542 
ECONOMIC RELxVTIONS OF OUR BIRDS. 
107. Zamelodia ludoviciana (Linn.), Coues. ROSE-BREASTED GROS¬ 
BEAK. Group I. Class b. 
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a summer resident, but nowhere abundant, nor 
is it uniformly distributed throughout the state in apparently suitable localities. 
Its favorite resorts are the thickly wooded banks of streams, willow and alder 
thickets and high open woods. Groves and the shade-trees along roadsides are 
also visited by it. Prof. F. W. Bundy writes me that they often visit the potato 
patches in the Aucinity of Sauk City in quest of potato beetles; and my friend 
F. H. Severance informs me that it is of frequent occurrence among the shade- 
trees on the college campus at Galesburg, Illinois. 
Dr. Bachman, quoted by Audubon, makes the following notes concerning the 
food of one of these birds which he kept in confinement three years; “ It fed 
readily on A^arious kinds of food, but preferred Indian meal and hemp seed. It 
was also veiy fond of insects, and ate grasshoppers and crickets with a peculiar 
relish. It Avatched the flies Avith great apparent interest, and often snatched at 
and secured the AA'asps that A^entured within its cage.” 
Food: Of eight specimens examined, six had eaten small seeds; tAvo, seven 
beetles; and one, berries. Two had in their stomachs only finely comminuted 
vegetable material. 
Berries of sour gum (Wilson). Sometimes buds of trees (CooiDer). Grain, 
berries and insects (De Kay). Seeds of birch and alder, berides, buds and in¬ 
sects (Samuels). Tender buds of trees (Audubon). Potato-beetle (F. W. Bundy). 
Potato-beetle (H. H. Mapes, Am. Naturalist). Canker-worms, army-worms and 
other caterpillars, wood-boring, leaf-chafing and snout beetles, also hymenoptera 
and tlie seeds of weeds (Forbes). 
108. Passerina cyanea (Linn.), Gray. INDIGO BIRD. Group I. Class a. 
This little Finch is an abundant summer resident in some portions of the state, 
Avhile in other portions, apparently equally AA^ell suited to their tastes, only occa¬ 
sional pairs are seen. In Waupaca county, in July, 1876, it was one of the most 
abundant species, frequenting the borders of the fields in loose flocks. Its usual 
summer resorts are the borders of cultiArated fields adjoining Avoods and gi’oves. 
Willow and osier thickets, roadsides and pastures are also A'isited by them 
during the migrations. 
Food: Of nineteen specimens examined, eighteen had eaten seeds of A^arious 
weeds; one, two caterpillars: one, a grasshopper; one, tA\m beetles; one, rasp¬ 
berries; and one, elder berries. Tavo had eaten insects, none of Avhich were 
identified. 
Caterpillars, worms, grasshoj)pers and seeds (De Kay). Small seeds of A^arious 
kinds, as well as insects, some of which are taken on the wing (Audubon). Canker- 
worms and other caterpillars, spring-beetles, vine-chafers and curculios, hemip- 
tera and seeds of weeds (Forbes). 
109. Cardinalis Virginianas, Bp. CARDINAL GROSBEAK. Group II. 
Class a. 
This gaudily attired songster, so highly prized both in this country and in 
Europe as a cage bird, is a southern species, and in this latitude it only occurs 
as a straggler at long and irregular intervals. Dr. Hoy reports that a feAV 
stragglers breed near Racine. 
Food; Indian corn is its favorite article of food (Brewer). Fruits, berries, 
Indian corn and seeds (De Kay). 
