382 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



connection with a very large excess of insects, to wit: Beetles, earth- 

 worms, and cut worms. The remaining five showed chiefly beetles." 



Perhaps the chief damage to the corn crop is done when the grain is 

 in the milky stage in the summer; the grackles are flocking at that 

 season and, where they are abundant, they swoop down in great 

 black clouds into the standing corn; they strip the husks off the ears 

 and eat the tender kernels, taking perhaps only a few from each ear, 

 but rendering many unfit for the market. Sometimes as much as a 

 quarter of the crop is thus damaged. The farmer is nearly helpless 

 to protect a large field, for shooting only drives the birds from one 

 portion of the field to another. All that can be said in favor of the 

 grackle here is that it is a persistent enemy of the destructive corn 

 borer. 



Later in the season, after the corn is harvested and shocked, the 

 grackles do some damage to the ripened ears by extracting the hard 

 kernels; and Nuttall (1832) says that "in the Southern States, in 

 winter, they hover round the corn-cribs in swarms, and boldly peck 

 the hard grain from the cob through the air openings of the magazine." 



Referring to the attacks on sprouting winter wheat, Judd (1902) 

 writes: "During November 1900, a flock of from 2,000 to 3,000 pulled 

 wheat on the Bryan farm, and only continual use of the shotgun saved 

 the crop. At each report they would fly to the oak woods bordering 

 lot 5, where they fed on acorns. Nine birds collected had eaten 

 acorns and wheat in about equal proportions. The flock must have 

 taken daily at least half an ounce of food apiece, and therefore, if 

 the specimens examined were representative, must in a week have 

 made away with 217 pounds of sprouting wheat, a loss that would 

 entail at harvest time a shortage of at least ten times as much." 



Although grain forms nearly half (47 percent) of the food for the year 

 it is not all a loss to the farmer, as much of it is waste grain dropped 

 during harvesting or left on the ground after that. Some slight 

 damage is done to green peas, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, 

 and other small fruits, but less than is done by some other birds. 



All this damage may seem considerable, but it is largely offset 

 by the good done in the destruction of those insects, harmful to the 

 interests of the farmer, which make up over 50 percent of the food for 

 the year. Consequently, where grackles are overabundant, they 

 should be controlled or the crops be protected, otherwise they are 

 fully as useful as harmful. 



Behavior. — While feeding on my lawn the grackle walks with a 

 slow, dignified gait, head held high and tail somewhat elevated, or 

 runs nimbly over the ground, nervously flirting its long tail up and 

 down and occasionally making long, high hops in pursuit of some 

 insect. Occasionally it jumps or flies up a foot or two to catch a 



