62 Foot) OF BOBOLIISTK, BLACKBIRDS, A]S"D GRACKLES. 



if other food be wanting. They may thus be eaten more from necessity 

 than from choice. It does not, however, necessarily follow that birds 

 are doing harm b}- eating insects that on account of their food habits 

 are classed as useful. This point has been fully elucidated by other 

 writers, notabh^ b}^ Prof. S. A. Forbes.^ 



Next in importance to beetles as an article of blackbird diet are 

 the grasshoppers. For convenience, grasshoppers, locusts (green 

 grasshoppers), and crickets are considered in the same category, but 

 of the three the true grasshoppers were by far the most numerous in 

 the stomachs, and are eaten in ever}^ month except January. The}'' 

 constitute less than 1 percent of the total Fel^ruary food, and the fact 

 that they are found at all in this month indicates that the birds are keen 

 hunters, for it would puzzle an entomologist to find grasshoppers in 

 February in most of the Northern States. It is probable that some 

 of those eaten in this and the succeeding month are dead insects left 

 over from the previous yenv. The proportion of grasshoppers in the 

 stomachs increases with each month up to August, Avhen it attains a 

 maxinuim of 23.4 percent of all the food. It is worthy of note that 

 crickets, considered apart from grasshoppers, reach their maximimi in 

 June, when they form a little more than 5 percent of the monthly food. 



After August the grasshopper diet falls oft", l)ut even in November 

 it still constitutes percent of the total for the month. The fre- 

 quency Avith which these insects appear in the stomachs, the great 

 luunbers found in single stomachs (often more than 30), and the 

 fact that they are fed largely to the young, all point to the conclusion 

 that the}' are preferred as an article of food, and are eagerl}' sought at 

 all times. The good that is done by their destruction can hardly l)e 

 overestimated, particularly as many of the grasshoppers found in the 

 stomach were females filled with eggs. 



Caterpillars form another interesting element of this Ijird's food. 

 They were found throughout the year, except in November, and aver- 

 age 2.3 percent in each month. In May a maximum of something 

 more than S percent is reached, followed b}- a little less than 4 ptn-- 

 ccnt in June, and falling ])el()W this through the remainder of the year. 

 The famous army worm {LnuuDu^i unipimcttt) was identified in about 

 half a dozen stomachs. 



Most persons who have })ieked and eaten berries From the l)ushes 

 have had the disagreeable experience of getting into their mouths a 

 small bug which is a little too highly flavored to suit the taste of the 

 hiunan race, but which is eaten by the crow blackbird in every month 

 from February to October, inclusive. These bugs are not, however, 

 consumed in large quantities, probably for the reason that great num- 

 bers can not be found; still, traces of them appear in many stomachs, 

 indicating that the birds eat as many as they find. 



iBull. 111. State I.al). Nat. Hist., Vol. I, No. 3, Nov., 1880, 



