BLACKBIRD, ORIOLE, AND MEADOWLARK FAMILY. 63 
Grain constitutes 54 percent of the yearly food of the Brewer 
blackbird. It is eaten in every month, and forms a respectable 
percentage in each. The greatest amount is taken in December, 
93 percent, and the least in April, 4 percent. Oats are the favorite 
grain. They amount to nearly 46 percent, and were found in 157 
stomachs. Wheat amounts to nearly 3 percent, and was contained 
in 11 stomachs. Corn ranks next as to quantity eaten, less than 2 
percent, but it was found in 17 stomachs. Barley occurred in only 
5 stomachs, but amounted to a little more than 2 percent. Only 
1 stomach held rye, but it amounted to more than 1 percent, for 
the stomach was nearly filled with it. Oats were the sole contents 
of 14 stomachs and wheat of 2. No stomach was completely filled 
with any other grain. Oats are evidently the favorite grain, 
whether we judge by the percentage eaten or by the number of 
stomachs containing them. Many of these were wild oats and of 
little economic value. 
Weed seed amounts to nearly 9 percent of the food, and, while not 
consumed in large quantities, is eaten to some extent in every month. 
The greatest amount is taken in March, 26 percent. October comes 
next, with nearly 16 percent. The least is eaten in December and 
January, when grain is at its highest point. But little weed seed is 
eaten in May and June, when cherries demand attention. Weed 
seed was found in 134 stomachs, but in rather small quantities in 
each. No stomach was completely filled with it. It seems to be 
taken, moreover, rather irregularly, as though it were merely a 
makeshift. A few other odd items, mostly rubbish, amount to less 
than 1 percent, and complete the quota of vegetable food. 
Seeds of the following uncultivated plants were identified: 
Lesser tarweed (Hemizonia fasciculata). Spurry (Spergula arvensis). 
Tarweed ( Madia sativa). Chickweed (Stellaria media). 
Bur thistle (Centaurea melitensis). Catchfly (Silene sp.). 
Alfilaria (Erodium cicutarium). Knotweed (Polygonum sp.). 
Black mustard (Brassica nigra). Brome grass (Bromus sp.). 
Miners’ lettuce (Montia perfoliata). Wild oats (Avena fatua). 
Red maids (Calandrinia menziest). Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). 
Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflerus). 
Food of young —Among the stomachs examined were those of 29 
nestlings, varying in age from twenty-four hours to some that were 
nearly fledged. Taken altogether, the stomachs contained 89 
percent of animal matter to 11 of vegetable. Over 74 percent of 
all was composed of caterpillars, grasshoppers, and spiders. Beetles 
in general amount to 6 percent of the food, or a little more than half 
the quantity eaten by the adults. Very singularly, however, 4.5 
percent of these are carabids, or predatory ground beetles, nearly 
twice as many as are taken by the parent birds, although soft food 
is usually preferred for feeding nestlings. Caterpillars, with a few 
