BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 115 



Summary. — Roughly estimated, nine-tenths of the food of the mariquita is 

 levied from the animal kingdom and large numbers of harmful insects are de- 

 stroyed. Weevils especially are favorites, and comprise several serious pests 

 of sugar cane, coffee, and other crops. Cutworms, too, are much relished, and 

 a host of other forms, among which only spiders may be considered useful, 

 make up the remainder. Of the remaining one-tenth of vegetable matter a little 

 more than half is composed of corn taken from the ear when still in the milk. 

 For the entire year this is a small amount, but during June some damage is done 

 locally, and in such cases the blackbirds should be driven out by shooting or 

 other means. In some instances it was found that the birds, though flocking in 

 cornfields, did not touch the grain, so that before disturbing them there should 

 be evidence of sufficient damage to warrant it. Throughout the season as a 

 whole this blackbird is beneficial, and should be allowed a small toll of grain as 

 part payment for its usefulness. Care should be taken not to mistake the dep- 

 redations of rats in the cornfields for the work of the blackbirds. Rats are in 

 some cases very destructive to grain in localities frequented by the blackbirds. 

 The blackbird merely pecks open the end of the ear and pulls off the kernels, 

 while the rat gnaws off the husks, dropping a pile of refuse to the ground below 

 and frequently destroying half the ear. 



PORTO RICAN ORIOLE. Icterus portoricensis (Bryant). 

 Calandra., Calandria. 



The oriole is resident on the island of Porto Rico. It is common in the coconut 

 palms near the coast, and inland it frequents coffee plantations and second- 

 growth forests, where, swinging head down, it finds and destroys many cater- 

 pillars. It is rather wild at times and keeps well concealed, and again comes 

 into shade trees about the houses. This bird has the most beautiful song of all 

 the Porto Rican species — a clear whistle of several notes, pitched rather high. 

 It sings mainly in the morning and evening, and is one of the few birds heard 

 at daybreak. The ordinary call note is an oriolelike cMclc or clinch, and the 

 birds also have a thin, high note like pe-ee, resembling the call note of the gold- 

 finch or siskin. 



The breeding season extends from the first of May to the middle of July, and 

 after the middle of June young in first plumage are common. The adults begin 

 to molt then. This species breeds while in first-year plumage, and several pied 

 specimens were taken. The only nest located was in a grove of coconut palms 

 north of Manati, on July 8. It swung from the underside of one of the long 

 leaves, and was supported under the center of the rib by four radiating " straps," 

 firmly attached, leaving only a small space between it and the underside of the 

 midrib to serve as an entrance. It appeared to be woven strongly of fibrous 

 materials. 



The oriole is very fond of the sweet flower juices of plants and trees, the 

 bucare (Erythrina sp.) being visited frequently when in blossom, while the 

 abundant nectar of the banana is a great attraction, several birds visiting a 

 single flower in rapid succession. Near Aibonito the birds were seen eating 

 the pulp and juice of overripe wild sweet oranges (chinas) and had opened half 

 a dozen on one tree. As the fruit in cultivated groves is picked long before it 

 reaches this stage no damage results. 



Food. — From January to August, 71 stomachs were collected and on detailed 

 examination these show 99.84 per cent of animal matter. Two birds had 

 secured a little vegetable rubbish and one had eaten the hard flinty seed of a 

 grass (Olyra latifolia), which in all amounts to only 0.16 per cent. Earwigs, 

 some of them of large size, were found in 40 stomachs, though often only the 

 curious nipperlike caudal forceps remained after the processes of digestion. 



