a 
ALFALFA ATTACKED BY THE CLOVER-ROOT CURCULIO. 7 
BIRD ENEMIES. 
The Biological Survey, in its work on the food habits of birds, has found that the 
following birds feed upon the adults of this beetle: Upland plover, killdeer or kill- 
dee, ruffed. grouse, broad-winged hawk, flicker, nighthawk, chimney swiit, wood 
pewee, crow blackbird, meadowlark, Lincoln finch, song sparrow, chipping sparrow, 
and the white-throated sparrow. 
Of these birds the chimney swift and song sparrow were found to be the greatest 
feeders on the insect, as many as 15 adult beetles being found in the stomach of one 
chimney swift, while but few less were found in stomachs of song sparrows, 
REMEDIAL AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 
Too short a period has elapsed since we have learned of the present 
and probably growing importance of this msect in the alfalfa fields 
to enable us to carry out extensive investigations of remedial and 
preventive measures. 
This mseet occurs generally throughout Europe and eastern 
Siberia as well as in England. It is known to be destructive in 
Europe to clover, but we have no records of serious damage to alfalfa 
outside of the eastern United States. Within the last year it has 
shown itself to be capable of working very serious damage in alfalfa 
fields and probably has been doing so for years, but on account of the 
obscure way in which the injury has been done its depredations appear 
to have escaped attention, although the effects upon the plants seem 
to have been noticed for a considerable time. If this condition ean 
continue unobserved here in the East, there is no reason why it should 
not work serious ravages in the alfalfa fields throughout the entire 
United States where this crop is grown, and the cause of these ravages 
remain unnoticed even by experts. Now that we understand the 
nature and cause of these damages to alfalfa, it will be far easier 
to detect the work of the pest than has been heretofore the ease. 
This bulletin is prepared for the especial purpose of ealling the 
attention of alfalfa growers, county demonstrators, or other agri- 
cultural experts to its existence in this country, with the hepe that 
the information will enable them to detect the pest in alfalfa fields 
and report its presence wherever found and in this way aid in antici- 
pating and preventing as far as possible, by the most practical 
methods applicable under existing farm conditions, losses that 
might otherwise occur to alfalfa growers on account of the depreda- 
tions of the insect in their fields. 
Undoubtedly a short rotation of the alfalfa crop will have a 
tendency to limit the abundance of the pest in the fields. Of 
course this will not in any way affect the continuous breeding of 
the insect in waste lands or where clover or alfalfa occur uninter- 
ruptedly. 
The limited amount of food consumed by the adults would of 
itself place the application of poisons out of practical consideration. 
