Fig. 2.--Hermit thrush (_Hylocichla guttata_).]
The ants destroyed--12.46 per cent of the food--keep up the reputation of thrushes as ant eaters. They were taken constantly every month, with the greatest number from May to September; a falling off in July is partly accounted for by the fact that more fruit is taken in that month. Other Hymenoptera (bees and wasps) were eaten to the extent of 5.41 per cent, a surprising amount for a bird that feeds so largely upon the ground, as these insects are usually of fleet wing and live in sunshine and open air.
Caterpillars, eaten in every month and mostly in goodly quantities, appear to be a favorite food of the hermit thrush. December is the month of least consumption (2.75 per cent), while the most were eaten in June (17.08 per cent). The average for the year is 9.54 per cent. Hemiptera (bugs) seem to be eaten whenever found, as they appear in the food of every month, but rather irregularly and not in large quantities. The greatest consumption was in June (9.17 per cent), but July, September, and December show the least (less than 1 per cent). The total for the year is 3.63 per cent. Of the six families represented, the Pentatomidæ, or stink bugs, predominate. These highly flavored insects are eaten by most insectivorous birds often, but usually in small quantities.
Diptera (flies) comprise 3.02 per cent of the food of the hermit thrush. The record shows, however, that nearly all of them are either crane flies (Tipulidæ) and their eggs and larvæ, or March flies (_Bibio_) and their larvæ. Over 150 of the latter were found in one stomach. Both of these families of flies lay their eggs in the ground, which accounts for their consumption by ground-feeding birds. Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) are eaten by the hermit thrush to the extent of 6.32 per cent of its food. While this figure is not remarkable, it is the highest for any of the genus. These birds are fond of dark moist nooks among trees and bushes and do not feed extensively in those dry sunshiny places so much frequented by grasshoppers. A close inspection of the food record shows that the Orthoptera eaten by the thrushes are mostly crickets, which live in shadier and moister places than those where grasshoppers abound. A few miscellaneous insects (0.27 per cent) close the insect account. Spiders and myriapods (7.47 per cent) seem to constitute a very acceptable article of diet, as they amount to a considerable percentage in nearly every month, and in May rise to 20.79 per cent. A few miscellaneous animals, as sowbugs, snails, and angleworms, make up the balance of the animal food (1.26 per cent).