No. 20.] THE BIRDS OF CONNECTICUT. 2QI 



quarters, 8 of crab-grass, 10 of bastard pennyroyal, and 12 of 

 ragweed " (Judd, " Birds of a Maryland Farm "). 



CROWS and JAYS. 

 Corvidce. 



Of the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata cristata) Professor Beal 

 says, " Ornithologists and field observers in general declare that 

 a considerable portion of its food in spring and early summer 

 consists of the eggs and young of small birds, and some farmers 

 accuse it of stealing corn to an injurious extent in the fall. While 

 there may be some truth in these accusations, they have almost 

 certainly been exaggerated. No doubt many jays have been ob- 

 served robbing nests of other birds, but thousands have been seen 

 that were not so engaged. 



" In an investigation of the food of the Blue Jay, 292 stomachs 

 were examined, which showed that animal matter comprised 24 

 per cent and vegetable matter 76 per cent of the bird's diet. So 

 much has been said about the nest-robbing habits of the Jay that 

 special search was made for traces of birds or birds' eggs in the 

 stomachs, with the result that shells of small birds' eggs were 

 found in three, and the remains of young birds in only two 

 stomachs. 



" Such negative evidence is not sufficient to controvert the 

 great mass of testimony upon this point, but it shows that the habit 

 is not so prevalent as has been believed. Besides birds and their 

 eggs, the Jay eats mice, fish, salamanders, snails, and crustaceans, 

 which altogether constitute but little more than 1 per cent of its 

 diet. The insect food is made up of beetles, grasshoppers, cater- 

 pillars, and a few species of other orders, all noxious, except 

 some sy 2 per cent of predaceous beetles. Thus something more 

 than 19 per cent of the whole food consists of harmful insects. 

 In August the Jay, like many other birds, turns its attention to 

 grasshoppers, which constitute nearly one-fifth of its food during 

 that month. At this time, also, most of the other noxious in- 

 sects, including caterpillars, are consumed, though beetles are 

 eaten chiefly in spring. 



" The vegetable food is quite varied, but the item of most 

 interest is grain. Corn was found in 70 stomachs, wheat in 8, 

 and oats in 2 — all constituting 19 per cent of the total food. 



