BUDS AS FOOD OF THE ROSEBREAST. 39 



maple, box elder, and elm. Apparently some of these are gi'eatly 

 relished. G. E. Atkinson, of Ontario, says:« 



Tliey cut off the buds [of beech] close to the twig, eat the soft pip, and drop 

 the shells. On May 11, I * * * saw three rose-breasted grosbealis feeding, 

 * * * occasionally darting out at a passing insect. I managed to secure one 

 iind its stomach was packed with these buds. 



The practical significance of the rosebreast's budding has been the 

 subject of widely varying opinions. Seventeen statements concern- 

 ing the subject are at hand, which, briefly put, are as follows: One 

 author holds the grosbeak injurious; one thinks it may possibly be 

 so; two perceive very little damage; one considers any detriment in 

 this way fully recompensed by the bird's utility in other directions: 

 ten assert that no harm whatever is done, and two declare that bud- 

 ding is beneficial. It will be of interest to cite in full some of these 

 diverse opinions. E. A. Mearns writes: ^ 



Soon after its arrival, the rose-breasted grosbeak appears about our houses, 

 and, possibly, does some damage to the fruit crops by eating the blossoms in 

 the orchards ; it is especially fond of those of the cherry, and the rapidity with 

 which it dispatches them is quite marvelous. 



H. D. Minot says : ' 



He * * * eats buds, often committing depredations on our fruit trees; 

 and he must be considered as injurious to agriculture. He frequently plucks 

 blossoms, and, dexterously cutting off the iietals, etc., lets them fall, while he 

 retains the ovary which contains the seeds. 



Commenting upon the latter author's statement, William Brewster 

 observes : '' 



There are no good reasons for assuming that this injures the trees or even 

 their crops of fruit. On the contrary, both are probably benefited by the 

 process, which is. in effect, a sort of fruit pnniing, seldom if ever more severe 

 than that practiced by the thrifty horticulturists. 



It will have been noted that the above quotations refer to flowers, 

 which, as previously stated, seem to be eaten much more counnonly 

 than leaf buds. Dr. B. H. Warren found flow^ers of hickory in 

 11 stomachs, those of beech in 26, maple in 3, and other blossoms in 

 23 stomachs collected during May in Pennsylvania. Dr. A. K. Fisher 

 has observed rosebreasts feeding on the flowers of elm and walnut, 

 and during the present investigation flowers of oaks were found in 4 

 stonuichs, the blossoms in two of them being of the post oak {Quercus 

 minor). No appreciable damage ensues from the bird's habit of 

 feeding on the flowers of forest trees, since the fruits of these trees 



"Trans. Canad. Inst., Ill (1890-91), 1892, p. 40. 



''Bright Feathers of North American IJirds of Beautv. F. R. Rathbun. ISSl, 

 pp. 31-32. 



'^ Land Birds and Game Birds of New England, 2d ed., 1895, p. 241. 

 ^ Loc. clt. 



