EASTERN BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 369 



is no spring molt and the shining fully adult plumage is not donned until the 

 first post-nuptial, that is, second fall molt, after which there is no further change in 

 color. 



Food. — If any bird exhibits catholic tastes in its diet, it is the 

 boat-tailed grackle. Practically anything is fish which comes to its 

 net, and literally, fish, flesh, and fowl, as well as grain go to make up 

 its food. Generally speaking, it might be said to be a grain eater in 

 fall and winter and a flesh eater the rest of the year. 



When indulging its highly gregarious habits in the fall, considerable 

 waste grain is consumed, predominantly corn and rice. Audubon 

 (1842) noted the rice-eating propensities by saying that the boat-tail 

 "commits serious depredations in such green fields." Some damage 

 results to these crops, particularly on the gulf coast, when grackles 

 descend on both standing and stacked grain. Similar damage was 

 once widespread on the South Carolina coast when rice was such a 

 golden crop there. These birds sometimes follow spring planting and 

 uncover grain as it is sowed. H. C. Oberholser (1938) points out, 

 however, that "not all the consumption of grain should be considered 

 injurious, since a considerable portion of this obtained is probably 

 waste, gleaned from the fields after harvest." 



F. E. L. Beal (1900) writes that an examination of 116 stomachs 

 revealed that the food was made up of 40 percent animal and 60 

 percent vegetable matter. "Crustaceans amounted to about two- 

 fifths of the animal food in the stomachs examined, and comprised 

 crawfishes, crabs and shrimp. Grasshoppers are eaten in Juty and 

 August, but few in other months. Beetles and various other insects 

 are taken in small quantities. Grain, chiefly corn, constitutes 46.8 

 percent of the total food, and is taken in every month of the year, 

 and as part of this is corn 'in the milk,' some damage must result to 

 this crop." 



During the spring and summer the food consists largely of a wide 

 range of aquatic life — fish, frogs, insects, Crustacea, and spiders. 

 The boat-tail's ability as a fisherman is considerable, and it is often to 

 be seen wading in pools or marshy creeks, up to its belly, making 

 accurate stabs of the beak at minnows of various sorts. In some of 

 these maneuvers it immerses the entire head, in others it hovers like 

 a petrel. The boat-tail seems very fond of the crayfish, and often 

 searches this creature out on its own; but, as related under "Behavior," 

 it sometimes seizes them from other birds, notably the eastern glossy 

 ibis and probably some of the herons. The bird is no mean performer 

 as a flycatcher, and secures various insects on the wing with apparent 

 ease. 



In that part of the range where the cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto) 

 occurs, and this is a large part, too, the boat-tail resorts to this tree to 



