HORNED LARK (Otocoris alpestris) 



Length, about 7).; inches. The black mark 

 across the breast and the small, pointed tufts 

 of dark feathers above and behind the eyes 

 distinguish the bird. 



Range : lireeds throughout the United States 

 (except the South Atlantic and Gulf States) 

 and Canada ; winters in all the United States 

 except Florida. 



Habits and economic status : Horned larks 

 frequent the open country, especially the plains 

 and deserts. They associate in large flocks, 

 are hardy, apparently delighting in exposed 

 situations in winter, and often nest before snow 

 disappears. The flight is irregular and hesi- 

 tating, but in the breeding season the males 

 ascend high in air, singing as they go, and 

 pitch to the ground in one thrilling dive. The 

 preference of horned larks is for vegetable 

 food, and about one-sixth of this is grain, 

 chiefly waste. Some sprouting grain is pulled, 

 but drilled grain is safe from injury. Cali- 

 fornia horned larks take much rnore grain than 

 the eastern birds, specializing on oats, but this 

 is accounted for by the fact that oats grow 

 wild over much of the State. Weed seeds are 

 the largest single element of food. The insect 

 food, about 20 per cent of the whole, includes 

 such pests as May beetles and their larvae 

 (white grubs), leaf beetles, clover-leaf and 

 clover-root weevils, the potato-stalk borer, nut 

 weevils, bill-bugs, and the chinch-bug. Grass- 

 hoppers are a favorite food and cutworms are 

 freely eaten. The horned larks, on the whole, 

 mav be considered useful birds. 



KINGBIRD (Tyrannus tyrannus) 



Length, al)out 8' < inches. The white lower 

 surface and white-tipped tail distinguish this 

 flycatcher. 



Range : Breeds throughout the United States 

 (except the southwestern part) and southern 

 Canada ; winters from Mexico to South Amer- 

 ica. 



Habits and economic status: The kingbird 

 is a pronounced enemy of hawks and crows, 

 which it vigorously attacks at every oppor- 

 tunity, thereby affording efficient protection to 

 near-by poultry yards and young chickens at 

 large. It loves the open country and is espe- 

 cially fond of orchards and trees about farm 

 buildings. No less than 85 per cent of its food 

 consists of insects, mostly of a harmful nature. 

 It eats the common rose chafer or rose bug, 

 and, more remarkable still, it devours blister 

 beetles freely. The bird has been accused of 

 eating honeybees to an injurious extent, but 

 there is little grotmd for the accusation, as 

 appears from the fact that examination of 634 

 stomachs showed only 61 bees in 22 stomachs. 

 Of these 51 were useless drones. On the other 

 hand, it devours robber flies, which catch and 

 destroy honeybees. Grasshoppers and crickets, 

 with a few bugs and some cutworms, and a 

 few other insects, make up the rest of the 

 animal food. The vegetable food consists of 

 fruit and a few seeds. The kingbird deserves 

 full protection. 



ARKANSAS KINGBIRD (Tyrannus 

 verticalis) 



Length, 9 inches. The white edge of the 

 feather on each side of the tail distinguishes 

 tliis from all other flycatchers except the gray 

 and salmon-colored scissortail of Texas. 



Range : Breeds from Minnesota, Kansas, and 

 Texas to the Pacillc Ocean and from northern 

 Mexico to southern Canada; winters from 

 Mexico to Guatemala. 



Habits and economic status : The Arkansas 

 kingbird is not so domestic as its eastern rela- 

 tive and seems to prefer the hill country with 

 scattered oaks rather than the orchard or the 

 vicinity of ranch buildings, but it sometimes 

 places its rude and conspicuous nest in trees 

 on village streets. The bird's yearly food is 

 composed of 87 per cent animal matter and 13 

 per cent vegetable. The animal food is com- 

 posed almost entirely of insects. Like the 

 eastern species, it has been accused of destroy- 

 ing honeybees to a harmful extent, and remains 

 of honeybees were found to constitute 5 per 

 cent of the food of the individuals examined; 

 but nearly all those eaten were drones. Bees 

 and wasps, in general, are the biggest item, of 

 food (38 per cent) ; grasshoppers and crickets 

 stand next (20 per cent) ; and beetles, mostly 

 of noxious species, constitute 14 per cent of 

 the food. The vegetable food consists mostly 

 of fruit, such as the elder and other berries, 

 with a few seeds. This bird should be strictly 

 preserved. 



NIGHTHAWK (Chordeiles virgianus) 



Length, 10 inches. Not to be confused with 

 the whippoorwill. The latter lives in woodland 

 and is chiefly nocturnal. The nighthawk often 

 flies by day, when the white bar across the 

 wing and its nasal cry are distinguishing. 



Range: Breeds throughout most of the 

 United States and Canada; winters in South 

 America. 



Habits and economic status : The skillful 

 evolutions of a company of nighthawks as the 

 birds gracefully cleave the air in intersecting 

 circles is a sight to be remembered. So expert 

 are they on the wing that no insect is safe 

 from them, even the swift dragonfly being cap- 

 tured with ease. Unfortunately their erratic 

 flight tempts men to use them for targets, and 

 this inexcusable practice is seriously diminish- 

 ing their numbers, which is deplorable, since 

 no birds are more useful. This species makes 

 no nest, but lays its two spotted eggs on the 

 bare ground, sometimes on the gravel roof of 

 the city house. The nighthawk is a voracious 

 feeder and is almost exclusively insectivorous. 

 Some stomachs contained from 30 to 50 dif- 

 ferent kinds of insects, and more than 600 

 kinds have been identified from the stomachs 

 thus far examined. From 500 to i.ooo ants are 

 often found in a stomach. Several species of 

 mosquitoes, including Anopheles, the transmit- 

 ter of malaria, are eaten. Other well-known 

 pests destroyed by the nighthawk are the Colo- 

 rado potato beetle, cucumber lieetlcs, chestnut, 

 rice, clover-leaf, and cotton-boll weevils, bill- 

 bugs, ])ark beetles, and squash bugs. 



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