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DI PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE | : S - DIVISION OF ‘BIOLOGICAL SURVEY FOOD BOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLBS 2 ne ‘ ee oe ER woke BEAL B.S. _ ASSISTANT BIOLOGIST- & } } PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DR. C. HART MERRIAM | 2 CHIEF OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY , ey pp ee : a ie . WASHINGTON - GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE \ 1900 : ¥ by y é yo } . f . “aye ' . a beavers aa WES aN Dali ; : a! A BuLLETIN No. 13 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DIVISION OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY in@) ©) 1) OF THE BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES BY nen. ki: BEAL, B.S. ASSISTANT BIOLOGIST PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DR. C. HART MERRIAM CHIEF OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY ry ils ane P ie = 4 y ne Ife ty ! i i ts 7) wiVG uJ —— NY Ay f H f ) Y Wes ° AY Saat Watt W ASHINGTON GOVERNMENT: PRINTING OFFICE 1900 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. 8S. DepartMENT oF AGRICULTURE, Diviston oF BroLogicaL SURVEY, Washington, D. C., May 22, 1900. Str: I have the honor to transmit herewith for publication as Bul- letin No. 13 a report on ‘The Food of the Bobolink, Blackbirds, and Grackles,’ by Prof. F. E. L. Beal, assistant biologist. This report is based on a careful examination of the contents of more than 4,800 stomachs, representing nine species and several subspecies of Amer- ican blackbirds. The family of orioles and blackbirds, to which the bobolink, cowbird, blackbirds, and grackles belong, is one of much economic importance. The ravages of the bobolink in the rice fields of the South, and of some of the blackbirds in the grainfields of the Upper Mississippi Valley at planting and harvesting time, are matters _ of common knowledge, but the other food of these and other species is not so well known. The present bulletin is devoted mainly to the food of the various blackbirds during the summer months; several of the species consume insects in such quantities at this time as to com- pensate in great measure for the grain they destroy. Respectfully, . C. Harr Merriam, Chief, Biological Survey. Hon. JAMES WILSON, Secretary of Agriculture. © ™ 7 ; CONTENTS. DMT OUnG HO Meee Sena eee ee aN we hese ct fee se deb shebe tee cme scekcce sete Ie OOOMInnMOCNONYE OFYZIVOTUS) 2b 2eens i. a2 5-5. sleet ee bebe ee cepa oe Wong @MOLOUINUS QLCT)\ ne 8 a oo eee SS Lose Sees sess des eseemee Yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus wanthocephalus)....-.------------. ed-winged blackbird (Agelaius pheniceus)...-...-:-------+-----2------- 2 - California red-winged blackbird (Agelaius gubernator californicus)....-------- lisuy plackbird (Scolecophagus carolinus) =... -2-2--2----- 2-2 0-s eee eee eos Brewer’s blackbird (Scolecophagus cyanocephalus) ....-.--------------------- Onowal eksoi dn CQUISCULUS QUISCHIG) .. -.<-2-n0- sees cee ces. sen setee cess hee BO Meta Medworackle (OUMsSCalus N0j0)).---.- 2.525 -2che cs z 2 if Ro vs J Food, a S ra ; 7 q g g q op 3 H S rH . o . > g } S) ® a pele l(b | SIE |e] ee) eth Le ls Sees aed) tele e be Led Na NO! |, | ace ANIMAL. Per- | Per- | Per-| Per-| Per- | Per- | Per-| Per- | Per- | Per- | Per-| Per-| Per- cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent Predaceous bee- GIES eee eis Risers le | lel 75 Oe | ieee rd | ean) | eee eee ere |[epe circ | ee 0:41. 077 Other beetles..... 0.3 2a DEAD | MOR Wel2noa |e ono: 8.1 ey 0.8 Pe ee eee 4.6 GrasshOppersiesaes|ees c= ==. DEOn eS el LON 20h 3 | LON 45d Old Ne Se) IGS 28 eres LTO) Caterpillars ...... Leow eon Oe D2 TO Sill ons | eee (OS | 20.00) 2 Drs. 2 223 eeeeee DV Other insects ....- OR 0.6 10) 0.8:| 2,4 9.8 hed DAR ee |) le 0.1 O83 yy) Spiders and myr- TAVOOCISE, Samuaenael Maeeee (0) i [eee ee DB || PPA ZA) CORSO Cay Bea Ee alee ie it Other.animalfood|......|....-. OD | eT Ay Ws) GRSeT Teharlt Oya bes eee eel 0.4 Total animal fOO Geass 250 4.5 EGO De ea oer We DOn ee DL, 98) Oso. | Los 0 1.9 6.3 OF 7 2253 VEGETABLE. (Ghent eo ae a meee BOR o glee. Sos Sie omleh 1 MAO On aoe oe (esl Wl eQnu leds eGo VATA Is) Weed seeds.....-. 64,4 1.95.5 | 49:1 | 66.1 | 41.5 | 28.0 | 19.2 | 16.6 | 58.1 | 97.0 | 87.6 | 96.8 | 60.0 Other vegetable OOCE aimee mers ye eh TOS eelete Os | eens eye elie Total vegeta- ble food: .....| 97.7 | 95.5 | 91.4 | 74.3 | 57.3 | 40.9 | 48.1 | 49.5 Tabac es SS 30 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. In view of the fact that so much has been said in condemnation of the cowbird’s parasitic habits, it may not be out of place to inquire whether this parasitism is necessarily as injurious as has been claimed. When a single young cowbird replaces a brood of four other birds, each of which has food habits as good as its own, there is, of course, a distinct loss; but, as already shown, the cowbird must be rated high in the economic scale on account of its food habits, and it must be remembered that in most cases-the birds destroyed are much smaller than the intruder, and so of less effect in their feeding, and that two or three cowbird eggs are often deposited in one nest. The question is a purely economic one, and until it can be shown that the young birds sacrificed for the cowbirds have more economic value than the parasite, judgment must be suspended. THE YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. ) The yellow-headed blackbird is locally distributed throughout the Western United States, where it frequents marshes and sloughs, but avoids the more arid deserts, extensive forests, and wooded mountains. Its range in summer extends from southern California through north- ern Arizona and New Mexico to Indiana, and northward into the Canadian Provinces. It winters in the southern part of its range and on the table-lands of Mexico. Stragelers have been found from Green- land to Cuba. Its breeding habits are much like those of the redwing, but it is usually less abundant than that bird. It is gregarious and resorts to marshes to build its nest, which is very similar to that of the redwing, and similarly placed. Although it breeds in marshes, it does not by any means confine itself to them in its search for food, but forages far afield, visiting corncribs, grainfields, and barnyards. The writer’s first experience with the yellow-headed blackbird was on the prairies of Nebraska, where flocks visited the railway then in process of construc- tion, running about among the feet of the mules and horses in search of grubs and worms exposed by the plow and scraper, and all the time uttering their striking gutteral notes (almost precisely like those of a brood of suckling pigs). In their habit of visiting barnyards and hog pastures they resemble cowbirds much more than redwings. When the breeding season is over they often visit grainfields in large flocks, and become the cause of much complaint by Western farmers. The investigation of their food is founded upon an examination of 188 stomachs received from ten of the Mississippi Valley States, and from California and Canada, and collected during the seven months from April to October, inclusive (see p. 73). While decidedly too few to give entirely reliable results, they may furnish some preliminary a ee THE YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 81 data regarding the food. As indicated by the contents of these stomachs, the food for the seven months consists of 33.7 percent of animal (insect) matter and 66.3 percent of vegetable matter. The animal food 1s composed chiefly of beetles, caterpillars, and grass- hoppers, with a few of other orders, while the vegetable food is made up almost entirely of grain and seeds of useless Danie: Predaceous beetles (Carabidee) constitute 2.8 percent of the season’s food, a very small amount for a bird of such pronounced terrestrial habits. Most of these beetles are eaten in May, June, and July, and none are taken in the fall months. Other beetles amount to a little more than 5 per- cent, and are eaten mostly in the early part of summer. Caterpillars constitute 4.6 percent, but nearly two-thirds of them are taken in July, and in that month they form 21.5 percent of the month’s food. Remains of the army worm (Leucania unipuncta) were identified in 6 stomachs. Grasshoppers are first eaten in May, but do not amount to any important percentage until July, the month of maximum con- sumption. In this respect this bird appears to differ, like the bobolink, from most other species, as August is usually the month in which grasshoppers are eaten most freely; but the examination of a larger number of stomachs might prove the yellowhead to be no exception to the usual rule. After August the consumption of grasshoppers is considerably increased, and the total for the season is 11.6 percent. The remainder of the animal food, 9.7 percent, is made up of other insects, chiefly Hymenoptera (ants, wasps, ete.), with a few dragon- flies and an occasional spider and snail. So far as its animal food is concerned, the yellowhead has a very good record. For a ground feeder, it takes very few predaceous beetles, while insects harmful to vegetation constitute 30 percent of its food. The vegetable food consists almost entirely of seeds, and for eco- nomic purposes may be divided into grain and weed seed. Of grain, oats hold first place, as in the food of the redwing, and are probably eaten in every month when they can be obtained, although none were found in any of the 5 stomachs taken in September. The 8 October stomachs contained an average of 63 per cent, but a greater number of stomachs would in all probability give a smaller average. August, apparently the next month of importance, shows 43.2 percent. Next to oats corn is the favorite grain, and was eaten to the extent of 9.8 percent, nearly all in the months of April, May, and June, with a maximum of 48.8 percent in April, when no wheat was eaten. Wheat appears from May to August, inclusive, and is the only vegetable food that reaches its highest mark in August. The average for the season Is 3.5 percent. Grain collectively amounts to 88.9 percent, or considerably more than half of the total vegetable food, and more than one-third of all 7— oo FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. the food. While there is no doubt that a considerable quantity of this is waste, still a very decided taste for grain is shown, a point that is more especially emphasized by the large quantity (more than 54 per- cent of the total food) eaten in August. Corn, from its appearance in such large quantities in the food of the early spring months, 1s evi- dently picked up as waste grain to a considerable extent, but oats and wheat, which appear at the same time, are probably largely taken from newly sown fields. In July and August they evidently come from harvest fields. Mr. E. W. Nelson, of the Biological Survey, informs the writer that from about the last of August to the end of September the cornfields of the table-lands of Mexico are much damaged by yellowheads. Weed seed appears as a very prominent item of food in every one of the seven months under consideration, except October, the record for which is based on only 3 stomachs and hence can not be made a basis for sound conclusions. Beginning with 18 percent in April, it increases to 34 percent in June, drops to 6.6 in July (to make room for caterpillars and grasshoppers), rises to 36.1 percent in August, and finally to 64.4 percent in September. While, as stated above, none was found in the 3 October stomachs, there is no reason to doubt that weed seed is not only a common article of food in that month but also a staple diet.in the other colder months of the year. It is to be regretted that no stomachs of the yellowhead have been received from its winter range, to give some idea of its food during the colder season. Itis almost certain, however, that this would be found to con- sist of weed seed and waste grain, as in the case of its neighbor, the red- wing. ‘The weeds found in the stomachs are almost precisely the same as those eaten by the redwings, and in practically the same proportions. Barngrass (Chaetochloa), Panicum, and ragweed (Ambrosia) are the leading kinds, supplemented by Polygonum, Rumex, and others. SUMMARY. From this brief review some conclusions may be drawn, but the somewhat fragmentary nature of the evidence makes it probable that they may be subject to considerable modification in future. It is almost certain that the rather peculiar distribution of the various items of food through the season will prove to be more apparent than real in the light of more extensive observations. In the meantime we may safely conclude (1) that the yellowhead feeds principally upon insects, grain, and weed seed, and does not attack fruit or garden produce; (2) that it does much good by eating noxious insects and troublesome weeds, and (3) that where too abundant it is likely to be injurious to grain. When it is considered that the redwing has been accused of doing immense damage to grainfields, it is evident that the yellowhead, which U THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 35 has been found to eat nearly three times as much grain as the former . = u hd e ° as : : ? must be capable of much mischief in localities where it becomes superabundant. The following table shows the various elements of the food for each month of the season: Food of the yellow-headed blackbird. [NUMBER OF STOMACHS EXAMINED: April, 9; May, 31; June, 14; July, 16; August, 60; September, 5 October, 3: total, 138.] Food. April. | May. | June. | July. [August.|, 5¢P-_ | Octo- | Aver- : = tember.) ber. age. ANIMAL. . Percent.| Percent.| Percent.| Percent.| Percent.| Percent.| Percent.| Percent. Predaceous beetles .........- Zo 8.0 4.1 AN One Ae eee | oe 258 Otherpeetles 2 scs4 occ 5 sce 3.9 1256 7.8 7.8 BY ea nne ae Dax 5.0 @aterpillarsee eee s-s2e5. sen 0.1 6.0 4,4 21.5 Oe Wl erate | oe eR, 4.6 CrasshODDEISererccis cee eses-|eere = oe 10 0. 4 32.0 8.0 15.6 24.3] 11.6 OtheminseGtsmeeees ane see sce 2<6 Deo 22.6 6.9 0.8 19.0 10. 4 9.7 Total animal food..... OFS 32.9 39.4 72.9 9.7 34.6 LO. |e soeen VEGETABLE. (CORN ee eter es ee Secs 48.8 9,0 PY Ad eee SL: |e eens ik ae oe 9.8 AVANCE treme eet teeta ete ac ice lacie ecclcte © 5.7 3.4 5.8 QS9: |S tis coal |e ees 3.5 OPIS Es aa ae Ae er PRY, 21.9 12.8 14.4 Aa a eee 63.0 | 25.6 Weed seed ascect. See esses. 18.0 30.5 34, 0 6.6 36. 1 6444 \2.ceee Dares Al Other' vegetable food ........|......2.|...-...- 0.7 QUOTE preys wise DSO) |e cee 0.3 Total vegetable food..| 90.7 eal 60.6 27.1} 90.3 65.4 63.0 | 66.3 a | THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. (Agelaius pheeniceus. ) The red-winged blackbird (otherwise known as the red-shouldered blackbird, swamp blackbird, and American starling), including its various races,‘ inhabits North America from Nova Scotia and Great Slave Lake south to Costa Rica. It breeds throughout its range in the United States and Canada. The typical form is replaced at differ- ent places in the southern part of the range by the Bahama, Florida, and Sonoran redwings, but the differences that separate these various subspecies are scarcely appreciable by the casual observer. The bird is curiously restricted in its local distribution by the fact that it nests as a rule only in the immediate vicinity of water, and preferably directly over it. For this reason it is absent from extensive tracts of country either in high mountainous regions or in desert or forest areas. Nests have occasionally been found in perfectly dry situations at a distance from water, but such cases are exceptional. The prairies of the Upper Mississippi Valley, with their numerous sloughs and ponds, furnish ideal nesting places for redwings, and con- sequently this region has become the great breeding ground for the 1 The different subspecies are not considered separately in this bulletin. 3074—No. 13 3) i | o4 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES., species. In many places, especially on the borders of shallow lakes, thousands of acres of rushes and reeds of various kinds afford nesting sites for redwings, yellowheads, and marsh wrens, while myriads of more aquatic species swim in the waters below and nest amid the. broken herbage. It is from such breeding grounds that the vast flocks are recruited that make such havoc upon fields of grain and call forth the maledictions of the unfortunate farmer. Hast of the Appa- lachian Range the conditions are different. Marshes on the shores of lakes, rivers, and estuaries are here the only sites available for breed- ing purposes, and as these are more restricted in number and area than the western breeding grounds the species is much less abundant than in the West. Fie. 4.—Red-winged blackbird. Like their associates, the marsh wrens, and their neighbors, the bank swallows, the redwings are eminently gregarious, living in flocks for the greater part of the time and breeding in communities which vary in size according to the area of the swamp they occupy. Some- times these colonies are reduced to a single family, which in such cases usually consists of one male bird with several females and their nests; for this species practices polygamy, a habit noted in the case of only a few species of song birds. During the winter the redwings are in the South, but may occasion- ally be found as far north as latitude 40°, and stragglers may occur at any point within their summer range. (A young male was shot by the writer In central Iowa in January, 1879, and one bird whose stomach THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 35 is included in this investigation was killed in northern Massachusetts on January 29, 1896.) In their northward migration they begin to appear in the Upper Mississippi Valley about the last of February or during the first half of March, and by the middle of March enter the New England States. On the return journey they begin to leave the more northern portions of their range in September, and the migration is practically complete by the end of October. Although they arrive from the South at an early date, they are by no means early breeders, for at that time the marshes are desolate wastes of dead and broken-down herbage, and the birds do not build until the new growth is considerably advanced. This involves a delay of several weeks, during which the birds, having taken possession of a marsh where they intend to construct their homes, sit idly about and behave as though time hung heavily upon them. The females usually perch upon the dead vegetation as if watching for the new growth to appear, while their liege lord, with the resplendent insignia of his rank conspicuous on his shoulders, struts about upon some fence or tree and swells his little body, ruffles up his feathers, and by a display of his brilliant colors and a rather poor attempt at singing tries to make the time less wearisome to his patient mates. Owing to their peculiar nesting habits these birds do not come in contact with the farmers’ crops appreciably during the breeding sea- son, since at this time they confine themselves to the immediate vicinity of their marshy homes. After the season of reproduction they assemble in flocks, usually of a considerable size and often immense, and it is at this time that they frequently do serious harm to crops of standing grain. Much testimony has been received by the Department of Agriculture indicating that the damage is sometimes enormous. In letters received from the rice growers in the South the redwing is implicated equally with the bobolink in destroying rice both in spring and fall. It is claimed by some, however, that the redwing is not wholly bad, as it remains in the fields during the winter and eats the ‘ volunteer’ rice, which, if it grew in any consid- erable quantity, would spoil the crop. On the other hand, there is considerable evidence that redwings eat a great many insects, and that it is only under exceptional circum- stances that they eat grain to an injurious extent. It is noticeable that nearly all complaints against them come from the Mississippi Valley, where the native grasses and weeds of the prairies have been replaced by vast fields of grain. It has also been stated that the greatest damage was done when but few fields of grain had been planted. These afforded a new and easily accessible supply of food of which the birds were not slow to avail themselves; but since the grainfields have increased in area the work of the birds has become more widely distributed, and the damage has not been so apparent. 36 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. Wiison, in speaking of the food of the redwing, says: The whole season of winter, that, with most birds, is passed in struggling to sustain life in silent melancholy, is, with the redwings, one continued carnival. The profuse gleanings of the old rice, corn, and buckwheat fields, supply them with abundant - food, at once ready and nutritious. * * * Before the beginning of September, these flocks have become numerous and formidable; and the young ears of maize, or Indian corn, being then in their soft, succulent, milky state, present a temptation that can not be resisted. Reenforced by numerous and daily flocks from all parts of the interior, they pour down on the low countries in prodigious multitudes. Here they are seen, like vast clouds, wheeling and driving over the meadows and devoted cornfields, darkening the air with their numbers. Then commences the work of destruction on the corn, the husks of which, * * * are soon completely or par- tially torn off; while from all quarters myriads continue to pour down like a tempest, blackening half an acre ata time; and, if not disturbed, repeat their depredations till little remains but the cob and the shriveled skins of the grain; what little is left of the tender ear, being exposed to the rains and weather, is generally much injured: , * ~*: .* It has been already stated, that they arrive in Pennsylvania late in March. Their general food at this season, as well as during the early part of summer, * * * consists of grubworms, caterpillars, and various other larve, the silent, but deadly enemies of all vegetation, and whose secret and insidious attacks are more to be dreaded by the husbandman than the combined forces of the whole feathered tribes together. For these vermin, the starlings search with great diligence; in the ground, at the roots of plants, in orchards, and meadows, as well as among buds, leaves, and blossoms; and from their known voracity, the multitudes of these insects which they destroy must be immense. Let me illustrate this by a short computation: If we suppose each bird, on an average, to devour fifty of these larvee in a day, (a very moderate allowance, ) a single pair, in four months, the usual time such food is sought after, will consume upward of twelve thousand. It is believed, that not less than a million pair of these birds are distributed over the whole extent of the United States in summer; whose food, being nearly the same, would swell the amount of vermin destroyed to twelve thousand millions. But the number of young birds may be fairly estimated at double that of their parents; and, as these are constantly fed on larvee for at least three weeks, making only the same allowance for them as for the old ones, their share would amount to four thousand two hundred millions; making a grand total of sixteen thousand two hundred millions of noxious insects destroyed in the space of four months by this single species!: The combined ravages of sucha hideous host of vermin would be sufficient to spread famine and desolation over a wide extent of the richest and best cultivated country on earth. All this, it may be said, is mere supposition. It is, however, supposition founded on known and acknowledged facts. J have never dissected any of these birds in spring without receiving the most striking and satisfactory proofs of these facts; and though, in a matter of this kind, it is impossible to ascertain precisely the amount of the benefits derived by agriculture from this, and many other species of our birds, yet, in the present case, I can not resist the belief, that the services of this species, in spring, are far more important and beneficial than the value of all that portion of corn which a careful and active farmer permits himself to lose by it.? Audubon, in speaking of this species, says: The marsh blackbird is so well known as being.a bird of the most nefarious pro- pensities, that in the United States one can hardly mention its name, without hearing such an account of its pilferings as might induce the young student of nature to con- ceive that it had been created for the purpose of annoying the farmer. That it * Am. Ornith., Edinburgh ed., Vol. I., pp. 193-198, 1831. ¥ a> THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. a7 destroys an astonishing quantity of corn, rice, and other kinds of grain, cannot be denied; but that before it commences its ravages, it has proved highly ererecaplentn the crops is equally certain. * * * Their food at this season [spring], is almost exclusively composed of grubs, worms, caterpillars, and different sorts of coleopterous insects, which they procure by searching with great industry, in the meadows, the orchards, or the newly plowed fields. * * * The millions of insects which the redwings destroy at this early season, are, in my opinion, a full equivalent for the corn which they eat at an hen period.! Of more recent writers, probably Dr. B. H. Warren has made the most extensive researches upon the food habits of these birds. In stating the results of the examination of 25 stomachs, he says: The redwing * * * destroys largenumbers of ‘‘cutworms.’? JI havetaken from the stomach of a single swamp blackbird as many as 28 ‘‘cutworms.’’ In addition to the insects, etc., mentioned above, these birds also, during their residence with us, feed on earth-worms, grasshoppers, crickets, plant-lice and various larvee, so destruc- tive at times in the field and garden. During the summer season, fruits of the blackberry, raspberry, wild strawberry, and wild cherry are eaten to a more or less extent. The young, while under parental care, are fed exclusively on an insect diet.” N. S. Goss savs of the redwings: i e During the fall and winter months they assemble in large flocks, and do much damage in the ricefields, and are often more or less injurious to the grains within their summer homes; but the damage they do in the latter case is overbalanced by the destruction of injurious insects, upon which they almost wholly feed during the breeding season; busy hunters of the field and followers of the plow.* Stomach examination does not indicate that the redwings are especially fond of grain. The diagram here given (fig. 5) illustrates the variation in the relative proportions of the more important ele- ments of the food throughout the year~ The preponderance of weed seeds over grain or other vegetable food is apparent at a glance. Weed seeds, such as Chatochloa (Setaria), Ambrosia, Rumex, Polygo- num, etc., constitute more than half the food of the year, while grain (nearly half oats) is less than one-seventh. The only varieties of Chetochloa that are cultivated extensively are Hungarian grass and millet, but as these are raised to a great extent as forage plants no great harm is done by taking the seed, except when it is newly sown or where the crop is raised for seed alone. The other species are all noxious weeds, and probably the greater part of the Chwtochloa eaten by birds is from wild plants, which are as much of a nuisance as any of the other weeds when they get into cultivated fields. In the matter of fruit the redwings are almost total abstainers, only on rare occa- sions tasting a blackberry or some other of the smaller varieties by way of experiment. 1Ornith. Biog., Vol. I, pp. 348-349, 1831. 2 Birds of Pennsylvania, revised ed., p. 212, 1890. ® History of the Birds of Kansas, p. 399, 1891. — | 38 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. The increase of vegetable food other than grain and weed seeds during August and September is due to the consumption of wild rice (Zizania aquatica), which at this time forms quite an important item. _ In their insect diet the redwings do much good, for only a small — proportion of the species they eat are beneficial. More destructive snout-beetles (weevils) are eaten by them than by any other birds that the writer has examined, with the single exception of the bobolinks. Other beetles and grasshoppers also constitute an important part of SSS SONS YY SN < SON YI: Off, NN \ INS S LU MN GUG Geb 4/1, V/, N \ ; N =e ee JSEFUL-INSECTSS Sas SSS -_— — = =- SS : | Fig. 5.—Diagram showing proportions of animal and vegetable food of red-winged blackbird in each month of the year. ‘fhe relative amounts of the different kinds of food are shown by variously shaded areas. Thus, in June, useful insects are represented by the broken-lined area at the bottom of the column for that month, injurious insects by the horizontally shaded space, grain by the space shaded with diagonal broken lines, and the other elements of food in similar manner. The percent- age of food (for example, of injurious insects), for a month, is not necessarily indicated by the summit of the curve, but by the space between the upper and lower curves. (The figures in the margins indicate percentages. ) the insect food. While there can be no doubt that the birds do con- siderable damage when collected in large flocks, it is probable that such injury will become less and less as the area of cultivation increases and the swamps where they breed are encroached upon and drained, with a consequent reduction in the abundance of the species. The Biological Survey has examined 1,083 stomachs of the redwing, collected in every month of the year, and from thirty States, the District THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. "Oo Oe of Columbia, and Canada (see p. 74). The greater number of these stomachs were collected in the Northern States during and immediatel y before or after the breeding season. Most of those taken in the South were collected in Texas during the winter. These throw considerable light on the winter food, which does not apparently differ greatly from that eaten in the Northern States in the early spring and late fall. No stomachs were received from the rice-growing region during sowing and harvesting. The food of the year was found to consist of 73.4 percent of vege- table matter and 26.6 percent of animal. The animal food begins with 1.4 percent in January and gradually increases to 88.2 percent in June, after which it regularly decreases to a fraction of 1 percent in November. With the exception of a few snails and crustaceans, it consists entirely of insects and their allies (spiders and myriapods), so that, roughly speaking, insects constitute one-fourth of the year’s food. They consist principally of beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a few wasps, ants, flies, bugs, and dragon-flies. The beetles (Coleoptera) amount to a little more than 10 percent of the food, and the greater part of them are harmful insects. They belong to several families, but only one group is eaten extensively enough to be greatly distinguished above the others. This is the sub- order of snout-beetles or weevils (Rhynchophora). ‘These constitute 4.1 percent of the year’s food, but in June amount to 22.4 percent of the food of the month. All the beetles of this group are injurious, some of them greatly so. Useful predaceous beetles (Carabide) are eaten to the extent of 2.5 percent of the food of the year, but are taken mostly in spring and early summer. Other beetles, belonging to several families, such as click-beetles (Elateridee), leaf-beetles (Chry- somelidz), May-beetles (Scarabeeide), and a few others, amount altogether to 3.5 percent. Grasshoppers (Orthoptera) are eaten practically in every month of the year, though none were found in the 11 stomachs taken in January. They constitute 4.7 percent of the whole food, and are exceeded by no other insects except beetles and caterpillars. The greatest number (amounting to 17 percent) are eaten in August, the ‘grasshopper month.’ As all species of grasshoppers are injurious, their destruc- tion must be counted to the credit of the bird. Caterpillars (larve of Lepidoptera) form 5.9 percent of the year’s food. They are eaten to a slight extent in the winter months and in gradually increasing amounts up to May, when they form 20 percent of the food. Their consumption falls away to almost nothing in Au- gust, when grasshoppers are plentiful, and rises again in September, showing that grasshoppers are preferred, and for a short time replace the lepidopterous food. The same fact has been shown in the case of — | 40) FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. the Baltimore oriole, which leaves the trees in August and descends to the ground to eat grasshoppers.’ While caterpillars are not all harmful, none of them as far as known are doing anything for the good of the farmer, so the redwings, in so far as they destroy these insects, are doing a beneficial work, and among those found in the stomachs were a number of the widely known and dreaded army worm (Leucania unipuncta). Miss Caroline G. Soule, ina letter from Bran- don, Vt., quoted by Dr. C. M. Weed, says that the redwings, with other birds, do especially good work in destroying the pupe of the forest-tent caterpillar, and later feed on the adult insects.’ Other insects, such as ants and wasps (Hymenoptera), bugs (Hemip- tera), flies (Diptera), and dragon-flies (Odonata), with a few spiders and myriapods, make up the rest of the animal food, but none of them are eaten to such an extent as to render them of any striking economic importance. Ants, bugs, and flies are all more or less injurious or annoying insects, while wasps, dragon-flies, and spiders are probably for the most part somewhat useful. Dragon-flies are found about water, where the redwings also live, but they are too rapid “in flight and too restless to be caught by anything less expert than a flycatcher, and it is probable that those eaten by redwings are picked up dead. Spiders are for the most part useful, but in a rather restricted way, and their destruction is not a great loss. Considered as a whole, the animal food of the redwings consists of insects, the most of which are positively harmful, while but few are decidedly beneficial. The diagram on p. 38 shows in a striking manner the increase of the animal food in early summer—that is, in June. It is probable that the exhaustive labors of reproduction call for a more exclusively ani- mal diet-in May and June than does the strain of moulting in July and August. ‘There seems to be no other theory by which to explain the decrease in the latter month, especially in view of the fact that these are the months when grasshoppers abound. The vegetable food of the redwings consists mainly of seeds of grasses and weeds, the different kinds of grain being merely larger or more important grasses. Some of these plants, like wild rice (Z/zanza), have no economic importance; but many others, such as the culti- vated grains, are of value, and their destruction is a positive loss; while still others, like ragweed (Ambrosia), are noxious weeds, the destruction of which is a benefit to the farmer. The following table shows all the vegetable substances found, with the number of stomachs in which each occurred: * Yearbook Dept. of Agriculture for 1895, p. 429. * Bull. 64, N. H. Agr. Coll. Expt. Sta., May, 1900. THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 4] Vegetable substances found in stomachs of red-winged blackbirds. Grain: Stomachs. | Weeds—Continued. Seance CHS 50506336 Gpo06 G00 EUS esmEe 190 Smartweed (Polygonum) ....-.. 200 (QrOieTa se, 2 RI a sha ie Sorrel (Rumer) .....2......-.- 64 \WI1GER ES a i a ae 68 Chickweed (Alsine)............ 9 SnLO Vee ee oe ciece ots o = & = = 5 5 | THE CROW BLACKBIRD. Da THE CROW BLACKBIRD. ' (Quiscalus quiscula. ) Throughout the Kastern States and Mississippi Valley the grackle, or crow blackbird, is one of the most familiar and conspicuous birds. It appears in spring and early summer about farmhouses and villages, where it finds its favorite nesting places. Five different kinds occur within our borders, but the present paper is concerned only with the common purple grackle (Quéscalus quiscula) and its two subspecies, the bronzed grackle (Quiscalus q. eneus) and the Florida grackle (Quiscalus q. aglwus). The purple erackle is abundant in the region east of the Alleghenies as far north as New York, and is found sparingly in New Fic. 6.—Crow Blackbird. England. The Florida grackle is distributed over the region extend- ing from the coast of South Carolina southward into the peninsula of Florida and westward to Louisiana. The bronzed grackle occupies the Mississippi Valley and Great Plains as far west as the Rocky Moun- tains, ranges northward to Great Slave Lake and southern Newfound- land, and east to the coast of southern New England. In Canada and the Northern United States the crow blackbird 1s only a summer resident, but in the Southern States it is present throughout the year, and in winter its numbers are increased by mil- lions of migrants from the North, which find here a congenial winter 1Reyvised and republished from the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 1894, pp. 233-248, with the addition of new material. 54 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. home. It does not occur south of the Gulf States, but stragglers ~ have been found during the cold months as far north as Illinois and even Minnesota. At the first approach of spring the crow blackbirds begin to move northward, closely following the retreat of winter. Onda the sum- mer months they cover the whole of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, except New England, though they are most plenti- fully distributed over the great grain-raising States of the Northwest. In New England crow blackbirds are of local occurrence. They are tolerably abundant in Connecticut, but in the more northern States breed only in certain favored localities, and are entirely absent from large areas. In the Northern United States the southward movement begins about the end of September, although the habit of collecting in flocks immediately after the breeding season causes the birds to disappear from many localities during the month of August. Their stay in the northern part of the country is thus limited to the six warmest months of the year; hence whatever they do that is either beneficial or inju- rious must be accomplished during that time. In the South, on the contrary, they are found throughout the year, and in largely increased numbers during the winter. Fortunately, however, the time of their greatest abundance is not the season of growing crops, so that the § damage done is principally confined to the pilfering of grain left standing in the shock. It is probable, however, that at this season — they feed largely on weed seeds, mast, and waste grain scattered in the field. Crow blackbirds are gregarious, usually breeding in colonies and migrating in flocks. In fall, young and old collect in large assem- blages, which in the Mississippi Valley often grow to enormous size. The redwing (Agelaius pheniceus), Brewer's blackbird (Scolecophaqus cyanocephalus), and the rusty blackbird (S. carolinus) often associate — withthem. Moving southward, immense flocks cross the Red River Val- ley between Texas and Indian Territory. In September, 1886, Mr. George H. Ragsdale reported at Gainesville, on the Texas side of the river, ‘‘flocks of such size that the roar of their wings could be heard ' for a quarter of a mile,” and that, according to a statement published in a local paper, one person had on hand 8,000 blackbirds which had — been netted for the use of gun clubs. Mr. Ragsdale stated that at the — same time the grass worm was destroying the crab-grass and purslane, and attributed the unusually large flocks of blackbirds to the fact — that the early fall migrants, finding so many worms, had halted until — the bulk of the birds drifted southraed About the first of October — the worms and birds disappeared simultaneously. | Crow blackbirds are well known to the farmer -as foragers about the barnyard and pigpen. When they arrive in spring, after their long — journey from the South, they are apt to depend on the corncrib for THE CROW BLACKBIRD. 55 some of their first meals; but when the plow begins its work they are on the alert, and follow it up and down the furrows, seizing every grub or other insect that may be turned up. Their industry in this respect is very noticeable, and if not disturbed or frightened in any way they often become so tame as scarcely to get out of the way of the team in their eager search for food. Very soon a nest is built, and in a short time four or more gaping mouths demand to be filled, and the parent birds must then work harder and go farther afield to provide for the increased number of stomachs. When the cherries and other early fruits ripen, the birds take a share for themselves thinking, no doubt, that they are fairly entitled to them for the good work they did earlier in the season. When the corn ‘comes into the milk’ they also take a portion. In the selection of food the crow blackbird is almost omnivorous. Its partiality for corn, wheat, rice, oats, and other grain is well known, and is the cause of nearly all the complaints about its depredations. This diet is supplemented by various fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and insects, the last in large proportion. But the character of the food varies materially with the season. During the fall and winter blackbirds subsist largely on seeds and grain, as spring approaches they become ‘more insectivorous, in summer they take small fruits, and in September they attack the ripening corn; but at all seasons they probably select the food that is most easily obtained. To this varied diet are due the conflicting statements respecting the useful or noxious habits of the species. When feeding on grain, the birds are usually in large flocks and their depredations are plainly visible. When breeding they are less gregarious, and the good work they do in the fields is scarcely noticed, although at this season the grubs and other insects devoured compensate in large measure for the grain taken at other times. As Mr. N. W. Wright, of Farmland, Ind., aptly says, “‘It is hard to tell on which side to place the crow blackbirds, for we can see the damage done, but not the benefits.” During the spring they destroy many noxious insects. Prof. D. E. Lantz states that at Manhattan, Kans., from the time of their arrival until August they feed almost entirely upon cutworms, and Prof. Herbert Osborne, writing from Ames, Iowa, reports that during the spring of 1883 he saw them destroy great numbers of May-beetles (Lachnosterna fusca), and found them feeding on them for several weeks. Grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and other insects are also largely eaten. Mr. J. Perey Moore, of Philadelphia, Pa., wrote in 1885: During the recent visit of the 17-year cicada this species [the purple grackle] devoured immense numbers of pupse and imagos. It also ate large numbers of the grubs of the June bug, which it generally obtained by searching in the furrows in newly plowed fields, and all stages of the Carolina and other grasshoppers, the com- mon white butterfly (I saw one catch several of this species on the wing May 26, 1885), and other species not identified. { e 56 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. Mr. W. B. Hall, of Wakeham, Ohio, gives an interesting account of some young grackles which were kept in captivity. He says: I have captured the young and confined them in a cage in such manner that the old bird could not reach the mouth of the young. The food brought consisted largely of larvee of Coleopterous and Lepidopterous insects, with an occasional beetle. If freshly plowed fields were in the vicinity the food consisted largely of the white grub and cutworm, a few tent caterpillars, one worm that I took to bea small Attacus, and beetles of the genera Galerita, Cetonia, Lachnosterna, and their kindred. An estimate of the amount of food required to support a large flock of blackbirds has been made by Mr. H. H. Johnstin, of London, Ohio. During the autumn of 1894 he counted 1,100 blackbirds one morning as they left their roosting places for the feeding grounds, and estimated the birds which flew by at 50,000. Allowing 2 ounces as the quantity of food collected by each bird during the day, he arrived at the con- clusion that 6,250 pounds, or more than 3 tons, of food was consumed by this army of blackbirds in a single day. Even if the number of birds in this case is not overestimated, the amount of food per bird is undoubtedly too great. The species of blackbirds to which these notes refer are not stated, but it is safe to assume that the flocks were made up of redwings (Age/a/us) and crow blackbirds (Quzscalus). A full stomach of the crow blackbird, selected at random from specimens in the collection of the Biological Survey, was found to weigh 0.158 ounce, or 2.53 drams, while the contents of another stomach weighed only 0. 116 ounce, or 1.85 drams. The average of two full stomachs of red-winged blackbirds was 0.049 ounce, or 0.78 dram, and the stomach contents of a third weighed only 0.021 ounce, or 0.33 dram. While of course these figures do not give the quantity of food a bird — consumes in twenty-four hours, they show that the full stomach of a blackbird weighs comparatively little. In order to consume 1 ounce of food per day a crow blackbird must eat six or eight full meals, according to the kind of food, and the redwing three or four times as many. At this rate the amount consumed by the flock of 50,000 birds would be about a ton and a half per day. These figures are undoubt- edly still too large, but they serve to give a slight hint of the quantity of grain a large saline could destroy. The ace Ramone against the crow blackbird, briefly stated, relate mainly to the destruction of grain, especially corn, soon after planting in the spring, and again in the autumn, when the corn is ‘in the milk’ and nearly ripe. In the Southern States rice is also destroyed by grackles. In some sections they are said to feed upon young grain in such quantities as seriously to injure the value of the crop, and for this reason they are poisoned in large numbers. A more effectual method is to prevent the birds from taking the seed by tarring the corn before itis planted. This is better, simpler, and cheaper than the wholesale destruction of the birds. THE CROW BLACKBIRD. 57 Mr. 8. T. Kimball, of Ellington, Conn., says: As a rule, farmers here tar their corn, but last June I sowed some without tarr ing, and the result was that by the time it was out of the ground the blackbirds h a attacked it. They worked all day, carrying their bills full—load after load—to a cemetery where there is quite a colony. They kept this up till the corn was ent irely absorbed by the stalk, although I shot some five or six of them. Mr. George K. Cherrie states that in Monona County, Iowa, during the spring of 1884, both the crow blackbird and the yellow eel blackbird did Rencider able damage by pulling the corn just as it came through the ground, and were poisoned in great numbers by corn which had been soaked in water containing arsenic. Similar depreda- tions are sometimes committed in the rice fields of the South. According to Mr. W. C. Percy, jr., of Bayou Goula, La., the crow blackbirds destroy rice and corn at that place to a great extent, and would do so totally were not men stationed with guns. They eat it in planting time only. In the autumn, when the corn begins to ripen, the fields are again visited by idk deon ee in larger floc ks than in the spring, and the birds renew their work of destruction. Mr. Daniel S. Wardsworth reports that ina field of 2 acres near Hartford, Conn., the grackle has been known to ruin from one-third to one-half of a crop of corn ‘in the milk’ or when ripe. | SSeS ees agerites Siemans 25 WISH OLG@O lama D1 aS |e eeeees ae eyes |e re eee | eee eas | Mecereeees 4 A177 locale oye Sree [aia 21 GeOUPIR sae ee eee eee | Seen ely cl ee D8| 2 lee eles TON Sona ears | Comer tore 9 LONG AEN 3 Societies Seed ener | eS pe ae pepe ene eee ete Gaede orcas aullscaaae 2 KGa TSO itee i ee a WR dercrtae ei eran |e eee (et ee i Pe ete ete er a Na. | 4 Massachusetts -.-.- Jie er tees eee | ee 3 2 re eee |r rea Panes cine rear 9 Michigan..........|...... eee Pa ea 2 | waco sfeede cel Sas Nee ee eee 2 MATIN CSOtH see Cottle esl aces. 21202 scale. oe 9; 4] 1 BR erie. | Spree erate Never] 10 MOntaMa 2 sos2- 46-4 feces poll 2 aoe I ees el ON | eee [eooaee Op easy |e Sees tei aoe 9 IN GWrersey sees Seno ccn a2] 22s | cates te ol ee eee [ie ee TONE Saeee [Se eas ena eee 10 New York:..-2.2..|2..... Wea 2 (eeeg area et pe es 41 |. “dos, Steeles tel ene ate a> aes Ber 62 INortbn gD akoOtawso...| 22222. |een es) era ees | aoe ee: | of 1Z8|E Ses | aerate iphe Sree | nay oe 21 Pennsylvania ..... ee foes a = Var in | ae 4| 20 9 10 Baitecia salient ey lt au cele 48 Rhode Island...-..}.....- (Perce ee | oo | eee | Bills. ssl ee eS | ees | ene er 3. South Carolina ....).....- Nee ea tlle eeelli tea oe UP Yeo l eee lesen hel WER st eS Goole oll paca 2: South Dakota ..... uh Olam gy [ee elle a nee | Meath Rees |S Se IE eae a i see ie 9: MOKA Sp ies See he ae oe | ie oe SE ce Bl eae ove Pe ees eck ee 3 AVALT OTT) ees ren eye | epee lt een | ee |e eal erence yes il dsl Rage onc rece poe ee ee 19: Wesb Virginiam. ..2!|: 2) Sele oo Je er ee | 2, ee ea 1) sae eee aes 1 WWaSCONSI Mesa | sae. lies. 52 leds eit Oeil eee ag 3 3 | 2 7 Jl Pelee |e ee | apenas 17 Ontario, Canada —..\2 2.2: 42.2 een eee laioeeace | 3 ye ep fee gee ea ie Sh oe 12 Motal se. 2.s2- [o-2ees| osc) ee ele oe 52 41.) 45] 103 BO lic 2 2se.s)| ecorerna eee 291 DISTRIBUTION OF STOMACHS, BY MONTHS AND STATES. is Distribution of stomachs, by months and States—Continued. . COWBIRD. an | = SS { Be e | ; E re 5 3 States. g 5 ra 3 | 3 ; g = 2 5 g Total. ieee ee | bio |e |e 1s.) 5 | 8 Sees | 4 ie | => | > | t+ iol o | sl ¢é ARIZOIN, 25) Se eecollao cecal See peed ean ] og) | Spemetony | eae 2| erie |e 27 lhetaiee | Se 9 WonmnectiCutsss--.-|5 2-22 |o----s)------ 7 i efeelarata | Sarcieiole| eae are lg | Seer (Zoos | See ul ISOLA OMMIMIsee terials Selae ern se lessee cclese ace ctecce|sseneslanccdic|eacocnl|eccecs 3 Eeeneee 3 GeOyaiiage 5 Gaeees Poe eee LO es SOS See eee) ee ee Pee OR | MeN (Oe ae 4 aT OLS Ree ee lees sae 2 1 Eig | teresa | ees aes | eve et | Seca | acs | een On| eee 5 HOWE Sdcdeceseeeatc Bootes! Pears Meera 6 4 1 Bi eee eee Sees | Ree 15 TCP OSES) Eas a tte Oe ee a fe 2 36 54} 24 10 5 Dele aeoe [eae coe ees 133 LNGTMUBIGEN ososeSacelbcboso Be- Gs AEeese EASE Moesemnas Cana Henan eae Seas 2 aeeee |e omeee 2 HOINT® .coséégogie Sajecs eae SasSce Gaaeae Sane a ae A dll = Seciesie ie eieeee aie | eee 1 MUeDIays en aera sors aartsialaos slants. 20es|-as05.|s.2-—- td ere) Misses epeaerar | Pre aya lar 1 MEISSACHUSELISHE Al alee csoc\aseee (sees 5 Opleeeeee 2h Bees) te (halen ioe ooo ee 13 NVTMGIT ESET at as osetia eas I ee re (ig eeepc crea (2 er oe eae pi RUINS OTH Ah 35a beeneo| Soe an) eee See Dy) 8 emcee TN aes epee eee Pee ING UGREN Bascehes|easeel eaeeee 1 ye eee i ees 6 le \Seeoee | Didilcraeene: 22 ING WaRViOL ke ee eeenllema sel neko oo, 7 10 3 i 6 63 8" |Laceealesesee 104 INO HOY IDE OY A 2 eens] SOE ees Coe ee | Pr 4 Ob |e |e | eee | ee 13 COMO cies ter es eel RSet Een (ee Aig| Prams oe |. Se DFM t Ol [Soko ee eee were 6 Pennsylvania ..... (ese [eee 6 6 9 15 22 6 1 5 Lies 71 Rhode Island...... lds SSSersa BE Sees eee ee 1 ee oe 18 | eee eee | re cree eae 2 south Dakota .....!...:.. ee ses Sass ae ee 7 i eae es ee Fee Moonee eres 3 PREMMESSCE\ceeec ses |ne see [S08 85s os5ed| posta pees Meer ers eres Eee ones Te eSea ae 1 NOSIS ay sete Ee ele 9 3 10 Die On| See 2 al 3 4 54 16 2 100 WAT INIA ween accelerates toe te | Rempe ereet | Pe aemes afeye tes | Meera [2 reper eel Cc ee | eee | cere 9 9 BVWCStAVATOINI Ape emalsmer eee ee ee ele tool lose c|eee eee 15) eee | ayaa | Renee eee om 1 | NWVASCOMSIMU seer eee |e dl 3 il 3 i Poe a eee eases ears Sed Peer, sl 3 WATAUG Bieter eee Ae oe eae cele. coe k Pyne ese eS arte | eee ee 2 bo e E O aa D 3 | Rotate see: 3 10 18 83 99 53 57 38 79 70 De 11 544 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. Cali TsIN Ae eee pees ee ve ets wane ae iL Ga | Pyotr |e || A pene=ees ( Ie SOsere cs | cere | pe meee | Cee oe 1 LOWE ceeeeessecesesl Saas aseeee See Eee Les Baas aeentenl oye ees eel Sener cee | eae | ete es 2 ee eee Ieee 1 IXOOGIENE 36 Seo eSoeiie| Sere sel See eer 5 E13 [eons rs = yee | ee ore cee Aecrmecens | eee ar ee ea 18 VIN Chai oa neers Meese eM See ocd. occ Sco cnccc|aecenn| San eee 35|£ Bose eee 3 MIMIMCSO Lansseeeer ales eres sal ooecc |. sd.. 11 10 9 DB 5 tra aa See Sa ererer eee 58 ING Draskajeerecps lee aa eee see 5 oo 1 EL apa aees | epee | Neen] ee coe (eter 2 _| Pe a 2 | eager ee 2 INOTLUDED AKO tage eal sees: | Maseis| cece lee ces) esa 4 | 3 24 Aig |e ee. |) 0 ens | ee 35 SOUGHED AKOTA eee sense. | oa eel onc oc 3 | eee | Wepapereemt Aime, 2Peem 3) So al 2 eater Gree em | ieee i NGOS 29 Ge ae eee ae oe Ba i heal coe eta (ob gene (pea RCs Ineo Pagers 3 A VASCOMSIMGe eye es oe AM! eis lS nace [oe eee |e enn 4 Wns bwcltet eke | tees = | eee 11 “YOHTITIR Gok saad oe ee eel Bate eee a a re Pen 1 lit (teeter 3 | oer ee 2 Northwest Terri- HOLY CAN ACA saeclem@sns sinc se =.4| cence use 33 ee (eee eal ateess|aece easel emeeas |e sae 3 GROVE declan ace ee ee 9] 31] 14| 16] 60 5 3 |coteneleconan 138 74 "00D OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. Distribution of stomachs, by months and States—Continued. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. | é a = . States. cian Bera (ecto fae ee ieerec || os 1 Z B 2 : | Total. a | 2 5 a se S| ae lees = x) | ATIZOna ee oe. [ote ee soe | = eee Boia a) eee | Lo re all oe otere || ees | ee 8 CANGU Ys} e101 RS aero eae Pees eee 2 |..----|- oe eee | ees eee |boeeos bocaos| boson: 3 Connecticut >...--.-|------ setae | 3 5 Eee eae 63) ona -| Bee | ere eee | eee 20 Dist. of Columbia..|...--- 2 | SS aereee jE aes aioeeac e 2 Gales 4 AN ree eee 17 LOY ate le al aes Parser |---2-- ee eee eee beer Bae see ba oaee eters Posces|sacnee GeOLCh eee cee eet ees tacare | eee Resose fie ae Nae ote ere ee Be Ecce eneen sacs. 2; MMT OISE 422 one =. [capaci ata ces | =5 3 7a eee Pee sme eraarrio| aero [eee oad 9 Se eee 10 Ibe bieyeVan oss see asa esas eerie Rees PASscdlscocod| ensose Bulseeees wees | Ree eee ere BY NOW EE sees alee [ee ee 5 5 Ae Ee Rees el) yan | AQa| eens 53 Reso eee ee | ne a eee 10 15 4 19 22 seal aca [EPS ea | Rea 70 Wikia neVol = es Ree eee lpaaeer | il 24 3 54 11S 22 Ps | Sete sl ase Se cease Se op OD Massachusetts ....- [Ss Cg | oe eae tienes 14 OME ieee eS ae ie ae | 29 Richivan ce 25.8 Neneialee: | gulls |, Sigiee oct betes. | eee Bees [ac aeeleete free 1 Minnesota is se. eee asec te Pays Se 2 | 12 Sil elSaleaol D3), Sn see eel eres 57 IMISSOUFLS 2-5-6. |b enee. eae [rem Sy saeeee an a> | eee Eos leeenee [Sz cee [oe ee SI int jee melee |< gail Nebraska. cae oer eee [ easel 1 eae [ees az|s Ol [eee ee a pap tes See 3 New Jersey.-..----- ees. ere 8 | 6 I ee es | Fou cee Se ee | Quikeseee 17 ING WaMOEks- 22-2 til inc ele 03 eles O31) bald el temas ioe & A ie else 59 North Dakota ..... Pee a Oe Reel eee Eee Keats 2 6] 42 Lele 5s [ek ae 51 Wiig sees oe es poeeea| ees Bites ba eee Race ghee baler [sees Foes ise Peer Hl Pennsylvania ..... Panes meee. 10} 28 Bl 412 bIu peda Pe Peete ae 2 186 Rhode Island......|-..--- |e ah ee [ice 52] a ees eeetee IZ |S lies. fh] Baers peers eae zl South Carolina-....}:....-|:----- 1 ae | acasajotes | =.d eres | mata epee |;genecsite| stave larerereress fancosé 1 South Dakota...... eae eee | Were be tee 2 jee ens |eeeeee 2 l Sea eens Sanaa | Sacer ig?) ANS SIS eA roe He BA) Aoife 32 |S ee Sif TL |e 9 Vij 80 329) 70a Stl ere OUT Ger aeaseeoeres beeeas paceael eee |serawete (. cout |cectee|s oo 28 |e | pees Dia tee eneel es Seat WCLIN OM Gis ai sa oe lee anaes sees pene ea ec gt eae aes | Sees Wareitia cog ltr ssl ean eee earee pomeent Ee Tol fsb) [eee Cpe) ayo xt 25 West Virginia .....|.....- emeae |e meeeeats feel Rule heel ee | eee 2 4 Le | eee eee 7 WASCONSIN aes secre | a cee lac Jo Lieu 7 Oe (eens re (ee 29 cetera | ese sre era 10 Wyoming..........|.....2 eee re potee BS pat ae 2 9) |e Sal eee ee Ia 2 Ontario, Canada...|...... eee [eee | 3 35|ooSace| see =| Seer ih) Sea | syne 8 ANON ee Ht | 48 84 | 104} 75 158 141 151 56 91 82 | 82 | 1, 083 | | CALIFORNIA RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. eaten ieee IF aa I | el BIfOTNIA ss 222-5 | Pid ees eee | 3 | 2 | ee | 13 il | Seer | 2 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 61 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. Connecticut ....... ea ee 3 Aral eee ae | Zot sith see NSS | CU | Re | Soh ce | abl Dist. Columbia ....|......|...--.|...--- Lice Mee er 4i- ot | 6 GCOlPIa 3 = eee ee en bee Oona | ene en Pater er AA i eS ieee 3 Illinois ............ leeena eres 1 Gt ee We 7 LO Wedges SSS seo ees [ee al 2 ees 2 9|... ee a ee ial ein as ae ae 5 KanNSaSiee= 2 sae ee ily Pee os 5 Ds | kena | he 5 Pye lee oe 36 Massachusetts .....!...... eeeaere 2 9 1 Se 3h |* oS erie 8 Minnesota ....-..-- eter Loy Oe | eee 3. | os bi Se eee | ae 1 Tel atelier 5 New Jersey........ | Shenae ee eee | 2) Taoe S| eaten Dee [ae eel oa 2G ern 2 New York ......:.. Semen po ofl aD ete 1 20 DISTRIBUTION OF STOMACHS, BY MONTHS AND STATES. Distribution of stomachs, by months and States—Continued. RUSTY BLACK BIRD—Continued. D B my Eg s G 3 2 4 Q = States. S = Ga I as a = 4 5 2 5 § | Total. Seuee (eS 8 |S be |e 1B) Ss 16 ig 5 ey a q a 5 5 lesa sce lesen 2 Westy Wallgee havi) oc. fies bec Sl eisai [cael ae ae praeeas (ce ca (| Pa be dL slineeeteis | etalon it WVASCODSIMG: Son see cts sccllctclec |= oes. Dig | eeeteret ate stereeretal| ree apace Benes he | kee | ee D INOVaS COUMAr ses else ose |e ence coe |s co ect-loeccie|eceece| oe ceed ASS Secale | | 4 Ontario,;Canadasc.|52. 2)... 2... Seat 1 ae cet Ne eed a a 1 LES: Seen See 8 Total .......- iy [Ose ae DP 4| 5| 2/1 15| 3| 132 BREWER’S BLACKBIRD. California ......... 7 1 AR ee cictee 1 10 OR eee Ha 14 10 6 69 NEOINGATI Arsen Maree seca |e oe cc laciec ce |seeoec|oeaseelscea os 12 [Sse PS | ieee | reese 95 INORG BO Geyser |e are ae cre mrell Sree nte ell ese Si cial| wear ease [ato cieiee 1 8 LBB eicc S| ee Ree eeee 27 SOuthe akOtaec ace aaat elec. oS |noseecfen esos Ga eens (tae atl a Reon e Seteeslce RSE rere eee 6 MOXMAS PAs eis ce eee owla oe Git | peccrereenl | eeseere jars | Spsveveteal| evatevatera [levee yexsye!| teen herel| cue crave [Pus orate lta ces 9 15 \WOHIOES os Soe beoa|lehoooclssc6sq|Gebeed poeess| eeosd teeses| aenore Aa Sieraeialllasaltta stalinavsiie| leone 4 MOtalesceeccc2 7 7 ALi esse qf 10 10 24 38 14 10 15 146 CROW BLACKBIRD. INU) ip 11) A ee | etree ree [ve cots Ao ecce gclle ce cccralsacermns | ecmciecllsctamtee| eis se sleencee lee 1 CWOnNMNECHCUTZ. So scc|22-5o5|--2-2- 9 23 12 8 Olle as lseee ee i lak (geen eee 59 Dist. of Columbia..]......|...--- il ab 7 15 48 OF ears 9 a eee 91 MOTTA eras etc el| elec ove clcic tee 2 Obie ete eme: eee ce Sioa meee lO ae 1 10 Mllinoiss.....:- PA irae i 2 7h Sileeenes 9 Ce ee AN eee ae 33 MING AM ae Sees lls o's lect callie one oc 2 i ees ore DN athesare cil et ora tS Bec erate | een 4 MOAR SE a a || ee cee ee pra 10 Altre, tere 1 D ib LO ali Sane |eeemse 39 ISANSAS fees ace eel oe u 67} 217] 570 DAS Tl eee 6 Gale ee a2 (Pees 896 Kent Chk yerec se alerecieseeiece cine ccs |eeee = 1 eer (renee ioe ee arora Ae lysates oe 5 HCOUISIANA =. o.. cate oles cies 1 nol aee a e Pigs agin tel PE cle) (Aertel [Pie (ne eae (ae Sey acl 3 MISSI CRs eats ne WES a SIS SS sce 1 Up et ares sere EGC ORR, Irene wee Deer one ily) es eee 2 Mialrey lan dite vecncel | ecceyatclllo ees o 1 28 ay pe Palite) 159 152 On| See 2a nserice 558 IMARERYe URGE 25 clio ceace ees ccelke eee 2 Oe Ree ees eee Beeman leroess| sneer seeees eee 10 Machiranmcnencne aleess sale s2-lccse