Some Common Birds Useful to the banner 
13 
in California the birds are much in the orchards. In one 1 'nXa'iTto 
observed feeding on cherries, but when a neighboring fiu g the newlv 
plow his orchard almost every blackbird in the vicinity 1 spoure the 
opened ground close after the plowman’s heels in its eagerness to secure the 
insects turned up. , . ,, . , , qio f*ol- 
The laboratory investigation of this bird s food covei ed . - •. e ’ ti ns 
lected in every month and representing especially the 
of southern California. The animal portion ot the food was 3- per cent ai 
the vegetable 68 per cent. . lnlo , inr | 
Caterpillars and their pupae amounted to 12 per cent of ! j ‘ 
were eaten every month. They include many of those pests know n as cutworms. 
The cotton-boll worm, or corn-ear worm, was identihed m at least 10 stoma s, 
and in 11 were found pupae of the codling moth. The animal food also included 
other insects, and spiders, sow bugs, snails, and eggshells. , Fmit 
The vegetable food may be divided into fruit, grain, and weed seeds 
was eaten in May, June, and July, not a trace appearing in any other mo , 
and was composed of cherries, or what was thought to be such,■ stiawben■ , 
blackberries or raspberries, and fruit pulp or skins not tuithei nlent e . 
However the amount a little more than 4 per cent for the year, was too small 
"Take’a tad showing, and if the bird does no greater harm than » 
? n f ru :t eating it is well worth protecting. Gram amounts to o4 per cent 
of the yearly food and forms a considerable percentage in each month; oats 
are the "favorite and were the sole contents of 14 stomachs, and wheat of 2, but 
no stomach was completely filled with any other grain. Weed seeds, eaten in 
every month to the extent of 9 per cent of the food, were found in gather small 
mnntities and irregularly, and appear to have been merely a makeshift. 
q SSSnnehq of nestlings varying in age from 24 hours to some that were nearly 
fledged, were^ ’found to contain 89 percent animal to 11 pen cent vegetable mat- 
ter. & The largest items in the former 
were caterpillars, grasshoppers, and 
spiders. In the latter the largest 
items w T ere fruit, probably cherries; 
grain, mostly oats; and rubbish. 
BALTIMORE ORIOLE 
-Baltimore oriole. 
Th inches. 
Length, about 
Brilliancy of plumage, sweetness 
of song, and food habits to which no 
exception can be taken are some oj. 
the striking characteristics of the 
Baltimore oriole 33 (fig. 12). In sum¬ 
mer it is found throughout die north¬ 
ern half of the United States east of fig. 12.- 
the Great Plains. Its nest commands 
hardly less admiration than the . ,. - 
beautv of its plumage or the excellence of its song. Hanging frc n 9 
the outermost P bough of a stately elm, it is almost inaccessible to depredators 
and so strongly fastened as to bid defiance to the elements. 
Observation both in the field and laboratory shows that caterpillars consti¬ 
tute the largest Item of the fare of the oriole. In 204 stomachs they formed 34 
per cent of the food, and they are eaten in varying quantities during all the 
months in which the bird remains in this country. The fewest are eaten in 
July when a little fruit also is taken. The other insects consist of beetles, bugs 
ants wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders. The beetles are principally click 
beetles the larva; of which are among the most destructive insects known and 
the bugs include plant and bark lice, both very harmful, but so small am 
obscure as to be passed over unnoticed by most birds. Ants are eaten mostly 
in spring, grasshoppers in July and August, and wasps and spiders with con- 
si derable' regularity throughout the season. 
During th! stay of the oriole in the United States, vegetable matter amounts 
to only a little more than 16 per cent of its food, so that the possibility of U 
doiSg much damage to crops is very limited. The bird is accused of eating peas 
to a considerable extent, but remains of such were found in only two cases. 
One writer says that it damages grapes, but none were found in the stomachs. 
38 Icterus galbula. 
