The Bullock oriole[38] is practically a counterpart of the Baltimore oriole, taking the place of that species west of the Plains and throughout the Pacific coast region. It does not essentially differ in its habits of nesting or in its food from its eastern relative, but it is less beautiful in plumage. The examination of 162 stomachs shows that 79 per cent of its food consists of insects, with a few spiders, a lizard, a mollusk shell, and eggshells. Beetles amounted to 35 per cent, and all except a few ladybugs were harmful species. Ants were found in 19 stomachs, and in one there was nothing else. Bees, wasps, etc., were in 56 stomachs, and entirely filled 2 of them. Including the ants, they amount to nearly 15 per cent of the food of the season.

One of the most interesting articles of food in the oriole’s dietary was the black olive scale, found in 45 stomachs, and amounting to 5 per cent of the food. In several cases these scales formed 80 per cent or more of the contents, and in one, 30 individual scales could be counted. They were evidently a standard article of diet, and were eaten regularly in every month of the oriole’s stay except April. Hemipterous insects other than scales, eaten quite regularly, make up a little more than 5 per cent of the food. They were mostly stinkbugs, leaf hoppers, and tree hoppers. Plant lice were found in one stomach.

Moths, pupÆ, and caterpillars compose the largest item of the oriole’s animal food. The average consumption during its summer stay is a little more than 41 per cent. Of these, perhaps the most interesting were the pupÆ and larvÆ of the codling moth. These were found in 23 stomachs, showing that they are not an unusual article of diet. No less than 14 of the pupa cases were found in one stomach, and as they are very fragile many others may have been present, but broken beyond recognition.

Grasshoppers probably do not come much in the oriole’s way. They were eaten, however, to the extent of a little more than 3 per cent. But in spite of the fact that grasshoppers are eaten so sparingly, 2 stomachs, both taken in June, contained nothing else, and another contained 97 per cent of them.

Various insects and spiders, with a few other items, make up the rest of the animal food, a little more than 5 per cent. Spiders are not important in the oriole’s food, but are probably eaten whenever found. They were identified in 44 stomachs, but in small numbers. The scales of a lizard were found in one stomach and the shell of a snail in another.

The vegetable contingent of the oriole’s food is mostly fruit, especially in June and July, when it takes kindly to cherries and apricots, and sometimes eats more than the fruit grower considers a fair share. However, no great complaint is made against the bird, and it is probable that as a rule it does not do serious harm. With such a good record as an insect eater it can well be spared a few cherries.