. Bulletin. Animals -- United States; Birds -- United States. 46 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. three of these destructive weevils, which may be taken as indicating that an opportunity to feed on them is not overlooked. In this con- nection it is of interest to recall the other birds that are known to prey upon this pest. They are 8 in number: Great-crested flycatcher, Baltimore and orchard orioles, yellow-throated vireo, bank swallow, veery, hermit thrush, and bluebird. The grosbeak does not confine itself to the j)lum curculio, but evinces a taste for related species, two of which were identi
. Bulletin. Animals -- United States; Birds -- United States. 46 FOOD HABITS OF THE GROSBEAKS. three of these destructive weevils, which may be taken as indicating that an opportunity to feed on them is not overlooked. In this con- nection it is of interest to recall the other birds that are known to prey upon this pest. They are 8 in number: Great-crested flycatcher, Baltimore and orchard orioles, yellow-throated vireo, bank swallow, veery, hermit thrush, and bluebird. The grosbeak does not confine itself to the j)lum curculio, but evinces a taste for related species, two of which were identified. These infest the hackberry and hick- ory, respectively. A fourth kind was present in the stomachs, but could not be assigned a specific name. The curculios destroy a large proportion of the fruit of the trees they attack, and are capable of doing vast dalnage; hence the services of the birds that devour them are of great value. Eelated to the curculios are the nut weevils {Balaninus), which attack their favorite plants in much the same way, and often ruin the crop of nut-bearing /^^' ^ * trees. Six grosbeaks ate from 1 to 3 each of these Aveevils, one bird captur- ing 2 acorn weevils {B. inis'iciis). Another cur- culionid {Hylohius pales) ^ which feeds both in living pine trees and pine logs, is included in the grosbeak's diet, and a weevil {Ampeloglypter sesostris), which infests the Virginia creeper, was highly relished by an Illinois rosebreast, 11 being eaten, which constituted 74 percent of the stomach contents. Others in the same group are consumed, as many as 4 or 5 being eaten by individuals of the more than 20 birds which fed upon them. A second family of weevils, the scarred snout-beetles, also con- tributes to the fare of this grosbeak, and four of them composed 87 percent of the food of one bird; while another rosebreast, one of four which fed upon clover weevils {/Sitones), captured 13. Billbugs (Calandridw) are represented in the bird's diet by the conspicuo
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