. Birds of a Maryland farm : a local study of economic ornithology . gain visited. The young were thenfeathered and old enough to eat vegetable food. The most availablesupply was a held of sprouting corn unprotected by tar, that lay within GRAIN. 67 a hundred yards of the dell, [t was watched from 1 till 6 p. m.,but although the birds often Mew over it and in two cases alighted init. they apparently did it qo injury, and a careful search for pulledcom showed not a plant disturbed. Blackbirds probably did somemischief to corn in the milk, however, and were often seen stealingfrom the -hock
. Birds of a Maryland farm : a local study of economic ornithology . gain visited. The young were thenfeathered and old enough to eat vegetable food. The most availablesupply was a held of sprouting corn unprotected by tar, that lay within GRAIN. 67 a hundred yards of the dell, [t was watched from 1 till 6 p. m.,but although the birds often Mew over it and in two cases alighted init. they apparently did it qo injury, and a careful search for pulledcom showed not a plant disturbed. Blackbirds probably did somemischief to corn in the milk, however, and were often seen stealingfrom the -hock, hut these offenses were trivial in comparison withtheir attack-on sprouting winter wheat. During November, 1900, aflock of from 2,000 to 3,000 pulled wheal on the Bryan farm, and onlycontinual nse of the shotgun saved the crop. At each report they wouldfly to the oak woods bordering lot 5, where they Ud on acorns. Ninebirds collected had eaten acorns and wheat in about equal flock must have taken daily at least half an ounce of food apie< « .. wm Fig. 25.—Crow blackbird. ~_ „ and therefore, if the specimens examined were representative, must ina week have made away with 217 pounds of sprouting wheal, a lossthat would entail at harvest time a shortage of at Least ten time- asmuch. When wheat and at- were harvested no appreciable loss waspossible, a- only a few blackbirds remained on the farm. and. in few appeared to he feeding on fruit or insects, or, when they dideat grain, to be taking chiefly waste kernels. During June of L898,L899, 1900, and L901, when wheat was ripening or being harvested,blackbirds came from their nesting dell to the Bryan farm, hut onlyinfew instances were they seen in the wheat fields. On June L5 and 1*>.when oats and wheat were ready to cut on the Hungerford farm, thepolony was closely watched. The young wore on the wing and the 68 BIRDS OF A MARYLAND FARM. whole flock was expected to resort to the grain fields, b
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirdsma, bookyear1902
