Of the 87 per cent of vegetable food, 74 consisted entirely of wild fruit or seeds and 13 of cultivated fruit, but a large part of the latter was made up of blackberries and raspberries, and it is very doubtful whether they represented cultivated varieties. Cherry stealing is the chief complaint against this bird, but of the 152 stomachs only 9, all taken in June and July, contained any remains of cultivated cherries, and these aggregate but 5 per cent of the year's food. As 41 stomachs were collected in those months, it is evident that the birds do not live to any great extent on cultivated cherries.
Although the cherry bird is not a great insect destroyer, it does some good work in this way, since it probably rears its young mostly upon insect food. On the other hand, it does not devour nearly as much cultivated fruit as has been asserted, and most, if not all, of the damage can be prevented. The bird should therefore be considered a useful species, and as such should be accorded all possible protection.
[THE CATBIRD.]
(Galeoscoptes carolinensis.)
The catbird ([fig. 18]), like the thrasher, is a lover of swamps, and delights to make its home in a tangle of wild grapevines, greenbriars, and shrubs, where it is safe from attack and can find its favorite food in abundance. It is found throughout the United States west to the Rocky Mountains; occurs also in Washington, Idaho, and Utah, and extends northward into British America. It winters in the Southern States, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America.
Fig. 18.—Catbird.