126 



BULLETIN 326, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Yauco May 21 was in the midst of a thick bush about 3 feet from the ground 

 and was made of grass and weed stalks, arched over, with a rough opening at 

 one side. The cup within that contained the eggs was made of very soft, fine 

 grasses, and the eggs were four in number, whitish, heavily marked with cinna- 

 mon, and lined somewhat with black. 



The males sang all day long from a post, weed, telephone wire, or other open 

 perch, a harsh emphatic little song that reminded me of a dickcissel. In fly- 

 ing they frequently changed to a slow direct flight, with trembling wings, and 

 head thrown back, and sang until another perch was reached. The call note is 

 a low tseet. 



Food. — Seventy-two stomachs of this small finch were examined, collected in 

 the months from December to September, inclusive, and in these animal food 

 was found in five birds only. The species is almost entirely granivorous in 

 its diet, the animal food coming to a very small percentage of the bulk. Two 

 stomachs contained very slight remains, one of a small homopteran and the 

 other of a spider. One had eaten 11 small caterpillars and 2 roaches, another 

 4 leaf hoppers, and a third a small caterpillar and a spider. 



Seeds of all kinds of grasses and sedge are eaten eagerly and ground up in 

 the muscular gizzard with sand taken for that purpose. They are usually 

 swallowed entire, but occasionally were first neatly hulled. Some of these, as 

 the crab grass (Syntlierisma sanguinalis) , are noxious species abundant in 

 cultivated fields. Other weed seeds of importance as pests also are consumed, 

 as the purslane (Portulaca oleracea) and pigweed (Amaranthus sp.). Though 

 the bird is accused of eating tobacco seeds left in the fields for seed, no trace 

 of them was found and a bird shot in such a field near Comerio had taken only 

 grass seeds. 



This grassquit is entirely harmless and does some good in destroying the 

 seeds of noxious weeds and a few harmful insects, so that it is worthy of a 

 place on the protected list. 



A list of seeds identified in these stomachs follows : 



Paspalum (Paspalum millegrama) 



Paspalum {Paspalum sp.) 



Crab grass (SyntJierisma sanguin- 

 alis) 



Panic grass (Panicum sp.) 



Malojillo (Panicum fasciculatum) 



Smut grass (Sporobolus indicus) 



Ichnanthus (Iclinantlius pollens) 



Chloris (Ghloris radiata) 



Egyptian grass (Dactyloctenium aigyp- 

 tioum) 



24 



1 



10 

 7 



20 



10 



Fimbristylis (Fimoristylis sp.) 5 



Sedge (Carex sp.) 3 



Star grass (Hypoxis sp.) 18 



Amaranth (Achyranthes indica) 1 



Verdolaguilla (Talinum paniculatum) _ 1 



Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) 10 



Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) 12 



Yinagrillo (Oxalis sp.) 1 



Espino (Xanthoxylum sp.) 1 



Nightshade (Solanum sp.) 1 



BRYANT'S GRASSQTJIT. Tiaris olivacea oryanti (Ridgway). 

 Gorrion, ChamorrOj Chamorro Bello. 



Bryant's grassquit is a common resident on Porto Rico and Vieques, but 

 rare on Culebra Island. This species is found entirely in the open, in pastures 

 and cultivated fields, following the maya hedges or scanty growths of bushes. 

 It never goes into the dense thickets, as the other grassquit (T. b. omissa) does, 

 Small marshes covered with high grass are favorite localities and in brushy 

 pastures, where the grass is long, the birds are common. They occur all 

 through the year in small flocks, sometimes merely a family group, or again 

 15 or 20 individuals together. When flushed they fly with an undulating flight 

 to the nearest maya hedge or thicket, and then work rapidly away, or if not 

 further disturbed drop down again to the ground and continue feeding. In 

 the cane fields they retreat before the men advancing in cutting the crop, and 



