408 U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



frequently turns field mice uninjured from their burrows. I saw a 

 male bronzed grackle pursue and stun an adult mouse. He had some 

 difficulty in doing it, for the mouse seemed able to dodge his blows, 

 but after a half minute of chasing and vicious pecking he was success- 

 ful and flew off with the mouse in his bill. Judging from the ease 

 with which he sprang into the air and the rate of ascent, a consider- 

 ably heavier load could be carried." 



One of the most serious complaints lodged by the bird lover against 

 the bronzed grackle is its pernicious habit of destroying the eggs and 

 young of other birds and its practice of killing small adult birds. J. 

 Nelson Gowanlock (1914), Winnipeg, Canada, observed a bronzed 

 grackle visit all of the homes of an entire block at regular intervals of 

 every 4 or 5 days. The grackle "entered the nests of the English 

 sparrows built in the corners, and, after eating the eggs or young, 

 would emerge, stand a moment or two ignoring the throng of dis- 

 tracted sparrows, and then fly on to the next house where the scene 

 would be repeated. * * * he was certainly the coolest, most method- 

 ical and heartless nest robber I have ever seen or heard of." 



Charles W. Townsend (1920) writes: "Robins' nests in the vines 

 of my house have been despoiled of their eggs and young by this bird, 

 and I have known it to kill adult birds of moderate size. I once 

 found a Grackle holding down the freshly killed body of a BicknelFs 

 Thrush while it pecked out its brains." 



J. M. Wheaton (1882) writes: "I have repeatedly seen them de- 

 stroy the nest and eggs of the chipping sparrow, built in my own 

 garden. This appeared to be from mere love of mischief, as they 

 were not content with destroying the eggs but returned to demolish 

 the nest, and again pulled to pieces the half finished nest which the 

 birds rebuilt." 



K. Christofferson (1927), Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., saw a bronzed 

 grackle kill two pine siskins, benumbed by cold, by pecking the birds 

 on the head. The brains were devoured, leaving only a part of the 

 skull. He also saw a bronzed grackle kill a young barn swallow. 



There are many cases on record of bronzed grackles killing English 

 sparrows. E. H. Forbush (1927) relates the following incident: 



I saw a Bronzed Grackle on Boston Common with a full-grown dead "English" 

 sparrow which it tried to carry away, as I thought, in its claws, but it dropped the 

 smaller bird after flying up a few feet from the ground. In a letter received from 

 Dr. John W. Dewis he says that he and others saw a flock of sparrows on the wing, 

 pursuing and apparently attacking a Bronzed Grackle, also in flight and carrying 

 a live sparrow in its bill. When a few feet from the ground the grackle dropped 

 his prey which was fluttering, and squatted over it, threatening the sparrows which 

 soon gave up the fight. The grackle then pecked out the eyes of its victim, dis- 

 embowled it, ate the muscle from its right breast and left it. The bird proved to 

 be a full-fledged "English" sparrow. 



