Identifier: birdscali00felb (find matches)
Title: Birds of California in Relation to the Fruit Industry
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: F.E.L. Beal
Subjects: Birds--California--Fruit--Diseases and pests.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Biological Survey
Contributing Library: University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries with support from LYRASIS and the Sloan Foundation

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ollected a number of them. They were seen to eatfreely of cherries, and the stomachs of those taken showed that agoodly proportion of the food consisted of cherry pulp. While theseobservations were being made, a neighboring fruit raiser began toplow his orchard. Almost immediately every blackbird in the vicin-ity was upon the newly opened ground, and many followed withina few feet of the plowmans heels in their eagerness to get everygrub or other insect turned out by the plow. On another occasionan orchard was being watched while the far side was being plowed.A continual flight of blackbirds was passing in both directions overthe observers head, and practically all of them alighted on the newlyplowed ground, fed there for a while, and then returned, probablyto their nests. When plowing was finished and harrowing began,the blackbirds immediately changed their foraging ground, and fol-lowed the harrow as closely as they had accompanied the plow. a Ontario Observer. June 3. 1S99. Bull jM
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l;l \t KBIBD, ORIOLE, \M Ml UX>W1 \l;k I \.\lll.\ . 61 In the laboratory Investigation of thi^ bird I I 312 bomachs \\»mv available. Thej were collected in ever) month in 111<* y(.) nestlings of various ages are represented.The first analysis of the stomach contents gives 32 percent of animalmatter to 68 of vegetable. The animal food consists of insects, spi-ders, -\\ bugs, snails, and eggshells. Animal food. The animal food attains its maximum in April,when it reaches 82 percent. Prom that time it slowly decreasesuntil December, when it is onrj 5 percent, and then rises toward itsmaximum. The increase is vcr\ sudden from March to April. Bee-tles constitute over ll percent of the food, and of these _..> percentare predatory ground beetles (Carabids)

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