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. THE PHŒBES. 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.