44 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



August at 72, after which it decreases rapidly. The average for the five months is 

 46 per cent, that is, in every 100 birds taken 46 have eaten grain. If now we 

 examine the grain-eating record as exhibited by the quantity of that food the 

 results are quite different. In May grain constitutes 21 per cent of the food by 

 bulk; in June it decreases to 5 per cent ; in Jul}- it rises to its maximum of 42 per 

 cent ; in August it falls off slightly, after which it rapidly decreases and disappears. 

 The average consumption of grain for the five months is 25 per cent of the whole 

 food. Again, if the two months of July and August are considered alone, it is 

 found that out of every 100 birds 68 have eaten grain, but that the grain constitutes 

 only 40 per cent of the total food for the two months. * * * 



" Of the different kinds of cereals, oats is the favorite with the Red-wings, con- 

 stituting more than half of the grain eaten. Corn stands next in order, and wheat 

 last of all. At the same time many noxious insects and much weed seed are 

 destroyed. The former amounts to over 26 per cent of the year's food, the latter 

 to nearly 57 per cent. Seeds of noxious weeds, eked out by grain found scattered 

 in the fields, form the almost exclusive diet of these birds during the colder 

 months. Even in August, when the destruction of grain is at its height, weed seed 

 forms more than 30 per cent of the food." (Beal.) 



Rusty Blackbird {Scolecophagus carolinus). — " The Rusty Grackle (Scolecophagus 

 carolinus) of the eastern United States and Brewer's Blackbird (S. cyanocephalus) of 

 the west are similar birds, whose habits of associating in large flocks would indicate 

 that they could do great damage to grain fields if they chose to visit them for food. 

 Stomach examinations show that the eastern bird lives to a great extent upon ani- 

 mal substances, principally insects, and as the species retires to the extreme northern 

 edge of the country and beyond to breed, it does not appear in most of the grain- 

 raising States until the crops of wheat and oats have been harvested. It feeds to 

 some extent on corn, but the damage appears to be slight. Brewer's Blackbird, on 

 the contrary, breeds over the greater part of its range and only retires from the 

 northern part during a short time in winter. It is more of a grain eater than the 

 Rusty Grackle and does considerable damage in wheat-growing areas in the far west. 

 Like the Rusty Grackle, it is a great consumer of insects." (Beal.) 



Cowbird (Malothrus ater). — This bird is said not to be seriously injurious to 

 grain, but its habit of laying in the nests of smaller and much more valuable species, 

 the young of which are, in consequence, often starved, should be sufficient to war- 

 rant us in denying it legal protection. 



Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). — This species furnishes an illustration of a 

 bird which is beneficial in one locality and harmful in another. While with us in 



