ICTERID^ 



J53 



More than half of tlu- Mcadnwlark's food con- 

 sists of harmful insects; its vcsetablc food (27 

 per cent.) is composed of noxious weeds, grass 

 seeds, and waste grain ; and the remainder is 

 made up of useful beetles or neutral insects and 

 spiders. When it is considered that the bird feeds 

 exclusively on the ground, it seems remarkable 

 that so few useful ground beetles are taken. 

 Grasshoi)i)ers are the most imjiortant item ot 

 food of the Meadowlark. amoimting to 29 per 

 cent, of the food of the year and 69 per cent, of 

 the food of .\ugust. P.eetles are next to grass- 

 hop])ers in importance. Cater])illars, too, form 

 a very constant element of the food. Most of 

 the caterpillars arc ground feeders and are over- 

 looked by the birds which habitually frequent 

 trees, but the Meaclowlark I'mds ;uul devours 

 them by the thousands, not even passing by the 

 hairy ones as most birds do. 



The Western Meadowlark has been accused in 

 California of eating the seeds of forage plants, 

 especially clover, to an injurious extent. It has 

 also in Southern California been charged with 

 damaging the early crops of peas. Investigation 

 of both of these accusations proved that local 

 or exceptional conditions were the cause of the 

 Meadowlark's fall from grace. 



Phot" by E. M. Bowland Courtesy . .f (lulmi! I'uh. C 



NEST AND EGGS OF MEADOWLARK 



AUDUBON'S ORIOLE 

 Icterus melanocephalus auduboni Giraitd 



A. O. t_^ Xuitiber 503 



General Description. — Length, gyi inches. Fore 

 parts, wings, and tail, black; body, yellow. Bill, long 

 and pointed ; wings, moderately long ; tail, more than 

 ^ length of wing, rounded. 



Color. — Adilt M.\le: Head, upper part of neck, 

 fore portion of upper chest, wings (except lesser and 

 part of middle coverts), and tail, black; inner wing 

 quills and greater wing-coverts broadly edged with 

 whitish; loifcr hindncck, back, shoulders, rump, and 

 iipfcr lail-coTcrts, dull saffron-yclloiv or wax-yellow 

 tinged with olive-green, the shoulders partly black; 

 sides of neck, lesser wing-coverts, and under parts 

 (except as described), deep lemon-yellow, sometimes 



tinged with orange ; middle wing-coverts, mostly black. 

 .Adult Fem.i^le: Similar to adult male, but smaller 

 and slightly duller in color, the back, etc., inclining 

 more decidedly to olive-green. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually in mesquite trees, 

 thickets, or heavy timber, from 6 to 14 feet up ; con- 

 structed firmly, of dried grass, lined with finer; semi- 

 pensile. Eggs : 3 to 5, pale bluish or grayish-white, 

 with thin hair lines of purple and brown, very rarely 

 with ground color obscured by minute, profuse dust- 

 like specks of brown. 



Distribution. — Southern Texas, lower Rio Grande 

 valley ; north to San Antonio occasionally. 



Audubon's Oriole is essentially a Mexican spe- 

 cies, but its northern range brings it into Texas, 

 most commonly in the valley of the lower Rio 

 Grande, It is naturally timid and retiring, and if 

 it notices it is being observed while feeding in 

 the open, is likely to retreat to thick cover. 



The whistled note is sweet, with a suggestion 



of sadness, and the female sings as well as the 

 male, though her voice is weaker. The birds are 

 usually seen in pairs, and show strong affection 

 and solicitude for each other. They have been 

 found in high timber near San .\ntonio. and 

 are not uncommon in and near Brownsville, 

 Texas. 



