﻿504 



Canadian Record of Science. 



and crustaceans. Several dragon flies were found, but 

 these were probably picked up dead, for they are too 

 active to be taken alive, unless by one of the flycatchers. 

 So far as the insect food as a whole is concerned, the red- 

 wing may be considered entirely beneficial. 



The interest in the vegetable food of this bird centres 

 around the grain. Only three kinds, corn, wheat and 

 oats were found in appreciable quantities in the stomachs, 

 and they aggregate but little more than 13 per cent, 

 of the whole food, oats forming nearly half of this amount. 

 In view of the many complaints that the redwing eats 

 grain, this record is surprisingly small. The crow 

 blackbird has been found to eat more than three times as 

 much. In the case of the crow, corn forms one-fifth 

 of the food, so that the redwinged blackbird, whose diet is 

 made up of only a trifle more than one -eighth of grain, is 

 really one of the least destructive species ; but the 

 most important item of this bird's food is weed seed, 

 which forms practically the whole food in winter and 

 about 57 per cent, of the whole year's fare. The principal 

 weed seeds eaten are those of ragweed, barn grass, 

 smartweed, and about a dozen others. That these seeds 

 are preferred is shown by the fact that the birds begin to 

 eat them in August, when grain is still readily accessible, 

 and continue feeding on them even after insects become 

 plentiful in April. The redwing eats very little fruit and 

 does practically no harm in the garden or orchard. 



While it is impossible to dispute the mass of testimony 

 which has accumulated concerning its grain-eating pro- 

 pensity, the stomach examinations show that the habit 

 must be local rather than general. As the area of 

 cultivation increases and the breeding grounds are 

 curtailed, the species is likely to become reduced in 

 numbers and consequently less harmful. Nearly seven- 

 eighths of the redwing's food is made up of weed seed or 

 of insects injurious to agriculture, indicating unmistakably 



