BLACKBIRDS AND MEADOW LARKS. 11 



The Bullock oriole is abundant in western Texas, but is not found 

 much to the eastward of the longitude of Corpus Christi. It is abun- 

 dant at Beeville and Runge, but is very rare at Cuero. Of the 144 

 specimens examined, 39, or about 27 percent, had eaten weevils; the 

 total number of weevils eaten was 131, which is an average of more 

 than 3 to a bird, or 91 percent of the number of birds examined. 



All three species of orioles are migratory and spend only the spring 

 and summer months in Texas. They usually arrive from the south 

 between the 10th and 20th of April and depart late in September. 

 It is unfortunate for the cotton growers that these useful birds do not 

 remain in the State throughout the year, and it is likewise unfortunate 

 that over the greater part of the cotton belt only one species, and that 

 the smallest, is regularly found. 



BLACKBIRDS AND MEADOW LARKS. 



The blackbirds and meadow larks, which belong to the same family 

 as the orioles {Icteridse), seem to occupy a position complementary to 

 that of the orioles as boll weevil destroyers — that is to say, they con- 

 tinue during the winter the good work which the orioles do in the 

 summer. Nine species of this group occur abundantly in Texas in 

 winter, and six of these are known to eat the boll weevil. 



The meadow larks are represented by several slightly different forms 

 or species, but since the food habits of all are practically identical they 

 may be considered together. Two hundred and fifty-seven specimens 

 have been examined, and of these, 40, or 15 percent, had eaten boll 

 weevils, the total number of weevils eaten being 50. Examination 

 of the records of the larks collected by Bailey in November and 

 December discloses an interesting fact, namely, that about as many 

 vs^eevils were taken by them before the first hard frost as after the 

 frost. This shows that the larks are able to find the weevils while they 

 are feeding on the cotton plants as well as while they are hibernating, 

 and indicates that wherever the larks occur in sununer in the cotton 

 belt they may be depended on to assist in the destruction of weevils. 

 The greater portion of central and southern Texas is, however, 

 deserted by the larks during the breeding season and until the middle 

 or latter part of October. None were seen by the writer at any of the 

 localities visited in the summer of 1905, except on the prairies between 

 Richmond and Columbus. 



Four species of blackbirds are known to consume boll weevils, the 

 most important of which seems to be the Brewer blackbird {Eupliagus 

 cyanocephalus) . Ten stomachs of this bird were examined by assist- 

 ants of the Bureau of Entomology, and five of them contained a total of 

 11 boll weevils. This is the only species collected in winter in which 

 the number of weevils eaten averages more than one to a l)ird. and 

 if further investigations show this ratio to be the rule these blackbirds 



