222 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



of other birds, especially the common Robin. Gentry, however, states that 

 they destroy the young- of birds, a fact, as yet, unobserved by the writer. 



In referring 1 to this species, Wilson very aptly remarks : " As some 

 consolation to the industrious cultivator, I can assure him that were I 

 placed in his situation, I should hesitate whether to consider these birds 

 most as friends or enemies, as they are particularly destructive to almost 

 all the noxious worms, grubs and caterpillars that infest his fields, which, 

 were they allowed to multiply unmolested, would soon consume nine- 

 tenths of all the productions of his labor and desolate the country with 

 the miseries of famine." 



In concluding', attention is called to several series of stomach exami- 

 nations, made at different periods during the past seven years, and from 

 such work the reader can draw his own conclusions. 



March Twenty-nine examined. They showed chiefly insects and 

 seeds ; in five corn was present, and in four wheat and oats were found. 

 All of these grains, however, were in connection with an excess of insect 

 food. 



April Thirty-three examined. They revealed chiefly insects, with but 

 a small amount of vegetable matter. 



May Eighty-two examined. Almost entirely insects, cut-worms be- 

 ing especially frequent. 



June Forty-three examined. Showed generally insects, cut worms 

 in abundance ; fruits and berries present, but to very small extent. 



July Twenty-four examined. Showed mainly insects ; berries pres- 

 ent in limited amount. 



August Twenty-three examined. Showed chiefly insects, berries and 

 corn. 



September Eighteen examined. Showed insects, berries, corn and 

 seeds. 



October During this month (1882), the writer made repeated visits 

 to roosting resorts, where these birds were collected in great numbers, 

 and shot three hundred and seventy-eight, which were examined. Of 

 this number the following is the result of examinations, in detail, of one 

 hundred and eleven stomachs: 



Thirty, corn and coleoptera (beetles); twenty-seven, corn only ; fifteen, 

 orthoptera (grasshoppers) ; eleven, corn and seeds ; eleven, corn and orthop- 

 tera ; seven, coleoptera; three, coleoptera and orthoptera; three, wheat 

 and coleoptera ; two, wheat and corn ; one, wheat ; one, diptera (flies). 



The remaining two hundred and sixty-seven birds were taken from the 

 10th to the 31st of the month, and their food was found to consist almost 

 entirely of corn. 



These examinations show that late in the fall, when insect food is 

 scarce, corn is especially preyed upon by these birds, but during the 

 previous periods of their residence with us, insects form a large portion 

 of their diet. 



In the West Chester (Pa.) Daily News, June 15, 1880, the following men- 



