22 



FOOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AND GEACKLES. 



facts can not be set aside b}^ poetry and sentiment. The picturesque- 

 ness of the bobolink and the melody of its song do not offset the financial 

 loss and harassing care of the Southern rice growers. As the case 

 stands at present the harm done by the bird far outweighs its benefits; 

 but it is to be hoped that science ma}^ devise some means by which 

 the rice growers may be relieved from some portion, if not all, of the 

 labor and expense now incident to saving their crops from its devas- 

 tations. 



The following table shows the percentage of each of the principal 

 kinds of food for each month from May to September. 



Food of the bobolink. 

 [Number op stomachs examined: May, 52; June, 41; July, 45; August, 103; September, 50. Total, 291.] 



Food. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



August 



Septem- 

 ber. 



Average. 



A^^MAL. 



Percent. 



1.0 

 12.1 

 20.8 



8.6 

 15.5 

 17.6 

 iTr. 



3.5 



2.8 



Percent. 

 0.7 

 1.5 

 9.6 

 12.8 

 5.0 

 28.1 

 23.2 

 9.0 

 2.5 



Percent. 



Percent. 

 1.3 

 iTr. 

 2.5 

 1.4 

 3.6 

 2.3 

 6.0 

 2.0 

 0.4 



Percent. 



Percent. 

 0.6 

 2.7 



9.fl 



May-beetle family 





2.2 





9.6 

 10.7 

 13.6 

 15.3 



25.8 

 8.4 

 1.1 





0.1 1 fi.7 1 





0.3 

 1.8 

 2.5 

 0.2 



7.6 

 , 13.0 

 11.5 

 4.6 

 1.4 















81.9 



92.4 



84.5 



19.4 



7.1 



57.1 



VEGETABLE. 



Oats 





5.3 

 1.7 

 10.0 

 1.1 





3.4 

 0.1 

 9.6 

 2.4 



31.4 

 4.3 



36.9 

 8.0 



1.6 

 14.6 

 18.1 

 68.6 



8.3 

 4.1 

 16.2 

 14.3 







Weed seeds 



6.4 

 1.2 





Total vegetable ftKKl 



18.1 



7.6 



15.5 



80.6 1 92.9 



42.9 



THE COWBIRD. 



{Mololhms aier.) 



Few rural sights are more suggestive of quiet enjoyment than a 

 group of cows lying at ease in a sunny pa.sture calml}' chewing the 

 cud, while on their Imcks a small flock of cowbirds are resting or walk- 

 ing slowly al)out searching for food. Why the birds choose such 

 companions is difficult to explain, as there does not appear to be any 

 special relation between them, but their association with domesticated 

 animals is a matter of common observation, and has given rise to their 

 popular name. Both Audubon and Wilson ascribe the habit to the 

 desire of the birds to feed upon the intestinal worms they find in the 

 cow droppings.^ But stomach examination, however, entirely fails 



"Ornith. Biog., Vol. I, p. 498, 1831. 



209, 1831. 



Am. Omith., Edinburgh ed., VoL I, p. 



