HORNED LARK (Otocoris alpestris) 
ahh 
Length, about 734 inches. The black mark 
across the breast and the small, pointed tufts 
of dark feathers above and behind the eyes 
distinguish the bird. 
Range: Breeds 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 more 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 larve 
(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, 
may be considered useful birds. 
KINGBIRD (Tyrannus tyrannus) 
Length, about 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 ground 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. 
18 
ARKANSAS KINGBIRD (Tyrannus 
verticalis) 
Length, 9 inches. The white edge of the 
feather on each side of the tail distinguishes 
this from all other flycatchers except the gray 
and salmon-colored scissortail of Texas. 
Range: Breeds from Minnesota, Kansas, and 
Texas to the Pacific 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, to 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,000 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 beetles, chestnut, 
rice, clover-leaf, and cotton-boll weevils, bill- 
bugs, bark beetles, and squash bugs. 
