WILD FRUIT EATEN BY CARDIKAL. 9 



Very few complaints have been made o:^ attacks on corn by the red- 

 bird. Though this evidence is negative, it possesses some weight, 

 since accusations against serious grain pests are always numerous and 

 emphatic. The greatest proportion of corn is eaten in winter, hence 

 is waste ; and finally, the redbird does not flock habitually, and never 

 at a season when corn is exposed to attack. For these reasons it may 

 be concluded that the cardinal's depredations on corn are of little 

 consequence. i 



WltD PBUIT. 



Wild fruit, or rather the seeds of wild fruit, pulp being present in 

 very few stomachs, was eaten by 312 of the redbirds examined, and, 

 with the ^exception of weed seeds, is the largest item of the vegetable 

 food. Of all fruits wild grapes are most important. From November 

 tp April their seeds constitute 17 percent of the cardinal's fare. They 

 were eaten by 178 birds and in every month,' forming on the average 

 11.9, percent of the subsistence throughout the year. Three species, 

 the summer grape {Viiis aestivalis, PI. II, fig. 8), the frost grape 

 {V. cordifolia) , and the buUace or southern fox grape (F. rotundi- 

 folia) were identified, and there is no doubt that the redbird feeds 

 upon all kinds of wild grapes growing within its range. Although 

 wild grapes are such favorite food, they seldom are swallowed whole, 

 only one or two entire grapes being found in the stomachs. Further, 

 very few entire seeds are swallowed. The seeds are generally crushed 

 and ground by the powerful beak into such small bits that their iden- 

 tification is very difficult. 



The presence of great numbers of fruit seeds with little or no pulp 

 is accounted for by well-known habits of the bird. It searches con- 

 tinually among leaves and rubbish on the ground, where it secures 

 many of the seeds and shriveled fruits. It also gathers dried berries 

 from the vines in winter. 



The fruits of various dogwoods rank next to grapes in the red- 

 bird's regimen. Thay were eaten by 52 birds and constitute 3.97 

 percent of the total food examined. Eough-leaved (PI. II, fig. 6) 

 and flowering dogwood (PL II, fig. 5.) seeds were identified. Any 

 one familiar with.the intense bitterness of these fruits will admit 

 that the cardinal possesses considerable individuality of taste. 



All fruits united, other than cornel berries and grapes, form 8.3 

 percent of the annual food. Most important among them are black- 

 berries and raspberries, which were eaten by 34 birds. Mulber- 

 ries were eaten by 31, and hackberries by 23 redbirds. Among the 

 latter fruits two species were identified — the common hackberry or 

 sugar berry {Celtis occidentalis, PI. II, fig. 2) and the southern 

 hackberry {C. mississippiensis) . The last named was eaten by nearly 

 20 cardinals collected in one locality in Texas. Smilax seeds, iden- 



