CEOW BLACKBIRD 



95 



hand how greatly out of character would it appear 

 for a merry Chickadee to walk ! 



The food the Blackbirds get on the ground 

 varies. In some localities, at certain seasons of 

 the year, they fall upon the grain fields in flocks 

 of hundreds or thousands and do much harm. 

 This is very exceptional, however, in the east. 

 Ordinarily about one third of their food consists 

 of insects, the greater part of which are injurious. 

 One of their commonest occupations is following 



FIG. 40. 

 May Beetles and White Grubs, eaten by Crow Blackbird. 



the plow, after which their stomachs are found 

 ' crammed with grubs.' They also eat grasshop- 

 pers, crickets, locusts, adult grubs or May beetles 

 (Fig. 40) and the destructive rose bug and curcu- 



