WILD FRUIT EATEN BY CARDINAL. 9 
Very few complaints have been made of attacks on corn by the red- 
bird. Though this evidence is negative, it possesses some weight, 
since accusations against serious grain pests are always numerous and 
emphatic. The greatest proportion of corn is eaten in winter, hence 
is waste; and finally, the redbird does not flock habitually, and never 
at a season when corn is exposed to attack. For these reasons it may 
be concluded that the cardinal’s depredations' on corn are of little 
consequence. , 
\ 
WILD FRUIT. 
Wild fruit, or rather the seeds of wild fruit, pulp being present in 
very few stomachs, was eaten by 312 of the redbirds examined, and, 
with the exception of weed seeds, is the largest item of the vegetable 
food. Of all fruits wild grapes are most important. From November 
to April their seeds constitute 17 percent of the cardinal’s fare. They 
were eaten by 178 birds and in every month, forming on the average 
11.9 percent of the subsistence throughout the year. Three species, 
the summer grape (Vitis aestivalis, Pl. IT, fig. 8), the frost grape 
(V. cordifolia), and the bullace or southern fox grape (V. rotundi- 
folia) were identified, and there is no doubt that the redbird feeds 
upon all kinds of wild grapes growing within its range. Although 
wild grapes are such favorite food, they seldom are swallowed whole, 
only one or two entire grapes being found in the stomachs. Further, 
very few entire seeds are swallowed. The seeds are generally crushed 
and ground by the powerful beak into such small bits that their iden- 
tification is very difficult. 
The presence of great numbers of fruit seeds with little or no pulp 
is accounted for by well-known habits of the bird. It searches con- 
tinually among leaves and rubbish on the ground, where it secures 
many of the seeds and shriveled fruits. It also gathers dried berries 
from the vines in winter. 1 
The fruits of various dogwoods rank next to grapes in the red- 
bird’s regimen. They were eaten by 52 birds and constitute 3.97 
percent of the total food examined. Rough-leaved (Pl. I, fig. 6) 
and flowering dogwood (PI. IJ, fig. 5) seeds were identified. Any 
one familiar with the intense bitterness of these fruits will admit 
that the cardinal possesses considerable individuality of taste. 
All fruits united, other than cornel berries and grapes, form 8.3 
percent of the annual food. Most important among them are black- 
berries and raspberries, which were eaten by 34 birds. Mulber- 
ries were eaten by 31, and hackberries by 23 redbirds. Among the 
latter fruits two species were identified—the common hackberry or 
sugar berry (Celtis occidentalis, Pl. II, fig. 2) and the southern 
hackberry (C. méssissippiensis). The last named was eaten by nearly 
20 cardinals collected in one locality in Texas. Smilax seeds, iden- 
4 
