42 



of wliich built nests and reared their j'oung near by. Recently, how- 

 ever, the small willows anioni«" which these birds nested had ])een 

 removed, and the birds no lonoer pi-otected that particular field. 



At Haigler it was ascertained that various species of locusts have 

 been more than normall}^ abundant for the past six 3'ears. At least 

 this can be said of the species which attack cultivated plants like 

 alfalfa, corn, wheat, garden truck, etc. If anj- change in their num- 

 bers has occurred it is thought that perhaps there is a slight decrease 

 from last year. As in the vicinity of McCook and farther east, they 

 seem to breed chiefly in alfalfa tields, along roadsides, and in old 

 breakings. In addition to the breeding places here recorded, the 

 Russian thistles, which have become generally dispersed over this sec- 

 tion of the State, seem also to offer safe and desirable retreats for 

 several species of these insects when laying their eggs. Not only is 

 this true at egg-laying, but also at other times. These rank-growing 

 plants provide shelter during hot, dry weather, as well as from rain 

 and hail storms, and ofl'er safe retreats to the insects, even when pur- 

 sued by such enemies as predaceous insects and l)irds. 



Of the enemies to wild plants among these insects those which appear 

 to be most l)eyoud the normal in numbers in this vicinity seem to be 

 Opeia ohscura^ Mestobregma hiowa^ Melanopliis. lahimiH, M. l>ov:)ditcki, 

 M. paclfardi^ Mermiria hkrittata, M. neoinexiccma, and one or two 

 others. As noted at McCook, several of these latter are partial to cer- 

 tain food plants which have recently increased enormously, which fact 

 probabl}^ explains their excessive numbers. On the other hand, spe- 

 cies like the Mermirias and other grass-infesting forms now abnor- 

 mally abundant have become so from some other cause. Perhaps the 

 nonoccurrence of praii'ie tires for a num]>er of years may account for 

 this, at least in part, while the destruction of such birds as the sharp- 

 tailed grouse and Bartramian sandpiper, with the meadow lark, and a 

 few other kinds of prairie-inhabiting species, will explain the excess 

 in numbers of some of the remaining grasshoppers. Three species of 

 Decticinte were also quite abundant here, as was also one of the walk- 

 ing sticks. 



In journeying westward from Haigler grasshopper injuries were 

 detected nearly as far as Akron, Colo., but beyond this point only 

 about the normal numbers of these insects appeared to be present, 

 since none of their injury was visible from the train. At Brush, where 

 a great deal of alfalfa is grown, not many of these insects wore reported 

 or seen. Hence it was judged that matters here were nearly normal 

 as regards locust abundance. From this point the direction of the 

 journey was changed and we went north. At Sterling, which was 

 passed before daylight and where considerable injury was reported a 

 year ago, the condition was not ascertained, but judging from what 

 was seen some distance be^^ond along the line of railroad toward Sid- 



