298 



]>ositive far(. Ainoiif; the first "(' c;iii- m'IiiiiI iui<;raiits 

 I'ome llic ("row Mlaclihiitis in lar.i;(> IlixUs wliicli dis- 

 perse thcmsclvos over the cDimfrv, frequi'iitiuji, iiriiiri- 

 pally, as piwiously stated, meadow lands and luiniid 

 jjrounds in quest cliietly of an insect diet, tliat is only 

 occasionally diversified by a grain of ctwn, wheat or 

 oats, and such seeds as may be found in socking the 

 hidden insect. 



THEY HUNT BEETLES AND GRI-HS. 



lu the wake of the plowman as he turns the crumb- 

 ling earth, the argiis eyed Blackbirds follow closely 

 cAer on the alert to seize the wriggling worm, the 

 agile beetle, and tbe numerous larvae thrown out as 

 each furrow is turned. Ci?rtaiuly at this season our 

 sable actjuaintances are engaged only in that which 

 will prove of utility to the cultivator when his crops 

 arc urowing. We reix^atedly heard of how the Black- 

 birds tear up and devour the young and growing corn. 

 'J'his, uiKiuestionably. is sometimes the case but I am 

 cDutident that the destruction thus done is much ex- 

 aggerated. I am aware rliat on more than one occa- 

 sion I have seen the tender blades of corn lying on the 

 ground where there were actively at woi-k Crow Black- 

 bird.s. a number of which were shot, and on post mor- 

 tem dissection their stomachs revealed almost entirely 

 insects. Some ten yeare ago I was visiting a friend 

 who had thirty odd acres of corn (maize) plantetl. 

 Qtiite a numlier cf "blackies" as he styled them, were 

 plying tliemselves with great activity about the gi'ow- 

 iiig cereal. We shot thirty-one of these birds feeding 

 in the cornfield. Of this number nineteen showed only 

 cut-worms in their stomachs. The number of cut- 



