EASTERN BLUE GROSBEAK 71 



sphinx, compose 10.7 percent of the subsistence of the nestlings, 

 and snails 10 percent. * * * 



"Among the important insect pests eaten by the blue grosbeak are 

 grasshoppers, weevils, the purslane sphinx, and the cotton cut- 

 worm. * * *" 



Earlier he says: "Injurious beetles comprise 24.4 percent of the 

 grosbeak's food, almost half (11.25 percent) of which consists of 

 members of the May beetle family (Scarabaeidae). Adult June bugs, 

 and their larvae, the white grubs, were devoured by some birds to 

 the exclusion of other food * * *" Weevils made up 7.18 percent 

 of the seasonal food, many of which are injurious. "Leaf-beetles 

 (Chrysomelidae), wood-borers (Buprestidae), click-beetles (Ela- 

 teridae), and long-horned beetles (Cerambycidae), nearly all of which 

 are injurious, were also devom'ed. 



"The most important element of the animal food, however, is 

 grasshoppers. Crickets and long and short horned grasshoppers are 

 eagerly consumed, composing 27.2 percent of the total food. Thirty- 

 two of the 51 blue grosbeaks ate them, several taking nothing 

 else. * * *" 



Still earlier he says: "The true bugs (Hemiptera) constitute 

 another group of insects, mainly injurious, and all of them eaten 

 by the grosbeak are destructive. These include members of the 

 squash-bug family (Coreidae), stink-bug family (Pentatomidae), 

 tree-hoppers (Membracidae), and cicadas or harvest flies (Cicadidae)." 



Of the vegetable food, he says: "Vegetable substances consumed 

 by the blue grosbeak and constituting 32.4 percent of its food may be 

 classified as follows: Grain, 14.25 percent; weed seed, 18.05 percent; 

 fruit, 0.06 percent; and miscellaneous, 0.04 percent." Only 11 of the 

 51 birds examined had eaten grain, and only 1 had eaten it exclusively. 

 As the birds are widely scattered during most of the summer, probably 

 little damage is done to the grain, but later, when they gather in 

 flocks in the fields, they are said to do considerable damage. Culti- 

 vated fruits are apparently not molested, and what little fruit is eaten 

 appears to be of wild species. 



Behavior. — The blue grosbeak is a quiet, peaceful bird, living in 

 harmon}^ with its wild neighbors, or with other species in captivity, 

 where it is a popular cage bird. It vigorously defends its nesting 

 territory against intruders of its own species, but tolerates neighbors 

 of other species. It makes itself at home about human dwellings 

 and is not too timid there. 



Nehrling (1896) says: "The flight of the Blue Grosbeak is short and 

 low, usually leading only from one thicket to another. During migra- 

 tion it mounts high into the air and then its flight is rather hurried. 

 On the ground, where most of the food is gathered, its motions are 



