
flourishing, thus affording the only instance so far known of the
successful introduction of a member of this family.

There is on Laysan a small red honey eater that lives chiefly on
the nectar of flowers, as do its near relatives on the larger islands of
the archipelago to the eastward ; also a member of the warbler family
of about the same size, originally probably from the Malay Archi-
pelago. It is called the miller bird because of its partiality for
millers or moths. Apparently this little warbler finds Laysan so
much to its liking that it declines to extend its range to the Hawaiian
Islands proper, which it might reach with very little effort. The list
of land birds is completed by the Laysan finch, which is the chief
musician of the island solitudes. During the long ages of its resi-
dence, unheard by human ear, it has trilled forth its beautiful song
to the accompanying murmur of the trade winds and the rhythmic
beat of the ocean surges on the desolate shore. Some years ago, when
unprotected, these finches were trapped in numbers and sold in Hono-
lulu for cage birds, but this traffic has now ceased. As suggested by
Mr. Bryan, the above-named insectivorous land birds possess a high
economic value and will well repay importation into the Hawaiian
Islands proper, thus increasing there the number of insect-eating
birds, as well as insuring the future existence of these unique and
interesting species.

MID-PACIFIC BIRD RESERVATION. 161

THE SEA BIRDS OF LAYSAN ISLAND.

But it is as a refuge for sea birds that these islands are chiefly
notable. The reefs and waters about Laysan and the other islands
fairly teem with fish, crustaceans, squids, and other forms of sea life,
thus affording food in abundance for sea fowl, as well as solitude and
protection for them and their young. For ages past these ocean
wanderers have found the islands an ideal home, and at certain sea-
sons swarmed there, covering every bit of available territory, and all
in all forming perhaps the most remarkable bird rookery in the
world. On Laysan alone several millions must breed every year.

NESTING.

Not all the birds that resort to this little island could possibly nest
on it at one and the same time, and, as the result of ages of experi-
ence, each species comes in turn and thus secures room. Even so,
however, nesting space has always been at a premium, and Schauins-
land, who spent three months on the island in 1896, not inaptly com-
pares the avian domestic arrangements there to a series of flats in a
large town. Thus the petrels and shearwaters nest in underground
burrows; above them in bushes nest the Laysan finch and the miller
bird, while the uppermost accommodations are taken by the boobies
and the man-o'-war birds. The breeding season covers practically
every month in the year. After biding their time, hither come to nest
thousands of terns, petrels, shearwaters, gannets, man-o^-war birds,
and albatrosses. In all more than two dozen species of land and sea
birds inhabit Laysan during the whole or part of the year. Prof.
Dill estimated that at the time of the visit of his party upward of a
million of sea birds were nesting on the island. (PL I.)

THE ALBATROSS.

Of all the birds that visit or live on Laysan the two species of alba-
trosses are the most notable. One of these, the black-footed albatross,
lives chiefly in the north Pacific, but its range includes our own coast,
from Alaska to California, and that of China and Japan. This is
the species which is a familiar sight daily to voyagers from San Fran-
cisco to Honolulu. When the outward-bound vessel is well off the
California coast it is sure to be sighted by a half dozen or more of
these black- footed albatrosses (or goonies, as they are known to the
sailors) , which do not part company with it till near the Hawaiian
Islands. The other species, known as the Laysan albatross, is chiefly
a bird of the mid-Pacific, but it has been known to range to the east-
ward as far as the coast of Lower California.

Albatrosses are true ocean wanderers, returning once a year to
some well-known island to rear their young. When they can trust these
to care for themselves they put to sea, and the land knows them no

162 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

more until nature again sounds the nuptial call. Their prodigious
power of flight enables them to keep on wing for hours at a time and
to circle around the swiftest steamer on outstretched wings without
apparent effort. The ocean is lonely at best, but it would be still
lonelier except for the presence of these splendid voyagers that follow
the track of every outward-bound ship and serve to shorten both to
landsman and sailor the tedium of the long voyage.

The two species that nest on Laysan formerly densely colonized
all available space. They are the chief source of the valuable de-
posit of guano on this island. The island guano deposits were
leased by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1890 and were profitably
worked for several years, when the deposits became exhausted. So
valuable is guano as the basis of a commercial fertilizer that the
Peruvian Government is making careful investigations on several
of its own islands as to the rate of deposit and the best means of
mining and conserving the supply. Several other of the Hawaiian
bird islands have been exploited for guano, and there is no doubt
that if the safety and perpetuity of the bird colonies on these island
reservations can be assured, the guano deposits can be worked at
stated periods indefinitely and made the source of considerable profit.

Albatrosses on their nesting grounds are exceedingly tame and
have so little fear of man as to permit close approach when on their
eggs or when caring for their young. Their unsuspicious nature
thus peculiarly exposes them to danger from feather hunters, as
they can readily be killed with clubs. These big sea birds indulge in
a curious pastime, which is in the nature of a grotesque dance or
" Cakewalk." (PI. II.) Both the island species indulge in this prac-
tice, which has been witnessed and described by a number of observers.
Prof. Homer E. Dill in his report thus records it as performed by
the Laysan albatross:

The performance is varied, but usually begins as follows: One bird will ap-
proach another with an indescribable squeaking sound, bowing all the time.
If the other bird feels like performing, which is usually the case, he bows in
return. They cross bills very rapidly several times. Then one bird turns its
head and lifts one wing in such a manner that the primaries point directly out
at the side. In the meantime tlie other bird keeps up a loud noise that sounds
somewhat like the neighing of a horse. The bird taking the lead then walks
around his partner, stepping high, like a negro cakewalker. This part of the
procedure is usually closed by one or both birds pointing their beaks straight up
in the air, rising on their toes, puflSng out their breasts, and uttering a long-
drawn groan. The same thing is repeated many times with slight variations.

Just why the birds indulge in these curious antics it is difficult to
conjecture, unless it is by Avay of amusement to pass away the time
while on shore leave. Albatrosses are not at all exclusive, but are
ever ready to acknowledge polite attentions from any and all sources,
and when favored by a human being with a bow respond in kind
with the utmost gravity and good will.

MID-PACIFIC BIRD RESERVATION. 163

RAVAGES OF PLUME HUNTERS.

Eight years ago Mr. Bryan found much of Laysan literally cov-
ered with these splendid birds, but when visiting the island last year
he discovered that more than half of the colony had been wiped
out of existence by plume hunters. Prof. Dill estimates that only
about one-sixth of the original colony of the species ' known as the
Laysan albatross {Diomedea immutabilis) is left. The plume hunt-
ers landed on the island in May, 1909, and straightway began the
work of slaughter. By the fall of the same year they had killed
upward of 300,000 birds. While apparently albatrosses were the
chief objects of pursuit, the feather hunters did not neglect other
birds, and the list of slain includes, besides the Laysan and black-
looted albatrosses, the sooty tern, gray-backed tern, noddy tern, Ha-
waiian tern, white tern, Bonin Island petrel, wedge-tailed shear-
water, Christmas Island shearwater, red-tailed tropic bird, blue-
faced booby, red-footed booby, man-o'-war bird, bristle-thighed cur-
lew, and, without doubt, the island duck and such of the smaller
birds as the hunters were able to secure. Bryan in his report to the
department says, substantially:

The slaughter wrought by the foreign plume hunters is everywhere ap-
parent. One of tht- work buildings formerly used by the guano company and
later as a storehouse by the poachers is still standing. Though with a side
torn out and left open to the weather by the men of the Thetis, it is still filled
with thousands of pairs of albatross wings. Though weather-beaten and use-
less, they show how they were cut from the birds, whose half-bleached skeletons
lay in thousands of heaps scattered all over the island.

Plume hunters the world over are not noted for the virtues of for-
bearance and humanity, but these men seem to have adopted excep-
tionally cruel methods on Laysan. Thus Prof. Dill in his report
states :

An old cistern back of one of the buildings tells a story of cruelty that sur-
passes anything done by these heartless, sanguinary pirates, not excepting
the practice of cutting the wings from living birds, leaving them to die of
hemorrhage. In this dry cistern the living birds were kept by the hundreds
to slowly starve to death. In this way the fatty tissue lying next to the skin
was used up, leaving the skin quite free from grease, so that when they were
prepared little or no cleaning was necessary.

Many other revolting sights, such as the remains of young birds that had
been left to starve and birds with broken legs and deformed beaks, were to be
seen. Killing clubs, nets, and other implements used by these marauders were
lying all about. Hundreds of boxes to be used in shipping the bird skins were
packed in an old building. It was very evident that they intended to carry on
their slaughter as long as the birds lasted.

In January, 1910, the nefarious work was stopped by the arrival
of the United States revenue cutter Thetis^ and 23 poachers were ar-
rested and conveyed to Honolulu, together with the plumage which
they had baled preparatory to shipping to Japan. The wings and

164 YEAKBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

plumage of approximately 259,000 birds were thus confiscated. As
previously a party intent on the same errand had landed on Lysianski,
another island of the same group, and spent months in killing sea
birds and stripping off the plumage, it is probable that not far from a
million of our sea birds were killed by aliens to sell to European
milliners. The magnitude of the offense is better appreciated when
it is understood that many sea birds, like albatrosses and others,
lay only a single egg during the entire year, and as the natural
mortality among both old and young is very considerable, years must
elapse ere the greatly depleted colonies can be restored to their full
strength. Dame Fashion has many sins to answer for, but few of
greater magnitude than the wholesale slaughter of these stately
creatures.

Had the raiders not been discovered, without doubt they would
eventually have killed every nesting bird on this and the other acces-
sible islands and converted these unique possessions of ours into veri-
table shambles. At the time of the visit of the party in the summer
of 1911 heaps of the bodies of the slain still lay on the ground, mute
witnesses of the sad fate that had overtaken these beautiful birds.

PROTECTION ESSENTIAL TO PRESERVATION OF RESERVATION AND SPECIES.

As the islands are part of our National possessions and have been
set apart as a bird reserve, the care and the protection of their avian
inhabitants would seem clearly to devolve upon the Federal Gov-
ernment. It is true that their remoteness and inaccessibility render
it difficult to guard them properly. An effort, however, will be made
to secure from Congress sufficient funds to provide for the services
of a warden for Laysan and for an assistant. It is hoped also to
secure a small power boat of adequate size to enable trips to be made
between Laysan and the other islands and Honolulu. These meas-
ures, if supplemented by an occasional visit from one of the Gov-
ernment cutters during the height of the breeding season, will insure
the continued safety of the nesting colonies. From a variety of
causes sea birds are being reduced in numbers almost everywhere,
chiefly as the result of plumage hunting and of the growing scarcity
of breeding sites. Hence these island bird colonies, one of the won-
ders of the world, will become of increasing importance with each
succeeding year. They should be regarded as a National heritage,
and the birds be adequately protected, not only for the sake of our
own citizens, but for those of other countries whose people go down
to the sea in ships. Otherwise these birds will suffer the fate that
overtook those on Marcus Island, also one of our possessions, where,
as reported by Bryan, in six years a colony of albatrosses almost as
large as that of Laysan was reduced to less than a score of birds
through the unchecked activities of feather hunters.

o

Issued May 21, 1912.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— BULLETIN No. 42

HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief

REPORT

OF AN

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND

IN 1911

UNDER THE JOINT AUSPICES OF THE UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND

THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

BY
HOSIER R. DILL

Assistant Professor of Zoology in the State University of Iowa

AND

WM. ALANSON BRYAN

Professor of Zoology in the College of Hawaii

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1912

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

United States Department of Agriculture,

Bureau of Biological Survey,
Washington, D. C.j January 11, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for pubUcation Bul-
letin 42 of the Biological Survey, '^A Keport of an Expedition to
Laysan Island in 1911," in two parts, the first by Prof. Homer R.
Dill, of the State University of Iowa, and the second by Prof. Wm.
Alanson Bryan, of the College of Hawaii, Honolulu. Prof. Bryan
had previously visited the island in 1903 and was thus able to
note tlie changes which had occurred during the intervening eight
years. The Hawaiian Islands Reservation was established by Exec-
utive order in 1909 to serve as a refuge and breeding place for the
millions of sea birds and waders that from time immemorial have re-
sorted there yearly to raise their young or to rest while migrating.
In 1909 a party of feather hunters landed on Laysan, one of the twelve
islands comprising the reservation, and killed more than 200,000
birds, notably albatrosses, for millinery purposes. Through the
prompt cooperation of the Secretary of the Treasury, the revenue
cutter Thetis, under the command of Capt. W. V. E. Jacobs, was dis-
patched to the island and returned to Honolulu in January, 1910,
with 23 poachers and their booty, consisting of the plumage of more
than a quarter of a million birds. In the spring of 1911 a cooperative
arrangement was effected with the University of Iowa, represented
by Prof. C. C. Nutting, head of the zoological department, whereby
an expedition was sent to Laysan, the largest and most important
island of the group, to ascertain the present condition of the bird
rookeries and to collect a series of birds for a museum exhibit.
Through the cooperation of the Secretary of the Treasury and the
Commandant of the Revenue Cutter Service the revenue cutter
'Thetis was placed at the disposal of the party. The members were
transported from Honolulu to the island in April, and two months
later returned to Honolulu. Through the courtesy of the Secretary
of War transportation was also furnished on Army transports for
members of the party and their equipage between San Francisco

3

4 EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

and Honolulu. Without this assistance it would have been extremely
difficult to arrange for the transportation of the expedition.

The present report embodying the results of the observations
made by the party contains many interesting facts and gives an ap-
proximate census of the birds nesting on Laysan Island at the time of
the visit of the party, together with recommendations for the future
protection of the reservation.

Respectfully, Henry W. Henshaw,

Chief J Biological Survey.
Hon. James Wilson,

Secretary of Agriculture.

CONTENTS

Part I. Page.

Introduction 7

Purpose and members of the expedition 7

Hawaiian Islands Reservation 8

Water and natural food supply 9

Seals 9

Rabbits introduced on Laysan 9

Guinea pigs 10

Insect pests 10

Birds as seed carriers 11

Narrative 11

List of birds on Laysan 13

Island bird census 23

Part II.

Introduction 25

Comparison of conditions in 1903 and 1911 26

Recommendations for future protection of the reservation 29

5

LLUSTRATIONS

PLATES.

Pagre.

Plate I. Buildings on Laysan Island 12

II. Albatross wings piled in old guano shed 12

III. Nesting colony of Hawaiian terns 16

IV. Fig. 1.— White terns or love birds. Fig. 2.— Colony of wedge-tailed

shearwaters 16

v. Laysan albatross rookery 16

VI. Fig. 1.— Christmas Island shearwater on nest. Fig. 2.— Red-tailed

tropic bird with young ^6

VII. Fig. 1.— Blue-faced booby. Fig. 2.— Red-footed booby 20

VIII. Man-o'-war bnds on nests - 20

IX. Fig. 1.— Laysan teal. Fig.- 2.— Bristle-thighed curlew. Fig. 3.--

Laysan rail ^^

TEXT FIGURE.

Fig. 1. Map of Laysan Island 1^

6

REPORT OF AN EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911 UN-
DER THE JOINT AUSPICES OF THE UNITED STATES DEPART-
MENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA.

PART I.

-L -

REPORT ON aOITDITIONS ON THE HAWAIIAN BIRD RESERVA-
TION WITH LIST OF THE BIRDS FOUND ON LAYSAN.

By Homer R. Dill.

Professor of Zoology in the State University of Iowa.

INTRODUCTION.
PURPOSE AND MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION.

On February 3, 1909, President Roosevelt issued an Executive
order to the effect that the islets and reefs, namely: ''Cure Island,
Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lysianski or Pell Island, Laysan Island,
Mary Reef, Dowsetts Reef, Gardiner Island, Two Brothers Reef,
French Frigate Shoal, Necker Island, Frost Shoal, and Bird Island,
situated in the Pacific Ocean at and near the extreme western exten-
sion of the Hawaiian Archipelago, * * * are hereby reserved
and set apart * * * as a preserve and breeding ground for
native birds. * * * This reservation to be known as the Hawaiian
Islands Reservation."

The purpose of the reservation was to insure for all time a refuge
and breeding place for the numerous species of birds, chiefly sea fowl,
that for ages past had made the islands their home during the whole
or a part of each year. In the spring of 1909, however, a party of
foreign plumage hunters landed on Laysan, the principal bird
rookery of the reservation, and for several months made the slaughter
of sea birds a business. Had they not been interrupted, they would
probably have exterminated the entire colony of birds on this island
and perhaps on others of the group. As it was, many thousands of
sea birds were destroyed, especially albatrosses. There is, however,
no reason to doubt that, if left to themselves as much as possible and
if further depredations can be prevented, the birds will in time
repair this loss and continue to live as they have for thousands of
years before civilized man intruded on their beautiful avian world.

7

8 EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

Through the instrumentaUty of Prof. C. C. Nutting, head of the
department of zoology, State University of Iowa, arrangements were
made in 1911 with the Secretary of Agriculture to send a coopera-
tive expedition to Laysan. The principal objects of the expedition
were to obtain for the Bureau of Biological Survey of the department
data for a comprehensive report as to the present condition of the
rookeries and as to the effects of the nefarious work of poachers on
the avifauna and to make a collection of the birds, their nests, eggs,
and the necessary accessories for making a large panoramic grouD
for the State University of Iowa.

The personnel of the party consisted of the writer and three assist-
ants, Mr. H. C. Young, Mr. C. J. Albrecht, and Mr. C. A. Corwin.
Mr. W. A. Bryan joined the party in Honolulu as the representative
of the Department of Agriculture, spent a week on Laysan, and
returned to Honolulu on the Thetis.

The writer is indebted to Mr. E. M. Ehrhorn, Mr. D. B. Kuhns,
Mr. Max Schlemmer, Mr, W. A. Bryan, the members of the University
Club, and others for their kind assistance and hospitality while in
Honolulu. I wish also to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of
the men who accompanied me: Mr. H. C. Young, who assisted in
assembling data for this report, Mr. C. J. Albrecht, who made the
photographs, and Mr. C. A. Corwin, who made paintings for our
group. I am also indebted to Mr. Dayton Stoner, of our museum
staff, for his careful drawing of the map on which I have indicated
the bird rookeries.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS RESERVATION.

The Hawaiian Islands Reservation is composed of the islands and
reefs included in the leeward chain extending in a northwesterly
direction from the main Hawaiian Group. These islands are situated
from 100 to 300 miles apart and are composed principally of lava.
Laysan, the largest island of the reservation, is low and flat, the
highest point being only 50 feet above sea level. On the surface of this
island is a layer of coral sand and phosphate rock. Laysan has an
area of about 2 square miles; the others vary in size from 1 square
mile to small rocky reefs. Bird Island is high and precipitous,
having a peak of 903 feet, and one side of the island is perpendicular.

These islands have a vegetation of low bushes and sand grasses.
The climate is warm but not enervating, tempered as it is by the
northeast trade winds. Severe thunder storms are almost unknown.

At the present time the islands are entirely uninhabited by man,
and indeed landing can be effected only in favorable weather; but
they offer excellent nesting sites and abundant food for the millions
of sea birds which resort to this remote oceanic reservation.

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 9

WATER AND NATURAL FOOD SUPPLY.

Frequent but short showers suppHed us with plenty of drinking
water. I have recorded them as follows: April 24, April 27, May 2,
May 3, May 14, and June 2. We carried a small still for use in case
our water supply failed us, but did not have occasion to use it,
although our supply was reduced at times. There is an old well on
the island, but it is no longer of use. The pump is rusted out and
the well has partly filled with sand.

Plenty of good fish can be found in the still water between the
surrounding barrier reef and the shore, and they can easily be shot
with a good rifle. Crawfish also are obtainable and are easily caught
in the evening by using a small lantern and a spear.

Large turtles are found along the beaches, where they crawl out
to sun themselves. When turned on their backs they are helpless.
We killed one of these turtles and found the meat very good, but the
eggs we did not find palatable. This turtle was 4 feet long, 3 feet
wide, and 1 foot 5 inches from carapace to plastron. We estimated
her weight to be 300 pounds.

The rabbits are good for food and their flesh seems to be entirely
free from parasites. When not frightened they may be easily caught
in the hands.

Although there were many edible shore birds on the island, our
party did not kill any of them for food. The only birds eaten were
those collected for scientific purposes.

SEALS.

A little-known species of seal ^ is reported to live in the region of
Ijaysan Island. Mr. Max Schlemmer says that during the 15 years
he lived on the island seven of these animals were killed. He at one
time gave Dr. Schauinsland a fine large skull of this species, which
was taken to Germany. No signs of seals were noted while we were
on the island, notwithstanding a sharp lookout was kept by the
members of our party.

RABBITS INTRODUCED ON LAYSAN.

Mr. Max Schlemmer, the former manager of the guano company
on Laysan, introduced domestic rabbits, Belgian hares, and English
hares into the island at different times, and left them there to breed,
intending to start a rabbit canning business. He could not give the

1 This species has been described by Dr. Matschie as Monachus schauinslandi (Sitz. Ber. Ges. Naturf.
Freunde, Berlin, p. 254, 1905). In 1900 a sick or helpless seal was caught by the natives in Hilo Bay, Ha-
waii, towed ashore, killed, and eaten. Unfortunately I was too late to secure any part of the animal for
identification, but the natives assured me that solitary seals occurred on the coast about once in 10 years
or so. They were very curious and asked many questions as to the habitat of the animal, its nature^food,
and habits, about which they knew nothing.— H. W. Henshaw.

26461°— Bull. 42—12 2

10 EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

exact dates but thinks the first were imported eight or nine years
ago, or about 1903. The rabbits have crossed and produced some
strange-looking animals, both in form and color. We dressed some
of them for food and found the skins as tough and thick as that of the
groundhog.

Rabbits have killed many bushes, but have not caused so great
devastation as one would expect from their numbers. In the latter
part of the afternoon they may be seen feeding. They are very fond
of the green j uncus that grows near the lagoon, and, while they are
eating,^ their bodies are concealed among the thick growth and only
their ears show. At times there are so many ears protruding that
they resemble a vegetable garden.

It would be very difficult to exterminate these animals without
harming the birds. They live everywhere; even in the large tern
rookeries we saw many of them. The}^ have made burrows of their
own and also, when pursued, take refuge in the numerous petrel
burrows. It is impossible to drive or snare them, as there are plenty
of holes in which they can find shelter. Poisoning the rabbits would
be disastrous to certain species of birds and indiscriminate shooting
would also be harmful. It is my opinion that a well-organized party
with small repeating rifles, say 22 caliber, could entirely exterminate
these pests. This should be done in the season when it would inter-
fere least with the nesting birds.

The man-o'-war birds catch them. Several times we saw them
pick up full-grown rabbits, and we found young ones dead on the
nest of the red-footed booby.

>

GUINEA PIGS.

Guinea pigs were found on the south end of the island in the thick
j uncus. They were rather abundant in this one place, seven being
seen at one time, but they have done no harm. Mr. Schlemmer
introduced these animals.

INSECT PESTS.

The collector is not without his troubles on Laysan. Never have
I seen so many flies in one small area. Our laboratory was so full of
them that we were obliged to suspend work to reduce their numbers.
Shallow pans of formalin, about 2 per cent, did wonders in this
direction. Not only did the flies annoy us as we worked but they
would blow our bird skins, and even after the latter were thoroughly
dry and cured, we often found fresh masses of eggs deposited on the
feathers. The feet of the larger birds would be eaten by larvae if
they were not thoroughly poisoned.

In addition to the flies there were small ants which ate and destroyed
the feathers of the smaller specimens. There were also several

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 11

species of beetles, the larvae of which devoured everything that was
not well poisoned.

Plenty of netting is needed to keep flies away from the skins while
drying. Rough frames should be made and their legs immersed in
pans of water, in order that boxes of skins may be placed in safety
from the ants. The beetles are, however, harder to control, for they
seem to reach the skins notwithstanding the netting. If the skins show
signs of larvge, put them in a tight box with a good cover. In the top
of the box place a shallow pan of carbon bisulphide, using about one
tablespoonful of the fluid for every cubic foot of space. Cover the
box tightly, allowing it to remain 48 hours. The carbon bisulphide
should be put in the top of the box, since the gas settles. This should
be repeated in about seven days, so as to kill the larvas that may have
hatched in the meantime. Where pests are so prevalent, I recom-
mend treating each box of skins in this manner as they are packed
for shipment.

The acres of carcasses left by the poachers have furnished breeding
places for flies and beetles; hence their great numbers.

BIRDS AS SEED CARRIERS.

Mr. H. W. Henshaw, Chief of the Biological Survey, requested that
our party make careful observation as to the presence of seeds or balls
of earth attached to any portion of the bills, feet, or plumage of the
island birds, since there is reason to believe that birds play an im-
portant part in the transplantation of seeds from shore to shore.

In handling and preparing 400 specimens we found but one that
was of interest in this connection. On the foot of a Laysan albatross,
between the second and third toes, was a spinate seed about the size
of a flattened buckshot, the spines of which were firmly embedded in
the sides of the toes. The seed was sent to Washington, where it was
identified as the seed of Trihulus liystrix R. Br. This species belongs
to the family ZygopTiijllacex and is generally distributed in the South
Sea Islands. So far as known there is no record of its occurrence on
Laysan, but a thorough examination of the flora might reveal its
presence there.

NARRATIVE.

The 17th day of April, 1911, our party sailed from Honolulu on the
revenue cutter Thetis. During the first five days of our trip few
birds were seen except a number of black-footed albatrosses
(Diomedea nigripes) that followed the ship nearly all the way. When
within about 50 miles of Laysan, their numbers increased, and later
they were joined by one or two of the white species (D. immutahilis) ,
also by a few sooty terns (Sterna fuliginosa) and wedge-tailed shear-
waters (Puffinus cuneatus).

12 EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

About 1 1 o'clock of the seventh day the island was sighted. We ex-
pected to see clouds of birds about it, but in this we were disappointed.
It was too early for terns to arrive in large numbers. We reached
the shore about 3 o'clock and spent the remainder of the day in land-
ing our outfit and repairing the old building for our use. (PL I.) By
6 o'clock everything was beached and the Thetis sailed to Midway
Island, coming back a week later for our mail and to say farewell until
the 5th of June, when she returned for our party.

Our first impression of Laysan was that the poachers had stripped
the place of bird life. An area of over 300 acres on each side of the
buildings was apparently abandoned. Only the shearwaters moan-
ing in their burrows, the little wingless rail skulking from one grass
tussock to another, and the saucy finch remained. It is an excellent
example of what Prof. Nutting calls the survival of the inconspicuous.

Here on every side are bones bleaching in the sun, showing where
the poachers have piled the bodies of the birds as they stripped them
of wings and feathers. In the old open guano shed (PI. II) were
seen the remains of hundreds and possibly thousands of wings which
were placed there but never cured for shipping, as the marauders were
interrupted in their work.

An old cistern back of one of the buildings tells a story of cruelty
that surpasses anything else done by these heartless, sanguinary
pirates, not excepting the practice of cutting the wings from living
birds and leaving them to die of hemorrhage. In this dry cistern
the living birds were kept by hundreds to slowly starve to death. In
this way the fatty tissue lying next to the skin was used up, and the
skin was left quite free from grease, so that it required little or no
cleaning during preparation.

Many other revolting sights, such as the remains of young birds that
had been left to starve and birds with broken legs and deformed
beaksj were to be seen. Killing clubs, nets, and other implements
used by these marauders were lying all about. Hundreds of boxes
to be used in shipping the bird skins were packed in an old building.
It was very evident they intended to carry on their slaughter as long
as the birds lasted.

Not only did they kill and skin the larger species \)ut they caught
and caged the finch, honey eater, and miller bird. Cages and material
for making them were found.

Half an hour's walk, however, will take one to an entirely different
scene. The north, east, and south parts of the island have not been
disturbed to any extent by the poachers, they having confined their
work largely to the area nearer the buildings and along the car track
formerly used by the guano company.

We found some species on the east side even more abundant than
reported by Prof. Nutting in 1902. It is interesting to note the

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate I.

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate II.

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 13

habits of the gregarious Httle creatures. For countless generations
they have Hved in a crowded community, Hke the inhabitants of our
larger cities, and now, although the killing of thousands of birds on
the west side of the island has made nesting places available else-
where, they still live as did their predecessors, nesting as closely as
possible.

In collecting birds that had young, much care was exercised not to
take both parents and thus to leave the nestlings to perish. This
made the collecting of some species difiicult and slow. Fortunately
we were able to preserve and so utilize many birds that were found
dead on the rookeries, the mortality from natural causes being large.

LIST OF BIRDS ON LAYSAN.

It is not my intention to attempt to duplicate the excellent report
on the birds of Laysan Island by Dr. Walter K. Fisher ^ in 1902, to
which readers are referred for many details here omitted. We found
the same species that he did, witli the addition of Bulwer's petrel and
the sooty petrel (Oceanodroma tristrami) . The following is a list of
the island birds, with notes on their distribution, habits, nests and
eggs, etc., as observed by our party:

LARID^.

Sterna fuliginosa Gmelin. Sooty-backed Tern.

Upon our arrival at Laysan we did not observe many sooty-backed
terns. There was a small colony of about 500 birds on the southwest
part of the island and another of about the same size on the extreme
east. We found great piles of bones near the former that led us to
believe that the birds had been much reduced in numbers by the
plumage hunters.

About the 6th of May thousands of them appeared on the east side
of the island and about a week later others came to the southwest.
Their numbers increased each day. As the southwest rookery grew,
it extended toward the north. For some reason known only to them-
selves the birds confined their nesting to the area on the west side of
the small car track, which is indicated on the accompanying map.
We found a few nests between the rails, but none on the east side of
the track. The first day of June we measured the rookeries of these
birds, and two days later we went over the same ground again. We
found that in two days the rookeries on the west side had increased
in area 3,600 square yards.

The final estimate of the number of sooty terns was made June 4 —
333,900 for both rookeries. This species outnumbers any other on
the island. We found as many as 7 and in some cases 9 nests to the

1 Birds of I^aysan and the Leeward Islands, Hawaiian Group, In U. S. Fish Commission Bulletin for
1903.

14

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

AOC/JT/OA/ OFB/RD /?OOH£/?/£S,
++++4.-H-+++ D/o/7fec/ecr /mmufcr^/y/s
/9wy>vxv,-- /)/o/77ec/ecr /?/g^r/jOBS
««»»»«*«< Su/a p/scafor

ooooooooooooo r/~6C7Cf/'Cf QCfOf/fCt

fSferna /ii//g//?osa

Fig. 1.— Map of Laysan Idand.

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 16

square yard of ground. About 1 nest in 50 contained two eggs, one
egg being the usual complement.

Sterna lunata Peale. Gray-backed Tern.

On the rocks at the south end of the island is a small colony of
gray-backed terns. Its close proximity to the sooty tern rookery
might mislead the casual observer as to the number of birds of this
species. As soon as the birds are disturbed the sooty terns fly
about with the graybacks, giving the impression that there are
thousands of the latter. The unfortunate grayback makes a desirable
skin for millinery purposes; hence his demise.

There are other small rookeries on the east side, and we estimated
that about 50,000 of these bu'ds were nesting on the island. We
found fresh eggs and young birds in all stages of development.

Anous stolidus (Linn.). Noddy.

Noddies were nesting m small colonies on nearly all parts of the
island. The northwest point seemed to be a favorite nesting place,
and during the last week of May fresh eggs were found. The noddy
is fairly abundant, numbering about 5,500.

Micranous hawaiiensis Rothschild. Hawaiian Tern. (PL III.)

This little understudy of the noddy was found in all stages, from
a freshly laid egg to a fully fledged bird. It was not so abundant as
the noddy, numbering about 3,000.

Gygis alba kittlitzi Hartert. White Tern or Love Bird.

During the first week of our stay in Laysan we saw but four white
terns (PL IV, -^g. 1). This little bird, never abundant on the island,
was one of the first to disappear at the hands of the poachers.

About the time the sooty terns arrived in abundance we noticed
a number of white terns. On the 15th of May we discovered several
pairs nesting on the rocks at the south end and later found others on
different parts of the island. At one time we were able to count
30 of these birds.

We collected six specimens, all of which, although nesting, were
more or less pin-feathery and unfit for mounting. We estimated
the number of this species to be 75.

DIOMEDIIDiE.
Diomedea immutabilis Rothschild. Laysan Albatross. (PL V.)

Along the shores of the lagoon and on a small area at the south
end of the island this most remarkable and interesting bird has
taken its last stand. To-day there is about one-sixth of the original
colony left. All along the car track and on the main rookery where
the birds were formerly so abundant, only piles of bones remain. The

16 EXPEDITIOK TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

poachers killed these helpless creatures with clubs and threw the
wings and feathers into the cars, heaping the bodies up along the
sides of the track as they worked, and used the cars to carry the
spoils to the sheds.

About all of the old main rookery, where the birds were reported
so plentiful by Prof. Nutting in 1902, has been annihilated; only
now and then a pair of birds with young may be seen. Along the
shores of the lagoon they are still to be found in large numbers, and
to one who has never seen such masses of birds it is a wonderful
sight.

Notwithstanding the treatment these birds have received, they
still seem fearless of man, with the exception, perhaps, of a few stray
individuals nearer the buildings which will not allow one to approach
them.

They amuse themselves with a strange proceeding, which at times
seems to be done more from a sense of duty than for pleasure. The
performance is varied, but usually begins as follows: One bird ap-
proaches another with an indescribable squeaking sound, bowing all
the time. If the other bird feels like performing, which is usually
the case, he bows in return. They cross bills very rapidly several
times. Then one bird turns its head and lifts one w^ing in such a
manner that the primaries point directly out at the side. In the
meantime the other bird keeps up a loud noise that sounds somewhat
like the neighing of a horse. The bird taldng the lead then walks
around his partner, stepping high like a negro cake walker. This part
of the procedure is usually closed by one or both birds pointing their
beaks straight up in the air, rising on their toes, pulling out their
breasts, and uttering a long-drawn groan. The same thing is repeated
many times with slight variations.

There were comparatively few young albatrosses. When the par-
ent birds were feeding at sea, the rookery would seem almost deserted.
We found a number of young birds dead, but the mortality from nat-
ural causes is not large, considering the number of tliis species. Some-
thing must have disturbed the birds earlier in the nesting season;
possibly their eggs may have been taken.

An accompanying map (p. 14), on which I have indicated the lar-
ger rookeries, will show about the area occupied by this species. At
the present time there are approximately 180,000 Laysan albatrosses.

For the benefit of those who have estimated the number of alba-
trosses as high as 10,000,000, I would like to call attention to the
map made by the officers of the Albatross in 1902. According to
this map Laysan has an area of about 5,420,800 square yards. Taking
out the area of the lagoon, which is 471,500 square yards, we have
4,949,300 square yards. Place 10,000,000 birds the size of an alba-
tross upon 4,949,300 square yards of ground; how much room would

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate III.

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate IV.

Fig. 1.— White Terns or Love Birds, Laysan Island.

Fig. 2.— Colony of Wedge-Tailed Shearwaters, Laysan Island.

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate V.

Jul. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of^gri culture.

Plate VI.

' '*^

*♦

4 ..ti-

. %.. *-i^^.;:..o^^:'>

Fig. 1.— Christmas Island Shearwater on Nest, Laysan Island.

Fig. 2.— Red-Tailed Tropic Bird with Young, Laysan Island.

EXPEDITION TO LAYS AN ISLAND IN 1911. 17

there remain for the rest of the bird population, to say nothing of
the bushes and grass ?

Diomedea nigripes Audubon. Black-footed Albatross.

Along the beaches of the north, east, and south sides of the island
the black-footed albatross has taken almost complete possession.
An occasional pair may be found nesting with the white species, but
as a rule they are found by themselves.

The black-footed albatross is somewhat larger than the white
species, and when seen on the wing it is instantly recognized as being
far superior as an aviator. They followed our ship all the way from
San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands.

These birds have a performance similar to that of the former spe-
cies, but much more elaborate, and they go through the figures slowly
and gracefully. Instead of lifting one wing they raise both. The
notes uttered during the performance are much softer, and it ends
with a sound like the stroke of a bell under water or deep within the
bird's stomach.

They are very neighborly with the other species. We often saw
them visiting, and on one or two occasions they were trying to per-
form with them, but the rapid pace set by the white bird was rather
too much for his more deliberate cousin and the affair ended disas-
trously.

The young of this species were rather abundant. During the first
week of June many of them were fully fledged. The total number
of black-footed albatrosses is about 85,000.

PROCELLARID^.

Puffinus cuneatus Salvin. Wedge-tailed Shearwater.

The wedge-tailed shearwater (PI. IV, fig. 2) is found on nearly
every part of Laysan, with the exception of the beaches and the hard
shores of the central lagoon. It does not fly about much during the
day, but sits in the mouth of its burrow and dozes in the sun. At
times a dozen or more of these birds congregate, apparently for the
purpose of quarreling. Their cat-like squalls will »oon make the
listener wish to move out of hearing.

The young were nearly fledged. Apparently these birds were not
killed to any extent by the poachers and they number about 100,000.

Puflanus nativitatis Streets. Christmas Island Shearwater.

The Christmas Island shearwater (PI. VI, fig. 1) is a common bird
on Laysan. We found it nesting under bushes and in shallow bur-
rows. Its eggs were fresh during the first two weeks of May. Its
retiring habits and unattractive plumage have protected it from the
ravages of the poachers and it numbers about 75,000.

18 EXPEDITION TO LAYS AN ISLAND IN 1911.

iEstrelata hypoleuca Salvin. White-breasted Petrel, or Bonin Island

Petrel.

Owing to its nocturnal habits the white-breasted petrel is not so
conspicuous as some of the other species of its family, but it was
abundant in the evening. It is a fearless, dove-like creature, quite
amenable to petting and stroking.

The young of this species were nearly fledged. They were to be
seen in the mouths of the deep burrows which completely honey-
comb the liigher ground of the island. Tliis species bids fair to
hold its own for some time to come, numbering 160,000.

Bulweria bulweri (J. & S.). Bulwer's Petrel.

In Dr. W. K. Fisher's report of the Birds of Laysan Island, 1902,
he states that he did not detect any Bulwer's petrels on Laysan. We
were, therefore, somewhat surprised to find this species rather abun-
dant, and at the same time of year that Dr. Fisher was there.

In the cracks and crannies of the rocks on the south end of the
island one was sure of finding these birds, and in almost every case a
pair of birds would be in the same opening. We found them also on
other parts of the island, wherever there were pieces of phosphate
rock or coral under which to crawl.

While we were after some specimens of coral rock, we were much
surprised to find one of these quiet little birds sitting in the debris
that had fallen from the under side as we applied the sledge hammer
from above. The pieces had dropped in such a manner that, not^
withstanding the falling of a piece weighing 75 pounds or more, the
bird was unharmed and apparently not alarmed. Under the bird
we found a fresh egg. This incident occurred on the 2d day of
June, and although we had previously seen many of these birds, we
had not found any eggs. Upon further investigation we found
that the birds on the south end of the island had eggs, all of which
were fresh. In some nests we found both birds sitting side by side.
We estimated the number of this species to be 1,000.

Oceanodroma tristrami Salvin. Sooty Petrel.

The sooty petrel is not a common bird on Laysan. Near the
south end of the lagoon a number of young birds were found, all
dead or in a dying condition. They were fully fledged, retaining
only traces of down. A diligent search procured but two adult
birds. These birds were so much smaller than the measurements
given by Mr. E-idgway for this species that there was at first some
question as to their identity.

The following table gives Mr. Ridgway's measurements, also those
of the specimens referred to above:

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.
0. tristrami.

MEASUREMENTS BY MR. RIDGWAY.

19

Sex.

Date.

Length.

Wing.

TaU.

Fork
of tail.

Cul-

men.

Depth
bill front
of nostril.

Tarsus.

Mid.
tcl.

Skin;
about 11
inches.

7.60

4.45

1.60

0.70

0.25

1.10

1.10

SKINS COLLECTED ON LAYSAN BY OUR PARTY.

9

May

28

10.00

7.00

4.3

1.50

0.8

0.22

1.02

1.04

k

22

9.8

6.54

4.1

1.20

.8

.20

1.04

1.06

5

May

29

9.00

5.8

4.16

1.25

.76

.20

.94

1.16

PHAETHONTID^.
Phaethon rubricaudus Boddaert. Red -tailed Tropic Bird.

During the first three weeks of our stay on the island we saw very
few red-tailed tropic birds (PI. VI, fig. 2) . They were wild and very
hard to catch. Later, however, we saw plenty of them, and as they
were nesting, we experienced no trouble in catching them in our
hands.

This species has by far the most beautiful plumage of any of the
birds found here. Its rose-tinted satin body, with bright coral red
beak, and its elongated central tail feathers make it a striking bird
indeed.

The poachers have killed many of these birds, but they still seem
fairly abundant, numbering about 300.

SULID^.
Sula cyanops (Sundevall) . Blue-faced Booby.

A small colony of blue-faced boobies (PI. VII, fig. 1), was nesting
on the sandy beach of the east coast. By actual count, 45 birds
were there during the first week in May. Large downy young were
in the nests, usually one but in some cases two. A few eggs were
found, but all were well incubated.

On the 5th day of June we were somewhat surprised to find about
twenty pairs of these birds nesting on the interior slope of the east
side of the island in close proximity to the man-o'-war bird rookery.
Why they should choose such an environment is hard to understand.
Nearly all the nests contained two fresh eggs.

Not far from this spot we saw a man-o'-war bird pursuing a booby
which had just returned from fishing, with a crop full of fish. At
first it seemed as though the booby would outfly its pursuer, but its
load was too heavy. The man-o'-war bird overtook the booby,
seized it by the tail, raised itself in the air, and turned the booby
completely over. Being thus rudely overturned the booby lost

20 EXPEDITION TO LAYS AN ISLAND IN 1911.

control and quickly disgorged the contents of its crop, and the man-
o^-war bird actually caught the fish as it came from the booby's
mouth.

Sula piscator (linn.) . Red-footed Booby.

The red-footed booby (PI. VII, fig. 2), like its relative, is not very
abundant. They are confined to a small area on the north part of
the island, nesting in the tops of low bushes. Their numbers in-
creased about the same time we noted the increase of the former
species. There were about 125 birds in all.

FREGATID^.

Fregata aquila (Linn.). Man-o'-war Bird.

On the inner eastern slope of the island the man-o'-war birds
(PL VIII) may be found. They nest in colonies in the tops of low
bushes which, if placed near together, would cover about 6 acres. As
it is, however, they appear to cover many times that amount of space.

Here sitting quietly on each nest is the owner thereof, holding down
his claim. When one bird leaves the nest its mate immediately takes
its place, for if a nest is left unguarded the birds that seem to be off
duty swoop down, apparently passing nearly over it, when with a
quick movement of the beak they pick up a stick and carry it away.
Thus stick by stick the nest is completely removed. If there happens
to be a young bird or an egg in the nest, it is destroyed and eaten by
the winged cannibals.

One forgets the shortcomings of these birds when he sees them sail-
ing on motionless wing far above him. It would seem that they make
use of the hot air currents arising from the island and thus sail about
with very little effort.

It seems strange that man-o'-war birds should have increased in

numbers, when we think of their wholesale slaughter of each other's

offspring, but according to previous reports they were less abundant

on Laysan formerly than to-day, numbering 12,500 at the present

time.

anatidj:.

Anas laysanensis Rothscliild. Laysan Teal.

No signs of the Laysan teal (PI. IX, fig. 1) were seen for the first
few days of our stay, and then we found feathers and other parts of
those which the marauders had dressed for food. Later, however,
we saw them in small flocks, six being the most seen at one time.
Some teals seemed to be nesting in the grass near the small fresh-
water pond on the south end of the island, but we were unable to
find any nests.

The man-o'-war birds persistently pursued them, but they did not
to my knowledge kill or harm any of them. They may, however, kill
young teals.

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate VII.

Fig. 1.— Blue-Faced Booby, Laysan Island.

Fig. 2.— Red-Footed Booby, Laysan Island.

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate VIII.

r-^s ?

Bui. 42, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Plate IX.

Fig. 1.— Laysan Teal.

Fig. 2.— Bristle-Thighed Curlew, Laysan Island.

>m

- - ^ I

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 21

Presumably the plumage hunters killed these birds for food, and
thus nearly exterminated them. It would seem that without further
molestation they might increase in numbers.

RALLID.E.
Porzanula palmeri Frowhawk. Laysan Rail.

The Laysan rail (PL IX, fig. 3) is one of the most interesting birds
found on the island. Notwithstanding its inability to fly it has no
trouble in evading its pursuers. It runs and dodges from one grass
tussock to another, down a petrel hole and out again before one can
locate it. One of the most laughable things imaginable is a man
pursuing one of these bits of bird life, net in hand, continually drop-
ping waist-deep down among the burrowing petrels. It was with
much difficulty that we secured the specimens we needed for our col-
lection. They were everywhere fairly abundant on all parts of the
island excepting the beaches. They even visited our kitchen. Their
favorite nesting place is among the thick mats of j uncus along the
margin of the lagoon. We found many nests but no eggs. On the
4th day of June we discovered two coal-black chicks with yellow
beaks that gave vent to much noise. There are about 2,000 rails on

the island.

SCOLOPACID^.

Heteractitis incanus (Gmelin). Wandering Tatler.

Very few of these birds were seen on Laysan during our stay. Now
and then one or two would be seen on the reef or among the large
rocks on the beach, but they were very wild. One specimen only was
secured.

Numenius tahitiensis (Gmelin) . Bristle-thighed Curlew.

Just before sunset and early in the morning the bristle-thighed
curlews (PL IX, fig. 2) would come up around our camp uttering their
peculiar complaining notes. They roosted on the roofs of the old
buildings at night, sometimes as many as 20 birds in one flock. We
saw them feeding on different parts of the island but usually about the
lagoon or along the beaches. They number about 250.

CHARADRIID^.
Charadrius dominicus fulvus (Gmelin) . Pacific Golden Plover.

The golden plover is only a migrant on Laysan. About 2,000 were
present at the time of our visit.

APHRIZID^.
Arenaria interpres (Linn.) . Turnstone.

In the shallow water of the lagoon and about the fresh water pond,
large flocks of plover and turnstones were to be seen. Here they spent
most of their time feeding on the small flies with which the shore and
water are black.

22 EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

The specimens we prepared for our collection were exceedingly fat.
We experienced some difficulty in securing good ones, as the birds were
too wild to catch in a hand net and were easily ruined with a shotgun.
The turnstones number about 2,500.

DREPANIBID^.

Himatione fraithii Rothschild. Laysan Honey Eater.

The honey eater is not common on Laysan. There were four birds
of this species that roosted on an old rope which hung across the corner
in one of the sheds. Here each night we would see them huddled
closely together. An occasional bird would flit into our workroom in
quest of millers. They were to be seen about the island in the tall
tussocks of grass, where we found a few nests, all of which contained
young birds or well-incubated eggs. Among the old specimens left
by the feather hunters we found several skins of the honey eater.
There are possibly 300 living birds of this species.

Telespiza cantans Wilson. Laysan Finch.

One of the last birds to disappear from the island will be the Lay-
san finch. With its omnivorous habits and its saucy, fearless manner
it easily adapts itself to conditions as it finds them. It is a fine song-
ster and makes a good cage bird. Laysan Island is an ideal place for
this bird, but should anyone be rash enough to introduce it to a
civilized community it would be a pest that would rival the English
sparrow.

They were everywhere abundant about the island, particularly
near the tern rookeries. When we passed through the rookeries they
would follow, to steal the eggs left exposed by the terns we had
frightened away. They also eat other birds' eggs, not excepting their
own species.

Our cook experienced much difiiculty in keepmg them from the
kitchen. Each day brought more birds. At last he was obliged to
put up a net at the door to keep them out. They also visited our
storeroom, where they picked holes in our rice bag, making way with
quite a quantity. At meal time they were about our feet picking at
the crumbs on the floor. It was not an uncommon thing to see them
on the table. They were nesting during the month of May, and we
found many nests with fresh eggs. We estimated the total number
of finches to be about 2,700.

SYLVIID^.

Acrocephalus familiaris (Rothschild). Miller Bird.

With the exception of the Laysan teal, the miller bird is the least
abundant of the indigenous birds. We saw a few of them around the
old buildings and others abont the island, but principally along the

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

23

west shore of the lagoon, in the tall grass, where a few nests containmg
eggs and young birds were found.

A pair made a nest not far from our sleeping quarters. The birds
seemed not to mind our presence, working away at the nest when we
were within 2 feet of it. After it was completed, the female bird died
while laying an egg. We saved the skin of the bird, also the eggj
which was removed intact. In a few days the male bird returned
with a new mate, and, much to our surprise, the birds took down the
nest, building a new one a few feet away.

It seems strange that this bird should not be more common, as it
was formerly reported to be most abundant of the land birds. Pre-
sumably the poachers caught the miller bird, but we have no proof
of it, as no skins or other parts were found. Its numbers are kept in
check by the finches — at least we saw the latter eating the eggs of this
species. Undoubtedly, however, this has beea their practice for
many years, and, unless the finches are more abundant than formerly,
it ought not to make any appreciable difference in the numbers of the

miller bird.

ISLAND BIRD CENSUS.

An estimate of the number of each species of bird found on the
island was made. The method of estimating the number in the
several rookeries was as follows : After caref uUy measuring a rookery,
a square yard was selected that seemed to contain a fair average of
nests. Counting two birds to a nest we determined the number in a
rookery. In some cases this method could not be used, as some
species do not assemble in large numbers but nest in small colonies
among the other species. The map (p. 14) accompanying this report
is not a criterion as to the number of birds in the various rookeries,
but simply shows the location and approximately the area covered
by the species indicated thereon. To avoid confusion I have indi-
cated thereon only the birds that have sharply defined rookeries,
the others being more or less united.

The following table shows at a glance the estimated numbers of
most of the island birds:

Sterna fuliginosa 333, 900

Sterna lunata 50, 000

Anous stolMus 5, 500

Micranous hawaiiensis 3, 000

Gygis alba kittlitzi 75

Diomedea immutabilis 180, 000

Diomedea nigripes 85, 000

Puffinus cuneatua 100,000

Puffinus nativitatis 75, 000

jEstrelata hypoleuca 160, 000

Bulweria hulweri 1,000

Oceanodroma tristrami 3

Pfmthon rubricavdm 300

Sula cyanops

Sula piscator

Fregata aquila

Anas laysanensis

Porzanula palmeri

Numenms tahitiensis

CharadriiLS dominv;^ fulvus . .

Arenaria interpres

Himatione fraithii

Telespiza cantans

65

125

12, 500

6

2,000

250

2,000

2,500

300

2.700

1, 016, 224

PAT^T II.

REPORT ON CONDITIONS ON LAYSAN, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR PROTECTING THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS RESERVATION.

By Wm. Alanson B.^XA^ '^' ^

Professor of Zoology in the College of Hawaii,

INTRODUCTION.

On the occasion of my recent visit to Laysan Island during the week
from April 24 to 30, 1911, which was made on board the U. S. reve-
nue cutter Thetis, in company with a party from the State University
of Iowa who were making the journey to the island to secure
material and background studies for a large group to be assembled
at that institution, I was able to study conditions as I found them
in this wonderful bird colony and compare them with conditions
existing there at the time of my former visit in April, 1903.

The slaughter of tens of thousands of birds by the party of feather
and wing hunters and the depredations now being wrought by the
rabbits and guinea pigs that have been introduced on the island make
it important, if this colony is to be saved from extermination, that
every effort to this end be made, both by the Federal Government
and by the Territory of Hawaii. It will be necessary (1) to have
the islands in the Leeward chain of the Hawaiian group properly
patrolled and protected; (2) to take steps to exterminate or reduce
the rabbits on Laysan Island; (3) to distribute the peculiar land birds
on Laysan to other islands of the chain in order to prevent their
early extermination; (4) to introduce the important economic species
on the inhabited islands of the group ; (5) to plant on Laysan and the
other islands certain trees and shrubs that wiU flourish on them;
(6) to develop this valuable possession of the Territory of Hawaii as
the great natural parks are developed elsewhere — as a natural breed-
ing preserve for wild birds. Since the birds are all perfectly fearless,
the reservation may be visited at any season under proper regula-
tions, thus affording to the Hawaiian Islands a unique opportunity
to preserve this great colony in a flourishing condition and at the same
time utilize the chain of otherwise unimportant and unproductive
islands, over a thousand miles in length, as a cruising and camping
park and fishing ground, the like of which is found nowhere else in the
world.

26 EXPEDITION TO LAYS AN ISLAND IN 1911.

Several months ago it became my duty as the representative of the
National Association of Audubon Societies in Hawaii to notify that
society and the Biological Survey that the island of I^aysan of the
Leeward chain of this group had been visited by a company of
feather hunters. They were under the employ of Mr. Max Schlemmer,
now of Honolulu, but who was for many years a resident on Laysan
as manager for a large guano and fertilizer concern with headquarters
in Honolulu.

After spending several months on the island engaged in the whole-
sale slaughter of the bird life there, the poachers were taken off by
the U. S. revenue cutter Thetis under command of Capt. Jacobs,
who was sent there by the Federal Government for that purpose.
With the 23 poachers who were brought to Honolulu for trial the
TJietis brought two or three carloads of the feathers, wings, and
birdskins that had been made ready for shipment to Japan. Had the
plan of the promoters been carried out, they would doubtless have
been sent from Japan to the fashion centers of Europe and America for
millinery purposes.

COMPARISON OF CONDITIONS IN 1903 AND 1911.

By my experience on Marcus Island and Midway Island a few years
ago, where I had the sad privilege at the first-named island of finding
a colony of poachers actually engaged in killing birds by the thousands
for the millinery market, and at the latter of finding the hundreds of
heaps of dead birds' bodies left by a party that had finished securing
its ship load of wings and feathers, I was in a measure able to antici-
pate the damage that had been done by these ruthless spoilers at
Laysan.

My surprise was great, however, to find that the few rabbits intro-
duced by Mr. Sclilemmer shortly after my former visit had literally
taken possession of the island. In 1903 Mr. Schlemmer, then oper-
ating a lease and engaged in the guano business, made a number of
trips from Honolulu. On a number of these voyages he took several
small shipments of rabbits of different breeds as well as a number of
Japanese guinea pigs. All of these animals were liberated on Laysan
and they have since multiplied until they are found in great numbers
at this time.

The slaughter wrought by the plume hunters is everywhere appa-
rent. One of the work buildings formerly used by the guano company
and later as a storehouse by the poachers is still standing. With
a side torn out and left open to the weather by the men of the Thetis,
it is still filled with thousands of pairs of albatross wings. Though
weatherbeaten and useless, they show how they were cut from the
birds whose half-bleached skeletons lie in thousands of heaps scat-
tered all over the island.

EXPEDITION TO LAYS AN ISLAND IN 1911. 27

This wholesale killmg has had an appallmg effect on the colony.
No one can estimate the thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands,
of birds that have been willfully sacrificed on Laysan to the whim
of fashion and the lust for gain. It is conservative to say that fully
one-half the number of birds of both species of albatross that were
so abundant everywhere in 1903 have been killed. The colonies that
remain are in a sadly decimated condition. Often a colony of a
dozen or more birds will not have a single young. Over a large part
of the island, in some sections a hundred acres in a place, that 10
years ago was thickly inhabited by albatrosses, not a single bird
remains, while heaps of the slain lie as mute testimony of the awful
slaughter of these beautiful, harmless, and without doubt beneficial
inhabitants of the high seas.

While the main activity of the plume hunters was directed against
the albatrosses, they were by no means averse to killing anything in
the bird line that came in their way. As a consequence large num-
bers of all the different species of birds that occur on the island were
killed. Among the species slaughtered may be mentioned black-
footed albatross, Laysan albatross, sooty tern, gray-backed tern,
noddy tern, Hawaiian tern, white tern, Bonin Island petrel, wedge-
tailed shearwater, Christmas Island shearwater, red-tailed tropic bird,
blue-faced booby, red-footed booby, man-o'-war bird, bristle-thighed
curlew, and without doubt many of the few species of the smaller
birds peculiar to Laysan as well as those that visit it as migrants.

Fortunately, serious as were the depredations of the poachers,
their operations were interi-upted before any of the species had been
completely exterminated. So far as the birds that secure their food
from the sea are concerned, it is reasonable to suppose they will
increase in number, and that natin-e will in time restore tlie island to
its former populous condition if no further slaughter is permitted.
Owing to the indiscriminate method of the killing, usually only one
or the other of mated pairs was sacrified. The unmated birds that
survive are slow in selecting another mate. As but a single egg is
laid by the majority of these birds, it will possibly take 10 years for
the sea birds of the colony to regain their former numerical strength.

With the land birds an entirely different condition exists. All the
small species peculiar to the island, except possibly the Laysan teal,
depend entirely upon the vegetation on the island for their food
supply. The uninterrupted and astonishing increase in the numbers
of rabbits and guinea pigs can have but one result if allowed to
continue unchecked. They will surely eat or kill off all of the grass
and shrubs. Doubtless the insects that feed on the plants and in
turn are fed upon by the bii'ds will be so reduced as to bring about
starvation among the small birds.

28 EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

The struggle for existence on Laysan is most keen at all times.
The inevitable operation of the law of nature that balances the food
supply with the number to be fed is as effective on this sand island as
it is everywhere else in tlie world. As a matter of fact, a marked
reduction in the number of pairs of all the land birds can be noticed as
compared with the number of the same species on the island eight years
ago. The Laysan canary, Miller bird, Laysan honey eater, and the
Laysan rail, without doubt, are doomed to extermination on the
isolated island on which they have maintained themselves long
enough to develop into distinct species, unless something is done to
preserve for them the source of their food supply.

Rare as the Laysan teal has always been, it is gratifying to find that
it has not been wiped out of existence. Eight years ago there were
several small flocks of this interesting bird, which is without doubt
the rarest wild duck in the world. This year only seven adult birds
were seen during an entire day especially devoted to watching for it
on the small fresh-water lake and the main lagoon — the natural
rallying place for the species. Ducks were seen on five of the seven
days spent on shore, but there were by no means as many of them as
there were on the occasion of my former visit. One pair seen had a
flock of five young following them. Thus it will be seen that while
this rare species is not extinct, as was greatly feared, it is so rare that
there are probably not more than a half dozen adult pairs on the
island at this time.

Even after the wholesale slaughter of the birds and the result it
had on their nesting and mating habits, the birds remain as fearless
as ever. There is not a species on Laysan that can not be caught in
the hands with a little care and patience. One pair of ducks, for
example, came up within 6 feet of the writer, a lack of fear which
would make the species an easy one to exterminate should poachers
at any time make another raid on the island inhabitants.

Rabbits now literally swarm over the island by thousands. The
amount of damage done by them can better be imagined than told.
They are exterminating first one species of plant then another.
Several species that were common everywhere eight years ago have
entirely gone, others are already doomed. Unless some drastic
measures are resorted to within a very short time not a bush or spear
of grass will be alive.

There is no indication that the islands of Laysan and Lysianski
have been visited by hunting vessels since the last visit of the Thetis.
It is to be hoped that for the time being at least the traffic in birds'
wings and feathers has been broken up in these waters. However,
there is no assurance that it will not be renewed without notice, hence
the necessity for continuing the service of the Thetis or a similar
vessel, and the necessity of making frequent visits at irregular inter-
vals to all of the islands of the reservation.

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 29

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE PROTECTION OF THE
RESERVATION.

As to tlie future care of this wonderful colony, I would suggest that
the most effective way to conserve the bird life is to appoint a warden
for the reservation who should have general supervision of these
low-lying islands and their bird inhabitants. A resident warden
should then be provided who should be supplied with a small auxiliary
power schooner, or a large power sampan, that would enable liim to
make frequent and unannounced visits at irregular intervals to all of
the islands along the chain. The installation of a wireless telegraph
station at Midway, where the power and facilities are already avail-
able, would add greatly to the convenience and safety of commerce
and trans-Pacific travel and would put the islands of the chain in
direct touch with Honolulu and the outside world.

If a vessel such as has been suggested should be stationed at Laysan
or Midway Island it would be an important step toward the proper
supervision of all the outlying islands, whether included in the reserva-
tion or not. Naturally the people and the authorities of the Territory
of Hawaii feel a keen interest in the welfare of this reservation. A
feeling is growing that the day is not far distant when this Territory
will look upon the Leeward chain of islands as forming a great natural
park as interesting and wonderful in its way and as instructive to
visit as are any of the other famous national parks.

The visiting of these islands and reefs by interested persons, should
they be opened to the public under proper regulations and super-
vision, will result in no harm to the breeding colony, as the long
residence of the guano company on the island of Laysan has proven.
As years go by and the birds become more rare elsewhere, the great
reservation thus conserved in the mid-Pacific will be an object of
world interest and concern. The birds themselves are a valuable
possession to Hawaii and the nation, while as an attraction to visitors
as well as to the residents of these islands they represent, as yet, an
asset that is scarcely appreciated.

It is urged that the Federal Government and the Territorial
government should at once become actively interested in these islands
and that measures should be taken to safeguard the birds against the
possibility of further despoliation by plume hunters. It is also urged
that steps should be taken to introduce the rare land birds of Laysan
on other of the low islands of the chain where conditions are favorable
in order to prevent the extermination of these interesting and valuable
birds in the manner I have suggested.

At least three of the land forms of Laysan are of unquestioned
economic importance and of great value to the Territory of Hawaii
as the natural enemies of certain noxious and injurious insects. The
difficult problem of their transportation and introduction into the

30

EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911.

inhabited islands should be taken up vigorously and without delay
by the Territorial government. One of the main objects of the
writer's recent trip to Laysan was in the interest of the Territory and
made for the purpose of studying the habits of these birds on the
ground with the foregoing practical object in view. The visit just
made and the experiments carried on while en route and on the
island resulted in working out simple and practical methods of
transportation which, it is believed, if followed up, will make it
possible to capture and transport living specimens of these delicate
insect-eating species for long journeys at sea without serious loss.

ADDITIONAL COPIES of this publication
■iJ^ may be procured from the Superintend-
ent OF Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C, at 10 cents per copy

Issued September 13. 1911.

United States Department of Agriculture,

BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY— Circular No. 84.

HENRY W. II EN SHAW, Chief of Bureau. ^^..^ A / -— v

DISTRIBUTION OF THE AMERICAN EGRETS.

By W. W. Cooke,
Assistant, Biological Survey.

The accompanying maps show the distribution of the two oom-
mon white herons or " egi*ets," so called from the long plumes or
" aigrettes " worn during the breeding season. The demand of the
millinery trade for these plumes has caused such wholesale slaughter
of these two species that they are almost extinct over large areas
where they were formerly common. The maps indicate the original
range of the species, before fashion decreased their numbers, and
therefore the range which they may be expected again to occupy if
.sufficient protection from persecution is afforded.

Fortunately in the case of each of these species, breeding colonies
still remain in the southern United States to serve as centers of dis-
tribution to the districts formerly included in the range.

Each spot on the maps' represents a positive record — either the cap-
lure of a specimen which is now preserved in one of the larger public
museums, notably the United States National Museum, at Wash-
ington, or a record, published or unpublished, now on file in the
Biological Survey, of the observation of the birds by persons so
familiar with the species as to leave no reasonable doubt of the
correctness of the identification. It should be understood that these
spots represent only a small proportion o^ the places at which the
birds actually bred. They outline the regions in which the birds oc-
curred and throughout which they were likely to be found in any
favorable locality. It should also be understood that the birds are
now more common than the records published during the last ten
years would seem to indicate. Severe persecution has driven the few
remaining wanderers to seek the remote uninhabited parts of the
country, and it is only when a bird strays into a settled region that
it is noted and recorded.

EGRET. {Herodiati egretta.)

Til is egret is variously called American egret, white egret, white
heron, and often the great white heron, to distinguish it from the

4846°— Cir. 84—11

2 DISTBIBUTION OF THE AMERICAN EGRETS.

smaller, snowy egret. It breeds in colonies and the nests are
usually placed high up in tall trees standing near or in water.
The habit of breeding in colonies has greatly facilitated the work
of destruction, since the market hunter has only to visit the rook-
ery when the young are in the nests (the plumes of the parent
birds are then at their finest) to kill off the entire colony. No
matter how often the parents are shot at, they Avill continue to return
with food for the young until the last one perishes. Incidentally the
young are left to starve.

The egret is one of the most widely distributed of the whole family
of herons. Originally it ranged from southern Canada to Patagonia,
and throughout the whole of that extensive area the same story of
persecution has been repeated. To-day there is no place in its North
American range where it is common. The largest colonies in the
United States were formerly along the Gulf coast from Louisiana to
Florida, up the Atlantic coast to southern New Jersey, and up the
larger rivers of the Mississippi Valley to Wisconsin and Indiana. So
generally distributed were these herons in Indiana that they have
been known to nest in Knox, Gibson, Daviess, Dekalb, Steuben,
Noble, Jasper, Porter, Lake, and Starke Counties. The southern
third of Indiana marked the northern limit of the great breeding
colonies, where, in Daviess County, as many as a thousand birds have
been seen in a single flock ; but smaller colonies nested north to north-
em Indiana, and even two-thirds of the Avay up the western shore of
Lake Michigan to Two Rivers, Vv^is.

The numbers formerly breeding near the Pacific coast vv^ere not as
great as in the interior, owing to the lack of suitable nesting sites,
but several strong colonies existed around Tulare Lake, Cal., and a
large colony found congenial conditions near Malheur Lake, in east-
ern Oregon. So thoroughly has the plume hunter done his work
that only a pitiable fraction is left in California.

Notwithstanding the severe persecution to which the birds have
been subjected, a remnant of the. species is still left, for during the
last 10 years the birds h^e been recorded at the following places:

Rhode Island: East Greenwich, August 16, 1904; Poiilt Judith, August 2, 1909.

New York: Montauk, July 23, 1900; Ontario County; August, 1905; East Wind-
ham, July 18, 1906.

New Jersey: Kidgewood, July, 1902; Wading River, August, 1905; Englewood,
July 22, 1906; Black Point, July 6. 1!M)S; Sen bright, August 5, 190S.

Pennsylvania: Berwyn, July 26, 1902; Bristol, July 20, 1906; Ashbourne, July
30, 1906.

Ohio: Cincinnati, August, 1902.

Indiana: Waterloo, April 22, 1905.

Arkansas: Walker Lake, nested 1910.

Missouri: A few nested.in southeastern i»art of State before 1900.

Nebraska: Nehawka, May 2, 1905.

Colorado: Near Denver, April 26, 1907.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE AMEBICAN EGEETS.

s

Ijisvribution of the Egret (Ilerodias euretta

4 DISTRIBUTION OF THE AMERICAN EGRETS.

SNOWY EGRET. {Egrctta ccmdidlssima.)

This smaller white heron is even more beautiful than its larger
relative, for during the breeding season, in addition to the long dorsal
plumes, it is adorned with beautiful plumes on both head and neck.
On account of its superb nuptial plumage the snowy heron has been
the most sought of plume birds, with a correspondingly marked
diminution in its numbers. Formerly it ranged from southern
Canada to Chile and Argentina; now it is almost extinct on the
whole Pacific coast, and so greatly reduced in the Mississippi Valley
and on the Atlantic coast that only the most rigorous enforcement of
protective laws can prevent its total extinction.

Like most herons it breeds in colonies and hence falls an easy prey
to the plume hunter. The colonies were largest and most numerous
in the Gulf States from Texas to Florida, but the bird was not rare
as a breeder in the Mississippi Valley as far north as southern In-
diana and on the Atlantic coast as far north as southern New Jersey.
The great swamps of the lower Ohio, with their abundance of proper
food and enormous trees suitable for nesting sites, are admirably
adapted to the needs of the birds and would undoubtedly be again
occupied by this strikingly handsome species under a proper system
of protection. There are comparatively few natural enemies of the
birds in this section, and if they were relieved from the attacks of
human persecutors the annual increase in numbers would be rapid.

The great colonies were killed off between 1880 and 1888 ; since then
the bird has been A'ery rare north of the Gulf States. A very ex-
tensive series of rookeries was located formerly in southern Xew
Jersey and the birds were still abundant in 1872. The last of these
colonies were destroyed in 1886 and 1887, one man killing 73 birds in
one day. In recent years one bird was observed near Camden, July
16, 1904. The nesting of a single pair at Sayville, Long Island, in
1885, is the latest breeding record north of New Jersey; the latest
breeding records in the upper Mississippi Valley are 1800 in Knox
County, Ind., and 1895 at Lincoln, Nebr. Some of the latest records
in the northern part of the bird's range are : Saratoga County, N. Y.,
1893; St. Albans, Vt., October, 1890; Billings, Mo., August, 1895;
Odin, 111., August 7, 1895; Cleveland. Ohio. August 25, 1889; Dunn-
ville, Ontario, Ma}^ 18, 1884; and Lake Koshkonong, Wis., August,
1886.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE AMERICAN EGRETS.

Distribution of the Suowy Ejrret (Eyretta candiiJinsima),

O

U.SDEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

11

Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey, Henry W. Henshaw, Chief.
September 11, 1914. ^) _

BIRD HOUSE^^J^D HO^^

By Ned Dearborn.
Assistant Biologist.

INTRODUCTION.

Birds may be gathered about us in all seasons of the year with
ease and certainty merely l^y offering what they desire. In winter
they are often pushed for food, and if we supply this need they will
report daily at the lunch counter and help to relieve the tedium
of our indoor life. In summer they care less for food provided by
their human friends, and other means must be sought to attract them
about the home. They appreciate fresh water for bathing and
drinking. A shallow pool of varying depth, if only a foot across,
becomes on hot days a center of attraction for all the birds in the
vicinity, and it may be made with little effort and material; only a
small amount of cement is required, or, if that be lacking, a pan with
stones m it set in the ground will be equally serviceable. Trees,
shrubs, and vines bearing fruit relished by birds are great attractions
in their season.^

Birds are desirable about premises not only on account of their
beauty and song, but because of their economic worth. They are
especially useful as insect destroyers during the breeding period,
when they .have to work early and late to obtain sufficient food
for their nestlings, and their movements at this time are more in-
teresting than during any other season. There is, therefore, a double
purpose in offering them special nesting facilities. If mud is available,
swallows, robins, and phoebes will foimd and wall their nests with it.
If we put out feathers, bits of wool, or twine, a dozen different kinds
of birds will make use of them. If we furnish safe retreats in
which they can rear their young comfortably, most of them will be
occupied. In fact no attraction for summer birds is more effectual

' See U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1909, pp. 185-196, "Plants Useful to Attract Birds and Protect Fruit,"
by W. L. McAtee (Yearbook Separate 504.)

Note.— This bulletin is intended to encourage the protection and study of birds; it is suitable for distri-
bution in all sections of the United States.

61982°— Bull. 609—14 ^1

2 FARMEES' BULLETIN 609.

than a series of houses suited to the needs and habits of the various
kinds of house birds.

A few years ago only four species were commonly regarded as house
birds — the house wren, the bluebird, the tree swallow, and the martin.
Since the movement to protect birds and make neighbors of them
began, however, their natures and needs have become better under-
stood, and it is now known that many other species will avail them-
selves of houses constructed for them by their human friends. The
practice of erecting bird houses in this country, while now nation-wide,
is not so common and uniformly distributed as it should be, and more
extended provisions of this nature can not fail to result in a largely
increased number of house birds.

HOUSE BIRDS INCREASING IN NUMBER.

The habit of nesting in bird houses has been adopted by indi-
viduals of many species which would not ordinarily be expected to
make use of such homes, and this may be taken as indicating that it
will become more general from year to year as faciHties are afforded
and as the number of birds hatched in houses increases.

That western wrens and bluebirds should take as naturally to
artificial shelters as did their eastern relatives was to be expected.
On the other hand, the use of houses by birds which until recently
had persistently ignored them is surprising and must be considered
a victory for those who have studiously attempted to enlarge their
circle of feathered neighbors.

Woodpeckers, nuthatches, and titmice excavate their own houses,
usually new ones each year, leaving the old homes to less capable
architects. Builders of artificial houses generally go to the woodpecker
for designs, and by varying styles to suit the tastes of different kinds
of birds, have been rewarded by such tenants as chickadees, tufted
titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, Bewick and Carolina wrens,
violet-green swallows, crested flycatchers, screech owls, sparrow
hawks, and even some of the woodpeckers, the master builders
themselves. Flickers readily accept houses built according to their
standards. Red-headed and golden-fronted woodpeckers are willing
occupants of artificial houses, and even the downy woodpecker, that
sturdy little carpenter, has, in one instance at least,* deemed such a
home a satisfactory abode in which to raise a family. Shelters having
one or more sides open are used by birds which would never venture
into dark houses suited to woodpeckers. They have been occupied
by robins and brown thrashers, and, in one instance, by a song spar-
row.^

1 Reported by Jefferson Butler as occurring on the Ford farm, near Detroit, where great pains have been
talcen to provide for birds.

2 This song sparrow record is another surprise from the Ford farm, aiuiounced<i>y Mr. Butler, which is
very encouraging to those experimenting with bird houses.

BIRD HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM. 3

The number of house birds may bo still further augmented as time
goes on. All of the commoner woodpeckers are likely to be mcluded,
as are several of the small owls and wrens, and a few of the wild
ducks, as the golden-eye. The wood duck is already known to use
nesting boxes. Houses set close to streams in the western mountains
will probably be occupied by ousels or dippers. Florida grackles
sometimes breed in flicker holes and may be expected to occupy
houses now and then. In every locality having trees there is a group
of birds ready to appropriate houses when they have the opportunity.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTING HOUSES.

House birds differ decidedly in their requirements. For those
which usually excavate homes, for themselves, the diameter of the
entrance and the depth and diameter of the cavity must be in accord
with their specific standards. Some birds are satisfied with almost
any sort of a lodging. Bluebirds and wrens, for example, are con-
tent to build in tomato cans, although chickadees and nuthatches
disdain them. Wood is a better building material than metal or
earthenware. Entrance holes should be countersunk from the out-
side to exclude rain. Heads of nails and screws should be set rather
deeply and covered with putty. All houses should be easy to open
for cleaning. A perch at the entrance is unnecessary and may even
be an objection, as it is frequently used by English sparrows while
they twitter exasperatingly to more desirable occupants. To provide
for proper ventilation a row of small holes is sometimes bored just
beneath the eaves, but there should never be a ventilating hole
lower than the entrance, and joints should be made tight, as drafts
of air are dangerous. In case there is danger that rain may be
driven in through the door, a small drainage hole, which will be
covered by the nest, may be made in the middle of the floor.

The appearance and durability of houses are improved by a coat
of paint. A neutraJ shade of green or gray is suitable for houses
mounted in trees, while those on poles, being conspicuously placed,
lend themselves harmoniously to the landscape when painted white.

The dimensions of nesting boxes shown in Table 1 are taken from
the experience of successful builders and from measurements of
woodpecker holes.

FARMERS BULLETIN

Table 1. — Dimensions of nesting boxes for various species of birds.

Specie."

Bluebird

Robin

Chickadee

Tufted titmouse

White-breasted nuthatch . .

House wren

Bewick wren

Carolina wren

Dipper

Violet-green swallow

Tree swallow

Barn swallow

Martin

Song sparrow

House finch

Phoebe

Crested flycatcher

Flicker

Red-headed woodpecker...
Golden-fronted woodpecker

Hairy woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Screech owl

Sparrow hawk

Saw-whet owl

Barn owl

Wood duck

Floor

Depth

Entrance

Diameter

of

of

above

of

cavity.

cavity.

floor.

entrance.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

5 by 5

8

6

li

6 by 8

8

0)

0)

4 by 4

8 to 10

8

4 by 4

8 to 10

8

if

4 by 4

8 to 10

8

4 by 4

6 to 8

Ito 6

4 by 4

6 to 8

Ito 6

1

4 by 4

6 to 8

Ito 6

n

6 by 6

6

1

5 by 5

6

Ito 6

3 by 5

6

Ito 6

1'

6 by 6

6

0)

0)

6 by 6

6

1

2i

6 by 6

6

(2)

(*)

(iby 0

6

4

2

6 by 6

6

0)

0)

6 by 6

8 to 10

8

2

7 by 7

16 to 18

16

2i

6 by 6

12 to 15

12

2

6 by 6

12 to 15

12

2

6 by 6

12 to 15

12

1

4 by 4

8 to 10

8

li

8 by 8

12 to 15

12

3

8 by 8

12 to 15

12

3

6 by 6

10 to 12

10

2i

10 by 18

15 to 18

4

6

10 by 18

10 to 15

3

6

Height
above
groun^.

Feet.

5 to 10

6 to 15
6 to 15
6 to 15

12 to 20

6 to 10

6 to 10

6 to 10

Ito 3

10 to 15

10 to 15

8 to 12

15 to 20

Ito 3

8 to 12

8 to 12

8 to 20

6 to 20

12 to 20

12 to 20

12 to 20

6 to 20

10 to 30

10 to 30

12 to 20

12 to 18

4to20

One or more sides open.

2 All sides open.

HOUSE PLANS.

Possibilities in the way of improvising bird houses with very little
work are suggested in figures 1 and 2. Ordinary tomato cans treated

in either of the ways here indicated will

be tenanted by wrens and bluebirds.

The cans ought

always to be

placed in shaded

Fig. 1. — Tomato can with circular piece
of board fitted in one end, to make
house for bluebirds or wrens.

Fig. 2.— Tomato can, with
one end removed, fas-
tened to top of post. Hole
cut in side for entrance.
Suitable for bluebirds
or wrens if put in shady
place.

Fig. 3.— Gourd for
martins.

places, as the metal becomes
very hot in the sun.

Bird houses in the South-
ern States have long been made from gourds. The
entrance is in the side and a drain hole in the bot-
tom, as shown in figure 3 . A piece of wire through
the neck for mounting it completes the house. A number of gourds
thus prepared and strung on a pole seems to make a satisfactory tene-
ment house for a colony of martins. Used singly they are equally
well adapted to wrens and bluebirds. While gourds are not durable
when exposed to the weather they are easily replaced.

BIRD HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

Ordinary wooden boxes, if clean, can be made into bird houses by
merely nailing on a cover and cutting out an entrance hole. Such
makeshifts are rarely weatherproof and are never pleasing to the eye.
Branches containing real woodpecker holes, when ob-
tainable, are perhaps the best attraction that can
be offered most house birds in the breeding season.
By carefully fitting such a branch to a fruit or shade

<i

vrmrt

< rourds for wrens or bluebirds.

Fig. 6.— House made
from hollow log.

Fig. 4.— Gourds ar
ranged for martins.

tree its foreign origin will scarcely be noticed. The

house shown in figure 6 is suitable for use in trees.

It is made from a log or large branch, hollowed by

decay, and fitted with a top and bottom as illustrated

in the figure. The cover

is to go on after the log is

fastened in place. Either
the top or bottom shoidd be removable.
Methods of doing this are shown in figures
23 and 26. Another way of making a log
house is to split a straight-grained log 2
feet or more in length through the middle
and then to cut out a cavity with a gouge.
The excavations in the two halves can be
made to match exactly by means of a
pattern or template having the size and
shape desired for the proposed cavity
through the plane of cleavage. Figure 7 ^

shows the appearance of such a house and how to place the template
symmetrically on each half of the stick. The top of this house
should be covered with tin or zinc to keep out moisture. The halves
should be fastened together with screws to allow the house to be
taken apart and cleaned.

6

FAEMEES BULLETIN 609.

Fig. 7. — Log split and halves marked to be gouged
out to form a cavity. Halves to be screwed to-
gether. Top should be covered with tin or zinc.

Phoebes like to nest about buildings, and a simple shelf- under the
roof of a porch or shed is all they require. If, however, it is desirable

to have them stay-
outside, the shelf
must be provided
with a roof. Figure
8 shows a shelf
shielded from the
weather by one wall
and a roof. This
shelf if placed high
under the eaves of a
two-story building
may attract barn
swallows; phoebes
and robms also are hkely to build
upon it if it is not less than 8 feet
from the ground. In some cases
it will be advisable to leave only
one side open.

A. nest shelter designed to be placed in shrubbery for catbirds,
brown thrashers and song sparrows is shown in figure 10. As it

requires Httle lumber or
labor, one may well be
placed in every patch of
weeds or brush fre-
quented by these birds.
Fastened to a large hor-
izontal branch or in a
crotch of a tree it is hkely
to be used by robins.
The house shown in figures 12 to 15 is de-
signed to be set on a pole or a tree stub for
the use of swal-
lows especially.
It can be cleaned
by simply lift-
ing the box from
its base. Bluebirds and wrens, as well
as swallows, nest in this style of house
though they prefer a deeper cavity.
Another pole house is shown in figure 1 7.
This is essentiaQy after the woodpecker
model and is suitable for bluebirds. By
releasing the hooks which fasten the box to the base, cleaning is easy.
Figure 19 illustrates a house to be attached to a tree. It can be

Fig. 8. — Outdoor nest shelf.

Fig

Diagrams for outdoor nest shelf
shown in figure 8.

BIRD HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

Fig. 10.— Nest shelter.

U— -3"- — ^ -/^f —

Z^"-

c/-^

e-2\

.^-—^ .9^'^— H

Fig. 11.— Lumber diagrams for nest shelter shown
in figure 10. Thickness of boards \ inch.

Fig. 12. — Cross section and
interior view of front half
of house for swallows and
bluebirds.

^

Fig. 13.— Foundation
for house shown im
figure 12.

Fig. 14.— Floor aud posts
added to foundation
shown in figure 13.

Fig. 15. — House ready to place over floor
and posts as shown in figure 14.

3^'

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\rz.

FARMERS BULLETIN 609.

e-£ f--^

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SL

6-s

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Fig. 16.— Lumber diagramsforbuildinghouse Fig. 17.— Diagrammatic drawings of bluebird house. This
shown in figures 12 to 15. Thickness of house can be removed from its floor by unfastening two
boards f inch. wire hooks.

^1 I

J. £2£\

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^^v

G^^

— /«?«—

Fig. 18.— Lumber diagrams of house
shown in figure 17. Thickness of
boards f inch.

Fig. 19.— Style of house suitable for
sparrow hawks, screech owls, blue-
birds, and wrens. Designed to be
placed in trees. Bottom can be
removed by turning button.

«^^'S^"*-

riG.2(>.— Section of
house shown in
figiu"e 19.

J

s

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e/-/

,«■-'

a-/

«^

\-~ -7^':

/S"

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f
J

«?-/

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fr— 7 S!

Fig. 21.— Diagrams of house shown in figure 19 for sparrow hawks
and screech owls. Thickness of boards f- inch.

BIRD HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

opened for cleaning by turning a button and removing the bottom.
This house is easy to build and if suitably proportioned is adapted
to a great variety of birds. Plans are furnished for two sizes — one
for bluebirds and the other for

T

e-/

'ir-S"-^.

&-/

Ficf. 22. — Diagrams of house shown in figure 19 for
bluebirds. Thickness of boards \ inch.

screech owls or sparrow hawks.
The flicker house sho^\Ti in

figure 23 is designed to be placed

on a post or the stub of a tree.

The roof can be lifted in the

same way that a stopper is re-
moved from a bottle. A house

suitable for members of the

woodpecker family and also for

nuthatches and titmice, including chickadees, is shown in figure 25.

It is attached to boles of trees. The bottom is removable, as appears

in figure 26.

Figure 29 shows a house designed for wrens and house finches.

For wrens it may be placed on a tree or fence post. If attached near

the eaves of a building, house finches or wrens
will use it. The front gable is open, entrance
to the room below being through the rear of
the upper floor. This house
can be opened for cleaning
by lifting out the upper floor.
Martin houses are built
on the apartment plan to
satisfy the social instinct so
marked in martins but so
conspicuously lacking in
most other birds. They
usually contain not less than
10 or 12 rooms and for this
reason are relatively comph-
cated, especially if they are
miniatures of elaborate
buildings, as is often the
case. Like the single room
houses, they should be easy
to inspect and clean from
top to bottom and, if possi-
ble, should be made proof
against the EngUsh sparrow. An attempt

to combine these essentials in a plain house is illustrated in figure

32. The body of this house slides upon its pole, to the top of

which the roof is sohdly attached (fig. 36). The pole is hoUow and
51982°— Bull. 609—14 2

Fig. 23.— Flicker house to be
mounted on post or stub of
tree.

10

FARMEES BULLETIN 609.

T

r S^--^,

Fig. 24.— Lumber diagrams for
house shown in figure 23.
ness of boards f inch.

flicker
Thick-

X \

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r

Tj

c

6

w

n r?
1 <? r

Fig. 25.— House to be
placed in tree for wood-
peckers, chickadees,
nuthatches, or titmice.

Fig. 26.— Section of
house shown In
figure 25.

£

—/S"

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^

^-/

G-/;^'

d?-/

k e'^—^ /s'*^

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Fig. 27.— Lumber diagrams of house
shown in figure 25, suitable for
downy woodpecker. By reducing
size of entrance it becomes right for
titmice and nuthatches. Thick-
ness of boards f inch.

t^ ^^--

:._^

V

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30"

/7"^

2k • f''ii 9 f'\r-/

Fig. 28.— Lumber diagrams of house shown in
figure 25, suitable for red-headed wood-
pecker. Thickness of boards f inch.

Fig. 29. — House for wrens and house
finches. Roof broken to show
interior.

BIRD HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

11

through it runs a cord by which the house is raised and lowered.
The floors are all removable by lifting up. When the house is out of
contact with the roof all of the entrances are closed by gates actuated
by springs, the gates moving upward to close, and being kept down
and open by pressure against the roof. By means of this device spar-
rows may be kept out of
the house until martins arc
due to arrive, or if they get
in when the house is open
they can be trapped by sud-
denly lowering it. The pole
shown here is made from
hardwood boards put to-
gether with screws. The
concrete base has a core
of 2-inch ii'on pipe which
extends upward far enough
to make a firm connection
with the upper part on
which the house sHdes. A
heavy weight is employed to hold the house hard against the roof.
By passing the cord around the hook of the weight exactly as shown
in figure 39 and puUing it upward until the weight is clear of the
ground, it can easily be held without slipping while a more secure
knot can be tied. A hook less wearing to the cord and fuUy as serv-
iceable may be made from an acute natural crotch of oak or other

r-/ S'£

Fig. 30.— Sections of house shown in flgur© 29.
removable.

Upper floor

Fig. 31.— Lumber diagrams for house shown in figure 29. Thickness of boards } inch.

hardwood instead of iron. Where this house is exposed to strong
winds it may be advisable to attach guy wires to comers of the roof.
The pole may be made of a single piece of 4-inch galvanized pipe, set
in a concrete base. In this case the house should be a cylinder and
the roof a cone.

12

FARMEES BULLETIN 609.

Ml

Fig. 32.— Martin hovis«.

^Qr

N

4

3 C

B>

Nl

^

*

Fig. 33.— Horizontal section of martin
house.

FlO. 34.— Cross vertical section of martia
house; raised, ami doors open.

BIED HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

13

['

Nr

Fig. 35. — Longitudinal vertical section of
martin house; lowered, and doors closed.

Fig. 36.— Roof of martin house
attached solidly to pole.

Fig. 37.— Martin
house lowered;
doors closed.

Fig. 38.— Martin
house in i)lace;
doors open.

Fig. 39.— lYoper way to
make first "hitch" of
rope on hook of coun-
terweight.

14

FARMERS BULLETIN 609.
CARE OF HOUSES.

Each spring before birds return from the South all filth and litter
should be carefully removed from bird houses. In addition to the
relics of previous occupancy, houses are likely to contain cocoons of
insects, and nests of bees or squirrels. Attention to this one item of
spring cleaning is a substantial factor in attachmg birds permanently
to their houses. A little sulphur scattered about a house is a good

Fig. 40.— Details of construction and operation of gates.

remedy for parasites. When bluebirds ov swallows take possession
of a martin house it is a good plan to put up a one-room house in the
^cinity and remove the nest from the martin house. Interlopers,
thus evicted, often transfer their housekeeping to the small house.
Houses designed for woodpeckers should always have an inch or so
of sawdust in the bottom for the receptioji of eggs, as woodpeckers do
not gather nest materials. Due attention should be given to repairs.
It is easier to keep houses in good order than to build new ones.

BIBD HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

15

ENEMIES OF HOUSE BIRDS.

Birds have numerous enemies from which a careful landlord will
try to guard them. Among these is the English sparrow, whose per-
sistent attacks too often drive more desirable birds away from their
nests and from the neighborhood. Those who wish to free their prem-
ises of these sparrows will find recommendations in Farmers' Bulletin
493, The Enghsh Sparrow as a Pest. European starlings, which at
present are not distributed beyond a narrow strip of the Atlantic coast

6-2

c andcf-'^ [ e-e [^

/a '/^- « '*- s^"^

Fig, 41. — Liunber diagrams for martin house. Thickness of boards \ inch.

region centering about New York, are to be condemned for their
j)ermcious interference with native house birds.

Cats and large snakes are enemies of birds, the former perha})s
killing more birds than any other mammal. Trees and poles sup})ort-
ing houses should be sheathed with tin or galvanized iron to prevent
these enemies from climbing to the nests. Squirrels give more or less
trouble by gnawing houses, eating eggs, and kiUing nestlings. Red
squirrels, in particular, have a very bad reputation in this respect,
and many experimenters keep their grounds free from them. Some
regard flying squirrels as but little better than red ones. Even gray

16

FARMERS BULLETIN 609.

Fig. 42.— Food shelter for attachment to trunk
of tree.

and fox squirrels are occasionally troublesome. It is not necessary,
however, that bird lovers should wage indiscriminate warfare against

all squirrels. It is far better to
adopt the rule never
squirrel unless there is
reason to believe that
it has acquired the
habit of eating eggs
or young birds; the
result will probably
be that not more than
one red squirrel in fifty •
nor more than one
gray squirrel in a hun-
dred will have to be
killed. Wliere squir-
rels arc numerous they
give more or less trouble by gnaw-
ing and disfiguring houses. This damage may be prevented, however,
by covering the parts about the entrance with tin or zinc.

FOOD SHELTERS.

Another means of attracting birds about human habitations is to
furnish an abundance of food,
preferably in food sheltei-s. If
one is unable to make shelters
that will protect food in all kinds
of weather, the food may be fas-
tened to trunks or branches of
trees or scattered in sheltered
places on the ground. A de-
cided advantage in having
shelters, aside from that of pro-
tecting food, is that they may
be placed where the birds can be
watched conveniently. When
shelters are used the birds are
first baited by placing food, such
as suet, seeds, or cracked nuts,
in a conspicuous place, and then
led by degrees to enter the in-
closure. Designs for two food
shelters are exhibited in fi":ures

■^e

ec3-

PiG. 43. — Vertical section, side to side, with sug-
gestions for larder; diagi-ammatic and cross sec-
tion of food shelter shown in figure 42.

42 and 46, one of which is supported by a post, the other by a tree.
Structural details are shown for both. There is no bottom to either
of them.

BIRD HOUSES AND HOW TO BVILD THEM.

17

Fio. 44.. — Front and side elevations of shelter shown in figfiire 42.

^7v?

5[

C-^

2>^'

Cfi^-3 \

.SG-

€-^

\

~ — --~-~_____^

^

1 h-^

h'-£

/&'

Fig. 45.— Lumber diagram (rf food shelter shown in figure 42

-/<?''—

Fig. 40.— FoolI shelter for attachment
to post . Roof cut away to show con-
struction. Side.! made of glass; size
cf panes 8 by 10 inches.

18

FARMERS BULLETIN 609.

LOCATION.

The location of a bird house or food shelter has much to do with its
success, for the reason that birds have decided notions as to proper
surroundings for a dwelling. Martins prefer to breed near houses,
but not within 20 feet of trees or buildings. Bluebirds are inclined to
select orchards or pastures having scattered trees. Wrens, thrashers,
and catbirds live in thick shrubbery. Robins like trees with sturdy
trunks and branches. Titmice, nuthatches, and most of the wood-
peckers are woodland species, although flickers and red-headed wood-
peckers are more at home among the scattered trees of roadsides and
pastures. Song sparrows frequent weedy swales and brush fences.
Swallows do not enter woods so that a house would be as attractive
to them in one open place as in another. The eastern phoebe, the
black phoebe, and the house finch, while not limited to the haunts of
man, are noticeably partial to them. Crested flycatchers, screech
owls, barn owls, and sparrow hawks are governed more by conven-
ience than by taste; although normally inclined to hold aloof from

Fig. 47. — Cross and longitudinal sections of food house shown in iigure 46.

man, they have in many instances reared their broods in close prox-
imity to dwellings. Barn owls, true to their name, accept suitable
quarters in buildings without hesitation.

CONCLUSION.

Before erecting bird houses oxie should first determine the kind of
birds to which his premises are adapted. The question usually next
arising is as to the number of birds that can be accommodated.
Unless grounds are large, it is generally useless to expect as tenants
more than a pair of each species, except martins. However, the
singular intolerance shown by most birds during the breeding season
to others of their kind does not operate between those of different
species. A dozen different kinds of birds will pursue their several
modes of hunting and raise their families on the same lot, but rarely
two of the same sort.* Of all our house birds, martins alone are

1 The fact that birds are more tolerant toward strangers than toward relatives was well illustrated by an
ol)servation made recently by the writer in New Mexico. A one-story tool house 10 feet square had nailed
to three corners of its roof rough 1 )ird houses made from packing boxes. One was occupied by violet-greea
swallows, another by western bluebirds, and the third by English sparrows. A still more remarkable asso-
ciation of different species has been reported by Otto Widmann, of St. Louis, Mo., who once had a pair each
of flickers, martins, house wrens, and English sparrows nesting simultaneously in the sama house.

BIED HOUSES AND HOW TO BUILD THEM.

19

social. The fact that there is a limit to the possible bird population
on any given tract must be taken into consideration. When the
probable tenants have been decided upon, the selection of sites is in
order, for the site often decides the style of house that is to occupy it.
In the final placing of bird houses, care should be taken to have them

S-2

■30'^

TJ]

S'^yji'

r-^

S-^ I

-36'

^M.

-27"

£

r3\

-/y-

33

-^7"

^-^

'* S"—A

Fig. 48.— Lumber diagrams of food shelter shown in figure 46.

face away from the winds prevaiUng in stormy weather. The
strongly developed homing instincts of birds can be relied on to attach
them to the neighborhood where they first saw the light, and the
identical pairs which nest in the houses provided for them one year
will often return the next season to enjoy the same bounty and pro-
tection.

WASHINGTON: GOVERN MKNT TKINTING OFFICE: 1914

Y. B. Separate 545.

the migratory movements of birds
iTrelationto^ the weather.

By

-T?

WELLS W. COOKE,

Assistant, Biological Survey.

[From Yearbook op Department op Agriculture for 1910.1

97239° — 11 WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1911

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction 379

Migration waves and temperature waves 379

Explanation of migration under apparently unfavorable conditions 381

Migration and temperature 382

Migration governed by average weather 383

Birds prefer migrating in warm weather 384

Birds can not foretell weather changes 385

Beginnings of migration 386

Uniformity of arrival 386

Fall migration 387

Migration and wind 387

Equal flight lines 388

Conclusion 390

ILLUSTRATION.

Page.
Fig. 30. Northward migration of the summer warblers, compared with the
advance of spring , 380

THE MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS IN RELATION
TO THE WEATHER.

By Wells W. Cooke,
Assistant, Biological Survey.

INTRODUCTION.

Accurate knowledge of the periodic movement of birds is essential
is a basis for intelligent study of their economic relations, and is
Equally necessary for intelligent effort for the protection of migra-
tory species — two subjects which form important parts of the work
of the Biological Survey. Ever since its organization the Survey
kas devoted much attention to collecting data on food habits and
migration, and interest in these investigations is widespread. Thus
more than 2,000 observers in the United States and Canada have
(Contributed notes on bird migration. Some of these not^s cover only
the dates of arrival of a few birds for a single season, others form
an elaborate resume of both spring and fall migration at a given
locality far 25 years or more. The whole, aggregating more than
400,000 records, forms the largest mass of migration data ever
assembled in this country.

To ascertain the relation of bird migration to the weather, two
things are essential: (1) Records for many years of the times of
arrival of birds, made by a thoroughly reliable and competent ob-
server constantly in the field; (2) observations taken in a district
without mountains or valleys, which might interfere with the course
of migration.*

1

JMKJRATION WAVES AND TEMPERATURE WAVES. '

In the middle of May, 1882, the whole city of Washington swarmed
with large flocks of brilliantly colored birds. Scarlet tanagers,
orchard orioles, and rose-breasted grosbeaks by the score flitted
through the Mall and flashed among the trees of parks where ordi-
narily a half dozen would be a full season's quota. Rare species
were common, and among them were warblers never before seen in
Washington in spring. Even the Cape May, the mourning, and the

t" In the first part of this article use has heen made of the notes of Dr. J. C. Hvoslef,
nt Lanesboro, Minn., who contributerl excoUent memoranda for 10 consecutive years.
His worlc was supplemented by that of several other observers immediately south of
Lanesboro. The latter part of the article Is based on the combined records of all our
migration observers.

379

380

YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Nashville warblers, the rarest of the regular migrants, were not un-
common. What had happened? A "bird wave" had met an un-
favorable "weather wave" and its progress had been temporarily
arrested. It was the height of the migration season, when untold

^^^^^^^jM^^d.--'3c^^

IP

^^^®i

1

1 \\^

^ffl

m

^^^^^r\^

P

miiVsor

^^^^^^^

i

r^^^

g

yC^

^^ff^?^v\

1

^^^^^^M

Isochronal migration lines. ^^^

J . Main line of migration to the

. Eastern United States.

^s

^^S'

1 ^^^^^-^t^tj !

Fig. 30.— Northward migration of the summer warblers^ compared with the advance of spring.

thousands of aerial voyagers were speeding along the main chain of
the Alleghenies toward their summer homes. Suddenly they ware
met by a sleet storm of such severity as not only to block their
further northward progress, but to force them to descend from the

MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE WEATHER. 381

mountains to the shrubbery of the Coastal Plain in order to obtain
food. The storm continued to the north of Washington for more
than a week, while in the South fair weather tempted additional
thousands to continue their migratory flight until they reached the
inhospitable zone. The result was a " tidal wave " of birds never
before or since equaled in the neighborhood of Washington.

This is a striking illustration of the fact that bird migration occurs
in what may fitly be called " waves." Moreover, the relation of the
weather to bird waves is that of cause and effect. Disconnected bird
parties traveling northward are arrested by a cold snap, and suc-
ceeding swarms are similarly delayed until a great migrant host is
waiting to continue its progress northward as a pronounced "bird
wave."

It is not to be understood, however, that bird waves and tempera-
ture waves are always synchronous. Indeed, if a chart showing the
weather waves at a given place for a series of years is compared with
a similar chart showing the bird waves, the lack of uniformity is
such as to suggest that there can be no relation between migration
movements and the weather. Thus one season at Lanesboro, Minn.,
during the first week in May, the temperature was above normal and
a great bird wave flooded the woods with songsters. The next year
the same species came five days earlier, apparently because of a warm
wave that carried the mean temperature far above the average. But
the following year one of the most pronounced bird waves of the
season occurred on the last day of April, when, although the tem-
perature was far below normal, the birds arrived almost a week ahead
of their usual dates; and notwithstanding the continuance of cold
weather for the next three weeks, the birds kept coming, two-thirds
of them earlier than usual. The largest bird wave ever recorded at
Lanesboro, Minn., was on May 9, 1891, when after several days of
cold the temperature rose suddenly some 20° above normal. Yet in
another year the largest number of arrivals was on May 7, the last
of three days of increasing cold, when the temperature was fully 20°
below normal.

Evidently it is impossible to foretell what bird movements will
accompany any given set of weather conditions. It may seem that a
certain storm has held back the travelers, but another year, under
apparently identical conditions, the birds may continue northward in
spite of a storm. Birds fail to arrive when circumstances seem pro-
pitious and again come in myriads when conditions seem adverse.

EXPLANATION OF MIGRATION UNDER . APPARENTLY UNFAVORABLE

CONDITIONS.

The probable explanation of these wide departures from the inti-
mate connection that has been supposed to exist between bird migra-

382 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

tion and the weather is found in the fact that migration does not
progress uniformly, but is a series of advances interspersed with pe-
riods of rest or inactivity. The average daily advance of migration
northward in spring in the Mississippi Valley is only 23 miles, or
scarcely more than a half hour's flight; but since there are many
stop-over nights on the migration journey, it follows that on each
night of flight a correspondingly greater distance must be covered.
Probably few night migrants make less than 100 miles at a flight, while
spurts of 200 miles or more must be very commo'n. The records of
migration near the Mississippi River during one spring indicate that
the purple martin made nearly the whole trip from southern
Louisiana to southern Manitoba in 12 nights (120 miles a night),
although 70 days were spent between the two places. A study of
the weather map and of the records of the migration observers makes
it probable that the fox sparrow, brown creeper, ruby-crowned king-
let, yellow-bellied woodpecker, field sparrow, and purple martin,
which were noted at Lanesboro, Minn., the morning of April 1, 1888,
had traveled the night before from at least as far south as Daven-
port and probably from Keokuk, Iowa.

It must frequently happen that migrating birds pass from aus-
picious into adverse weather or are caught by sudden storms and
forced to alight. Next day, when they are noted as arrivals, they
are recorded as having migrated during unfavorable weather, such
records going to swell the percentage of exceptions to the supposed
rule that birds prefer good weather for migrating.

During spring migration it is probable that birds do not start in
the evening except under favorable conditions, and when these
conditions hold throughout the night the flight northward is
greatly prolonged. This probablj^ explains a hitherto unnoted fact
brought to light by a study of the migration data in the Biological
Survey. After the northward movement has been checked and then
resumed, the birds do not stop when they have made up for lost time,
but keep on until they are in advance of their normal position. Sev-
eral striking examples of this appear in the. Lanesboro notes — ^in fact,
examples are numerous enough to warrant the assertion that in every
great migratory movement there are numerous individual birds which
are ahead of their normal time.

MIGRATION AND TEMPERATURE.

On the night of March 13-14, 1904, an innumerable host of Lap-
land longspurs, migrating northward in southern Minnesota, en-
countered a heavy fall of soft, damp snow. Weighted by the clinging
flakes, the birds dropped to earth, and a large proportion perished.
The death toll on the hard, icy surface of two small lakes was

MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE WEATHER. 383

estimated at 750,000, while the number of lifeless bodies scattered
over the 1,500 square miles of territory covered by the disaster was
beyond computation. Such tragedies are fortunately rare, and yet
so fickle is the spring weather that early migrants, to be successful,
require constitutions hardy enough to withstand wide variations in
temperature.

There is no definite temperature to which a bird is confined during
migration. The insistent crescendo call of the ovenbird is associated
in our minds with the full verdure of May woods, and yet the bird
has been known to arrive in a snowstorm. While it prefers a tem-
perature of about 55° F., the thermometer at the time of its appear-
ance in southern Minnesota varies from near freezing to full summer
warmth. Computations of the temperature at the time of arrival of
several other common species (so well known and conspicuous that
they could hardly fail to be seen as soon as they reached the home
of the observer) show variations of from 14° to 37°, the average
variation being 24°. During March, April, and May, in the Missis-
sippi Valley, the thermometer rises about 1° for each two daj^s, so
that a difference of 24° would be equivalent to about 48 days'
variation in the time of migration.

The later migrants are able to adapt themselves to temperatures
of from 70° to 40° F., while the early ones ordinarily experience
variations of from 45° to 15°, and are able to endure still greater
cold. Thus the hoarse caw of the earliest crows is heard in southern
Minnesota at an average temperature of 12° below freezing, and the
birds can survive a sudden drop of as many degrees below zero.

MIGRATION GOVERNED BY AVERAGE WEATHER.

Birds do not migrate by chance. The habit of migration has been
evolved through countless generations, and during this time birds'
physical structure and habits have been undergoing a process of
evolution to adapt them to the climatic conditions of their summer
homes. In spring and early summer the climatic conditions are de^
cidedly variable, and yet there must be some period that has on the
average the best weather conditions for the bird's arrival. During
the ages habits of migration have been developed under whose in-
fluence the bird so performs its migratory movements that on the
average it arrives at the nesting site at the proper time.

The word " average " needs to be emphasized. It is the average
Aveather at a given locality that determines the average time of the
bird's arrival, and the average subsequent weather is the governing
factor in deciding when the nest shall be constructed and the eggs
laid. In obedience to physiologic promptings, the bird migrates at
the usual average time and proceeds northward at the usual average
speed unless prevented by adverse weather. But, unfortunately for

384 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

birds, these average weather conditions are interspersed with occa-
sional drops of temperature that reduce insect-eating birds to the
verge of starvation. The purple martin, being an early migrant, is
peculiarly liable to such accidents. A storm in late June, 1903, in
southern New Hampshire swept the air of the bird's insect prey for
so long that all the young birds starved in their nesting boxes and a
large proportion of the old birds perished. Conversely, birds go
south in fall until they reach a district where usually they can ob-
tain sufficient food throughout winter. But sometimes they do not
go far enough to be out of reach of an exceptional blizzard. The
coast of South Carolina was visited in February, 1"899, by a heavy
snowstorm, with the severest cold known there in two hundred years.
Thousands of fox sparrows, snowbirds, and woodcock starved, and
probably nine-tenths of the bluebirds and pine warblers shared their
miserable fate.

The soundness in general of the birds' instincts is vindicated by
the fact that all these catastrophes, appalling though they are, do not
permanently diminish the bird population. Provided bad weather
has not permanently reduced the food supply, the birds eventually
regain their former numbers.

Take the striking case of the bluebird. The winter of 1894-95
killed off so many of the bluebirds east of the Mississippi River that
in the spring of 1895 not a bluebird warble was heard in many a
town where the year before there had been a full chorus. Since then
their numbers have gradually increased, until now, were it not for
persecution by the English sparrow, the ever-welcome bluebirds
would be as numerous as ever.

BIRDS PREFER MIGRATING IN WARM WEATHER.

It is well known that migration is retarded by severe cold weather
and is accelerated by unusually warm weather. The 10 years of
observations at Lanesboro — the most accurate record that has ever
been made in the United States — show about 50 per cent more arrivals
during the warmer than during the colder days. The number of
birds that migrate during periods of low temperature is, however,
surprisingly large, and it might be objected that many of the birds
recorded during cold days really came unnoticed during a previous
warm spell, but the chances are that the errors of omission would
count most heavily in the opposite direction, since shivering birds are
apt to sink into silence and seclusion, while on warm days both melody
and motion betray their presence.

A rise in temperature is interpreted by the birds as a signal for
migrating. At the end of a cold snap that has halted the advance,
the birds do not wait until the mercury rises to normal, but start
north as soon as there is a marked change for the better. The Lanes-

MOVEMENTS OF BIEDS IN KELATION TO THE WEATHER. 385

boro records show just twice as many instances of arrival during a
rising as during a falling temperature ; and the average temperature
of the two days before a bird arrives, when calculated for a series of
years, is always less than the average temperature of the day of
arrival.

Every student of bird migration has noticed that in an unusually
early spring the first migrants arrive ahead of their average dates.
Thus in Washington during March and April, 1910, almost every
species anticipated its usual date of arrival. But it is seldom, if ever,
that such untimeliness continues throughout an entire season, nor is
any entire season likely to be later than usual. Indeed, seasons are
such combinations of warm and cold waves that the average date of
arrival for the Avhole migration period is remarkably uniform. At
Lanesboro the average date of arrival for all species is April 25;
the extremes vary less than four days, and the average variation from
year to year is only a single day.

It has already been stated that each species prefers to arrive at its
breeding grounds w^hen the average temperature is within certain
definite limits. Thus the Baltimore oriole arrives in southern Minne-
sota when the thermometer ranges around 55° F., but it does not
follow that the oriole will appear in spring as soon as the temperature
rises to that degree, nor that the bird never arrives before the temper-
ature reaches that point. One spring at Lanesboro the 10 days from
April 13 to 23 averaged 10° warmer than the oriole's preferred tem-
perature, but no orioles appeared until May. Another year the Bal-
timore oriole appeared at Lanesboro when for two weeks the ther-
mometer had not risen above 48° F. The point to be emphasized is
that a knowledge of w^eather conditions in any given season is not a
basis for deducing the time of arrival that season of any particular
species.

BIRDS CAN NOT FORETELL WEATHER CHANGES.

One morning in October the base of the Statue of Liberty in New
York Harbor was covered with the dead bodies of birds that had
struck against the light during the previous night. More than 175
were picked up, and a larger number had fallen into the sea, all
victims of this one light during a single night. Similar destruction
occurs during each storm of the migration season. Whirled by the
tempest until they lose all sense of direction, with the landpnarks
hidden by enveloping clouds, the birds are lured to death by a beacon
light penetrating the mist. A continuous red light or a flashing
intermittent light of any color does not attract them, but a steady
white light is irresistible.

Nor are man's beacons the only agents destructive to migrating
hosts. The night of October 10, 1906, flocks of migrants over Lake
Huron were caught by a snowstorm and forced into the waves, and

386 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

according to an observer on the eastern shore 5,000 dead birds to the
mile were strewn along the sands — only a part of those that perished.
The frequency of these disasters proves that birds can not foretell
the weather. No bird starts on a migratory flight during a rain or
in a dense fog or against a chilling blast, and yet thousands of birds
each year are found near lighthouses and along the shores of large
bodies of water under just such w^eather conditions, showing that
after starting they met or were overtaken by the storm. The early
settlers in the Mississippi Valley noticed so often that an exception-
ally heavy flight of ducks and geese moving straight south at a high
altitude was soon followed by a severe storm that they came to have
great faith in the birds as weather prophets and believed that they
could actually foretell an approaching tempest. It is more probable
that the birds began to migrate at the first signs of the storm and
outstripped it in their southward flight.

BEGINNINGS OF MIGKATION.

It may be safely stated that the weather in the winter home has
nothing to do w^ith starting birds on the spring migration, except
in the case of a few, like ducks and geese, that press northward as
fast as open water appears. There is no appreciable change in tem-
perature to warn the hundred or more species of our birds which
visit South America in wdnter that it is time to migrate. It must
be a force from within that makes them spread their wings for the
long flight. The most important duty of the individual bird is the
perpetuation of the species, and the impulse w^hich annually starts
the bird north toward its breeding grounds is physiological.

UNIFORMITY OF ARRIVAL.

Were the surface of the earth level and the climate absolutely uni-
form, birds would arrive at a given place on approximately the same
day each year, but the records for a series of years at any given
locality show considerable variation in the dates of arrival. Part
of this variation is undoubtedly due to errors of observation, for
series of notes on the same species by different observers in neighbor-
ing localities often show highly improbable differences in the appar-
ent regularity of arrival. In the records of the Biological Survey
the best example of uniformity in arrival is that of the chimney
swift at New Market, Va., as noted by George M. Neese. The dates
of each year from 1884 to 1906 are, respectively : April 16, 16, 15, 16,
16, 11, 9, 15, 21, 14, 15, 14, 12, 7, 16, 14, 16, 12, 11, 9, 12, 12, 10.
The three days, April 14, 15, and 16, include more than half the
years, the average date is April 13, and the average variation from
this date is only 2.2 days. Usually, however, the recorded dates of
arrival of a sj^ecies vary irregularly from 10 to 14 days, with an
average variation of a little more than 3 days^ These variations and

MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE WEATHER. 387

the date of arrival on its nesting grounds depend on the combination
of storm and fair weather met during the journey.

The arriv^al of a migrating bird in any district south of its final
goal depends not so much on the local temperature of that district
as on its geographic relation to the place of nesting. The summer
warblers, for instance, which nest in Manitoba, doubtless spend the
winter in South America and probably start north in March, arriv-
ing in Manitoba the middle of May, where they find an average tem-
perature of about 48° F. As this is the time they begin summer
housekeeping, it is evident that these warblers obtain an abundance
of food at this temperature. Leaving South America with the ther-
mometer higher than 70° F., throughout the entire trip they are in
a temperature warmer than is required for their food supply, and
it is only during severe storms or unusual cold that climatic condi-
tions delay their northward progress.

Thus over the whole flight way between the winter and summer
homes, local weather conditions have little influence on the average
time of the bird's arrival, except when it nears its breeding grounds.
Then it approaches a critical zone, where its migration is very likely
to be affected by the weather. The summer warbler usually finds in
Louisiana a temperature of 70° F.. and a drop of 10° would hardly
retard its progress; but if, just before it reached Manitoba, the tem-
perature should fall from 48° F. to 38° F., it would probably fold
its wings and wait.

FALL MIGRATION.

The data aA^ailable for the study of fall migration are much less
in quantity, as well as less reliable, than those on spring migration.
It may be said, however, that almost without exception the beginnings
of fall migration have no relation whatever to the weather. Most
species migrate as soon as the young are able to care for themselves ;
others begin molting then and start on their southward trip when
their new fall suits are ready. Many species begin to go south in
July and most of the others early in August, long before the fall
storms have lessened their food supply, and, indeed, at the time when
food is most plentifid.

After the tide of fall migration is in full swing, its advance is
varied by alternating storms and fair weather, as in spring, but with
exactly opposite effects; instead of delaying migration, a fall storm
causes the departing hosts to hasten their movements before the chill-
ing northern blasts. In spring the larger part of migration occurs
with a rising temperature; in fall a still larger percentage occurs
when the temperature is falling.

MIGRATION AND WIND.

During spring migration the direction of the wind, seenjs to have
little if any effect on the movements of birds. Arrivals were noted

388 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

at Lanesboro, Minn., 102 days when the wind was south, southeast,
or southwest, as against 96 days when the wind was north, northeast,
or northwest. Thus the birds migrated with the wind against them
just about as frequently as with the wind in their favor. Observa-
tions at the lighthouses of southern Florida point to the same conclu-
sion. The Biological Survey has the records for many years of each
night in spring on which birds were noted passing the lights. These
migrants had just reached Florida by a flight over the ocean from
Cuba. One might expect them to wait for a favoring wind before
starting to sea, but the records indicate that they paid no attention
to the direction of the wind.

In fall it seems to be different, but it must be remembered that
most that has been published on the interrelation of bird flights and
the wind in fall refers to the late migrants, which have waited
until they are forced south by the advance of winter. The larger
part of fall migration occurs in late summer and early autumn, be-
fore the equinoctial storms set in and the temperature drops. There
is no reason for believing that the movements of birds at this time
have any more intimate relation to the direction of the wind than in
spring. It is true that late migrants hurry southward with a north
storm and halt on the advent of a south wind, but the real cause of
the southward journey is probably the cold that accompanies the
north wind.

EQUAL FLIGHT LINES.

Another question arises: Do the individuals of a given species
migrate along the Atlantic slope at the same time and at the same
average temperature as those in the Mississippi Valley or on the
Pacific coast? Few species extend their range from ocean to ocean
and are also so common and well known that sufficient data con-
cerning them have been accumulated to permit definite deductions.
But a study of several wide-ranging species makes it certain that
each one is a law unto itself, and that it is not safe to reason from one
species to another, even if closely related. Thus the purple martin
and the cliff swallow both desert the United States during winter
to sojourn in South, America ; both return to the United States in
spring and breed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; but while the
purple martin keeps approximately the same temperature in its ad-
vance along the coast and the interior, the cliff swallow moves up
the Mississippi Valley at a much lower temperature than along the
Atlantic coast, and, indeed, orders its movements with less relation
to the progi'ess of the season than any other bird so far studied. _ ^

The summer warbler is so abundant and well known that volumi-
nous records of its migrations are on file in the Biological Survey.
It observes a very regular spring schedule, as is shown by the accom-

MOVEMENTS OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE WEATHER. 389

panying map (fig. 30) — the first of the kind ever published in this
country — giving the spring advance of the season, as shown by
isotherms, in comparison with the corresponding equal flight lines or
isochronal lines of the summer warbler. This bird was selected be-
cause it winters entirely south of the United States and during migra-
tion occurs from ocean to ocean and from the Gulf of Mexico to
Canada. By April 10 the warbler is noted across the whole country
from South Carolina to California. At this date the foremost rank
of birds — the equal flight line of April 10 — is closely coincident with
the isotherm of 62° at the Mississippi River, slightly in advance in
South Carolina and Arizona, and still farther north on the Pacific
slope. These differences in the West constantly increase as the season
advances.

During the 10 days from April 10 to April 20 the isochronal line
of the summer warbler moves to Virginia, southern Illinois, and north-
ern California, which brings it on April 20 approximately along the
isotherm of 58°. The birds have moved north faster than the season.
During the whole trip from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, for each
10 days of the spring flight there is a remarkably uniform drop of
4° in the average temperature at which the van of migration is mov-
ing, and while the earliest migrants reach the United States when
the daily mean temperature is about 60° F., those which nest in north-
ern Canada reach their northern summer home when the daily mean
temperature is below 45° F.

On April 30 the earliest summer warblers have reached northeast-
ern Nebraska, while to the westward the van is 350 miles in the rear
and is just appearing in southeastern Colorado. This retardation
of migration is due to the increasing elevation of the land from the
Missouri westward, which causes a decrease of temperature. On the
great western plains, where the slope is about 6 feet to the mile, bird
migration is retarded on the average one day for each 300 feet in-
crease in altitude. For steeper slopes there is still greater retarda-
tion of migration relatively to the increase in altitude.

On the Pacific coast, from April 10 to 20, the summer warblers ad-
vance about as fast as the spring, but within the next 10 days they
appear in southwestern British Columbia, having averaged 75 miles
a day — two and one-half times the speed of those on the Atlantic
slope ; also in these 10 days they have gone from a temperature of
58° F. to one of 48° F., while the eastern birds were dropping from
58° F. only to 54° F.

The map shows also some interesting facts as to the route of the
migration flight. All the numerous records of the summer warbler's
arrival in southern Texas from San Antonio to Brownsville are later
than those of northeastern Texas, showing that the early migrants
reach the northeastern part of that State by a direct flight over the

390 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Gulf of Mexico, while the late birds in southern Texas probably
travel by a land route through Mexico. Similarly the dates of spring
arrival are earlier in northern Georgia than in southeastern Georgia
and northeastern Florida, indicating that the earliest migrants across
the Gulf of Mexico fly far inland before alighting.

The summer vv^arbler arrives at Edmonton, Alberta, earlier than
at central Montana, 400 miles south. Evidently the Edmonton birds
do not come from the south, neither are they from the southeast, for
migration is no earlier in southern Manitoba than it is in central
Alberta. Hence they must come from the southwest, though this
necessitates their crossing the main range of the Eocky Mountains,
which at this season is still cold and partly covered with snow.

CONCLUSION.

The foregoing facts show conclusively that weather conditions
are not the cause of the migration of birds, but that the weather, by
influencing the food supply, is the chief factor which determines
the average date of arrival at the breeding grounds. Migration is
undertaken in response to physiologi«"al changes in birds, and the
date of starting, in the case of most species, bears no relation what-
ever to the local weather conditions in the winter home. The weather
encountered en route influences migration in a subordinate way, re-
tarding or accelerating the birds' advance by only a few days and
having slight relation to the date of arrival at the nesting site.

Local weather conditions on the day of arrival at any given locality
are minor factors in determining the appearance of a species at that
place and time. The major factors in the problem are the weather
conditions far to the southward, where the night's flight began, and
the relation which that place and time bear to the average position
of the bird under normal weather conditions. Many, if not most^
instances of arrivals of birds under adverse weather conditions are
probably explainable by the supposition that the flight was begun
under favorable auspices and that late in the night the weather
changed. Spring migration usually occurs with a rising temperature
and the movements of autumn with a falling temperature. In each
case the change seems to be a more potent factor than the absolute
degree of cold.

The direction and force of the wind — except as they are occasionally
intimately connected with sudden and extreme variations in tempera-
ture— seem to have only a slight influence on migration.

Another conclusion equally apparent is that neither the time of
migration, the route, nor the speed of one species can be deduced
from records of other species, even though closely related; in other
words, each species and even each group of individuals of a species
is a law unto itself.

Y. B. Separate 504.

PLANTSJJSEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS
"^AiirPROTECT FRDIT~

By ^ ^iL-'

W.' L. McATEE,

Assistant, Biological Survey.

[From Yearbook of Department op Agriculture for 1909.]

^336 1Q WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTINS OFFICE : 1*10

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction 185

Plants useful for attracting fruit-eating birds 185

Food plants for sparrows J 93

Food plants for upland game birds 194

Plants useful for protecting cultivated fruits 194

Conclusion 196

lU

PLANTS USEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS AND PROTECT

FRUIT.

By W. L. McAtee,
Assistant, Biological Survey.

INTRODUCTION.

Birds play a very important part in the economy of nature, and
by their destruction of insects lend material aid in keeping the bal-
ance true. Both the farmer and the orchardist are greatly indebted
to birds for the destruction of insects and weed seed, and nowhere
is the nature and extent of this indebtedness more fully appreciated
than in the United States. In every part of our broad land also are
lovers of birds whose pleasure is in large part measured by the num-
ber of feathered acquaintances each season brings. Both for prac-
tical and esthetic reasons, therefore, there is a demand for infor-
mation as to the best method of increasing the bird population in
restricted areas, particularly on the farms and about homes. There
is a demand also for the provisioning of large preserves for both
land and water game birds and the protection of crops by cultivating
seed and fruit bearing plants more useful to birds than to man.

Various other factors may be made to contribute to the success of
efforts to attract birds, such as a supply of water for drinking and
bathing, nesting boxes, protection from enemies, and winter feeding;
but the main purpose of this article is to call attention to the plants
which best serve to provide food for birds and to draw their atten-
tion away from cultivated crops.

PLANTS USEFUL FOR ATTRACTING FRUIT-EATING BIRDS.

A large variety of shrubs and trees are cultivated for ornament
in the United States, but in most cases it is evident that they have
been planted with.no thought for the needs of birds. Our native
shrubs should be utilized as far as possible, especially as many of
them are not exceeded in beauty or interest by foreign plants. Fur-
thermore, as a rule they are more attractive to birds than exotics.
It should be borne in mind also that smoothly trimmed hedges and
the stiff trees of a formal garden are not nearly so attractive to birds
as untrained bushes and tangled thickets. Shrubs of sterile vari-
eties or those closely pruned after blooming are not sought by birds,
while those allowed to ripen fruit are often crowded with feathered
visitors. Moreover, plants clustered with fruit of varying color are

185

186 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

more beautiful and interesting than those which exhaust their energy
in one burst of bloom and are of monotonous appearance thereafter.

The best shrubs and trees for attracting birds are those most re-
sorted to for food, and the extensive records of bird food in the
Biological Survey make their selection an easy task. The berries of
elders (Samhiwus) are eaten by the largest number of species of
birds, namely, 67. Raspbexries and blackberries {Rubus) are
known to be eaten by 60 species, mulberries (Morus) by 48, dog-
wood fruits (Corrms) by 47, those of the nonpoisonous sumachs'^
{Rhus) by 44, the various wild cherries (Prumcs) by 39, and blue-
berries (Vaccinium) by 37. This completes the list of fruits known
to be chosen by more than 30 species of birds. Following these in
order are wild grapes (Vitis), eaten by 29 species; pokeberries
(Phytolacca), by 26; Virginia creeper berries (Psedera), bayberries
(Myrica), and juniper berries (Juniperus), by 25 species each;
service or June berries {Amelanchier) , by 20; holly berries {Ilex),
by 19; strawberries {Fragaria) and fruits of viburnums, by 16
each; hackberries {Celtis) and huckleberries {Gaylussacia) , by 15
each; haws {Cratcegus), by 12; spicebush berries {Benzoin) and
rose hips {Rosa) , by 11 each ; and the fruits of sarsaparilla {Aralia) ,
sour gum {Nyssa), gooseberries and currants {Rihes), and snow-
berry {Symphoricarpos) , each eaten by 10 species of birds.

In addition to the plants recommended on the basis of proved
preference by birds, as indicated by stomach examination, there are
several other genera known to furnish much bird food, or which are
important in certain regions where none of the plants just men-
tioned are abundant. Separation of this list from the above by no
means indicates inferiority for the purpose of attracting birds, but
is done only to emphasize the different criteria for selecting them.
These plants are: Manzanita {Arctostaphylos) \ barberry {Ber-
heris) ; buffalo berry {Shepherdia) ; silverberry {Elceagnus) ;
buckthorn {Rhamnus) ; mountain ash {Pyrus) ; china berry
(Melia) ; the California Christmas berry {Heteromeles arhutifolia) ;
the pepper tree {Schinus molle), the fruit of which is a splendid
bird food in southern California; magnolia, the pulp-coated seeds
of which furnish one of the most nutritious and eagerly sought
foods of birds wintering in the Southeastern States; and nockaway
{Ehretia), lote bush {Zizyphiis), and bluewood {Condalia), three
favorite genera of the Southwest, where most of the plants pre-
viously mentioned are wanting.

"It must not be understood that birds avoid the poisonous sumachs — in fact
they feed upon them more extensively than upon the innocuous ones. But
these plants, which are poisonous to so many people, can not, for obvious rea-
sons, be recommended for cultivation. Another favorite bird food which it is
undesirable to propagate is mistletoe.

PLANTS USEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS. 187

Species of the genera listed can be selected that furnish adequate
bird shelter and also a continuous supply of fruit throughout the
year in any part of the United States where cultivation of trees and
shrubs is practicable. It is most important to have a sure supply of
bird food for late winter and early spring. The quantity of natural
food is then smallest, and frequently the few remaining sources are
rendered inaccessible by snow and sleet. It is advisable, therefore,
for bird lovers to make liberal use of plants which retain their fruit
through the winter. They will be well repaid, for a dependable food
supply is never a more potent bait than at this bleak season. Among
the plants much patronized by birds, those which hold their fruit
longest are juniper, bayberry, hackberry, barberry, magnolia, moun-
tain ash, rose, Christmas berry, china berry, pepper tree, sumach,
holly {Ilex opaca)^ black alder {Ilex verticillata) ^ certain wild grapes
(notably the frost grape, Vitis cordifoUa), manzanita, snowberry,
and some evergreen species in other genera, such as the evergreen
blueberry {Vaccinium ovatum) of the Pacific coast region, farkle-
berry {Vaccinium arhoreum)^ and evergreen cherry {Prunus caro-
liniana) of the Southeastern States. In some localities the Virginia
creeper holds its fruit, in others dropping it readily.

The plants with persistent fruit bridge the gap between the over-
whelming abundance of autumn and the scarcity of early spring.
Before the last of the wintered-over fruit disappears, a few plants
have blossomed and begin to mature the first fruits of another season.
Among the earliest of all and greatly relished by birds, are mulberries.
They ripen in April — even in late March in southern localities — and
in May and June farther north. Eed-berried elder and service berries
are but little later; often the latter are not left on the trees by the
hungry birds long enough to ripen. Wild strawberries, raspberries,
and dewberries are early and may be used to protect cultivated
species. Certain kinds of cherries, as the European bird cherry
{Prunus padus) and the mahaleb or stock cherry {Prunus mahdleh)^
ripen their fruit at about the same time as domestic cherries and will
serve to divert the attention of birds. From the time summer is
well started there is a constant abundance of wild fruits. Blueberries,
huckleberries, certain dogwoods, viburnums, and grapes are among
the first to ripen and fall, While sarsaparilla, elder, gooseberries, cur-
rants, spicebush, and sassafras are somewhat more persistent. Other
dogwoods, silverberry, sour gum, and black cherry hold their fruit a
little later, and pokeberry, hawthorn, buffalo berry, some wild grapes,
and viburnums retain their fruit well into the winter, though they
seldom last as well as the characteristic winter fruits named above.

Evidently there need be no season without its fruit if judicious
selection of shrubs and trees is made by those desiring to attract
birds. Thus a thicket of raspberry or dewberry, elder, and dog-

188 YEABBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE.

wood, grouped about some taller sumac, Juneberry, and juniper,
would supply fruit throughout the year. Moreover, in almost any
part of the United States, this combination can be made by the use
of native species alone.

The problem that confronts the prospective planter of trees and
shrubs to attract birds is the selection of the species most suitable
for his particular locality. By reference to the descriptions below
it is possible in most cases to determine the life zone to which his
locality belongs. Then, from the corresponding list of trees and
shrubs (given below) the species best suited to that area may be
learned. The lists are by no means complete; usually but a single
species of a genus is mentioned, when perhaps half a dozen or more
are available. It is attempted, however, in every case to name the
most satisfactory species, having due regard to its value as bird food
and to its wide distribution and hardiness in the area named.

The Canadian zone is the warmest or southernmost division of the
Boreal region and the most northerly life zone of agricultural im-
portance. It " comprises the southern part of the great transconti-
nental coniferous forest of Canada, the northern parts of Maine, New
Hampshire, and Michigan, a strip along the Pacific coast reaching
as far south at least as Cape Mendocino, in California, and the
greater part of the high mountains of the United States and Mexico.
In the East it covers the Green Mountains, Adirondacks, and Cats-
kills, and the higher mountains of Pennsylvania, West Virginia,
Virginia, western North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee. In the
mountains of the West it covers the lower slopes in the north and the
higher slopes in the south. In the Kocky Mountain region it appears
to reach continuously from British Columbia to west central Wyo-
ming ; and in the Cascade Range, from British Columbia to southern
Oregon, with a narrow interruption along the Columbia River." '^

Plants useful for attracting birds in that part of the Canadian
zone east of the Rocky Mountains are :

Juniper (Juniperus communis) , black currant (Rihes lacustre), mountain ash
(Pyrus americana), Juneberry {Amelanchier canadensis), blackberry {Ruhus
canadensis), red raspberry {Ruhus strigosus), choke cherry {Prunus vir-
giniana), bird cherry {Primus pennsylvanica) , sumach (Rhus glahra), buffalo
berry {Shepherdia canadensis), sarsaparilla {Aralia nudicaulis), bearberry
(Arctostaphylos uvaursi), dwarf bilberry (Vaccinium cwspitosum), hobble
bush (Viburnum alnifolium) , red osier (Gorniis stolonifera) , and elders (Sam-
bucus canadensis and S. pubens).

In the Rocky Mountain region and westward the following species
are available:

Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) , currant (Ribes viscosissimum) ,
mountain ash (Pyrus sitchensis), service berry (Amelanchier alnifolia), ever-
green blackberry (Rubus vitifolius), cherry (Prunus emarginata), buckthorn

"Merriam, C. Hart. Life Zones and Crop Zones of the United States, Bull.
10, Biological Survey, p. 19, 1898.

PLANTS USEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS. 189

(Rhamnus alnifolia), the same bearberry, bilberry, red osier, and buffalo berry
as above, snowberry {Symphori'carpos acutus), and elder (Sambvcus melano-
carpa).

" The Transition zone * * * jg ^^le transcontinental belt in
which Boreal and Austral elements overlap. From New England
to the northern Rocky Mountains its course is fairly even and regular,
but west of the Great Plains it is tortuous and irregular. The zone
as a whole is characterized by comparatively few distinctive animals
and plants, but rather by the occurrence together of southern species
which here find their northern limit and northern species which here
find their southern limit. It may be subdivided into three faunal
areas, which, although grading into one another, are in the main
strikingly different: (a) An eastern humid or Alleghenian area;
(b) 3l western arid area; (c) a Pacific coast humid area. * * *

" The eastern humid or Alleghenian area comprises the greater
part of New England, southeastern Ontario, New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, north-
eastern South Dakota, and the Alleghenies from Pennsylvania to
Georgia." "

In the Alleghenian faunal area the following species of fruit-bear-
ing shrubs may be used to attract birds :

Red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), mulberry (Morus rubra) , pokeberrj {Phy-
tolacca decandra), barberry {Berberis vulgaris), sassafras (Sassafras varii-
folium), spice bush {Benzoin cestivale), black currant {Ribes floridum), moun-
tain ash {Pyrus americann), service berry {Amelanchier canadensis), black-
berry (Rubus villosus), raspberries {Rubus occidentalis and R. strigosns),
black cherry {Prunus serotina), choke cherry {Prunus virginiana), sumach
{Rhus glabra), black alder {Ilex verticillata) , buckthorn {Rhamnus carolini-
ana), Virginia creeper {Psedera quinquefoUa), frost grapes {Vitis cordifolia
and V. vulpina), fox grape {Vitis labrusca), sarsaparilla {Aralia nudicaulis),
dogwood {Cornus alternifolia) , bearberry {Arctostaphylos uvaursi), dangle-
berry {Oaylussacia frondosa), blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum and V.
pennsylvanicum) , snowberry {Symplioricarpus racemosus). sheepberry {Vibur-
num lentago), and elders {Sambucus oanadensis and S. pubens).

" The western or arid division of the Transition zone comprises the
western part of the Dakotas, northern Montana east of the Rocky
Mountains, southern Assiniboia, small areas in southern Manitoba
and Alberta, the higher parts of the Great Basin and the plateau
region generally (except the Boreal Mountains), the eastern base of
the Cascade-Sierra system, and local areas still farther west, in Ore-
gon and California, where it merges into the humid Pacific Coast
division." ^

The sage hen, sharp-tailed grouse, and green-tailed towhee are
characteristic birds ; that is, their range is practically confined to the
arid Transition area. Many other species occur, however, and those
desiring to attract them will find the following shrubs and vines
serviceable :

Juniper {Juniperus scopulorum), barberry {Berberis repens), currant {Ribes
ccreum,), service berry {Amelanchier florida), red raspberry {Rubus strigosus),
choke cherry {Prunus demissa), aromatic sumach {Rhus trilobata), grape

« Merriam, C. Hart. Life Zones and Crop Zones of the United States, Bull.
10, Biological Survey, p. 20, 1898.
^ Ibid., p. 25,

190 YEAKBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

(Vitis calif ornica) , silverberry (Elwagmis argentea), buffalo berry {Shepherdia
argentea), red osier {Goimus stolonifera), snovvberry (Symphoricarpus race-
mosus), and elder {Sambuctis glaiica).

" The humid Pacific Coast division of the Transition zone com-
prises the western parts of Washington and Oregon between the
coast mountains and the Cascade Range, parts of northern California,
and most of the coast region of California from near Cape Mendo-
cino southward to the Santa Barbara Mountains. To the south and
east it passes into the arid Transition, and in places into the Upper
Sonoran." «

The Pacific Coast Transition faunal area produces a wealth of

fruit-bearing shrubs, among which the following are suitable for

attracting birds:

Bayberry (Myrica calif ornica), red flowering currant (Rihes sanguineum) ^
service berry (Amelanchicr florida), evergreen blackberry {Ruhus vitifoUus),
blackcap (Ruhus leucodermis) , cherry (Prunus cmarginata villosa), buck-
thorn (RJtamnns caUfornica and R. pnrshianu), dogwood {Cornus occidentalis
and C. gla'brata), manzanita {Arctostaphylos tomentosa, A. glandulosa, and A.
canescens), evergreen blueberry (Vaccinium ovatum), snovvberry (Sympkori-
carpus racemosus), and elder (Sambucus glauca).

" The Upper Austral zone may be divided into two large and im-
portant faunal areas — an eastern humid or Carolinian area and a
western arid or Upper Sonoran area, which pass insensibly into one
another in the neighborhood of the one hundredth meridian. * * *

" The Carolinian faunal area * * * occupies the larger part
of the Middle States, except the mountains, covering southeastern
South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and part of Oklahoma:
nearly the whole of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Mary-
land, and Delaware; more than half of West Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and New Jersey; and large areas in Alabama, Georgia,
the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and
southern Ontario. On the Atlantic coast it reaches from near the
mouth of Chesapeake Bay to southern Connecticut and sends nar-
row arms up the valleys of the Connecticut and Hudson rivers. A
little farther west another slender arm is sent northward, fol-
lowing the east shore of Lake Michigan nearly or quite to Grand
Traverse Bay. These arms, like nearly all narrow northward pro-
longations of southern zones, do not carry the complete faunas and
floras of the areas to which they belong, but lack certain species from
the start and become more and more dilute to the northward till it is
hard to say where they really end. Their northern boundaries,
therefore, must be drawn arbitrarily or must be based on the presence
or absence of particular species rather than the usual association
of species." ^

Native shrubs and trees useful for attracting birds in the Caro-
linian faunal area are:

Red cedar {Juniperus virgirtiana) , bayberry {Myrica cerifcra and M. caro-
Unensis), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), mulberry (Morus rubra), pokeberry
(Phytolacca decandra), sassafras (Sassafras variifolium), spice bush (Benzoin
wstivale), black currant (Ribes floridum), Juneberry (Amelanchier canadensis),

"Merriam, C. Hart. Life Zones and Crop Zones of the United States, Bull.
10, Biological Survey, p. 27, 1898.
» Ibid., pp. 30-31.

PLANTS USEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS. 191

blackberry {Rubus villosus), raspberry {Rubiis occidervtalis) , black cherry
{Prunus serotma), sumach {Rhus glabra and R. copallina), black alder (Ilex
verticiUata), buckthorn {Rhamnns caroliniana), Virginia creeper {Fsedera
quiiiquefolia), frost grape [Vitis vulpina), summer grape (Vitis wstivaHs), fox
grape (Vitis labrusca), sarsaparilla (Aralia midicaulis), dogwood (Gornuft
aspcrifolia, C. florida, and C. altcrnifoUa) , sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica), dangle-
beiTy (Gayhissacia frondosa), blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosiim and V.
raciUaris), snowberry (Symphoricnrpus racemosus), viburnum {Viburnum
acerifoUum and T'. pninifoliuw), and elder {Sambucus canadensis).

" The Upper Sonoran f aunal area * * * ^f ^j^g Western States
and Territories is the arid-land continuation of the Carolinian area
of the more humid Eastern States. * * * Beginning in the neigh-
borhood of the one hundredth meridian, it covers most of the great
plains in eastern Montana and Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota,
western Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and eastern Colo-
rado and New Mexico. In Oregon and Washington it covers the
plains of the Columbia and the Malheur and Harney plains; in
California it encircles the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and
forms a narrow belt along the eastern boundary of the Colorado and
Mohave deserts ; in Utah it covers the Salt Lake and Sevier deserts ;
in Idaho, the Snake Plains; and in Nevada and Arizona, irregular
areas of suitable elevation." **

'The following plants are recommended for use in this region:

Juniper {Junipcrus monospcrma and J. calif ornica), hackberry {Celtis reti-
culata), mulberry {Morus rubra), barberry {Berberis fendleri), golden currant
(Ribcs atireum), service berry {Amelanchier utahensis) , red raspberry (Rubus
strigosus), choke cherry {Prunus dcmissa), aromatic sumach {Rhus trilobata),
buckthorn {Rhamnus tomentclla and R. smithi), Virginia creeper {Psedera
quinqucfolia) , red osier (Cornws stolonifera) , manzanita {Arctostaphylos man-
zanita and A. viscida), snowberry {Symphoricarpos racemosus), and elder
{Sambucus glauca).

" The Lower Austral zone occupies the southern part of the United
States, from Chesapeake Bay to the great interior valley of Cali-
fornia. It is interrupted by the Continental Divide in eastern Ari-
zona and western New Mexico, and is divided, according to condi-
tions of humidity, into an eastern or Austroriparian and a western
or Lower &onoran area.

* * * "The Lower Sonoran area begins with the arid region
of Texas in the neighborhood of longitude 98°, and stretches west-
erly to the Rio Grande Valley, in which it sends an arm northwest
to a point a little north of Albuquerque, N. Mex. Another arm
reaches up the valley of the Pecos. West of the Rio Grande Valley
in New Mexico the Lower Sonoran is interrupted by the Continental
Divide. 'It begins again in eastern Arizona and sweeps broadly
westward below the high plateau, covering southern and western
Arizona, the deserts of southern Nevada and eastern California, and
the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys." ^

The Lower Sonoran faunal area has few native fruit-bearing
shrubs and trees, but some of them are of more than ordinary value
as bird food. The following, including several extralimital species

« Merriam, C. Hart. Life Zones and Crop Zones of the United States, Bull.
10, Biological Survey, p. 36, 1898.
^Ibid., p. 41.

192 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

tested by the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station (and dis-
tinguished by an asterisk), are recommended:

Hackberry (Celtis reticulata* and C. pallida), barberry {Berheris hwmato-.
carpa* and B. trifoUata), golden currant {Rihes aureuni*), cherry (Prunus
cojjalUna*), sumach {Rhus mexicana and R. microphylla), bluewood {Condalia
obovata, G. oMusifolia, and C. spathulata), lote bush (Zizyphus oMusifolius),
grape (Vitis arizonica), Virginia creeper {Psedcra quinque folia*), nockaway
(Ehretia elliptica), elders {Samhucus mexicana* and /S. glaiwa), Lycium her-
landieri and andersoni, and some of the pad cactuses, notably Opuntia engel-
manni and lindheimeri.

*' The Austroriparian area occupies the greater part of the South
Atlantic and Gulf States. Beginning near the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay it covers half or more than half of Virginia, North and South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, the whole of Mississippi and
Louisiana, eastern Texas, nearly all of Indian Territory, more than
half of Arkansas, and parts of Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas,
southern Missouri, southern Illinois, the extreme southwestern corner
of Indiana, and the bottom lands of western Kentucky and Ten-
nessee." ^

" The Gulf strip, or southern part of the Austroriparian area,
reaches from Texas to southern Florida, covers a narrow strip in
southern Georgia, and probably follows the coastal lowlands north-
ward into South Carolina." *

For the purposes of this article the whole Austroriparian faunal
area, including the Gulf strip, may be considered together as the
humid division of the Lower Austral, all of which lies east of the
one hundredth meridian. In this region many cultivated plants
thrive that do so nowhere else in the eastern United States, and some
of them are valuable for attracting birds. But there are plenty of
native fruit-bearing shrubs and trees also, of which the following are
recommended :

Red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), bayberry (Myrica cerifera), hackberry
(Celtis occidentalis and C mississippiensis) , mulberry (Morus rubra), magnolia
{Magnolia grandiflora and M. virginiana), sassafras {Sassafras variifolium) ,
spicebush {Benzoin wstivale), dewberry {Rubus trivuilis), black cherry {Primus
serotina), evergreen cherry {Prunus caroliniana), sumach {Rhus copallina and
R. glabra), holly {Ilex opaca), buckthorn {Rhamnus caroliniana), Virginia
creeper {Psedera quinquefolia) , grape {Vitis vulpimi and T. (estivalis), pep-
per vine {Ampclopsis arborea), hercules club {Aralia spinosa) , dogwood {Gor-
nus asperifolia and G. florida), sour gum {Nyssa sylvatica), huckleberry {Gay-
lussacia dumosa), farkleberry {Vaccinium arboreum), blueberry {Vaccinium
corymhosum), viburnum {Viburnum rufot omenta sum and V. nudum), and
elder {Sambucus canadensis).

Besides native shrubs and trees, a number of cultivated species
have proved so attractive to birds that they are as important as any
of the indigenous fruits. An excellent example is the pepper tree
{Schinus molle)^ which flourishes in southern California, and which
will probably thrive in many other parts of the Lower Sonoran
faunal area. Others suited to the same climate are the china berry

« Merriam, C. Hart. Life Zones and Crop Zones of the United States, Bull.
10, Biological Survey, p. 45, 1898. .
» Ibid., p. 49.

PLANTS USEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS. 193

{Melia azedarach)^ the Russian mulberry {Morus alba tatarica)^
and the Russian oleaster {Elceagnus angustifolia). The china berry
is just as successful in the eastern part of this zone, namely, in the
Austroriparian faunal area; it retains its fruit through the winter
and is eagerly sought by robins, cedar birds, and catbirds. The
Russian oleaster and another species {Ela^agniis umbellata) also do
well here and furnish an abundance of fruit relished by birds.
Elceagnus angustifolia and Melia are hardy at Washington, D. C.,
also, which is in the Upper Austral zone. The fire thorn {Coto-
tieaster pyracantha)^ a beautiful shrub with scarlet berries much
liked by birds, will grow almost anywhere in the eastern United
States, and the Parkman apple {Pyrus halliana), one of the hand-
somest flowering apples, is quite hardy, and is a valuable bird food,
with fruit persistent in winter. But foremost in attractiveness to
birds among cultivated fruit-bearing plants are mulberries. These
will grow almost anywhere in the United States, and their combined
early ripening and long fruiting season make them especially valu-
able. Varieties of mulberries suited to the various faunal areas
Avill be treated at greater length in the section devoted to plants use-
ful for protecting cultivated crops.

FOOD PLANTS FOR SPARROWS.

A hundred species of sparrows inhabit the United States, and in
the number of individuals they outrank any other family. Many of
them are characteristic winter birds, and as they are great destroy-
ers of weed seeds and are sprightly and cheery withal, it pays to
take considerable trouble to attract them.

As just remarked, they love weed seeds and do great good by de-
stroying them; but as it is not desirable to cultivate weeds, the next
best thing is to plant harmless species of their favorite genera.
Fortunately many common ornamental garden plants which are
entirely dependent on cultivation fulfill all requirements and produce
in abundance seeds which are highly relished by sparrows. To these
may be added a few native species which are not bad weeds, and the
various millets, which are excelled by no other plants in attractive-
ness to seed-eating birds. The following are recommended for
sparrows and other birds liking small seeds :

Love-lies-bleeding {Amaranthus candatus), princes feather (both Amaranthus
hl/pochondriacus and Polygonum orientale), yellow chamomile (Anthemis
iiiictoria), chamomile (Anthemis nohilis), Calandrinia mnbellata, bachelors
button (Centaurea cyanus), African millet (Eleusine coracana), California
poppy {Eschscliolzia calif ornica), tarweed (Madia elegans), miners lettuce
(Montia perfoliata), millet (Panicum miliaceum), Japan barnyard millet
(Panicum crusgalU var.), German millet or Hungarian grass (Setaria italica),
and sunflower. Several of the species of sunflower will serve, the common sun-
flower (Helianthus annuus) being one of the best, having named varieties
especially prized for the abundance and large size of the seed. No seeds are
more relished by graminivorous birds than the millets; in fact, they are so
much preferred that they have been used with good effect for drawing the
attention of birds from more valuable grain crops.

194 YEABBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

FOOD PLANTS FOR UPLAND GAME BIRDS.

The distinction between the dietaries of the so-called frugivorous
and graminivorous birds is not so marked as would be inferred
from a strict interpretation of these terms. Particularly in the case
of the grouse and quail does a limited characterization of the food
habits fail to express the truth. Consequently in recommending
plants attractive to these birds many must be mentioned that are
included in the lists for fruit-eating birds. Grouse are fond of both
buds and leaves; hence some plants which have neither nutritious
fruit nor seeds are for them important food plants.

AVhile the establishment of preserves for land game birds is yet a
new movement in this country, it is certain to become of great im-
portance. Hence it is desirable to disseminate information as to the
food and covert plants that are favored by the grouse and quail.
Bobwhites frequently use covers of rose, alder, and blackberry bushes,
and thickly set barberry, bayberry, and dense banks of honeysuckle
are suitable. These plants also furnish food for the birds, but they
should be supplemented by others more exclusively adapted for this
purpose. Sumach, Japanese clover, buckwheat, sorghum, millet,
vetches, cowpeas, and any plants of the pea family producing small
seeds are valuable, and should be sown in large quantities. The seeds
of milk pea {Galactia)^ partridge pea {ChanKjechrista) ^ hog peanut
{Falcata)^ wild bean {Strophostyles) ^ and smartweeds {Polygonum)
are important natural foods of the eastern quail, but should be
encouraged only where they can not become weed pests. The western
quail are fond of the seeds of sumach, bur clover, alfilaria, lupines,
napa thistle, and turkey mullein plants; but where these plants are
liable to become nuisances the food plants recommended for the
eastern quail will serve.

Coverts for grouse, as the sharptail, should abound in such plants
as rose, sumach, blueberry, bearberry, buffalo berry, dwarf birch,
and alder. The ruffed grouse thrives among scrub oak, bayberry,
rose, sumach, dwarf birch, alder, poplar, willow, and such fruit-
bearing plants as partridge berry, hawthorn, viburnum, wild grapes,
mountain ash, blueberry, blackberry, and cranberry. Cover of this
nature is suited to the heath hen also, and to the imported pheasants
and the Hungarian partridge, but in all cases it is well to supplement
the food supply furnished by these shrubs and trees by planting small
grains and legumes as recommended for quail.

PLANTS USEFUL FOR PROTECTING CULTIVATED FRUITS.

The practice of planting wild or inferior fruits for the purpose of
tolling birds away from valuable cultivated varieties is very old, but
it has never been tried as widely and systematically as seems desirable.

PLANTS USEFUL TO ATTRACT BIRDS. 195

The chief essential to the success of this plan is that the decoy trees
shall be early bearing species, for almost all of the damage to fruit
by birds is inflicted on the earliest varieties, evidently because of the
scarcity of early wild fruit. Probably cherries, raspberries, and
strawberries suffer more in the aggregate than all of the later fruits.
Fortunately we have a fruit which fills this need, one which ripens
with the earliest cherries and is a favorite with all frugivorous birds,
namely, the mulberry, both native and cultivated.

Three varieties of the native mulberry {Moms rubra) ^ namely, the'
Hicks, Stubbs, and Townsend, are especially successful in the South-
ern States, though the Hicks is known to thrive in the Carolinian
faunal areas and Stubbs in the Alleghenian. The Townsend is a com-
paratively new variety and its hardiness is unknown, but it ripens
fruit remarkably early and should be given a thorough trial. Ac-
cording to Prof. L. H. Bailey, the New American (often sold under
the name Downing) is the best mulberry known for the Northern
States. The Russian mulberry is the hardiest variety and is a favorite
in the plains region and other places where great extremes of tempera-
ture prevail. It succeeds in as diverse climates as those of North
Dakota and New Mexico. The New American, Russian, and Black
Persian mulberries are known to do well in California, and the indi-
cations are that the latter is suited to conditions in the Lower Sonoran
faunal area. When planting mulberries for the purpose of protecting
cultivated fruits, the earliest fruiting varieties obtainable should be
used.

Among fruits suitable for the same purpose, but not now known to
be as valuable as mulberries, are the mahaleb or stock cherry {Prunus
mahaleh) and the European bird cherry {Prunus padus). Among
native fruits the only ones that can be recommended at present are
the service berry or Juneberry (Amelanchier) , redberried elder
{Samhucus pubens)^ and wild strawberries and raspberries. Patches
of the earliest varieties of these small berries are very attractive to
birds.

Injury to later fruits, except in localities where there are no wild
fruits, is more difficult to prevent, as in such cases it probably arises
from preference by the birds for a particular cultivated fruit. Thus
grapes suffer seriously in some places. The always reliable mul-
berries are useful even at this season, as some varieties continue in
bearing from two to six months. Elderberries are probably the
most valuable native fruit for attracting birds in the summer and
fall, particularly in the West, where they have a long fruiting season.
In the North and East no summer fruits are more attractive to birds
than the black cherry {Prunus serotina) and choke cherry {Pruruus
virginiana) ,

196 YEABBOOK OF THE DEPABTMENT OF AGBICULTUBE.

CONCLUSION.

Nothing surpasses mulberries for alluring birds away from the
early orchard fruits. Early bearing varieties should be planted in
numbers and some should be selected for the length of the fruiting
season. The Hicks and the Black Persian are notable in the latter
respect, while the Townsend is earliest for the South and the Rus-
sian for the North.

Where it is desired to attract birds and afford them a sanctuary at
all seasons, a large variety of plants must be used. For this purpose
thickets of shrubs and other low growths are better than trees, since
tangles of bushes and vines afford a more secure retreat from bird
enemies and are the favorite cover of many species.

Where birds occur in large numbers their enemies are sure to
congregate. Hence grounds especially designed to attract birds
should also be furnished with devices to insure security from cats and
other predatory animals. Fences made proof against climbing in-
vaders by overhanging wire netting are essential, and inverted fun-
nel-shaped metal guards or loose spirals of barbed wire should be
placed around the trunks of nest trees to protect the occupants.
Bird houses of various types add to the possibilities of bird gardens,
and a never-failing supply of water is an essential. The basin
should be shallow, so as to serve both for bathing and drinking, and
should be placed in an open lawn or elevated so that birds resorting
to it will not be at the mercy of enemies. Assured safety and a
plentiful supply of food and drink will work wonders in attracting
birds.

o

Vol. XXIV, pp. 251-252 December 23, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

7?

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW MELOSPIZA FROM
CALIFORNIA.

BY HARRY C. OBERHOLSER.

A series of song sparrows from eastern California, in the
Biological Survey Collection, United States National Museum,
appear to represent an undescribed race. Since several of these
specimens were obtained by Dr. A. K. Fisher, in Owen Valley,
California, during the Death Valley Expedition of 1891,* this
new form may appropriately be named

Melospiza melodia fisherella subsp. nov.

Chars, subsp. — SimiUir io Melospiza melodia ^eerwanm Baird, but larger;
upper surface paler, less rufescent ; streaks on lower parts less blackish
(more brownish).

Type. — Adult male, No. 20:5, 507, 1'. S. Nat. Mus., Biological Survey
Collection; Honey Lake, near Millford, California, June 18, 1906; A. S.
Bunnell.

Description of type.—\]\)T^{iY surface somewhat rufescent hair brown;
the crown with l)road lateral stripes of burnt umber, and throughout with
streaks of clove brown ; the back and scapulars broadly streaked with
black and burnt uml)er; the rump and upper tail-coverts somewhat
streaked with dark brown ; tail sepia, edged externally with wood brown
and dull rnsset; wing-quills grayish sepia, margined exteriorly with wood
l)rown and dull russet; superior wing-coverts mostly burnt umber,
margined more or less with pale hair brown, the median and greater
series and the tertials with terminal shaft markings of black or clove
brown ; superciliary stripe, auriculars, and sides of neck ash gray, the
first mentioned paler than the others; postocular and malar stripes burnt
umber; entire lower surface, including inferior wing-coverts, dull
white, the sides, flanks, and crissum washed with brownish or buffy;
breast, jugulum, sides, flanks, and crissum streaked with burnt umber
and clove brown.

* Recorded by Dr. Fisher (North American Fauna No. 7, 1893, p. 100) as Melospiza
fasciata heermanni.

4'J— Pkoc. Hjol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (351)

252 Oberholser — A New Melospiza from California.

Measurements of type. — Wing, 66; tail 66; exposed culmen, 12.2;
tarsus, 22.7 mm.

Geographical distribution. — Eastern California, south to Owen Valley;
western Nevada ; and central southern Oregon.

This new race differs from Melospiza melodia fallax Baird ( = Melospiza
melodia mo7itana Henshaw) in its darker upper parts, more blackish
brown streaks of under surface, heavier bill, and shorter wing.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 233-236 November 28, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

■3

DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE NEW BIRDS FROM CANADA.

BY J. H. RjLEY.

[Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.]

While working up the collection of birds taken on the 1911
Alpine Club of Canada's expedition to Jasper Park, Yellowhead
Pass, and the Mount Robson region, the following birds have
been found to be apparently unnamed and are herewith de-
scribed.

Lagopus lagopus ungavus subsp. nov.

Type, U. S. National Museum, No. 101,068, adult male, Ft. Chime,
Ungava, July 22, 1884. Collected by L. M. Turner (original No. 5823).

Like Lagopus lagopus albus, but with a heavier bill. Measurement of
type: Wing, 205; tail, 128; culmen, 21.5; depth of bill at base, 15.

Remarks. — leaving out of consideration Lagop\is lagopus alexandrse,
which is recognized as a perfectly distinct form, I have gone over the
same ground as Mr. A. H. Clark,* with some additional material, and
reached the following conclusions: That the name Lagopus lagopus
lagopus should be restricted to the small-billed European bird and that
the bird from the west side of Hudson Bay should be known as Lagopus
lagopus albus. T Specimens from the mountains of western Alberta /md
eastern British Columbia are slightly smaller than birds from Hudson
Bay and northern Alaska. There appear to be no color differences except
in Lagopus lagopus' alexandrx, which is darker. In my opinion, the
willow ptarmigans of the North American mainland can be separated into
at least three recognizable races, as follows :

1. Lagopus lagopus alexandrse Grinnell, from the southwest coast of
Alaska.

2. Lagopus lagopus albus Gmelin, from the west side of Hudson Bay,
west through nortliern Alaska to eastern Siberia,

3. Lagopus lagopus ungavus subsp. nov., from Ungava and probably
the eastern shore of Hudson Bay south.

* Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 38, No. 1727, April 30, 1910, 51.
t [.Tetrao] albus Gmelin, Sys. Nat., I, pt. 2, 750.

45— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIV. 1911. (233)

234 Riley — Descriptions of Three New Birds from Canada.

The average measurements of a series of willow ptarmigans taken in
the breeding season, except Lagopus lagopus alexandrx, from the various
parts of its range are as follows :

One male, Norway

Ten males, Ungava

Five males, west side Hudson Bay . . .
Eight males, mountains Alberta and B. C.

Six males, northern Alaska

One male, Lake Iliamna, Alaska ....
One male, Petropaulski, Kamchatka . .

Ten females, Ungava

Three females, west side Hudson Bay . .
Seven females, mts. Alberta and B. C. .

Wing

Tail

Cul-
men

Deptli
of Bill

177

97.5

17

11

197

121.9
126.7

20.9
19.1

13 5

200.(5

n.8

188.9

118.8

18.5

12.2

196.8

119.9

18.9

12.8

195.5

111

18.5

12

204

125.5

20

179

no

19.3

12.9

191.2

116.7

18.8

10.8

174.6

96.8

16.5

11.1

Melospiza melodia inexspectata subsp. nov.

Type, U. S. National Museum, No. 222,829, adult female, three miles
east of Moose Lake, British Columbia, August 21, 1911. Collected by
J. H. Riley (original number 2268).

Similar to Melospiza melodia rufina, but the browns of the upper parts
lacking the reddish tinge, thus giving to the back a gray cast ; below not
so heavily streaked; averaging smaller. Measurement of type: Wing,
65; tail, 63.5; culmen, 12; tarsus, 22; middle toe, 15.5.

Remarks. — This race is founded on four specimens, as follows : the type
and a young male still in the juvenile plumage from the type locality ;
one adult female from Henry House, Alberta, September 14, 1911; and
an adult female from near Telegraph Creek (25 miles east, near Buckley
Lake), British Columbia, July 26, 1910, the latter specimen taken by
E, A. Preble and in the Biological Survey Collection. Average of the
three adult females: Wing, 63.8; tail, 60.3; culmen, 12; tarsus, 21.3;
middle toe, 15.7. Average of three adult females of Melospiza melodia
rufina from the Sitkan District taken at about the same season of the
year: Wing, ()7; tail, ()3.8; culmen, 12.8; tarsus, 22.8; middle toe, 16.

One of the interesting results of our trip was the discovery of this song
sparrow, which instead of resembling Melospiza melodia merrilli, as one
would naturally suppose, is more nearly related to the Pacific Coast bird.
Its range is probably the interior mountain valleys from northern British
Columbia at least, south to Henry House, Alberta, and in migration
probably further. The bird taken at Henry House may have been a
migrant, but the type was probably a breeding bird as the young male
taken at the same locality seems to indicate.

Passerella iliaca altivagans subsp. nov.

Type, V. S. National Museum, No. 222,832, nearly adult male. Moose
Branch of the Smoky River, Alberta (about 7000 feet altitude), July 31,
1911. Collected by J. H. Riley (original number, 2175).

Riley — Descriptions of Three New Birds from Canada. 235

Similar to Passerella iliaca schistacea, but middle of the back mars
brown instead of mouse gray ; wings and tail with more red in tiie Ijrown
(near burnt umber). Measurement of type: Wing, SI. 5; tail, TO; cul-
men, 11.5; tarsus, 21; middle toe, 14.5.

Remarks. — This race is founded on two slightly immature birds from
the type locality; an immature male from Moose Pass, British Columbia;
and an immature specimen from Thudade Lake (source of Finlay River),
British Columbia. An adult male from Columbia Falls, Montana, Sep-
tember 24, 189(>; an adult male and female, Ft. Klamath, Oregon, April
9 and 2<S, 1883; and an adult female. Ft. Crook, California, April 12,
1860, all in the collection of the U. S. National Museum, are apparently
migrants of this form. They differ from the type in having the upper
parts more rusty, but from typical Passerella iliaca schistacea, to which
they have been referred, they are quite distinct, having the mouse gray
of the upper parts of that race replaced by broccoli brown and burnt
umber and the spotting of the under parts prout's brown, not sepia. Ap-
parently there is no difference in size.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 215-216 October 31, 1911

■ PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

^^

BY J. H. FLEMING.

While cataloguing a number of birds from the Andaman
Islands, collected in 1905, by Mr. B. B. Osniaston, and now in
my collection, I noticed that in a series of twelve Andaman
Teal, only five agreed with the description and plate of Nettion
albigulare {^= Poliovetta alhigularis) in Vol. 27 of the Catalogue
of Birds. Six from North Reef Island (to the westward of
North Andaman), and one from Middle Andaman dififer suffi-
ciently from the five from South Andaman to be described as a
new subspecies, which may be known as —

PoHonetta albigularis leucopareus subsp. nov.

Cotypes from North Reef Island, Andaman Islands, cJ* and 9 , collected
by B. B. Osmaston, December 25, 1905. Fleming Coll. Nos. 19,064
(cJ*), and 19,0()9 ( 9 ).

Characters. — Similar to P. albigularis albigularis (Hume), bntaveraging
larger, with a great deal of white on head and neck; margins of body
feathers cinnamon brown and better defined, producing strongly defined
spots, especially on the sides of the breast.

cJ*. Pileum, except frontal apex, very dark brown, this color descend-
ing the sides of the face behind the auricular region, and partially sur-
rounding it below; sides of upper neck liglit l)rown. Frontal apex and
whole face, including eyebrows and auricular rej^ion, pure white, tiiis
color extending over the throat and lower neck, and continuing in a
wide collar around the hind neck.

9 . Entire pileum dark brown becoming lighter on the sides of the head
and neck, confining the white collar to the hind neck, and reaching for-
ward below the auricular region. Auricular region, eyebrows, front of
face, throat and lower neck as in the male.

39— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (215)

216 Fleming — A New Teal from the Andaman Islands.

Table of Measurements.
(Measurements in inches.)

Flem-

s

ing
Col.

Sex.

Date.

d

23

a

No.

%

^

^

8

Polionetta albigularis leuco-

pareus.

19,065

male ad.

Dec. 25, 1905

North Reef Island, Andamans

8.20

3.23

1.45

1.35

*19,064

" "

" " " "

8.00

3.16

1.42

1.48

19,066

" "

"

8.00

3.12

1.40

1.43

19,067

"

.'; J

7.42

3.03

1.45

1.49

19.068

" "

7.78

2.83

1.34

1.42

*19,069

female "

" " " "

7.91

2.88

1.40

1.50

19,075

(male) "

Jan. — "

North Andaman.

7.80

2.78

1.40

1.52

Polionetta albigularis albi-

gularis.

19,073

male ad.

Dec. 10, 1905

Port Blair, Soutli Andaman

7.60

2.80

1.32

1.47

19,071

" "

" " "

7.38

2.88

1.37

1.37

19,072

female "

"

7.70

2.57

1.40

1.37

19,070

" "

7.48

2.61

1.31

1.35

19.074

juv.

Oct. 10 "

Andamans

7.20

2.83

1.25

1.25

'■ Types.

+ A11 primaries in quill.

t First primary in quill.

Remarks. — I am indebted to Dr. L. B. Bishop, of New Haven, Conn.,
and Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant for comparing two of my North Reef Island
birds (the types) with the series of Andaman Teal in tlie British Mnseum
and tlie types of P. albigularis, and both gentlemen agree that my form
is at least a good sub-species. I have some hesitation in including the
single bird from North Andaman in the new form ; it is intermediate in
coloring and is probably the connecting link between the forms.

The white on the frontal apex varies, being reduced to a line in that of
the Reef Island birds, and one (19,065) has a great deal of white on the
crown, 19,066 has a little, and 19,064 a small spot.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 217-218 October 31, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

,T-

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SUBSPECIES OF THE
PAINTED BUNTING FROM THE INTERIOR
"^ OF TEXAS.

BY EDGAR A. MEAR:XS.

The Nonpareil, or Painted Bunting, of western Texas proves
to be an undescribed race which may be named —

Passerina ciris pallidior subsp. nov.

PALE PAINTED BUNTING.

Type-specimen.— Adult male. Cat. No. 163673, U. S. N. M. Collected
at Fort Clark, Kinney County, Texas, May 7, 1898, by Edgar A. Mearns.
Original number, 11800.

Characters. — Larger than Passerina ciris ciris ; adult male with under
parts considerably paler vermilion red; rump and upper tail-coverts
paler, more purplish red. Female paler throughout, with upper parts
paler, grayer, less yellowish green, and under parts huffy instead of decid-
edly yellow.

Measurements of type (taken from the fresh specimen by the author). —
Length, 155 mm.; alar expanse, 240; wing, 75; tail, 61 ; culmen ( chord ) ,
11.2; tarsus, 18.3; middle toe with claw, 18.3.

Geographical range. — Breeds in the interior of Texas, migrating to Ari-
zona, Mazatlan, and the plains of Colima.

Remarks. — Topotypes of Passerina ciris ciris from Vera Cruz, eastern
Mexico, are indistinguishable from specimens from the southeastern
United States, and are probably migrants from the latter region. The
breeding range of typical ciris extends westward from the South Atlantic
States around the Gulf coast to Mexico.

A table of comparative measurements appears on following page.

40— Proc. BroL. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIV, 1911.

<217)

218 Mearns — A Neiv Subspecies of Painted Bunting from Texas.

o

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Vol. XXIV, pp. 195-196 June 23, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

w

A NEW SWIFT FROM PALESTINE,

BY OUTRAM BANGS.

The well-known Selah Merrill collection of birds from Pales-
tine was acquired by the Museum of Comparative Zoology in
July, 1909. In the species and subspecies of the region, except
for a few very rare or local forms, it is complete, and most of
the species are represented in long series. Though many skins
are from other places, and a number were got for him by Arabs,
the collection was principally made in the vicinity of Jerusalem
during the years 1884-1886 by the late Rev. Dr. Merrill him-
self.

Some day I hope to publish a catalogue of it, with such notes
as were kept by Dr. Merrill in his register, though these in
many cases, I am sorry to say, are not entirely satisfactory.

The forms that have long been recognized as peculiar to Pal-
estine and the ones recently described by Hartert during the
progress of his " Vogel der Palaarktischen Fauna," appear to
be all represented in the Merrill collection .

In the collection the swifts are represented by smaller series
than usual, there being three skins of Apus apus apus (Linn,),
three of Apus affinis galilejensis (Autin.), and two of the white -
bellied swift. The latter are so very pallid and otherwise dif-
ferent from European specimens that I propose for the Palestine
form the name,

Apus melba petrensis subsp. nov.

Type from the Jordan Valley, Palestine, no. 59,534, Coll. Mus. Comp.
Zool. From the Selah Merrill Coll., taken in April, 1886, original no.
"a. 108."

Characters. — Similar to true ^. melba (Linn.) of Europe, but much

36— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIV. 1911. (195)

196

Bangs — A New Swift from, Palestine.

paler above arid v rmrts pale drab, lighter still on forehead and crown,
the dusky marking lu front of eye consequently very conspicuous; brown
band across chest very narrow and the white throat patch large.
Measurements. —

No.

Wing.

Tail.

i
Tarsus. Culmen.

59.534 Type

59.535 Topotype

215
219

87

87.5

i
15.5 9
16 9

Remarks. — Our two specimens, neither of which bears any sex mark,
were in fully adult plumage, fresh and unworn, and their pallid coloring
is not the result of fading.

Hartert, in Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, Vol. XVI, p.
439, mentions some very pallid skins from the western Himalayas, and
from Belgaum, and possibly the pale form described above has a wide
breeding range.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 163-164 June 16, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW BLUE GROSBEAK FROM CALIFORNIA.

BY JOSEPH GRINNELL.

Early in 1910 an expedition was sent by the Museum of
Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California to the lower
Colorado valley, in California and Arizona. While working up
the extensive collection of birds obtained, my attention was
arrested by the appearance of the blue grosbeaks from that region.
Their bills are uniformly very much larger than those of the
form previously familiar to me and occurring in summer on the
Pacific slope of southern and central California. Examination
of specimens and literature shows that the large-billed form is
the one already designated and that it is the bird of western
California that needs to be named.

Guiraca caerulea salicarius subsp. nov.

CALIFORNIA BLUE GROSBEAK.

Type.—^o. 3276, Univ. Calif. Mus. Vert. Zool. ; Santa Ana River
bottom, near.Colton, San Bernardino Co., Calif.; July 21, 1908; C. H.
Richardson, Jr., collector.

Diagnostic characters. — Similar to Guiraca caerulea lazula, of Arizona
and Mexico, in coloration and general size, but bill much smaller and
proportionally less tumid, that is, outlines straighter; compared with
Guiraca caerulea caerulea of the South Atlantic States, blue color of the
male paler throughout, bill smaller, and wing and tail longer.

Measurements of type. — Wing, 90.7 mm. ; tail, 72.6; tarsus, 20.0; culmen,
15.0; l)ill-from-nostril, 11.4; depth of bill at base, 11.9; gonys, 9.5;
greatest outside width of corneous portion of lower mandible, 10.4.

Habitat. — In summer, the Lower Sonoran zone of central and southern
California west of the Sierran divide; in winter, unknown.

Remarks. — This form was characterized, but not named, by Ridgway
(Birds N. & Mid. Am., I, 1901, p. 610). It is paralleled in many other
passerine genera of the southwest, and since the characters are conspicu-
ous to the trained eye and are fairly constant, the only wonder is that the
race has not been provided with a name before.

27— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (163)

Vol. XXIV, pp. 187-190. June 23, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

vl/

DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW AMERICA^ BIRDS.
BY OUTRAM BANGS.

The American birds described as new in the following pages
are from various sources, and are such as have turned up from
time to time during the process of arranging and identifying
the collections in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Rupornis magnirostris occidua subsp. nov.

Type from Rio Tainbopata, eastern Peru, adult (cJ*?), no. 47,862, Coll.
Mus. Comp. Zool. Collected by Dr. W. C. Farrabee, in May, 1907.

Characters. — Similar to true R. magnirostris (Gmelin) of Colombia,
Guiana, and Amazonia, with the upper parts pale* gray and the belly
and flanks barred with white and pale cinnamon-rufous, but with the
chest bright cinnamon-rufous as in R. magnirostris natteri (Gel. & Salv.)
of Brazil, not gray as in true R. magnirostris.

Measurements. — Type, adult (cJ^?): wing, 213; tail, 143; tarsus, 63;
culmen, 29.

Remarks. — The type of this new hawk was brought home, with other
birds, by Dr. Farrabee, from his three years' trip to Peru and Bolivia. I
tried in vain to reconcile it to either of the recognized subspecies, and
upon hunting up the literature found that Hellmayr (Novit. Zool. Vol.
XVII, p. 411, Dec. 1910) had already discussed similar specimens, from
the same general region, arriving at the conclusion that, in all probability,
they represented a third subspecies, intermediate in character between
the other two.

Penelope perspicax sp. nov.

Type from San Luis, Bitaco Valley, western Colombia, adult 9 > Mus.
Comp. Zool., no. 23,606, Bangs Coll. Collected June 5, 1908, by Mervyn
G. Palmer.

Characters. — Somewhat like P. cristata (Linn. ) of Central America but
much smaller and with the feathers of crest, hind neck and mantle bor-
dered by grayish white; wings, except primaries and bastard wing,
metallic; bronzy brownish-like tail; primaries metallic, dark, greenish

34-Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol, XXIV. 1911. (187)

188

Bangs — Descriptions of New American Birds.

olive (in P. cristata the whole wing is of this latter color). About the
size of P. hoUviana Bp. of Pern and Bolivia and with similar grayish white
edging to feathers of upper parts, but with under parts as in P. cristata
with the chestnut restricted to lower belly and under tail coverts.

Measurements. — Type, adult 9 : wing, 289; tail^ 292; tarsus, 82.5; eul-
men, 34.5.

Remarks. — In the collections made in western Colombia by M. G.
Palmer, which I got of Rosenberg, there were but two skins of this appar-
ently very distinct species, one the type, the other a young bird just able
to fly taken at Pavas, March 29, 1908.

Antrostomus rufus otiosus subsp. nov.

Type'irom the island of St. Lucia, West Indies, adult d^, no. 28,674,
Coll. Mus. Comp. Zool. Collected by John Semper in 1878 or 1879.

Characters. — Similar to true A. rufus (Bodd.) of continental South
America (north to Panama), but much larger, with a heavier bill.

Measurements. —

Antrostomus rufus rufus (Bodd.)

No.

Sex.

Locality.

Wing.

Tail.

Tar-
sus.

Exposed
Culmen.

190,352*

6,941 t

14,053t

9 ad.
9 ad.
9 ad.

Venez. Escorial . . .
Colombia, Santa MartaMts.
Panama, near Panama . .

174
176
175

116
118
114

15
16
16.5

9.5
10
11

Antrostomus rufus atiosus Nob.

No.

Sex.

Locality.

Wing.

Tail.

1
Tar-
sus. '

1

Exposed
■^ Culmen.

80,893*

rTad.

West Indies, St. Lucia . .

184

130

17 1

14

80,894*

9 ad.

H H il

187

122

17 i

13.5

27, 373 1

9 ad.

185

124

16.5

14.5

32,390t

c^ad.

a M (c

187

126 118

13

27,372t

d'ad.

186

130! 17.5

13.5

28,674t

d^ad.

( ( (I i(

187

127

17

14

Remarks. — Upon comparing a fairly good series of A. rufus from the
mainland and from St. Lucia, the island birds were found to be so much
and so constantly larger, that they can be regarded as representing a
distinct subspecies.

I notice that Hartert accords to Antrostomus rufus an individual varia-
tion in size about corresponding to the differences between the island and
the continental forms, and I suspect his larger birds were from St. Lucia
and his smaller ones from the mainland.

* Coll. U. S. National Museum.
+ Coll. E. A. and O. Bangs,
t Coll . Mus . Comp . Zool .

Bangs — Descriptions of New American Birds.

189

Thamnophilus doliatus catus subsp. nov.

Cotypes from El Valle, Margarita Island, Venezuela, adults, cJ* and $ ,
Mus. Comp. Zool. nos. 2712 ( cJ* ) and 2715 ( Q ), Bangs Coll. Collected
by Austin H. Clark July 14 ( cf ) and July 7 ( $ ), 1901.

Characters. — Similar to T. doliatus fraterculus Berlepscli and Hartert
of Venezuela and Trinidad, but somewhat smaller with somewhat smaller
bill ; adult d^ with the black bands below still narrower — the under parts
being white very narrowly and rather irregularly barred with black ;
white bands on tail as in T. doliatus doliatus (Linn. ) of Surinam. Adult
9 exceedingly pale, the upper parts, except pilium, ochraceous, as pale
as in the Yucatan form T. doliatus yucatanensis Ridg., from which the
female of the new form differs little except in smaller size.

Measurements. —

No.

Sex.

Locality.

Wing.

Tail.

1
Tarsus.

Culmen.

2711

cJ'ad.

El Valle, Margarita Isl. .

66

54

24

18.5

2712

d*ad.

" u

64

55

1 24.5

18

2713

d'ad.

( ( <(

67

54

i 24.5

17

2714

c^ad.

( ( ( (

65

51

25.5

18

2715

9 ad.

(< < (

68

55

26

18

2716

9 ad.

li ((

67

54

! 26

17

Remarks. — As Thamnophilus doliatus has now, by general consent, been
divided into a number of subspecies, I feel little hesitation in adding an-
other quite as good, it seems to me, as those already recognized. Indi-
vidual variation in this species must, however, always be reckoned with,
and series, not individuals, compared.

The pale colors of the female of the Margarita Island form have already
been mentioned by Cory in his list of Birds of the Leeward Islands, based
upon Ferry's series of fourteen skins, of which eight were females.

Pyrocephalus rubineus blatteus subsp. nov.

Type from Sabune Dist., British Honduras, adult cT, Mus. Comp. ZooL,
no. 19,812, Bangs Coll. Collected May 2, 1906, by Morton E. Peck.

Characters. — Similar to P. rubineus mexicanus Sel. of Mexico and the
southwest border of the United States, but smaller, with an actually as
well as relatively broader bill; adult male with red of under parts and
pileum more crimson, less orange — about geranium red.

Measurements. —

No.

Sex.

Locality.

WinR.

T^iL

Tarsus.

Culmen.

19,812
40,145
40,146

cfad.
cfad.
d'ad.

Br. Hon. Sabune Dist. .
Yucatan

73

73.5

74

53.5

56.

54

16.6

16

16

13

12.5

12.5

190

Bangs — Descriptions of New American Birds.

Remarks.— Thm new form of the vermilion tyrant-bird occupies Yuca-
tan, British Honduras and parts of Guatemala. The specimens which I
have examined are conspicuously different from the more northern race.
Its characters were fully pointed out by Ridgway in Birds of North and
Middle America, but it was not given a name by that distinguished orni-
thologist.

Leistes superciliaris petilus subsp. nov.

Type from Concepcion del Uruguay, adult d', no. 81,023, Mus. Comp.
Zool. Collected November 27, 1880, by W. B. Barrows.

Characters. — Similar to true L. superciliaris Bp. of Brazil in color, but
decidedly smaller, with a shorter bill, wing in adult cJ* about 98 (in adult
cJ* of L. superciliaris superciliaris about 105) ; culmen in adult d about
19.5 (in adult c^ of L. superciliaris superciliaris about 22.5).

Measurements. —

1
No. Sex.

1

Locality.

Wing.

Tail.

Tarsus,

Culmen.

31,019 cf ad.

Conception del Uruguay

96

57

31

19.5

31,020 1 d'ad.

a li <(

96

58

30

19

31,021

d'ad.

(( i( a

97

60

29.5

19

31,022

cTad.

u

98

56

30

20

31,023

d^ad.

< ( (< < (

98

57

30.5

19

Remarks.— I would also suggest the necessity of subdividing Leistes
militaris (Linn.) and recognizing Leistes militaris militaris (Linn.),
Guiana and eastern Peru north to Panama, smaller, with a shorter bill,
wing in adult d about 93, culmen about 20, and Leistes militaris eryth-
rothorax Pelzeln, Lower Amazon Valley, larger, with a longer bill, wing
in adult d about 100, culmen about 22.5.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 57-60 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

^

notes on some ^irds from the island of
orenaBlaT

BY T. BARBOUR.

During part of August and September of the past summer,
Dr. Glover M. Allen and Mr. C. T. Brues visited Grenada for
the purpose of studying the fauna. Their collections are now
all in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The ornithological
collection from Grenada already in the Museum was so complete
that no attempt was made to preserve series of the common
birds. Special efforts to secure some of the more interesting
forms were rewarded by the examples upon which these notes
are based.

Hybris* nigrescens noctividus siibsp. nov.

Type, from St. George',s, Grenada, No. 53,586, Museum of Comparative
Zoology, adult male. Collected l)y Glover M. Allen, September 15, 1910.

Characters. — Size that of Aluco nigrescens (Lawrence) of Dominica, but
differing as follows: tarsus somewhat longer; under parts darker in
color, and much more heavily spotted with dusky; upper parts darker,
and more profusely marked with larger white spots than in the owl from
Dominica.

Measurements. — Wing, 230 mm. ; tail, 100 mm. ; tarsus, 110 mm. ; cul-
men, 30 mm.

i?^ war A:s.— Thanks to the courtesy of Dr. Charles W. Richmond we
have been enabled to compare the type of Lawrence's A. nigrescens, a
male from Dominica (U. S. N. M. No. 77,843), as well as another from
the same locality (U. S. N. M. No. 80,017), with an adult female also
from this island (Bang's Coll. M. C. Z. No. 13,614). These three birds
are all pale ochraceous below, somewhat mixed with whitish; while the
dusky spots are confined almost wholly to the belly.

* Hybris is used instead of Tyto, which Matthews suggests (cf. Matthews, Nor.
Zool., XVII, 1910, p. 500), because Tyto, the name for an owl, is preoccupied by
Tyta Billberg, the name for an owlet moth. The two names have the same
derivation from the Greek word rurci, meaning an owl.

15— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (57)

58 Barbour — Notes on some Birds from, the Island of Grenada.

Our Grenada material consists of the type already mentioned, and
seven others, of which three are loaned by the United States National
Museum ; the Museum of Comparative Zoology having specimens from
Bequia in the Grenadine Islands, as well as St. Vincent, All the birds
from these southern islands of the Lesser Antillean chain are similar; and
have the underparts tawny, somewhat darker than Ridgway's color on
plate 5.

Planesticus nigrirostris personus subsp. nov.

Type, from the Grand Etang, 2,000 feet altitude, Grenada. No. 53,598,
Museum of Comparative Zoology, adult male. Collected by Glover M.
Allen, September 6, 1910.

Characters. — Similar to P. nigrirostris (Lawrence) of St. Vincent, but
differing in that the upper parts are much more darkly olivaceous, less
reddish olive; the lower parts more grayish, less rufescent ; and the under-
wing covers rather paler.

Remarks. — Mr. Ridgway, in Birds of North and Middle America, has
already called attention to these differences. The characters being con-
stant, as a comparison shows, these birds may be considered separate
subspecies, as he suggested possible.

Among the birds credited to Grenada was one describe<l from a single
young specimen in very bad preservation, the only one ever known, and
called Blacicus flaviventris Lawrence.

Wells, known for so many years as a collector of Grenadian birds, tried
in vain to find other specimens of this extremely rare Tyrant bird. Dr.
Allen was especially cautioned to w^atch for it, and by rare good fortune
secured an adult male in the deep forest near the Grand Etang, a lake in
the central part of the island at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. This speci-
men was the only one which he saw, in spite of a long and careful search
It was obvious at once that the bird was very different from any other
Blacicus; and Mr. Ridgway, when he saw it, decided definitely that it
was really an Empidonax; although there was no doubt as to the identity
of this specimen with the remains of the type, now in the United States
National Museum. As the specific name flaviventris is preoccupied, it
becomes necessary to give this bird a new name. A note regarding its
relationships, and a description follow.

Empidonax johnstonei nom. nov.

Described from an adult male, No. 53,591, Museum of Comparative
Zoology; from the Grand Etang, Granada, B. AV. I., 5 Sept., 1910, col-
lected by Glover M. Allen.

This Tyrant bird apparently has been derived from Empidonax law-
renci Allen, of Trinidad, but it has become differentiated by isolation to a
considerable extent. I have been enabled to make direct comparison
with a fine male of E. lawrencei (American Museum of Natural History
No. 59,067) thanks to the courtesy of Mr. Dewitt A. Miller.

Characters. — Similar to -E. laiurencei hut fiuvdUer; with a narrower bill ;

Barbour — Notes on some Birds from the Island of Grenada. 59

color pattern very similar but the upper parts a very dark greenish olive,
the cap and cheeks dusky; instead of dull olive green with the cap but
little darker. Wing bars narrower and darker, being tawny ochraceous
instead of ochraceous buf^\ Throat more purely white, underparts other-
wise the same.

Measurements. — M. C. Z. Xo. 53,591, (J*: Wing, GO; tail, 54; tarsus,
14.5; exposed culmen, 12. A. M. N. H. No. 59,007, d* : Princestown,
Trinidad, March 16, 1893, F. M. Chapman, collector. Wing, 64; tail,
58; tarsus, 13.5; exposed culmen, 13.

The new specific name of this rare bird, which is especially interesting
as being the only Antillean species of its genus, is given in honor of His
Honor Robert S. Johnstone, Chief Justice of Grenada and dependencies,
who has often aided the members of expeditions from this Museum by his
kind hospitality and in many other ways.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 43-44 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

dp:scription of a new dryonastes from china.

liY .1. Ji. KILKY.
[By permission of the Si'croUiry of the Smithsonian Institntion.] ^

In a small lot of birds collected by Artlmr de C. Sowerby in
the provinces of Shansi and Shensi, China, there is a single
specimen resembling Dn/onades perspicillatiis hut paler through-
out and in my oj)inion represents a recognizable geographical
race. It may be known from the following description:

Dryonastes perspicillatus shensiensis 8ubsp. nov.

Type, No. 212, 007, Collection of the U. S. National Museum. Adult
male. Fifteen miles south of Si-an-fu, Shensi, China, 1,500 feet altitude,
February 28, 1909. Collected by Arthur de C. Sowerby.

Suhspecific, chnracterx. — Similar to Dryonastes p. perspicillatus Gmelin
of south and south-east China, but much paler both above and below and
with the feathers of the throat and neck with a mere indication of a dark
shaft-streak.

Description. — Forehead, supra-orbital, lores, and auriculars, black,
forming a mask; crown, cervix, and occiput smoke gray, deepening into
browni.sh on the upper back, all the feathers with very narrow edgings
and indistinct shaft-streaks of liair brown; back and rump broccoli
brown; upper tail-coverts Isabella color; throat, jugulum, and sides of
neck, smoke gray, the feathers of the throat and jugulum with hardly
perceptible dusky sliaf t-streaks ; breast, abdomen, and wing-lining, pink-
ish buff"; thiglis buff; crissum ochraceous; carpo-metacarpal bordered
with clove brown; wings externally color of the back; the primaries and
secondaries blackish on the inner web and then edged with huffy towards
the base of the feathers; tail wood brown, all the feathers broadly tipped
with black, except the middle pair, the black increasing towards the outer
pair where it occupies about half the feather and extends some distance
up the outer web. Wing, 134; tail, loo; culmen, 25.5; tarsus, 41.5;
middle toe, 25.5 mm.

12-Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (43)

44 Riley — Description of a New Dryonastes from China.

Remarks. — Besides the paler colors, Dryonastes per spicillatus shensiensis
has the feathers of the crown and cervix less strongly edged with hair
brown; the middle tail feathers are wood brown while in D. p. perspicil-
latus they are mars brown. Shensi seems to be out of the given range of
D. p. perspicillatus and in a different faunal area.

Among the birds from the type locality of the above described race
there was a single specimen of Nannus troglodytes idius (Richmond),
which extends the range of this bird considerably to the west.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 41-42 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS t

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

BY OUTRAM BANGS.

Several years ago the Museum of Comparative Zoology received
from Mr. H. H. Travers a collection made in Snares, Auckland,
Chatham and Antipodes islands. It contained one skin of a
Rhipidura from the Chathams (probably Mangare, though the
label says merely Chatham Islands) that differs in several
respects from New Zealand specimens of Rhipidura flabilliferii
(Gmel.).

As this island form appears to be unnamed it may be known
as —

Rhipidura flabillifera penitus subsp. nov.

Ti^pe from the, Chatham Islands, No. 39,984, Museum of Comparative
Zoology, adult Q. Collected by H. H. Travers.*

Characters. — Similar in general to true R. flabillifera (Gmel.) of New
Zealand, but tail longer and larger — each rectrice wider; two central
rectrices grayish or hoary black instead of brownish black and with a
white stripe ?> mm. wide fringing the inner web for the apical half of the
feather and joining the white tip which is more extensive.

Measurements. — Type adult 9 : wing, TO; tail, 99; culmen,8.5; tarsus,
19.5. In a series of six skins of true R. flabillifera irom New Zealand of
which only two — a male and a female — had the sex determined by the
collector, the wing varies in length from 70 to 75, and the tail from 91
to 94.

* Unfortunately the skins wo had of Travers had no data other than locality and sex.
11— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (41)

Vol. XXIV, pp. 31-36 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

^-fir

DIAGNOSES OF SOME NEW FORMS OF PICIDiE.

BY ROBERT RIDGWAJ.

[By porniissiou of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.]

Colaptes auratus borealis siibsp. nov.

Type from Nulato, lower Yukon R., Alaska. No. 49,922, U. S. Nat.
Mus. Adult male. June 28, 1867. W. H. Dall.

Similar to C. a. auratus and C. a. hiteus in coloration, but decidedly
larger than the latter, much larger than the former. Adult male (type) :
Wing, 170; tail, 113; exposed culmen, 'M\.o; tarsus, 30; outer anterior
toe, 23.

The case of Colaptes auratus is precisely parallel to those of Dry abates
villosus and B. pubescens, all three species gradually increasing in size from
the extreme southern to the extreme northern parts of their range, without
material change in coloration. P^vidently the three cases require identical
treatment ; and since three forms seem to best express the conditions in the
two species of Dry abates (east of the Rocky Mts.) we can not have less
than three forms of Colaptes without being conspicuously inconsistent.
While Colaptes auratus luteus Bangs includes both the medium-sized speci-
mens from the more northern portions of the United States and the very
large ones from the far North, the type is an example of the resident bird
of Massachusetts, though an exceptionally large one. Under the circum-
stances, it seems best to restrict the name luteus to the mid-region form,
and give a new name to the large northern })ird. By so doing, we have, as
in the cases of Dryobates villosus and D. pubescens, a small Lower Austral or
Austroriparian form, a medium-sized form of the Upper Austral and Tran-
sition life-zones, and a large form in the Canadian and Hudsonian zones.

The case of Phlceotomus pileatus, in its variations east of the Rocky
Mountains, is nearly the same, but different in this respect: The species
does not extend so far northward, and the lines separating (somewhat
arbitrarily, as in the other species) the ranges of the two more southern
forms are shifted farther southward; the extreme southern form, instead
of inhabiting the Lower Austral zone as a whole, being restricted to middle
and southern Florida.

y— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIV. 1911. (31)

32 Ridgway — Diagnoses of Some New Forms of Picidde.

Colaptes chrysoides mearnsi subsp. nov.

Type from Qnitovaqnito, Arizona. No. 132,871, U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult
male. February 2, 1894. Dr. Edgar A. Mearus, U. S. A.

Similar to C. c. chrysoides but decidedly larger and paler, with pileum
more strongly cinnamomeous, black bars on back, etp., narrower, spots on
outer web of primaries more conspicuous ( primary coverts also sometimes
spotted), gray of throat, etc., lighter, and spots on under parts usually
smaller. Adult male (type): Wing, 146; tail, 06; exposed ciilmen, 35.5;
tarsus, 27; outer anterior toe, 23.

There are apparently three easily characterized geographic forms of this
species, as follows:

Colaptes chrysoides chrysoides (Malherbe). Southern Lower California.

Colaptes chrysoides brunnescens Anthony. Middle Lower California.

Colaptes chrysoides mearnsi Kidgway. Arizona, extreme southeastern
California and northern Lower California, and southward to southern
Sonora.

Centurus chrysogenys flavinuchus subsp. nov.

Type from Acapulco, Guerrero, southwestern Mexico. No. 154,935,
U.S. Nat. Mus. (Biological Survey Coll.). Adultmale. January 33, 1895,
Nelson and Goldman.

Similar to C. c. chrysogenys (Vigors)* but adult male with nape bright
orange-yellow (instead of orange-red), strongly contrasted with red of
crown; adult female with nape yellow, instead of orange or orange-red.
Adult male (type): Wing, 124; tail, 75; exposed culmen, 26; tarsus, 2L5;
outer anterior toe, 20.

Centurus uropygialis brewsteri subsp. nov.
Type from Santiago, southern Lower California. No. 151,827, U. S.
Nat. Mus. Adult male. November 22, 1887, M. Abbott Frazar.,
■ Similar to C. u. uropygialis, of Arizona, etc., but smaller, with rela-
tively (often absolutely) larger bill ; bars on back, etc. , averaging decidedly
narrower, black bars on lower rump and upper tail-coverts narrower and
more numerous, and wliite bars on lateral rectrtces, as well as black ones
on inner web of middle rectrices, narrower. Adultmale (type): Wing,
129; tail, 79.5; exposed culmen, 30; tarsus, 23; outer anterior toe, 18.

Chloronerpes rubiginosus trinitatis subsp. nov.

Type from Princestown, Trinidad. No. 59,416, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.
Adult male. March 3, 1893, Frank M. Chapman.

Smaller and more richly colored than C. r. rubiginosus, from the arid
coast district of Venezuela, the back, etc., brighter, more tawny, olive,
chest more brownish dusky with narrower bars of yellowish and more or
less strongly suffused with dull orange or tawny. Adult male (type):
Wing, 104 mm.; tail, 61.5; culmen, 23.5; tarsus, 20.5.

* The name Centurus elegans {Picus elegans Swainson,1827) can not be used for this
species, being preoccupied by Picus elegans Mviller, 1776.

Centurus chrysogenys chrysogenys is confined to the State of Sinaloa and Territory
of Tepic.

Ridgway — Diagnoses of Some New Forms of Picidde. 33

Chloronerpes rubiginosus tobag:ensis subsp. nov.

Type from Tobago. No. 74,908, U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult male.
May, F. A. Ober.

Similar in coloration to C. r. triniiatis but decidedly larger. Adult
male (type): Wing, 115; tail, 06; culmen, 23.5; tarsus, 20. (Average
measurements of adult males of the two forms are: —

C. r. trinitatis (5 specimens): Wing, 105.4; tail, 00.7; culmen, 22.9;
tarsus, 20.

C. r. tobagensis (7 specimens): Wing, 111; tail, (>5.5; culmen, 24.1;
tarsus, 17.6.)

Chloronerpes rubiginosus meridensis subsp. nov.

Type from near Merida, Venezuela. No, 100,734, Am. Mus. Nat.
Hist. Adult male. S. Bricefio Gabaldon.

In coloration nearest C. r. uropygialis from Costa Rica and Panama,
but posterior under parts more strongly barred, and bill more slender.
Adult male (type): Wing, 121 mm.; tail, 73; culmen, 22.5; tarsus, 21.

(Another adult male from Punta, near Merida, measures as follows:
Wing, 123.5; tail, 74; culmen, 23; tarsus, 20.5.)

Veniliornis kirkii darienensis subsp. nov.

Type from El Re^l, Darien, eastern Panama. No. 150,795, U. S.
Nat. Mus. Adult male. September 3, 1889, Heyde and Lux.

Similar to V. k. continentalis Hellmayr, of Venezuela, but wing-coverts
without yellowish spots or streaks, and under parts much more narrowly
barred, the pale bars pale brownish buff instead of bufity white. Similar
also to V. k. cecilii (Malherbe), of central Colombia, but back, etc.,
brighter, more tawny, and under parts more broadly barred with pale
brownish bufi' ( instead of dull whitish), and size slightly less. Adult male
(type): Wing, 83; tail, 52; exposed culmen, 18.5; tarsus, 15.5; outer
anterior toe, 11.5.

Phlceotomus pileatus floridanus subsp. nov.

Type from Prevatt's Camp, 24 miles s. w. of Kissimmee, Florida.
No. 152,136, U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult male. March 23, 189(), R. Ridgway.

Similar to P. p. pileatus but decidedly blacker (that is, the general
blackish color less slaty or sooty), average size less, and bill relatively
shorter and broader. Adult male (type): Wing, 223; tail, 151; exposed
culmen, 45 ; tarsus, 33; outer anterior toe, 27.

The following geographic forms of this species seem to be susceptible
of definition :

Phlceotomus pileatus pileatus (Linnaeus). Lower Austral life-zone
(except middle and southern Florida), and southern portion of Upper
Austral life-zone.

Phlceotomus pileatus floridanus Ridgway. Peninsular Florida.

Phlceotomus pileatus abieticola Bangs. Canadian and Transition life-
zones and northern portion of Upper Austral zone, east of Rocky Mts.

34 Ridgway — Diagnoses of Some Neiv Forms of Picidse.

PhJoeotomus pileatus picinus Bangs, Canadian and Transition life-
zones of northwest coast, from British Cohinibia to the sonthern Sierra
Xevada.

Scapaneus guatemalensis nelsoni subsp. nov.

Type from EI Rincon, Guerrero, s. w. Mexico. No. 1<S5,52(), U. S.
Nat. Mns. ( Biological Survey Coll. ) Adult male. May S, 1903, Nelson
and Goldman.

Similar to S. g. guatemalensis but decidedly smaller, black of upper
parts, neck and chest less sooty (that of foreneck glossy, slightly bluish,
that of chest more extended) ; back stripes whiter (less yellowish) ; ligliter
bars on under parts of body paler and narrower; yellow on under side of
wings paler. Adult male (type) : AVing, 177; tail, 9(); exposed culmen,
42.5; tarsus, 32; outer anterior toe, 24.

The several geographic forms of this species (as I am able to make them
out), with their respective ranges are as follows:

Scapaneus guatemalensis guatemalensis (Hartlaub). States of Oaxaca,
Tabasco, and Yucatan, southern Mexico to Costa Rica.

Scapaneus guatemaleyisis regius (Reichenbach) . Middle-eastern Mexico,
in States of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, and Vera Cruz.

Scapaneus guatemalensis nelsoni Ridgway. Southwestern Mexico, in
States of Sinaloa, Jalisco, Colima, and Guerrero and Territory of Tepic.

Picumnus olivaceus panamensis subsp. nov.

Type from Lion Hill Station, Panama Railway, eastern Panama. No.
53,959, U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult male. J. McLeannan.

Similar to P. o. granadensis but smaller, coloration decidedly more
brownish olive, pileum much duller black, and feathers of malar region
and chin more narrowly margined with black or with these markings
sometimes obsolete. Adult male (type): wing, 50; tail, 24; exposed cul-
men, 12; tarsus, 12.5; outer anterior toe, 10.5.

The following seem to me to be well-defined geographic forms of this
species :

Picumnus olivaceus olivaceus ( Laf resnaye ) . Central Colombia.
Picumnus olivaceus granadensis (Lafresnaye). Western Colombia.
Picumnus olivaceus panamensis Ridgway. Eastern Panama.
Picumnus olivaceus flavotinctus Ridgway. Western Panama and

Southwestern Costa Rica.
Picumnus olivaceus dimotus Bangs. Caribbean slope, Nicaragua and
Honduras.

Balanosphyra gen. nov. {Picidse).

Type. — Picus formicivorus Swainson.

Medium sized Picidse similar to Melanerpes but with antrorse prefrontal
feathers ( ' * nasal tufts ' ' ) developed into conspicuous dense tufts ; feathers
of breast broad, imbricated, and firm; eighth, seventh and eighth, or
sixth, seventh and eighth primaries longest; ninth primary nearly as long

Ridgway — Diagnoses of Some New Forms of Picidas. 35

as fifth, and tenth (outermost) relatively much smaller (only about one^
fourth as long as ninth), narrower, and more accuminate,

i^dXavos, an acorn; <r(pvpa, a hammer.)

Species and sul)species :

1. Balanosphyra formicivora.

a. Balanosphyra formicivora formicivora ( Swainson ) .
6. Balanosphyra formicivora aculeata (Mearns).

c. Balanosphyra formicivora bairdi (Ridgway).

d. Balanosphyra formicivora angustifrons (Baird).

e. Balanosphyra formicivora albeola (Todd).

/. Balanosphyra formicivora striatipeclus (Ridgway).

2. Balanosphyra flavigula (Malherbe).

3. Balanosphyra xantholarynx (Reichenbach).

Vol. XXIV, pp. 29-30 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

^

TWO NEW BIRDS^J;RQM_THE Isr.AM) OF MOLOKAI.
BY OUTRAM r.ANLiS.

While identifying and arranging the extensive series of
Hawaiian birds in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, I
noticed that both the liwi and On of Molokai showed characters
by which they could be picked out easily, despite the fact that
ornithologists dealing with the birds of these islands have not
considered them separable. I therefore propose the following
names for these two subspecies:

Vestiaria coccinea suavis snht^p. nov.

Type from the island of Molokai, Hawaiian Islands; Museum of Com-
parative Zoology No. lo,05i), Bangs Coll., adult J^. Collected February 5,
1895, by M. J. Flood.

Characters. — Similar to true F. coccinea (Forster) of Hawaii; but
larger, bill slightly stronger, and red of general plumage orange- vermilion
instead of scarlet- vermilion.

Measurements. — Adult d^, type: wing, 85; tail,l)0; culmen,28; tarsus,
25. Adult 9, topotype, No. 15,058: wing, 80; tail, 55; culmen, 25.5;
tarsus. 22.*

Remarks.— A young male of the new form, also collected by Flood, that
was changing from a spotted nestling to the red dress of the adult, when
compared with similar skins from Hawaii, shows exactly the same differ-
ence in the shade of the vermilion portions of its plumage as do adults.
While this particular difference in the shade of vermilion is very striking
in the symmetrical, smooth skins of even and regular make, which I have
just compared, I must confess tliat it probably would not l)e in rough
skins such as some European ornitliologists appear still content with. At
all events I find no mention of it in literature, although Wilson did notice
certain dissimilarities in size, the shape of the bill, and in the color of the
nestlings, in comparing birds from these two islands.

* In a long series of true V. coccinea from Hawaii, the winj? in adult males averages
79.6 (78-81), in adult females. 73.75 (72-75).

•8— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV. 1911. (29)

30 Bangs — Tivo Neiv Birds from the Island of Molol-ai.

The island whence the type of V. coccinea, brought back by Captain
Cook, really came can probably never be known; it seems safe, however,
to assume that it was Hawaii, as Captain Cook stopped longer there than
at any of the other islands.

Psittirostra psittacea oppidana subsp. nov.

tf Typ^ from the island of Molokai, Hawaiian Islands; Museum of Com-

[) parative Zoology No. 15,047. Bangs Collection, adult d*. Collected Feb-

; ^ ,j ruary <S, ISHo, by M. J. Flood.

Characters. — Similar to true P. psittacea (Gmel.) of Hawaii, and quite
as large ; larger, therefore, than P. psittacea deppei Rothsch. (now supposed
to be extinct) of Oahu. In color somewhat intermediate between the two.
The fully adult male compared with fully adult males of true P. psittacea
has the upper parts paler, more yellowish, — rather nearer oil-green than
olive-green, instead of the reverse; the chest much paler, about gray
No. 0 of Ridgway, and without darker median streaks to the feathers,
instead of gray No. 0, or rarely No. 7, the feathers with darker median
streaks; middle of belly with more extended grayish white patch, and
sides and flanks dull olive-yellowish instead of oil-green. The adult
female is more yellowish, less olivaceous green above and the sides and
flanks are dull olive-yellowish, instead of oil-green.

Measurements. — Adult d^, type: wing, 97.5; tail, 54; cuhnen, IH.o;
tarsus, 28.5. Adult 9 , topotype. No. 15,018: wing, 1)8; tail, 57; culmen,
15.5; tarsus, 22.5.

Remarks. — Both ^VHscn and Rothschild seem to have been aware that
the Molokai On was not quite the same as that of Hawaii, Wilson saying:
" Examples from Molokai do not present any definite points of difference,
though perhaps they are somewhat duller beneath"; while Rothschild
specially mentions a youngish male in his collection from that island
which he considered to be about intermediate between P. psittacea and
P. deppei.

The three skins — two adult males and one adult female — in our collec-
tion from Molokai are all very different from any in a large series, includ-
ing many adults and young of various ages from Hawaii.

Vol. XXIV, pp. 23-24 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OF THK

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

C£

A NEW BP:LL-BIRD from AUCKLAND ISLAND.
BY OUTRAM BANGS.

Ajiioiig tlie birds the Museum of Comparative Zoology received
from Mr. H. H. Travers was one skin of an adult male Bell-
Bird from Auckland Island, which upon comparison proves to
be so different from Anthornis melanura (Sparrm.) of New
Zealand or A. melanocephala Gray of the Chatham Islands that
it, as well as its two congeners, must be given specific rather
than subspecific rank. Upon inquiry I found that the U. S.
National Museum had one adult male from Auckland Island
from the same source as ours, and this together with their
entire series of A. melanura and A. melanocephala was kindly
sent me by Dr. Chas. W. Richmond, acting Curator of Birds.
The two specimens exactly match and are not approached by
any individual variation among skins from New Zealand or
the Chathams.

The new bird may be known as —

Anthornis incoronata sp. nov.

Type from Auckland iHlaiid, No. 40,008, Museum of Comparative
Zoology, adult cJ*. Collected by H. H. Travers.

Characters. — Siuiilar in general to A. melanura (Sparrm.) of New
Zealand and A. melanocephala Gray of the Chatham Islands, and about
intermediate in size — larger than tJie former, smaller than the latter;
differing in color from both in the adult male (the female I have not
seen) having the head almost without darker metallic gloss, — a faint
metallic violet is just perceptible in a very narrow frontal band and
slightly so on the ear coverts, the rest of the head is glossy oil-green,
shining in certain lights with almost golden reflections. In the large
Chatham Islands bird the whole head is dark, shining metallic-blue, in

(V~Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash,, Vol. XXIV. 11)11. (23)

24 Bangs — A New Bell-Bird from Auckland Island.

the small New Zealand species the head is paler, a little less extensively
shininj? and the color metallic-violet.

Measurements. — Type, adult cJ*, wing, 90; tail, 90. o; tarsus, 28; ex-
posed culmen, 15. No. 175,193, U. S. Nat. Mus., topotype, adult c?, wing,
94; tail, 92; tarsus, 29; exposed culmen, 14.5. Averages of adult males
of A. melanura are, wing, 88; tail, 84; tarsus, 25.5; exposed culmen, 14,
while one fully adult male of A. melanocephala affords the following:
wing, 100; tail, 96; tarsus, 34; exposed culmen, 15.5.

PRICE LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

OP THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Vol. XXIII, 1910.

Officers and Committees for 1910

Proceedings for 1910 and Index for Vol. XXIII

Descriptions of Two New Muskrats, by N. Hollister

Further Notes on Fishes from the Canal Zone, by Barton Warren
Evermann and Edmund Lee Goldsborough

A New Crinoid from the Solomon Islands, by Austin H. Clark .

Records of Some Reptiles and Batrachians from the Southeastern
United States, by C. S. Brimley

Brief Synopsis of the Waterrats of Europe, by Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.

Notes on Mammals of the Middle Mississippi Valley, with
Description of a New Woodrat, by Arthur H. Howell ....

The Stridulations of Some Katydids, by H. A. AUard . .

New Genera and Species of Issidas (Fulgoridee), by E. D. Ball .

The Scales of the Atherinid Fishes, by T. D. A. Cockerell . .

The West African Forest Pig (Hylochoerus rma^or Thomas), by
Glover M. Allen

Diagnoses of New Forms of Micropodidse and Trochilidee, by
Robert Ridgway

The Generic Name of the House Rats, by Gerrit S. Miller, Jr. .

The Scales of the Clupeid Fishes, by T. D. A. Cockerell ....

A New Bird from the Island of Ceram, Moluccas, by F. Muir
and J. C. Kershaw

Unrecorded Specimens of Two Rare Hawaiian Birds, by Out-
ram Bangs

New or Rare Birds from AVestern Colombia, by Outram Bangs .

On the Name and Synonomy of the Antillean Sharp-shinned
Hawk, by J. H. Riley

Two New Pocket Gophers of the Genus* Thomomys, by Vernon
Bailey v • •

Fletcher Lake, Indiana, and its Flora and Fauna, by Barton W.
Evermann and H. Walton Clark . . . . .

A New Genus of Amphibia Sahentia from Dutch New Guinea,
by Thomas Barbour

On the Nature of the Teeth in Ctenoid Scales, by T. D. A.
Cockerell . . ♦. . .

On the Type Specimen of the Crinoid Described by M Ciller as
Alecto purpurea, by Austin Hobart Clark

General Notes ... ....

A Note Regarding the Green Anolis from the Northern Baha-
mas, by Thomas Barbour, 99; Eleutherodactylus ricordii in
Florida, by Thomas Barbour, 100 ; On the Name of the Trinidad
Coereba, by J. 11. Riley, 100.

A 'New Microsorex from the V^icinity of Washington, D. C, by
Edward A. Preble

Page :

Price

vn J

20

1-2

5

3-6

10

7-8

5

9-18

15

19-22

10

23-34

5

35-40

10

41-46

15

47-48

5

49-52

53-56
57-60
61-64

65-66

67-70
71-76

10

10
10
10

10
15

79-80

5

81-88

15

89-90

5

91-94

10

95-98

10

99-100

5

101-102

A New Subspecies of Pigmy Owl, by E. W. Nelson 103-104 5

A New Humming Bird from tbe ^Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta,

Colombia, by Outram Bangs 105-106 5

A New Tinamou from Lake Titicaca, by Outram Bangs . . 107-108 5

Jxra lon§icornis Lucas Referred to the Genus Stenetrium, by

Harriet Richardson 109-110 5

On the Scales of Some Malacopterygian Fishes, by T. D. A.

Cockerell . 111-114 10

Description of a New Solitary Spadefoot (Scnphiopus hurterii)
from Texas, with other Herpetological Notes, by John K,

Strecker, Jr : . ■ 115-122 15

General Notes 123-124 5

Notes on Some Names of Lions, by N. Hollister, 123; The use
of Epimys in a Generic Sense, by R. Lydekker, 124; Incuba-
tion Period of Box-Turtle Eggs, by Wells W. Cooke, 124.
A New Muskrat from the Great Plains, by N. Holhster ... 125-126 5

Ursus sheldoni, a New Bear from Montague Island, by C. Hart

Merriam ....:... ". '. .' 127-180 10

On a Collection of Fishes from the Olympic Peninsula, together
with Notes on Other West Coast Species, by Barton Warren

Eyermann and Homer Barker Latimer 131-140 15

The Scales of the African Cyprinid Fishes, with a Discussion of

Related Asiatic and European Species, by T. D. A. Cockerell 141-152 15
Two New AVoodpeckers from Central America, by W. E. Clyde

Todd 153-156 10

On a Collection of Fishes from the Lower Potomac, the Entrance
of Chesapeake Bay, and from Streams Flowing into these
Waters, by Barton Warren Evermann and Samuel Frederick

Hildebrand 157-164 15

The Amphibian Generic Name Engystoma Untenable, by Leon-

' hard Stejneger 165-168 . 10

A New Colubrine Snake from Java, by Thomas Barbour . . . 169-170 5

Description of a New Genus and Species of Bivalve from the

Coronado Islands, Lower California, by William H. Dall . 171-172 5

Tw^o New Woodpeckers from the Isle of Pines, AVest Indies, by

Outram Bangs . 173-174 5

Price ofthe entire volume, f>3.00.

XoTE. — No single paper will be sold for less than 10 cents.

Vol. XXIII, pp. 173-174 December 29, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

01^ TJ£E

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

M

TWO NEW WOODPECKERS FROM THE ISLE OF PINES,
WESTJNglES^ '

OUTRAM BANGS.

When in 1905 (American Naturalist, Vol. XXXIX, No.
460, pp. 179-215) Mr. W. R. Zappey and I published an
account of the birds of the Isle of Pines, based mostly upon a
collection made there the previous year by him, we were aware
that the red-bellied woodpecker of the island was not quite the
same as that of Cuba; but on account of lack of material for
comparison, we did not note any differences in the green wood-
pecker.

Since then the bringing together of large series of skins has
shown that both the woodpeckers of the island are well differ-
entiated subspecies; and Mr. Ridgway has urged me to describe
them in time to appear in the forthcoming part of his great
work, generously refusing to do so himself.

They may be known by the following short diagnoses:

Centurus superciliaris murceus subsp. nov.
Type from San Juan, Lsle of Piiie.s (near Cuba), adult d*, No. 13,260.

Bangs coll. Now in Museum of Comparative Zoology. Collected May

2, 1904, by W. R. Zappey.

Charactfrs, — Similar to C. sup('rn'H(trii< supernliarin (Temm. ) of Cuba,

but decidedly smaller; under parts much paler and decidedly less

yellowish.

Measurements.— TyY)e, adult d^. Wing, 188; tail, 94.5; tarsus, 23;

culmen, 36. Adult 9, No. 13,263. Wing, 139.5; tail, 99; tarsus, 24;

culmen, 35.

Xiphidiopicus percussus insulae^pinorum subsp. nov.
Ti/pe from Santa Fe, Isle of Pines (near Cuba), adult d^, No. 13,4.80,
Bangs coll. Now in Museum of Comparative Zoology. Collected April
18, 1904, by W. R. Zappey.

41— Prog. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXHI. 1910. (173)

174 Bangs — Two New Woodpeckers from the Me of Fines.

Characters. — Similar to A", percussus percussus (Temm.) of Cuba, but
smaller; coloration paler, especially below; under parts more narrowly
and less distinctly streaked, the streaks less blackish, more grayish; red
of foreneck more restricted; auricular stripe ligliter gray and rather
narrower.

Measurements. — Type, adult d^. Wing, 105; tail, 78.5; tarsus, 22; cul-
men, 23.5. Adult 9, No. 13,479. AVing, 106; tail, 84.5; tarsus. 20.5;
culmen, 21.

Vol. XXIII. pp. 77-78 May 4, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

£S

ON THE NAME_AND SYNONOMY OF THE ANTIL-
H LEANSHARFSglNNED HAWK. '

BY J. H. RILEY.

[By permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.]

In 1827, Vigors described a small sharp-shinned hawk taken
near Havana, Cuba, by MacLeay, as Accipiter fringilloides,
under which name it has always appeared in print, but if
Haitian and Cuban birds are the same, as they have been con-
sidered by those who have had an opportunity of handling
specimens from the two islands, then Accipiter striatus oi Vieillot
has twenty years priority and must be adopted until the birds
of the two islands are proved distinct.

I am not aware that any direct comparison has been made
between birds of the two islands; in fact the rarity of specimens
in collections would preclude this. Lawrence, in 1860, described
the adult male, adult female, young male, and two young females
from Cuban specimens and Cherrie has described the adult
female, adult male, and young male from Haitian specimens.
Judging from descriptions, the birds of the two islands are simi-
lar or identical. I would like to add, however, that in the
only specimen of the adult male handled by me the feathers of
the nape have concealed white bases and the inner webs of the
flight feathers externally, except the tertials, have dark cross
bars, a feature not mentioned by either Lawrence or Cherrie.
The following synonomy has been worked out by me and may
prove useful to future investigators:

Accipiter striatus Vip:illot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 42, pi. 14 (Santo
Domingo). — Sthickland, Orn. Syn., 1855, 109 (part).

Falco Vielhtinus Shaw, Gen. Zool. VII, part 1, 1809, 204 (Santo
Domingo).

17— Pkoc. nioL. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIII, 1910. (77)

78 Riley — Synonomy of the Antillean Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Sparvius striatus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. X, 1817, 325.

Siparvius] striatus Vieillot, Tab. Enc. Meth., Ill, 1823, 1265.

Accipiter fringilloides Vigors, Zool. Journ. Ill, 1827, 434 (near Havana,
Cuba).— Denny, P. Z. S. Lond., 1847, 38.— Lawrence, Ann. New
York Lye. Nat. Hist., VII, 1860, 255 (Cuba; desc. plumages).—
GuNDLACiT, J. f. 0., 1871, 368 (Cuba); Contr. Orn. Cubana-, 1876,
44; Orn. Cubana, 1895, 25 (habits, plumages). — Sharpe, Cat. Bds.
Brit. Mus., I, 1874, 135 (foot-note).— Cory, Bds. Haiti and St.
Domingo, 1885, 120 (desc. and plate $ juv. ) ; Auk, IV, 1887, 41
(desc.; syn. ; erit. ) ; Bds. W. I., 1889, 199; Cat. Bds. W. I., 1892,
98.

Nisus fringilloides D'Orbigny, La Sagra's Hist. Fis. Pol. Nat. Cuba,
Aves, 1839, 31; French ed., p. 18.— Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Geol. and
Geog. Surv. Terr. II, 1876, 117 (desc. plumages and syn.).

A[stur] fringilloides Lembeye, Aves de Cuba, 1850, 128.

A[stur] fuscus Lembeye, Aves de Cuba, 1850, 128.

Nisus fuscus Cabanis, J. f. 0., II, Suppl. 1855, p. Ixxxiii (Cuba). —
Cory, Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, VI, 1881, 154 (Haiti).

Accipiter fuscus Brewer, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., VII, 1860, 306
(Cuba).

[Accipiter] fringilloides Breaver, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., VII,
1860, 306 (Cuba).— GuNDLACir, J. f. O., 1861, 322 (Cuba); J. f. 0.,
1862, 188; Repertorio fis.-nat. Cuba, I, 1865-66, 224.— Gray, Handl.
Bds. I, 1869, 32 (Cuba).— Sclater and Salvin, Noin. Avium Neotr.
1873, 120 (Cuba).— Cory, List Bds. W. I. 1885, 22.— Gukney, List
Diurnal Bds. Prey, 1884, 42.— Sharpe, Handl. Bds., I, 1889, 252.

Acc.[ipiter] fringilloi'les Gv^BhACU, Anales Hist. Nat. Madrid, II, 187^^,
100 (Cuba).

N.[isus] fuscus var. fringilloides Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Hist. N.
Am. Bds., Ill, 1874, 223.

N.[isus] fringilloides Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr.
II, 1876, 95 (Cuba).

Vol. XXIII, pp. 71-76 May 4, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OF THK

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

rA

NEW OR RARE BIRDS FROM WESTERN COLOMBIA.

BY OUTRAM BANGS.

The birds mentioned below were contained in a second collec-
tion* from western Colombia made by Mervyn G. Palmer,
which I received from Mr. W. F. H. Rosenberg last summer
but only just now have had time to touch. The region Mr.
Palmer has been working in is a very rich one, and both collec-
tions sent me by Mr. Rosenberg have fairly astonished me in
the numbers of rare and new forms they contained.

Following are short descriptions of the new forms in the
present collection, and mention of a few other species where
ranges are extended or the record is apparently worth pub-
lishing.

Botaurus pinnatus (Wagler).

Two specimens, 6^ and Q , taken at Guabinas, Rio Canca, January 10,
1908. Tliis bittern seems to be very rare in South America north of
Guiana, though it has been taken in Nicaragua.

Odontophorus baliolus sp. uov.

Type from Naranjito, Kio Dagua, western Colombia. Adult $ , No.
23,4.32, Bangs collection, INIuseum of Comparative Zoology. Collected
June 20, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Somewhat similar to 0. paramhx Rotlischild of western
Ecuador, but very much darker; upper parts nearly solid blackish-brown,
only very slightly peppered and marked with paler (very different from
the mottled upper parts of 0. pammb.-Te) ; under parts deep chestnut,
much darker tlian in 0. paramhx; black of chin and upper throat bor-
dered above l)y a white stripe (not present in 0. parnmbx).

Meamiremenls.—Tyx)e,-A(\\\\i $, wing, 132; tail, 48; tarsus, 36; cul-

men, 18.

* In July, 1908, in these Proceedingrs, I published a short paper on the first lot sent
me from this source by Mr. Rosenberg.

16— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIII, 1910. (71)

72 Bangs — New or Rare Birds from Western Colombia.

Syrniutn nigrolineatum nigrolineatum Sclater.

One adult $ , La Maria, Dagiia Valley, May 26, 1908. This skin is an
exact match for several Chiriqiii specimens, and the form thus ranges
into western Colombia, while in the Bogota region Syrnium nigrolineatum
spilonotum Sharpe takes its place.

Picumnus canus sp. nov.

Type from Naranjito, Rio Dagua, western Colombia. Adult $ , No.
23,434, Bangs collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Collected
June 20, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Similar to P. olivaceus Lafr. in pattern, but slightly
larger and of a very different color, being whitish and gray instead of
olive and greenish.

Top o-i head black with small white spots; rest of upper parts dull
smoke gray, wings somewhat edged with yellowish-white ; belly dull white,
faintly striped with dusky; chest dull grayish, passing into whitish-gray
on throat; sides slightly tinged with pale yellowish.

Measurements. — Type, adult $, wing, 56; tail, 29.5; tarsus, 12.6; cul-
men, 12.

Threnetes fraseri (Gould).

A fine adult, sex not determined, of this Ecuadorian species was taken
at Naranjito, Rio Dagua, June 22, 1908.

Xiphorhynchus rosenbergi* sp. nov.

Type from Guabinas, Rio Cauca, western Colombia. Adult cJ*, No.
23,436, Bangs collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Collected
January 9, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Nearest to X. chunchotambo (Tschudi), of which it may
be a subspecies, but with a much heavier bill; under parts paler; throat
more buffy, and striping of chest heavier. From X. nana ( Lawr. ) , which
it somewhat resembles in general coloration, the new form can at once
be told by having the middle of back distinctly marked with pale shaft
lines bordered by black, by the striping of the chest being wider, the
stripes more distinctly bordered by black, and by the belly being less
indistinctly striped.

Measurements. — Type, adult c?, wing, 108; tail, 97.5; tarsus, 23; cul-
men, 36.

Rhopoctites alogus sp. nov.

Type from near Pavas, west slope of Colombia, at 4,400 feet altitude.
Adult d*, No. 23,438, Bangs collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Collected February 8, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Somewhat similar to R. rujibrunneus (Lawr.) of Costa
Rica and Panama, but larger ; bill both longer and stouter ; colors above

* Named for Mr. W. F. H. Rosenberg of London, who has taken much interest in
securing collections from this region.

Bangs — Neiv or Rare Birds from Western Colombia. 73

duller, more olivaceous, less reddish brown; throat and sides of neck
ochraceous instead of orange-rufous; body below from the chest back-
ward uniform tawny ochraceous, wholly unstreaked, darker and browner
on flanks and under tail coverts; pileum and cervix with narrow, pale
shaft streaks to all the feathers — very difll'erent from the solidly brown
pileum of R. rnfibrunneus.

Measurements. — Type, adult cJ*, wing, 1)7.5; tail, 91; tarsus, 27; cul-
men, 25.5.

But one specimen, the type, of this very distinct species was contained
in the collection sent me. It represents a species wholly unlike Automolus
ignobilis Scl. & Sal v. or any other species so far as I can find, except R.
rufibrumieus , from which also it is strikingly different.

Myrmeciza berlepschi Ridg.

This species was represented by six specimens, adults of both sexes,
from Palmar, Pavas, and La Maria, western Colombia, taken in Febru-
ary, March, and June, which I have compared with the type from Chimbo,
Ecuador, and find to be identical with it.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens asemus subsp. nov.

Type from near Pavas, western Colombia, 4,400 feet altitude. Adult
d*, No. 23,439, Bangs collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Col-
lected February 15, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Almost exactly intermediate between Rhynchocyclus cin-
ereiceps of Central America and R. sulphurescens exortivus of the Santa
Marta region of Colombia; differing from the former in having the throat
and chest less strongly gray, but with the cap and back identically the
same; from the latter it differs in having the cap much darker and clearer
gray — less mixed with olive green; the back darker olive green; and the
throat and chest just a trifle grayer.

Measurements. — Type, adult d*, wing, 70; tail, 59; tarsus, 18; cul-
men, 11.5.

Three skins of this form were sent in — the type, and two adult males
from Jimenez, killed in May. The subspecies is one of those that has no
one very good character to distinguish it, but that is exactly intermediate
between two quite different birds, resembling above R. cinereiceps and
below R. exortivus.

It proves conclusively to my mind that R. cinereiceps is nothing more
than a northern subspecies of R. sulphurescens.

Mionectes olivaceus hederaceus subsp. nov.

Type from near Pavas, western Colombia, 4,400 feet altitude. Adult
9 , No. 23,442, Bangs collection. Museum of Comparative Zoology. Col-
lected February 12, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Like M. olivaceus venezuelensis Ridg. in having under
parts heavily streaked, but much darker, more grayish olive below;
duller and darker greenish olive above, with the pileum nuich darker and

74 Bangs — New or Rare Birds from Western Colombia.

grayer than back, and of the size of M. oJivaceus oh'vareus, not larger.
From M. olivaceus oUvaceus it differs in mnch heavier, coarser streak-
ing below, and in general darker, grayer coloration, the pilenin much
grayer and the back mnch darker, more grayish olive-green.

Measurements. — Type, adult 9, wing, 62; tail, 47; tarsus, 15.5; cnl-
men, 12.5.

Another specimen, from Rio Bitaco, May 2, 1908, is precisely like the
type, and the west Colombian subspecies seems a very well marked one.
I also received a skin of M. striaticoUis poliocephalus Tschudi, collected
by Mr. Palmer at San Antonio, Rio Cali, November 21, 1907.

Pheugopedius spadix sp. nov.

Type from Naranjito, Rio Dagna, western Colombia. Adult 6^, No.
23,446, Bangs collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Collected
June 20, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — A very distinct species, apparently most nearly related to
P. atrogularis (Salvin) of Costa Rica, but at once distinguished from
that species by having a banded tail.

Color. — Pileum clove brown; sides of head and throat (not extending
at all onto chest or neck) black, the ear coverts, a narrow line of feathers
above the eye and on sides of tlie fi:ont, with w^hite shaft stripes ; upper
parts, including margins of wing feathers (the wings unhanded), under
side of neck, chest, breast and sides, rich chestnut; flanks dull brown,
about between Prout's brown and raw umber; middle of belly and under
tail coverts dull raw umber, with indistinct dusky cross bars; tail regu-
larly barred across with black and chestnut, the black bars a little the
wider.

Measurements — Type, achilt 6^, wing, 64; tail, 54; tarsus, 28; cul-
men, 16.5.

Pheugopedius mystacalis saltuensis subsp. nov.

Type from San Luis, Bitaco Valley, western Colombia. Adult cJ*, No.
23,448, Bangs collection. Museum of Comparative Zoology. Collected
June 5, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Characters. — Similar to P. mijstacalis mystacalis (Scl.) of Pallatanga,
Ecuador, but head and hind neck much purer gray; breast, chest and
sides much grayer, less buffy, being mouse gray; black malar stripe wider
and consequently white supramalar stripe narrower.

Measurements. — Type, adult ^, wing, 68; tail, 61; tarsus, 26.5; cul-
men, 18.5.

An adult male topotype is exactly similar, and the two skins I compared
very carefully with many Ecuador specimens.

Henicorhina leucosticta eucharis subsp. nov.

Type from near Pavas, western Colombia, 4,400 feet altitude. Adult
d^, No. 23,444, Bangs collection. Museum of Comparative Zoology. Col-
lected February 18, 1908, by M. G. Palmer.

Bangs — New or Rare Birds from Western Colombia. 75

Characters.— HimWsLT to H. leucosticta leucosticta (Cabanis) of Guiana,
but colors of upper parts and flanks paler, duller, much less chestnut or
reddish brown— in the adult c? of the new form the back and wings are
dull russet, the rump and upper tail coverts clear, pale russet, the flanks
and under tail coverts cinnamon-russet. Tlie female is similar, but slightly
duller in color and witli the pileum not solidly black, but dark brown
medianly.

Measurements. — Type, adult d*, wing, 62; tail, 31.5;. tarsus, 23.5; cul-
men, 16.5. Adult $ , No. 23,445, from near Jimenez, western Colombia,
April 16, 1907; wing, 58; tail, 30; tarsus, 22; culmen, 15.5.

Phoenicothraupis cristata Lawr.

Three adult specimens, two males and a female, were secured at Nar-
anjito, Rio Dagua, in June and July, 1908.

This species still remains so rare in collections that I have thought it
worth while to make tliis record.

Vol. XXIII, pp. 67-70 May 4, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

UNRECORDED SPECIMENS_OF^TWO RARE HAWAIIAN

BIRDS.

BY OUTRAM BANGS.

Lately while arranging the skins of Acridocercus nohilis in the
Museunn of Comparative Zoology I discovered among them a
fine example of the long ago extinct Acridocercus apicalis (Gould)
of Oahu Island.

This specimen came to the museum in exchange from Brown
University and had formerly helonged to John Cassin. It hears
a lahel in Cassin's hand with the inscription, "Sandwich Isld.
J. K. Townsend male," and was without doubt collected by
Townsend during his visit to Oahu in 1835. The skin, No.
17,598, Museum of Comparative Zoology, is that of a fine adult
male and although made seventy-five years ago is in perfect
preservation, except that its feet and legs have, at some time,
been somewhat eaten by insects.

Wilson and Evans in their Aves Hawaiiensis, 1890-1899
(p. " 103 " — the work is not paged) mention five specimens,
all that were known to them, of A. apicalis — three in the British
Museum, one of which went by exchange to Rothschild's Tring
Museum, and a pair collected by Deppe which are in Vienna.

Rothschild, Extinct Birds 1907, p. 27, enumerates the same
five specimens, but says that Deppe's skins are in Berlin.

Ours makes the sixth known example of A. apicalis, which
is believed to have been confined to Oahu and which has not
been seen alive by a naturalist since 1837.

It is the only one in America, Dr. Chas. W. Richmond in-
forming me that the United States National Museum does not
possess any, and Mr. Witmer Stone says that there is none in

15— Pitoc. Bioi.. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIII, 1910. (G7)

68 Bangs — Unrecorded Specimens of Two Hawaiian Birds.

the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, although that
institution had most of Cassin's Collection of birds.

In the Museum of Comparative Zoology there is also a fine
pair of Ciridops anna (Dole), one of the very rarest of Hawaiian
birds and certainly one of the most beautiful .

The exact origin of these skins, of excellent make and in
perfect preservation, I have been unable to learn. They came
to the museum with a few other Hawaiian birds — six skins of
Acrulocercus nobilis and several petrels and terns — and were
catalogued by Dr. J. A. Allen in 1870; names for none but the
Moheo being written on the labels or in the register by that
naturalist.

Ciridops anna was described by Judge Dole in 1879 and is
supposed to be, or perhaps better to have been, confined to the
island of Hawaii. It was, until I unearthed our two skins,
known by three male specimens only, one now in the Bishop
Museum and two in Rothschild's Museum at Tring. The
female and young male were unknown.

Our male. No. 10,995, is in full plumage and very closely
matches the exquisite plate in Wilson and Evans, Aves
Hawaiiensis.

Our other specimen, No. 10,987, 1 take to be an adult female.
Though a little smaller, it is exactly similar in proportions to
the male, but is wholly different in color. It may be described
as follows —

Forehead clothed in stiffened, pointed, semi-erect feathers as
in the adult male. Top of head, nape, and sides of head
cinnamon washed with dull olive-yellow on forehead and with
the lores and a narrow frontal band more dusky; cheeks with
paler shaft-stripes to the feathers; lower back grayish cinnamon,
gradually passing into the purer color of the head; rump and
upper tail coverts olive-yellow; tail dusky, fringed with olive-
yellow; x^rimaries blackish, narrowly edged with dark olive-
yellow; secondaries more broadly edged with the same, the
innermost nearly whollj^ dark olive-yellow; throat dull cin-
namon, the feathers with i)alcr shaft stripes, slightly washed
with yellow-olive in lower middle; chest and breast dingy-
smoke-gray, somewhat washed with olive, gradually passing
into dark olive-yellow on belly; under wing coverts, axillars,
under tail coverts and a small patch in lower middle belly

Bangs — Unrecorded Specimens of Two Hawaiian Birds. 69

dilute rufous-cinnamon. The general pattern thus resembles
that of the adult male, though the colors themselves are very
different. Our two skins afford the following measurements

(in mm.):

No.

Sex.

Wing.

Tail.

Tarsus.

Culmen.

10995

( cT ad. )

80

44

22

n

10987

(? ad.)

73.5

41

21

10

Vol. XXIII, pp. 65-66 April 19, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OF TirK

• BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

4i^

A NEW BIRD FROM TIIK ISI.AXl) OF CERAM,
"-""^ ^" MOLUCCAS.

BY F. MUIR AND J. C. WERSHAW.

While collecting in the Dutch East Indies a new Pitta was
captured which may be known as

Pitta piroensis sp. nov.

Type. — An adult male from Piroe, Ceram, Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Cat. No. 49,997, collected by the authors, March 2, 1909.

Description. — Forehead and upper part of head and neck dark red-
brown, the crown divided by an obscure median bluish stripe: a large
sub-quadrangular scarlet nuchal patch. Throat dark brown, shading into
black on upper part of breast. Ear coverts and lower part of breast
silvery blue-gray. Back and scapulars dark olive green. Tail and upper
tail coverts grayish-blue. Bend of wing nearly black, feathers lighter
round edge; lesser coverts blue-gray, the feathers dark brown at base;
greater coverts very dark brown, edged and tipped with dark blue-gray.
Primaries nearly black, the 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th with a white speculum
marking, but only the 4th and 5th have the white on the upper side of the
outer web. Under wing-coverts dark bluish gray. Belly, vent and under
tail-coverts scarlet. Eyes brown; bill black; legs and feet pale lead
color; claws brownish; soles of feet ochreous. Total length, 6}^ in.;
wing, 3% in. ; tail, 1% in. ; bill (to gape) 1 in. ; tarsus, 1% in.

This species differs from P. rubrinucha AVallace, in its slightly smaller
size, its silvery blue-gray ear-coverts, in the absence of the black line
separating the silvery blue-gray of the breast from the scarlet belly, in
the absence of a white shoulder-spot, and in the different marking of the
white speculum spot on the primaries.

14— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIII, 1910. (65)

Vol. XXIII, pp. 65-66 April 19, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

^J

A NEW BIRD YllOM THE ISLAND OF CERAM,
MOLUCXAS.

BY F. MUIK AND J. C. KEINHAW.

«

While cqllecting in the Dutch East Indies a new Pitta was
captured which may be known as

Pitta piroensis sp. no v.

Type.— An adult male from Piroe, Ceram, Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Cat. No. 49,997, collected by the authors, March 2, 1909.

Description. — Forehead and upper part of liead and neck dark red-
brown, the crown divided by an obscure median bluish stripe: a large
sub-quadrangular scarlet nuchal patch. Throat dark brown, shading into
black on upper part of breast. Ear coverts and lower part of breast
silvery blue-gray. Back and scapukrs dark olive green. Tail and upper
tail coverts grayish -blue. Bend of wing nearly black, feathers lighter
round edge ; lesser coverts blue-gray, the feathers dark jbrown at base ;
greater coverts very dark brown, edged and tipped with dark blue-gray.
Primaries nearly black, the 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th with a white speculum
marking, but only the 4th and 5th have the white on the upper side of the
outer web. Under wing-coverts dark bluish gray. Belly, vent and under
tail-coverts scarlet. Eyes brown; bill black; legs and feet pale lead
color; claws brownish; soles of feet ochreous. Total length, 63^ in. ;
wing, 3% in. ; tail, 1% in. ; bill (to gape), 1 in. ; tarsus, 1% in.

This species differs from P. rubrinuc/ia AVallace, in its slightly smaller
size, its silvery blue-gray ear-coverts, in the absence of the black line
separating the silvery blue-gray of the breast from the scarlet belly, in
the absence of a white shoulder spot, and in the different marking of the
white speculum spot on the primaries.

U— Pkoc. Hiul,. Sou. Wash.. Vol.. XXIII. 1910. (05)

Vol. XXIII. pp 53-56 April 19, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

: ^ . s .

::tS

DIAGNOSES OF NEW FORMS OF MICROPODID^^: AND
TR0CHILT1)/E.

BY ROBERT RIlXiWAV.
[By permission of the Secretary of the Smithsuniau Institution. J

Streptoprocne zonaris mexicana subsp. nov.

Type from Rio Seco, near Cordova, Vera Cruz, INIexico. No. 41,630,
U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult male. January, 1860, Prof. F. Sumichrast.

Similar to S. z. albicincta (Cabanis), of Costa Rica and northern South
America, but averaging larger, general coloration decidedly duller (less
bluish) black, and forehead always distinctly grayish sooty. Adult male
(type): Wing, 207.") mm.; tail, (S3; exposed culmen, 10; tarsus, 22.5;
middle toe, 15.

Chaetura richmondi sp. nov.

Type from Guayabo, eastern Costa Rica. No. 209,570, U. S. Nat. Mus.
Adult female. March 5, 1908. Museum -Zeledon Exped.

Similar to C. gaumeri, of Yucatan, but larger and coloration darker,
the pileum and back more nearly black ; spiny tips to rectrices longer,
alvv^ays well developed. Adult female (type): Wing, 115mm. ; tail,37.o;
exposed culmen, 4.5; tarsus, 10.5; middle toe, 8.

Cypseloides niger jamaicensis subsp. nov.

Type from Mayfield, St. Andrews, Jamaica. No. 78,205, F. S. Nat.
Mus. Adult female. June 25, 1879, Edward Newton.

Similar to C. n. niger, of Santo Domingo, but much darker (especially
the adult female), the upper and under parts sooty black, more or less
distinctly (but not conspicuously) paler or more grayish sooty on chin,
throat, and chest. Adult female (type): Wing, 149.5 mm.; tail, ()4.5;
exposed culmen, 5.5; tarsus, 11.5; middle toe, 9.5.

Cypseloides niger costaricensis subsp. nov.

Type from San Jose, Costa Rica. No. 108,275, U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult
male? May 10, 1885, Jose C. Zeledon.

Similar to C. n. borealis, of western North America, but smaller and
decidedly darker, the adult female with feathers of abdomen and tianks

11— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIII. 1910. (53)

54 Ridgway — New Forms of Micropodidse and Trochilidie.

usually more broadly tipped with white; adult male similar to that of
C. n. jnmaicensis, but wiug averagiug louger and tail decidedly shorter,
and general color of head and neck decidedly more grayish. Adult male?
(type): AVing, 155 mm.; tail, 57; exposed culmen, 0; tarsus, 12; mid-
dle toe, 9.

Phoethornis longirostris veraecrucis subsp. nov.

Type from Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, southeastern Mexico. No. 177,330,
U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult male. May 23, 1901, A. E. Colburn.

Similar to P. I. mexicanus (of southwestern Mexico) in white (instead
of buff) terminal margins to lateral rectrices, but much smaller, and paler
in coloration. Adult male: AVing, 60-65.5 (62.9) mm.; tail, 65-70
(67.9); culmen, 39-42.5 (40.3).*

Phoethornis adolphi saturatus subsp. nov.

Type from El Hogar, Costa Rica. No. 26,741, coll. Carnegie Museum.
Adult male. December 19, 1905, M. A. Carriker, Jr.

Similar to P. a. adolphi (from southern Mexico), but adult male decid-
edly darker, especially chin, throat and chest, the first being distinctly
dusky.

Guatemala to Panama. (Guatemalan specimens are intermediate, but
seem to be more like those from Costa Rica than like those from Alexico. )

Eupherusa eximia nelsoni subsp. nov.

Type from Motzorongo, Vera Cruz, Mexico. No. 155,363, U. S. Nat.
Mus. (Biological Survey Coll.) Adult male. February 28, 1894, Nelson
and Goldman.

Similar to ^. e. eximia, but larger, especially the bill; green of under-
parts more yellowish, and black tip to lateral rectrices with line of de-
marcation against the basal white decidedly oblique and much less sharply
defined.

Adult male.— Length, 93-103 (98) mm. ; wing, 60.5-61 (60.7); tail, 34-
35.5 (34.7); culmen, 18.5-19 (18.7). t

Amizilis bangs! sp. nov.

Type from Volcan de Miravalles, northwestern Costa Rica. No. 16,682,
coll.E. A. and O. Bangs. Adult male. September 7, 1895, (J. F. Under-
wood.

Similar to A. cinnamomea cinnamomea, but whole side of neck, includ-
ing lateral portions of lower throat, metallic greenish bronze or bronze-
green instead of light cinnamon-rufous.

*Adult males of P. I. mexicanus measure as follows: Wing, 67-69.5 (68.1) ; tail. 83-87
(84.6) ; culmen, 45.5-47 (46.1).

f Two specimens. The corresponding measurements of a series of eleven adult males
of E. e. eximia (ten from Guatemala, one from Nicaragua) are as follows; Length, 84-93
(89) ; wing, 56.5-61 (58.7) ; tail, 32.5-34.5 (33.5) ; culmen, 16-19 (17.6).

Rldgway — Neu- Forms of Micropodidse and Trochilidas. 55

Anthracothorax prevosti gracilirostris subsp. nov.

Type from Bolsoii, ('o.stii Kica. No. 22,(32t), coll. E. A. and O. Bangs.
Adnlt male. December IG, 1907, C. F. Underwood.

DitFering from A. p. prevosti in decidedly sliorter and more slender bill,
less bronzy or golden green upper parts, and darker under tail-coverts ;
from A. p. hendersoni in more slender bill and very much less bronzy
color of upper parts and lateral under parts.

Costa Kica and Nicaragua.

Average measurements of the three forms are as follows :

Males.

A. p. prevosti (24 specimens)
A. p. gracilirostris (9 specimens)
A. p. hendersoni (4 specimens)

66

65.9

67

35.6
35.3
36.7

26.2
24.4
22.9

Females.

A. p. prevosti (15 specimens) . .
A. p. gracilirostris {10 specimens)
A. p. hendersoni (2 specimens)

64.7
65.2
66.2

34.3
35.4
35

28.1
25.4

99 7

F. A

Florisuga mellivora tobagensis subsp. nov.

Type from Tobago. No. 74,908, U. S. Nat. Mus. Adult male.
Ober.

Similar to F. m. mellivora, but decidedly larger.
Measurements of type. — AVing, 70.5; tail, 38.5 mm.

Nesophlox gen. nov. {Trochilidir).

Type. — Trochilus evelyme Bourcier.

Similar to Calli phlox Boie, but wing relatively nnich larger, with outer-
most primary not attenuated terminally; adult males with lateral rectrices
broadly edged with rufous on iinier webs, and adult females with tail more
than half as long as wing.

( vTjffos, island ; <p\6^, a flame. )
Species :

Nesophlox evelynve (Bourcier).
Nesophlox lyrura (Gould).
Nesophlox hryantiv (Lawrence).

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IVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CBUZ

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