THE CKOW BLACKBIRD. 57 



Mr. S. T. Kimball, of Ellington, Conn., sajs: 



As a rule, farmers here tar their corn, but last June I sowed some without tarring, 

 and the result was that by the time it was out of the ground the blackbirds had 

 attacked it. They Avorked all day, carrying their bills full — load after load — to a 

 cemetery where there is quite a colony. They kept this up till the corn was entirely 

 absorbed by the stalk, although I shot some five or six of them. 



Mr. George K. Cherrie states that in Monona County, Iowa, during 

 the spring of ISSi, both the crow blackbird and the yellow-headed 

 blackbird did considerable damage b}" pulling the corn just as it came" 

 through the ground, and were poisoned in great numbers by corn 

 which had been soaked in water containing arsenic. Similar depreda- 

 tions are sometimes committed in the rice fields of the South. 



According to Mr. W. C. Percy, jr. , of Bayou Goula, La. , the crow 

 blackbirds destroy rice and corn at that place to a great extent, and 

 would do so totally were not men stationed with guns. The}" eat it in 

 planting time only. 



In the avitumn, when the corn begins to ripen, the fields are again 

 visited by blackbirds in larger flocks than in the spring, and the birds 

 renew their work of destruction. ^Vlr. Daniel S. Wardsworth reports 

 that in a field of 2 acres near Hartford, Conn. , the grackle has been 

 known to ruin from one-third to one-half of a crop of corn ' in the 

 milk' or when ripe. A similar complaint was made by Mr. George 

 H. Selover, of Lake City, Minn. 



Mr. S. Powers, of Lawtey, Fla., writes that in the section Adhere 

 he lives corn is left on the stalk as long as possible, to escape the 

 weevils, and the blackbirds eat the ends of many ears, sometimes one- 

 third of their length. 



Another accusation often made against the crow blackbird is that it 

 destroys the eggs and 3"oung of other birds. A cursor}'- examination 

 of the statements of writers shows that A'ery few are based on original 

 observation; the majorit}' are either repeated from the observations 

 of others or are taken from pu.blished accounts of the bird's habits. 

 It can not be doubted, from the statements which have been made, that 

 these birds do occasionally destroy the eggs of the robin, bluebird, 

 chipping sparrow, small fljxatchers, and other species, and more rarely 

 the 3"oung of the robin. But stomach examination offers little cor- 

 roborative evidence. Of 2,346 stomachs, only 37 contained any trace 

 of birds' eggs, and 1 contained the bones of a young bird. These 

 were distributed as follows: In April, 9; Maj^ 9; June, 7; July, 7; 

 and August, 5. The greatest quantity of eggshell was found in May, 

 aggregating forty-six one-hundredths of one percent of the stomach 

 contents for that month. This certainl}^ does not show that black- 

 birds are much given to robbing their neighbors. Further, the egg- 

 shells found in a number of stomachs were identified as those of 

 domesticated fowls, and were probably obtained from compost heaps, 



