BUDS AS FOOD OF THE ROSEBREAST. 39 
maple, box elder, and elm. Apparently some of these are greatly 
relished. G. E. Atkinson, of Ontario, says:¢ 
They cut off the buds [of beech] close to the twig, eat the soft pip, and drop 
the shells. On May 11, I * * * saw three rose-breasted grosbeaks feeding, 
* * * occasionally darting out at a passing insect. I managed to secure one 
and its stomach was packed with these buds. 
The practical significance of the rosebreast’s budding has been the 
subject of widely varying opinions. Seventeen statements concern- 
ing the subject are at hand, which, briefly put, are as follows: One 
author holds the grosbeak injurious; one thinks it may possibly be 
so; two perceive very little damage; one considefs any detriment in 
this way. fully recompensed by the bird’s utility in other directions: 
ten assert that no harm whatever is done, and two declare that bud- 
ding is beneficial. It will be of interest to cite in full some of these 
diverse opinions. E. A. Mearns writes: ? 
Soon after its arrival, the rose-breasted grosbeak appears about our houses, 
and, possibly, does some damage to the fruit crops by eating the blossoms in 
the orchards; it is especially fond of those of the cherry, and the rapidity with 
which it dispatches them is quite marvelous. 
H. D. Minot says: ° 
He * * * eats buds, often committing depredations on our fruit trees; 
and he must be considered as injurious to agriculture. He frequently plucks 
blossoms, and, dexterously cutting off the petals, ete., lets them fall, while he 
retains the ovary which contains the seeds. 
Commenting upon the latter author’s statement, William Brewster 
observes: @ 
There are no good reasons for assuming that this injures the trees or even 
their crops of fruit. On the contrary, both are probably benefited by the 
process, which is, in effect, a sort of fruit pruning, seldom if ever more severe 
than that practiced by the thrifty horticulturists. 
It will have been noted that the above quotations refer to flowers, 
which, as previously stated, seem to be eaten much more commonly 
than leaf buds. Dr. B. H. Warren found flowers of hickory in 
11 stomachs, those of beech in-26, maple in 3, and other blossoms in 
23 stomachs collected during May in Pennsylvania. Dr. A. K. Fisher 
has observed rosebreasts feeding on the flowers of elm and walnut, 
and during the present investigation flowers of oaks were found in 4 
stomachs, the blossoms in two of them being of the post oak (Quercus 
minor). No appreciable damage ensues from the bird’s habit of 
feeding on the flowers of forest trees, since the fruits of these trees 
4Trans. Canad. Inst., III (1890-91), 1892, p. 40. 
> Bright Feathers of North American Birds of Beauty, F. R. Rathbun, 1881, 
pp. 31-32. 
¢ Land Birds and Game Birds of New England, 2d ed., 1895, p. 241. 
4 Loe. cit. 
