In its vegetable diet this bird much resembles its eastern relative, the most remarkable difference being in the matter of fruit eating. With greater opportunities the California bird has developed a greater appetite for fruit and indulges it to the fullest extent. Remains of fruit were found in 220 of the 326 stomachs. The percentage for the year is only 16, but for the four months of June, July, August, and September it is 44, 33, 53, and 25, respectively. Cherries, apricots, and prunes are the favorites among cultivated fruits, and elderberries are relished to some extent. Grain, which was found in 48 stomachs, amounts to 6 per cent of the food of the year. Practically all of it was taken in the four months above mentioned, but it is not probable that much damage is done by the jay in this respect. The major portion of the grain was oats. What was not wild was probably simply scattered grain gleaned after the harvest. Mast is eaten by the California jay from September to March, inclusive, and constitutes during most of that period one of the principal elements of its food. In this respect the bird shows a remarkable similarity to the eastern species. A few weed seeds and other miscellaneous items make up the balance of the vegetable food.
In summing up from an economic point of view the character of the food of the California jay, it must be conceded that it is not all that could be wished. Its taste for birds’ eggs and fruit is entirely too pronounced, and at present the species is superabundant in California. While the natural food supply of the bird has been lessened by bringing the woods and brushy canyons under cultivation, the same areas have been planted to fruit, and naturally the jay takes the fruit as an acceptable substitute. A considerable reduction of the bird’s numbers would appear to be the only effective remedy.
Among the early spring arrivals to their northern homes none is more welcome than the phœbe ([fig. 18]). The common phœbe[48] breeds throughout the United States east of the Great Plains, and winters from the South Atlantic and Gulf States southward. Its western relative, the black phœbe,[49] is found from Texas west to the Pacific coast, which it occupies as far north as Washington, replacing through most of this region the common or eastern form.
[48] Sayornis phœbe.
[49] Sayornis Nigricans.
Though naturally building its nest under an overhanging cliff of rock or earth, or in the mouth of a cave, the preference of the eastern species for the vicinity of farm buildings is so marked that in the more thickly settled parts of the country the bird is seldom seen at any great distance from a farmhouse, except where a bridge spanning a stream affords a secure spot for a nest. Its confiding disposition renders it a great favorite, and consequently it is seldom disturbed.
The phœbe subsists almost exclusively upon insects, most of which are caught upon the wing. An examination of 370 stomachs showed that over 89 per cent of the year’s food consists of insects and spiders, while wild fruit constitutes the remainder. The insects belong chiefly to noxious species, and include many click beetles. May beetles, and weevils. Other beetles, belonging to 21 families that were identified, make up 10.65 per cent. They appear to be eaten very regularly in every month, but the most are taken in spring and early summer. May is the month of maximum consumption, with 20.43 per cent. Beetles altogether amount to 15.3 per cent, which places them second in rank of the items of animal food. The notorious cotton-boll weevil was found in six stomachs taken in the cotton fields of Texas and Louisiana, and five individuals of the strawberry weevil were taken from one collected in Texas. Many other beetles contained In the stomachs are equally harmful, but are not so widely known. Such are the corn leaf-beetle, which feeds upon corn; the 12-spotted cucumber beetle, and the striped cucumber beetle, both of which seriously injure and sometimes destroy cucumber and squash vines; and the locust leaf miner, which is sometimes so numerous that all the locust trees over large areas are blasted as by fire.
In the phœbe’s diet hymenopterous insects stand at the head, as is the case with most of the flycatchers. They are eaten with great regularity and are the largest item in nearly every month. A few are useful parasitic species, but these are offset by a number of sawfly larvæ, which are very harmful insects. Ants were found in 24 stomachs. No honeybees were identified. In their season grasshoppers are much relished, while wasps of various forms, many flies of species that annoy cattle, and a few bugs and spiders are also eaten regularly. It is evident that a pair of phœbes must materially reduce the number of insects near a garden or field, as the birds often, if not always, raise two broods a year, and each brood numbers from four to six young.