68 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



cold weather, but snows cover their usual food and then these birds may be found 

 in very unusual places, on any little patch of bare ground they can find, and about 

 barns and stock-yards. 



During the winter in the Sandhills the Meadowlarks depend largely on seeds 

 and waste oats for food, but also catch caterpillars, cutworms, earthworms, and as 

 many kinds of insects as they can. These foods are secured on the ground and in 

 the short stubble and grasses. At times these birds seem to give preference to 

 seeds and at other times to feed almost entirely on insects even during the depth of 

 winter when insects might be supposed to be scarce. For securing the two differ- 

 ent kinds of food, the Meadowlarks use quite different methods. When after 

 seeds they hunt through the grass and weeds, stopping occasionally to gather 

 seeds from the standing or fallen stalks. When they find places where the seeds 

 are numerous on the ground, they both scratch with their feet and dig with their 

 bills. If there is a wind blowing, they usually fly to the lee side of the field and then 

 advance on foot across it and against the wind. This is apt to scatter the flock, 

 especially as one individual often has better luck than another, and the unsuccess- 

 ful ones usually hunt up new places for themselves rather than share the first ones' 

 success. Even when scattered over a large field the flock retains its organization, 

 and when one bird leaves, the others usually follow one by one at short intervals 

 until all have left. When they are feeding on insects the Meadowlarks move more 

 rapidly, and perhaps separate more. Then, they do not search the ground or 

 dig with their bills, but they look very closely at the bases of the bunches of grass 

 as they pass by. At times they appear to find insect-catching very profitable at 

 the stock-yards and near barns. 



Occasionally a Meadowlark takes both insects and seeds indiscriminately. 

 Such a bird came walking through the rough at the edge of a golf links; like a 

 Flicker, it thrust its bill into the soil experimentally every step or two. At the 

 foot of a tuft of grass it dug out two white grubs and ate them, then it walked 

 over to a spray of dried everlasting, pulled it down and ate several seeds while 

 holding the stalk down under one foot. 



In Florida and sections of southern United States more of the 

 food during the winter months consists of insects, chiefly beetles but 

 also cutworms, caterpillars, and grasshoppers. Howell (1924) has 

 found the meadowlark to be an important enemy of the cotton-boll 

 weevil in the south. Since it feeds regularly upon this insect during 

 the winter months, it very materially reduces the number which might 

 otherwise descend on the cotton crop the following season. 



Investigations in South Carolina and other Southern States as far 

 west as Texas, according to Beal, McAtee, and Kalmbach (1927), 

 have substantiated accusations that the meadowlark is guilty of 

 destroying sprouting corn. 



This habit seems to be confined to the migrating or wintering flocks before they 

 have broken up for the breeding season and is probably occasioned by a scarcity 

 of other available food. North Carolina seems to be the most northerly State in 

 which this objectionable trait of the meadowlark manifests itself. Corn planted 

 in March is most susceptible to attack and cases may be frequently encountered 

 where whole fields must be replanted, resulting in a delayed and less profitable 

 crop. In attacking the sprouts the birds usually drill a small conical hole down 

 to the germinated kernel which they eat, leaving the tender sprout exposed to 

 the withering effect of sun and air. 



