£ ‘ 
(428 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
BLACKBIRDS. | 
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD (Xanthocephalus canthocephalus). os 
Heron Lake, Jackson County, Minn., May 14, 1887.—These birds ~~ 
are very numerous here, and do more damage to crops than at Round re 
Lake. No corn can be raised on account of them, and it is hard 
work to get a crop of wheat, oats, or flax, without more or less injury — 
from them. ; : 
The species of Blackbirds most numerous here, and of which most =~ 
complaint is made, are the Yellow-headed and Red-winged. The “4 
Purple Grackle, Cowbird, and Bobolink are present, but in less num- | 
bers; consequently the damage they do is not of so much importance. 
The Yellow-heads and Red-wings seem to be in about equal numbers 
and of much the same habits, nesting in company among the reeds re 
and coarse grass of the slough and borders of lakes. Their nests are 
almost always placed in bunches of grass surrounded by water; this 
is of importance, because where there are no suitable breeding places - 
there are no blackbirds. The reason the blackbirds are so numerous 
here evidently is because the prairies contain a great many sloughs 
or wet marshes, with coarse grass and reeds growing in and around 
them. Here the birds build their nests, going to the surrounding 
fields for food. For information regarding the injury done corn I 
have had to depend almost entirely on what I ald learn from the. 
farmers, as very little corn is planted here this year. I could hear + 
of but one field (8 acres); it was 5 miles from town and 2 miles from . 
the lake. This I visited, but found the corn not yet up (May 21). A 
forkful of manure had been placed over each hill to keep the birds 
from finding it as soon as out of the ground. The farmers near 
Heron Lake say it is of no use to plant corn at all, as they can not 
keep the birds off. Mr. Thomas Miller, who lives near the lake, 
says he planted a piece of corn last year, and that by constant watch- 
ing with a shot-gun, and planting over the hills that had been pulled 
up for the second time, he succeeded in raising about two-thirds of 
the hills planted; and then in the fall the birds destroyed a large 
part of that before it ripened. He saysthe birds do as much damage 
to the crops before harvest in the fall as they do in taking the seed 
in the spring. 
The principal crops raised here are wheat, oats, and flax. These 
crops are now so far advanced that the birds can not injure them 
much more, but they are still constantly visiting the fields, and the 
stomachs preserved willshow whattheirfoodis. Allthrough the fields 
of flax, wheat, and oats are spaces bare of grain and coming up to 
weeds. . 
In the latter part of summer the Blackbirds are said to congregate i 
in large flocks and devour and break down a great deal of wheat, 
oats, and barley just beforeit ripens. I cannot learn positively what 
species are responsible for this damage; probably the Rusty Grackle 
is one. 
I can not suggest any means of immediate relief, but believe that 
the extermination of the Blackbirds, especially the Yellow-headed, 
Red-winged, and Purple and Rusty Grackles, would be of great ad- 
vantage to the farmers. But how is this to be done? Ido not think > 
by the shot-gun, for I have found it very difficult to get specimens 
for stomachs in that way. They are so shy that it is difficult to ap- — 
Pil dm 
