SEEDS EATEN BY GRAY GROSBEAK. 29 
WEEDS. 
Grass seeds constitute an average of 53.09 percent of the total food 
of the birds examined, or more than five-sevenths of the vegetable 
food alone. Most important among them are foxtail (Chetocholoa, 
fig. 17) and bur grass (Cenchrus, Plate II, fig. 10), which together 
amount to 43.59 percent of all the bird’s food. Since these grasses 
are among the most pernicious weeds, the 
parrot-bill is more than welcome to all of 
their seeds it desires. 
.The seeds of other grasses also are im- 
portant, furnishing 9.51 percent of the 
bird’s subsistence. Among them are seeds 
of witch and crab grasses, most species of 
which are weeds. Yard or wire grass 
(Eleusine indica) also is eaten. Seeds of a 
spurge (Croton sp.) contribute 9.81 percent Mon (GLahihde men. 
to this grosbeak’s fare, and other weeds, in- (From Hillman, Nevada Ex- 
cluding bindweed (fig. 21), lambs’ quarters, — PeTment Station.) 
tumblewéed (fig. 18), sunflower, carpet weed, nightshade, vervain 
(fig. 3), mallow, etc., compose 6.13 percent. 
Thus the gray grosbeak is a great consumer of weed seeds, and it is 
remarkable that seeds form practically seven-tenths of the food in 
August and September, when insects are superabundant. The bird’s 
habit of feeding upon weeds is undoubtedly beneficial, especially be- 
cause it eats so many seeds of foxtail and bur grass, pests with which 
every farmer in the South has to contend. 
GRAIN. 
The only grain found in stomachs of this species is sorghum. Six 
birds had eaten it in quantity sufficient to make an average of 2.03: 
percent of the total food. Ignoring even the fact that sorghum is 
Fic. 18.—Seeds of rough tumbleweed (Amaranthus retroflerus). (From Hillman, Nevada 
Experiment Station.) 
usually grown for fodder, not for grain, the amount consumed is so 
small that there need be no fear of damage by this shy and uncom- 
mon bird. 
ANIMAL Foop. 
While the parrot-bill consumes a smaller proportion of animal 
matter than other grosbeaks, it selects about the same things, the 
principal items being grasshoppers, caterpillars, and beetles. 
