No. 20.] THE BIRDS OF CONNECTICUT. 299 



premiums which have been settled for killing them in New- 

 England, they have been so extirpated, that they are very rarely 

 seen, and in a few places only. But as, in the summer of the 

 year 1749, an immense quantity of worms appeared on the 

 meadows, which devoured the grass, and did great damage, the 

 people have abated their enmity against the maize-thieves ; for 

 they thought they had observed that those birds lived chiefly on 

 these worms before the maize is ripe, and consequently extirpated 

 them, or at least prevented their spreading too much. They seem 

 therefore to be entitled, as it were, to a reward for their trouble." 



Regarding these birds Professor Beal writes (" Birds that In- 

 jure Grain ") : " Stomach investigation shows conclusively that 

 birds do not subsist upon grain alone, even at times when it is 

 possible to obtain it. Moreover, the greatest amount of grain is 

 not eaten at harvest time, but during the winter months, when 

 other food is scarce and waste kernels can be picked up in the 

 fields. If any kind of grain is preferred by a certain species, we 

 should expect the bird to subsist upon that almost exclusively 

 when it can be obtained, that is, at harvest time. That this is not 

 the case, is shown by the fact that many birds of the same species 

 have been shot at the same time in a grain field, and, while some 

 stomachs were full of grain, others were only partly filled, and 

 still others were wholly filled with other food. So many cases 

 of this kind have occurred that it seems practically certain that 

 few birds willingly subsist exclusively upon any kind of grain 

 for a considerable length of time. With many species this is 

 in notable contrast to their marked fondness for the seeds of 

 certain useless plants, upon which at some seasons they subsist 

 almost entirely. 



" If it be admitted that birds do not as a rule display an in- 

 ordinate appetite for grain, the question naturally arises : What 

 is the cause of the tremendous ravages they sometimes commit? 

 Both stomach examination and field observation point to the 

 same answer: Too many birds of the same or closely allied 

 species are gathered together within a limited area. 



" An attempt to exterminate these species would be not only 

 ill-advised but hopeless. States have offered bounties for their 

 destruction without perceptibly thinning their ranks. Is there, 

 then, any remedy for evil? The writer is forced to confess 



