BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
247 
county where this species resides in summer, many farmers protect 
them because they are great destroyers of “ potato bugs.” A gentle¬ 
man residing, I think, near Meadville, stated at a recent meeting of our 
State Board, that he had often seen these birds in small flocks about his 
potato patch, eagerly devouring large numbers of these vexatious insects. 
Few, if any, of our birds are known to feed regularly on the Colorado 
potato-beetle, and as the Rose-breasted Grosbeak has developed a taste 
in this direction, it should justly rank as one of the best feathered 
friends of the farmer. My personal knowledge of the food-habits of this 
species is limited to examinations made in May, 1882, when these birds 
were, to my great surprise, exceedingly abundant in the woods through¬ 
out various parts of Chester, Lancaster, Franklin, Adams, Delaware and 
I Philadelphia counties. All the birds examined by me were shot in 
woods, feeding mostly on hickory and beech trees, in the neighborhood 
of West Chester, Penna. May 11, six males, on hickory trees, food 
consisted entirely of blossoms. May 12, thirteen birds, eight males, 
three on hickory trees, others on beech trees. All showed blossoms; 
two contained blossoms of the hickory, with those of the beech; the 
remainder had all fed on beech blossoms, except three birds, which had 
in their gizzards small black seeds and some few flat grayish seeds. 
May 13, eleven birds, seven males, all contained blossoms of beech, in 
I addition to which, two males revealed remains of beetles and one of 
them had also eaten a few flies. May 15, eleven birds, ten males, three 
taken on beech and maple trees, had only fed on blossoms; the others 
were found, when first discovered, feeding on the ground in the woods; 
the stomach of one contained simply fragments of a beetle, the rest had 
eaten blossoms and small seeds. May 16, three males, food exclusively 
blossoms. May 17, four birds, three females, chiefly blossoms and small 
seeds, with few larvae, and fragments of beetles. May 19, two birds; 
male, beech blossoms; female had in her gizzard, blossoms, remains of 
i beetles and several wasps. May 20, 23 to 27, inclusive, eleven birds, 
nine females; two males taken on the 20th had fed chiefly on beetles 
| and a few flat cylindrical seeds; the remaining nine specimens were shot 
on various dates, the last being taken on the 27th, when they were found 
to be very scarce. An examination of their viscera showed that in ad¬ 
dition to blossoms and small seeds, they all had fed to a small extent on 
insects, chiefly beetles and flies. 
Genus GUIRACA Swainson. 
Guiraca eaerulea (Linn.). 
Blue Grosbeak. 
Description. 
Bill large and stout like other Grosbeaks; bill dark-bluish black ; legs and feet 
similar; male blue ; brightest on head and darker across middle of back; feathers 
about base of bill, lores, wings and tail blackish ; middle and greater wing-coverts 
