AMERICAN MAGPIE l43 



is well distributed throughout the year. Chief points of interest in this 

 report are included in the following abstract. 



Food of nestlings differed from that of adults at the same time of year 

 and was decidedly different from that of adults at other times of the 

 year. More than 94 percent of the food of these young magpies was 

 animal matter. This contrasted with 82 percent for the parent birds. 

 Insects made up the greater part of the animal matter fed to nestlings, 

 and the groups best represented were caterpillars (nearly 18 percent), 

 grasshoppers (more than 11 percent), and flies (more than 11 percent). 

 This last group consisted chiefly of larvae and pupae of flesh flies that 

 the parents obtained from carrion. The indications are then that the 

 adults visited the carrion for the "purpose of procuring the insect food 

 for their young, even in preference to the carrion itself." Kalmbach 

 also pointed out that "the magpie's depredations on wild birds and 

 domestic poultry may be attributed mainly to a desire to satisfy the 

 appetites of its young." 



About three-fifths of the food of adult magpies examined was of 

 animal origin ; the greatest proportion was found in May, during the 

 breeding season. November, December, and January mark the period 

 of smallest consumption of animal food. Insect food constitutes the 

 predominant item for the magpie through the year. The specjes is more 

 highly insectivorous than any other of the common species of the crow 

 family in this country. The kinds of insects eaten are chiefly ones that 

 live on or close to the surface of the ground. Grasshoppers form a 

 conspicuous part of the diet during the late summer and fall. Insects 

 associated with carrion are important in the magpie's food. Kalmbach 

 thinks that in many loc.al outbreaks "magpies doubtless have an im- 

 portant controlling influence" upon insect abundance. Two other items 

 of animal matter important in the food are carrion and small mammals. 

 Magpies congregate on highways to eat remains of animals killed by 

 automobiles. 



The stomach examinations indicated that the magpie is "by preference 

 carnivorous and that the vegetable portion of its diet is taken more or 

 less as a matter of necessity and not from choice. Notwithstanding the 

 fact that wild fruit of one kind or another is as readily available in 

 September as in August or October, the magpie's food preferenc.es lead 

 it to resort extensively to grasshoppers during that month and to reduce 

 its consumption of wild fruit. There is every indication, also, that the 

 grain eaten by magpies during the winter months is consumed largely 

 as a matter of necessity. Grain could be secured in quantity during 

 July and August at many points in the bird's range, but it turns naturally 

 to an animal diet during those months. The rigorous weather of 



