THE EED- WINGED BLACKBIED. 



Vegetable substances found in stomachs of red-winged blackbirds. 



41 



Grain: Stomachs. 



Oats 190 



Corn 117 



Wheat 68 



Barley 2 



Forage: 



Clover ( Trifolium ) 4 



Sorghum {Sorghum) 5 



Timothy (Phleum) 7 



Weeds: 



Panic-grass {Panicum) '.... 168 



Joint-grass {Paspalum) 21 



Bamgrass {Cludochloa) 271 



Wild rice {Zizania) 24 



Amaranth (Amaranthus) 4 



Ragweed (Ambrosia) 189 



Fig-weed (Chenopodium) 4 



Smiflower ( Helianthus) 13 



Gromwell {Lithospermum) 1 



Plantain ( Plantago ) 1 



Weeds — Continued. stomachs. 



Smartweed [Polygonum) 200 



Sorrel {Rumex) 64 



Chickweed ( Alsine ) 9 



Unidentified 168 



Fruits: 



Blackberry (EuJjus) 7 



Blueberry ( Vaccinium) 2 



Gooseberry (Ribes) 1 



Strawberry {Fragaria) 1 



Indian currant (Symphoricarpos) 1 



Hackberry ( Celtis occidentalis) . . 1 



Unidentified 14 



Miscellaneous: 



Bayberry {Myrica cerifera) 2 



Beechnuts ( Fagus) 1 



Puie seed {Plnus) 10 



Sedge ( C'arex) 1 



Bulb or tuber 4 



Eubbish 54 



In the list the chief interest, of course, centers about the grain. 

 Of the four kinds eaten, oats are evidently the favorite, for they were 

 found in 190 stomachs and amount to 6.3 percent of the year's food. 

 April shows a little less than 6 percent for the month, undoubtedly 

 collected from newly sown fields. In June they fall to less than 2 per- 

 cent, in July rise to 22.6, increase somewhat in August, fall to 4.2 in 

 September, and disappear entirely before the end of October. A few 

 were found in December, but thej^ do not appear in the other winter 

 months. The oats eaten in July were probably taken from standing 

 or newly cut grain, as perhaps were some of those eaten in August; 

 but most of the oats in the United States are cut before the end of 

 July, so that the greater part of those that were taken after this 

 month must have been gleaned fi'om the stubble or pilfered from the 

 shock. Wheat first appears in March to the amount of 1.5 percent, 

 but does not become an important item of food until July, when it 

 rises abruptly to 13.1 percent. As July is the harvest month for 

 wheat in most parts of this country it is reasonably certain that this 

 grain is taken from the standing crop or gathered from the field after 

 the reaper has done its work. August and September show 6.2 and 

 1.6 percent, respectively, all of which must have been scattered grain 

 except where it could be stolen from the shock. The total amount of 

 wheat for the j^ear is only 2.2 percent. Corn is eaten to the extent 

 of 2.6 percent in February, but the amount increases to 9.2 percent 

 in March, after which it decreases to 3.0 percent in June. It rises 

 through July and August to 7.5 percent in September, but falls off 

 rapidly after September and is unimportant during the remainder of 

 the year. The average for the year is 4. 6 percent. 



