42 FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GRACKLES. 
Grain collectively amounts to 13.9 percent of the food of the year, 
and its distribution as shown above leads to the conclusion that at 
least half of it is waste. Oats alone show an increased consumption 
in May, the month of sowing. July and August are the months of 
maximum consumption. All that is eaten after August, except corn, 
must be gathered from the stubble, unless the grain is left shocked in 
the field; and even in that case it is difficult to understand how the 
birds can do any serious damage if the shocks are properly put up and 
are not alldtwed to remain out an unreasonable time. 
In order to gain a more thorough understanding of the grain-eating 
propensities of the redwings, a special study was made of the food for 
the five months from May to September, inclusive. Forty-six percent 
of the stomachs taken in May contained grain, and only 11 percent of 
those taken in June. The ratio then rises in July, and culminates at 
72 percent in August, after which it decreases rapidly. The average 
for the five months is 46 percent; that is, in every 100 birds taken 
46 had eaten grain. The grain-eating record, as exhibited by the bulk 
of the grain food, is quite different. Grain constitutes about 20 per- 
cent of the food by bulk in May and less than 6 percent in June, 
but rises to a maximum of nearly 43 percent in July and falls off 
slightly in August, after which it rapidly decreases and disappears. 
The average consumption for the five months is 24 percent of the 
whole food. Again, if the two months of July and August are con- 
sidered alone, it will be found that although 68 of every 100 birds have 
eaten grain, this item constitutes only 41 percent of the food for the 
two months. 
Still further restricting the study to birds taken in the Mississippi 
Valley, in the same five months, May to September, the percentage of 
grain shows an important increase. During these months 178 birds 
were collected in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minne- 
sota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. The 
number, though small, is sufficient to serve at least as a clue to the 
food during this period. Grain was eaten by 60 percent of the birds 
collected in May, by 46 percent of those taken in June, by 80 per- 
cent of those taken in July, by 81 percent of those taken in August, 
and by 45 percent of those taken in September. Of the food of 
those taken in May, 27 percent was grain of various kinds; in June, 
23 percent; in July, 51 percent; in August, 45 percent, and in Sep- 
tember 24 percent; an average of 34 percent of grain for the five 
months. As these are the ones in which nearly all of the grain is 
eaten, and as more than half of it is eaten in July and August, the 
above exhibit apparently shows the worst that the redwings do. Of 
the 1,083 stomachs examined, only 19 were filled with grain alone,. 
while 217 were entirely filled with the seeds of weeds or useless 
plants. The total grain consumed, as given above, is less than that 
