No. 2O.], THE BIRDS OF CONNECTICUT. 3O/ 



(green grasshoppers), and crickets are considered in the same 

 category, but of the three the true grasshoppers were by far the 

 most numerous in the stomachs, and are eaten in every month 

 except January. They constitute less than I per cent of the total 

 February food, and the fact that they are found at all in this 

 month indicates that the birds are keen hunters, for it would 

 puzzle an entomologist to find grasshoppers in February in most 

 of the northern states. It is probable that some of those eaten 

 in this and the succeeding month are dead insects left over from 

 the previous year." 



" After August the grasshopper diet falls off, but even in 

 November it still constitutes 9 per cent of the total for the month. 

 The frequency with which these insects appear in the stomachs, 

 the great numbers found in single stomachs (often more than 

 30) , and the fact that they are fed largely to the young, all point 

 to the conclusion that they are preferred as an article of food, 

 and are eagerly sought at all times. The good that is done by 

 their destruction can hardly be overestimated, particularly as 

 many of the grasshoppers found in the stomachs were females 

 filled with eggs." 



" It cannot be doubted from the statements which have been 

 made, that these birds do occasionally destroy the eggs of the 

 robin, bluebird, chipping sparrow, small flycatchers, and other 

 species, and more rarely the young of the robin. But stomach 

 examination offers little corroborative evidence. Of 2,346 

 stomachs, only 37 contained any trace of birds' eggs, and I con- 

 tained the bones of a young bird." (Beal, " Food of Bobolinks, 

 Blackbirds, and Crackles.") 



" Moreover, the examination of more than 2,000 of their 

 stomachs shows that grain forms 45 per cent of the food of the 

 year, and that corn alone constitutes 35 per cent. From this it 

 might be expected that they would attract much attention from 

 grain growers, and such is the case. Hundreds of communica- 

 tions have been received testifying to their destructiveness ; yet 

 many of these acknowledge the fact that blackbirds eat a large 

 quantity of insects, especially during the breeding season, and 

 that many insects are fed to the young. This last is also borne 

 out by stomach examination. A review of the yearly diet shows 

 that the greater part of the corn eaten is taken during the fall 



