THE CROW BLACKBIRD. 69 
insect life down to a proper level. The examination of the food of the 
biackbirds has shown that they do a good share of this work, and are 
therefore most emphatically useful birds—so useful that no general war 
of extermination should be waged against them. This does not mean 
that they do no harm, or that they should be permitted to do harm with- 
out restraint. A bird whose diet contains 46.5 percent of grain must be 
capable of considerable damage in any section of country where grain 
is an important crop; and when blackbirds descend upon a corn or wheat 
field in flocks of hundreds or thousands, they inflict a real loss, from 
which the farmer should protect himself by any practicable means. 
Still, crow blackbirds have not been complained of so much as red- 
wings, and they probably do not ordinarily cause much loss to the 
farmer, since such a large part of the grain they eat consists of scat- 
tered or waste kernels. The local ravages they commit are usually 
due to overcrowding in a restricted area, and when this occurs there 
is no doubt that their numbers should be reduced. 
The following table shows the percentage of each article of diet for 
each month: : 
Food of the crow blackbird. 
{NUMBER OF STOMACHS EXAMINED: January,7; February,8; March,53; April,289; May, 348; June, 887; 
July, 346; August, 197; September, 81; October, 111; November, 11; December, 8. Total, 2,346.] 
5 tg]. felal, 
Food. Fi E Fae %) & 3 F | 2 
Pi, BIE LE) SB) ae] 2) hla; e]e] eg] sé 
| Se fs hae |S |e Pe ee |e) S82) | 
ANIMAL. Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- | Per- 
cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. | cent. 
Pred. beetles ..... 7.1] 038) 438] 63] 85/129] 11.1] 91) 31] 26) 15) 05) 5.6 
May-beetle family |...... 0.1] 3.2] 6.8 | 22.0] 15.1} 80] 08] 06] 0.5 ]-..... 1.6) 4.9 
Snout-beetles..... 2.9| 03] 1.2] 18] 35) 53] 44/ 21) L4] 04] O11] 07] 2.0 
Other beetles..... DiS il ciate Sex Ey Be | ee || ASO esi} ©2094). Ob). Od eae 0.6} 1.0 
Caterpillars ...... 43°) 053) Te2:) 2e3¢) (872 | B26 12) OF) WB Wed feoeees 3.1] 2.3 
Grasshoppers .....]...... 0.6} O28 | 3.2)) BB | daeO TR | 28a) Sa) Be) 80) 8) We 
Other insects ..... 3.0/ 03] 38] 29] 32) 29] 48] 19] 17] 23] 05] O04) 23 
Spiders and myr- | 
TapOds se.0h.a 20% 1.0] 05] 06] 23] 74] 29] 13] 05] O04] 06] 05] O6/] 1.5 
Crustaceans and 
mollusks ....... AVA {above 0.1] 1.6] 1.9] 2.4] 0.9] 02; 26] 23) 99) 31) 31 
Vertebrates.......]....--|------ 122"), 058) | OE) 20-8 |) 2058] 20] ORE Are Woe everc iene 0.3 
65.9 | 62.1 ) 45.9 | 39.7 | 20.3 | 17.0 | 21.5 | 12.5; 30.3 
27.9.1 98.9) 9.7 | 14.0 | 58.2 | 91.5} 35,4 [478 | B72 
2.2| 0.4] 5.2] 93] 11] 08]... 2.9 
0.6| 0.2 | 26.1} 25.9] 0.8 |....--).-.---)------ 4.8 
Othergrain.......|...... Bi7 levee ce 0.6] 0.3 ]...... 080! bccn Tr. | 0.8 | 10.5 |....-. 1.6 
Domestic fruit....}...2..)...--- 0.4 |... itr,| 5.8/10.3] 91] 1.3] O4]....-. 8.2] 29 
Wild fruit ........]....2.)..... 1.7/ 1.2] 04] 1.3] 27] 1.3] 1.5] 22] 45] 81] 22 
Weed seed........|...... 73/106] 62! 0.4{1tr.| 0.6] 0.3) 2.5) 11.6] 11.6 ]...... 4.2 
Mast, etc.......... 66.3] 04/104] 86] 3.0] 2.0] 1.3] 0.4 | 19.4 | 15.7 | 16.5 | 23.9 | 14.0 
Total vegeta- 
ble food ...| 67.7 | 97.6 | 82.4 | 73.2 | 34.1 | 87.9 | 54.1 | 60.3 | 79.8 | 83.0 | 78.5 | 87.5 | 69.7 
1Tr. = trace. 
