﻿Common Birds in Hclation to Agriculture. 525 



first migrants to arrive in the Northern States, and is 

 always welcomed as an indication of the final breaking up 

 of winter. It frequents orchards and gardens, where it 

 builds its nest in hollow trees, or takes advantage of a 

 nesting box provided by the enterprising farmer's boy. 



So far as known, this bird has not been accused of 

 stealing fruit or of preying upon any crops. An examina- 

 tion of 205 stomachs showed that 76 per cent, of the food 

 consists of insects and their allies, while the other 24 per 

 cent, is made up of various vegetable substances, found 

 mostly in stomachs taken in winter. Beetles constitute 

 28 per cent, of the whole food, grasshoppers 22, cater- 

 pillars 11, and various insects, including quite a number 

 of spiders, comprise the remainder of the insect diet. All 

 these are more or less harmful, except a few predaceous 

 beetles, which amount to 8 per cent., but in view of the 

 large consumption of grasshoppers and caterpillars, we 

 can at least condone this offence, if such it may be called. 

 The destruction of grasshoppers is very noticeable in the 

 months of August and September, when these insects 

 form more than 60 per cent, of the diet. 



It is evident that in the selection of its food the blue- 

 bird is governed more by abundance than by choice. 

 Predaceous beetles are eaten in spring, as they are among 

 the first insects to appear ; but in early summer cater- 

 pillars form an important part of the diet and are replaced 

 a little later by grasshoppers. Beetles are eaten at all 

 times, except when grasshoppers are more easily obtained. 



So far as its vegetable food is concerned, the bluebird 

 is positively harmless. The only trace of any useful 

 product in the stomachs consisted of a few blackberry 

 seeds, and even these more probably belonged to wild 

 than cultivated varieties. Following is a list of the various 

 seeds which were found : Blackberry, chokeberry, juniper- 

 berry, pokeberry, partridgeberry, greenbriar, Virginia 

 creeper, bittersweet, holly-strawberry bush, false spike- 



