64 



POOD OF BOBOLINK, BLACKBIRDS, AISTD GEACKLES. 



The vegetable component of the stomach contents is as variable and 

 diversified as the animal food, showing' plainly that when one article 

 of diet is wanting the bird can make up the deficiency by eating some- 

 thing else that is more easily obtained. The following list includes 

 all the vegetable substances identified in the stomachs, but there were 

 some that could not be positively determined. The pulp of fruit, 

 when unaccompanied by seeds and alread}- half digested, is difficult to 

 distinguish with precision, and this is also true of the hulls or skins 

 left after kernels of grain have been digested and passed; but the total 

 of such unrecognized matter is not great. 



Vegetable substances found in stomachs of crow blackbirds. 



Grain: 



Corn. 



Oats. 



Wheat. 



Rye. 



Buckwlieat. 

 Fruit: 



Black1jerrie.s and raspberries. 



Strawberries. 



Cherries (cultivated). 



Mulberries. 



Currants. 



Grapes. 



Apples. 



Blueberries and cranberries ( Vaccin- 

 ium sp. ) . 



Huckleberries {(/(i>jlussacia sp. ). 



Dogwood berries {Cornus sp. ). 



Elderberries {Sambucus sp. ). 



Chokeberries (Aronia arbulifolia) . 



Service berries [AmelancMcr canaden- 

 sis. ) 



Hackberries {Cellis occidrulalis). 



I Seeds and nuts: 



Poison ivy {Jihtis radicans). 



Harmless sumac {Bhus glabra et al). 



Bay berries {Mijrica cerifera). 



Hornl)eam {Ostrya virginiana). 



Chestnuts and chinquapins ( Castanea 

 dentaia and pumila). 



Beechnuts (Fagus atropunicea) . 



Acorns {Quercus). 

 Weeds: 



Ragweed [Ambrosia). 



Barngrass [Chcetocloa) . 



Gromwell {Lithospermum) . 



Smart weed {Polygonum). 



Pokeweed (Phytolacca). 



Sorrel [Rumex). 

 iSIiscellaneous: 



Small bulbs f)r tubers. 



Galls containing larvae. 



Pieces of plant stems. 



Bits of grass and leaves. 



Thorn of locust (Robinia). 



Pieces of rotton wood. 



Of all the ^ arious items of food, the chief interest centers about the 

 grain and fruit, for it is through their consumption that blackbirds 

 inflict the greatest damage upon the farmer; in fact, the worst 

 that has Ijeen said of the gracklos is that they cat hirge quantities of 

 grain. Of the five grains named in the list corn is the favorite, hav- 

 ing been found in 1,3:21 stomachs, or more than 56 percent of the 

 whole riuml)er. It is eaten at all seasons of the year; and in every 

 month except Jaiuiar}', July, August, and November amounts to more 

 than one-half of the total vegetable food. The corn obtained in 

 winter and until planting in the spring can be but little loss to the 

 farmer, as it must be mostly waste grain. This view was fully con- 

 firmed by the contents of a series of stomachs taken in early spring, 

 which consisted to a great extent of corn that had evidently been wet 

 and frozen, and had lain out all winter. After February there is a 



