SOME COMMON BIRDS USEFUL TO THE FARMER. 
3 
So far as its vegetable food is concerned the bluebird is positively harmless. 
The only trace of any useful product in the stomachs consisted of a few black¬ 
berry seeds, and even these probably belonged to wild rather than cultivated 
varieties. Following is a list of the various seeds which were found: Black¬ 
berry, chokeberry, juniperberry, pokeberry, partridgeberry, greenbrier, Virginia 
creeper, bittersweet, holly, strawberry bush, false spikenard, wild sarsaparilla, 
sumac (several species), rose haws, sorrel, ragweed, grass, and asparagus. This 
list shows how little the bluebird depends upon the farm or garden to supply 
its needs and how easily, by encouraging the growth of some of these plants, 
many of which are highly ornamental, the bird may be induced to make its 
home on the premises. 
Two species of bluebirds inhabit the Western States—the mountain bluebird 1 
and the western bluebird. 2 In their food habits they are even more to be com¬ 
mended than their eastern relative. Their insect food is obtainable at all 
times of the year, and the general diet varies only in the fall, when some fruit, 
principally elderberries, is eaten, though an occasional blackberry or grape is 
also relished. In an examination of 217 stomachs of the western bluebird, ani¬ 
mal matter (insects and spiders) was found to the extent of S2 per cent and 
vegetable matter to the extent of IS per cent. The bulk of the former consists 
of bugs, grasshoppers, and caterpillars. Grasshoppers, when they can be ob¬ 
tained, are eaten freely during the whole season. Caterpillars also are a 
favorite food and are eaten during every month of the year; March is the month 
of greatest consumption, with 50 per cent, and the average for the year is 20 
per cent. Two stomachs taken in January contained 64 and 50 per cent, respec¬ 
tively, of caterpillars. Beetles also 
are eaten and comprise mostly 
harmful species. 
The vegetable matter consists of 
weed seeds and small fruits. In De¬ 
cember a few grapes are eaten, but 
elderberries are the favorites when¬ 
ever they can be found. It is only 
when these are in their greatest 
abundance that vegetable exceeds 
animal food. 
THE ROBINS. 
The robin 3 (fig. 2), in many parts 
of the country one of the most cher¬ 
ished of our birds, is found throughout the States east of the Great Plains, 
and is represented farther west and south by slightly different subspecies. 4 ’ 5 It 
breeds far north through Canada, and is found even in Alaska. Although the 
great bulk of the species leaves the Northern States in winter, a few individuals 
remain in sheltered swamps, where wild berries furnish abundant food. The 
robin is an omnivorous feeder and its food habits have sometimes caused appre¬ 
hension to the fruit grower, for it is fond of cherries and other small fruits, 
particularly the earlier varieties. For this reason many complaints have been 
lodged against the bird, and some persons have even gone so far as to condemn 
it. It is, however, far too valuable to be exterminated, and choice fruit can be 
readily protected from its depredations. 
Examinations of 1,236 stomachs show that 42 per cent of its food is animal 
matter, principally insects, while the remainder is made up largely of small 
fruits or berries. Over 16 per cent consists of beetles, about one-third of which 
are useful ground beetles, taken mostly in spring and fall when other insects 
are scarce. Grasshoppers make up about 5 per cent of the whole food, but in 
August they comprise 17 per cent. Caterpillars form about 9 per cent, while 
the rest of the animal food, about 11 per cent, is made up of various insects, 
with a few spiders, snails, and angleworms. All the grasshoppers, caterpillars, 
and bugs, with a large portion of the beetles, are injurious, and it is safe to 
say that noxious insects comprise more than one-third of the robin’s food. 
Vegetable food forms 58 per cent of the stomach contents, over 42 per cent 
being wild fruits and only a little more than 8 per cent being possibly culti¬ 
vated varieties. Cultivated fruit amounting to about 25 per cent was found in 
1 Si alia currucoides. 3 Planesticus migratorius. 
2 Sialia mexicana subspecies. 4 Planesticus migratorius propinquus . 
5 Planesticus migratorius achrusterus. 
