per cent of the food of the year, and that corn alone constitutes 35 per cent. 

 From this it might be expected that they would attract much attention from grain 

 growers, and such is the case. Hundreds of communications have been received 

 testifying to their destructiveness ; yet many of these acknowledge the fact that 

 Blackbirds eat a large quantity of insects, especially during the breeding season, 

 and that many insects are fed to the young. This last is also borne out by stomach 

 examination. A review of the yearly diet shows that the greater part of the corn 

 eaten is taken during the fall and winter months. That eaten in winter and early 

 spring (March and April), except the small quantity taken from corncribs, must 

 be waste grain, or picked up in places where grain is left in the shock for a long 

 time. No one will begrudge the birds the corn gathered from the hog lot or 

 about the cattle crib, but when they attack the ripening grain in September it is 

 a different story, and in cases where the birds are so abundant that they take a 

 large part of the crop it will be difficult to persuade the unfortunate farmer that 

 they did enough good earlier in the season to pay for this loss. There can be no 

 doubt that in many parts of the country these birds are too numerous for the 

 farmer to realize the best results from their services." (Beal.) 



Red Winged Blackbird (Agelaiiis phoeniccus) . — "In investigating the food 

 habits of the Red-wing over 700 stomachs were examined. These were collected 

 in every month of the year, and show that a little more than 13 per cent of the 

 year's food is grain. This is a remarkably small percentage when it is considered 

 that this bird has been the subject of more complaints on the score of grain eating 

 than any other species. In order to understand thoroughly the grain-eating pro- 

 pensities of the Red-wing, a special study of its food for the five months from 

 May to September, inclusive, has been made. Of the stomachs taken in May, 46 

 per cent contained grain. This percentage falls to 11 in June and then rises in 

 July and culminates in August at 72, after which it decreases rapidly. The 

 average for the five months is 46 per cent, that is, in every 100 birds taken 46 

 have eaten grain. If now we examine the grain-eating record as exhibited by the 

 quantity of that food the results are quite different. In May grain constitutes 21 

 per cent of the food by bulk ; in June it decreases to 5 per cent ; in July it rises 

 to its maximum of 42 per cent ; in August it falls off slightly, after which it rapidly 

 decreases and disappears. The average consumption of grain for the five months 

 is 25 per cent of the whole food. Again, if the two months of July and August 

 are considered alone, it is found that out of every 100 birds 68 have eaten grain, 

 but that the grain constitutes only 40 per cent of the total food for the two 

 months. * * * 



'*Of the different kinds of cereals, oats is the favorite with the Red-wings, 

 constituting more than half of the grain eaten. Corn stands next in order, and 

 wheat last of all. At the same time many noxious insects and much weed seed 

 are destroyed. The former amounts to over 26 per cent of the year's food, the 

 latter to nearly 57 per cent. Seeds of noxious weeds, eked out by grain found 

 scattered in the fields, form the almost exclusive diet of these birds during the 



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