20 BULLETIN 1249, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Grass seeds of many species furnished the largest single item in 

 the stomach contents of the 418 birds, 31.16 per cent coming from 

 this source. Of this the seeds of yellow foxtail (Chaetochloa 

 lutescens) and green foxtail {Chaetochloa viridis), both common 

 weeds in cultivated farm lands, furnished 11.83 per cent. A large 

 number of birds taken on Long Island and Shelter Island, N. Y., 

 had fed freely on the seeds of sandgrass (Triplasis purpurea), 

 which constituted 4.43 per cent of the food. Seeds of numerous 

 other grasses, no one of which formed a large percentage, together 

 constituted the remaining 14.90 per cent of grass seed. 



Seeds of sedges found in many stomachs in moderate quantities 

 formed 8.50 per cent of the food for this season. Seeds of various 

 species of Polygonum, among which black-bindweed (P. convol- 

 vulus) and smartweed (P. lapathifolium) were most frequently 

 found, constituted 3.72 per cent of the food. 



Seeds of various species of goosefoot {Chenop odium) , mostly of 

 lambs-quarters (C. album), formed 5.48 per cent of the food, and 

 those of pigweed (Amaranthus) , 5.56 per cent. A large variety 

 of other seeds, including a number which could not be identified 

 but no one of which formed any considerable proportion of the 

 whole, made up 11.46 per cent. Seeds of ragweed (Ambrosia 

 elatior) were a favorite food and constituted 9.42 per cent of the 

 total. 



Wheat formed 13.09 per cent of the total food; and all other 

 grains, including corn, oats, and barley, 4.72 per cent. From the 

 conditions under which much of this was obtained it must have 

 been largely waste grain. In April, 56.4 per cent of the total food 

 consisted of grain, of which 41.01 per cent was wheat. This per- 

 centage is high because a series of 37 of the 64 birds collected for 

 the month were taken while feeding on old stack bottoms, so that 

 the stomachs contained little except grain. A considerable portion 

 of the grain taken during other months was from birds collected 

 under similar conditions and can not be held against the species. 



The remaining 3.47 per cent is made up of unrecognizable vege- 

 table debris, usually so finely ground as to make any attempt at 

 identification useless. 



Some of the various seeds were occasionally taken in large num- 

 bers. One March bird from Massachusetts had eaten 1,250 seeds of 

 goosefoot (Chenopodium) , 175 of pigweed (Amaranthus), 1 of rag- 

 weed (Ambrosia), and 12 grass seeds, while another from the same 

 locality had its stomach and gullet packed with 2,000 seeds of 

 goosefoot (Chenopodium) , 12 of smartweed (Polygonum), 7 of Am- 

 brosia, 2 of hair grass (Paspalum), 50 of wild mustard (Brassica 

 arvensis), and 1 unidentified grass seed. A bird taken on Shelter 

 Island, N. Y., had also eaten a large number of seeds, 720 Chenopo- 

 dium, 1 Amaranthus, and 480 meadow fescue (Festuca elatior) seeds 

 being identified. Birds from various localities which had eaten from 

 100 to 500 seeds were numerous. 



Summer food. — The contents of the 43 stomachs collected from 

 May to September consisted of 29.26 per cent animal matter and 

 70.74 per cent vegetable. Practically all these stomachs were taken 

 on the shores of Hudson Bay and on the Pribilof Islands. Beetles, 

 mostly Chrysomela subsulcaia, constituted 3.79 per cent of the food. 

 Other insects, fly eggs, pupae, and adults, particularly those of crane- 



