BIRDS OF NEW YORK 49 



process such as cultivating, or by destroying the seed, if the crop reaches 

 its maximum productiveness. Our various granivorous species of birds 

 such as the blackbirds and sparrows feed for a large portion of the year 

 upon the seeds of these injurious plants. Even wild ducks and wild geese 

 destroy immense quantities of weed seeds on the grain fields that are 

 partially flooded in fall or early spring. The author took from the crop 

 of a single Pintail duck that had been feeding all the morning in a corn 

 field at the foot of Canandaigua lake, one hundred and twenty-seven 

 thousand seeds of the common purslane. There were many other ducks 

 feeding in this field and it is evident that in six weeks a hundred and fifty 

 ducks might do some good in this manner. From the crop of a Mourning 

 dove coming out of a wheat field in the town of Cheshire, I took fifty- 

 seven hundred seeds of the pigeon grass, one of the commonest weeds that 

 grow in our grain fields and hinder the development of wheat, rye and 

 oats. All through the fall, winter and spring our various native sparrows, 

 and the winter visitants from the far north, are destroying tons upon tons 

 of weed seed every week in the fields of New York State. From the crop 

 of a Snowflake taken from a flock of five hundred individuals, one-half 

 ounce of seed from the Red-rooted pigweed (Amaranthus) and the goosef oot 

 (Chenopodium) and the ragweed (Ambrosia) were taken. It needs only 

 a slight arithmetical computation to convince the reader that this flock 

 of snowflakes might do some good in the course of a few weeks if they 

 remained in that locality. The Tree sparrow, Junco, Song sparrow, White- 

 throated sparrow, Vesper sparrow. Savannah sparrow. Chipping sparrow 

 and Field sparrow, as well as all our less common species of this family, 

 are doing a similar service for several months during the year. Other 

 birds that are especially beneficial in this respect are the ground-feeding 

 species of the family Icteridae including the Meadowlark, grackles. Red- 

 winged blackbird. Bobolink, and even the Cowbird which does much good 

 in this manner but can not, however, overcome the evil which it has done 

 early in the season by destroying the young of insectivorous birds in whose 

 nest it has left its egg to be hatched. The Prairie horned lark, which is 



