1914 ] Bryant, Birds as Grasshopper Destroyers. 175 



and twenty Meadowlarks examined had eaten grasshoppers and 

 an additional three hundred and thirty-nine had taken crickets. 



The number of grasshoppers taken by Western Meadowlarks 

 was found to vary greatly in different parts of the state. Evi- 

 dently the number taken was governed by the availability of the 

 insect. Meadowlarks collected at Eureka, Humboldt County, 

 had eaten but very few and these had been taken in but three 

 months of the year. Birds collected in the Sacramento and San 

 Joaquin valleys had consumed large quantities. Of Meadowlarks 

 collected at Red Bluff, Tehama County, over 28 per cent of the 

 food for the year was found to be made up of grasshoppers and 

 27.5 per cent of the food for the year of Meadowlarks collected at 

 Newman, Stanislaus County. 



Birds in the vicinity of Los Banos, Merced County, must con- 

 sume a similar amount of grasshoppers for during the five months, 

 March to July inclusive, a time of year when these insects are not 

 found in maximum numbers, Meadowlarks from this vicinity 

 showed that 25.2 per cent of their food was made up of these 

 insects. 



Some interesting evidence of the change of food habits to meet 

 the abundance, or better the availability, of grasshoppers is fur- 

 nished by the results of an examination of the stomach contents of 

 Meadowlarks collected in 1911 and in 1912 at Newman, Stanislaus 

 County. Sixty per cent of all the birds of this species collected in 

 this locality during the year 1911 had eaten grasshoppers and 27.5 

 per cent of the food taken was made up of these insects. In 1912 

 when grasshoppers were far more numerous, nearly 42.5 per cent 

 of the food of the same number of birds taken during the same 

 month was made up of grasshoppers. 



A similar change of food habits to meet local conditions was 

 exhibited by Meadowlarks collected at Hollister, San Benito 

 County, in 1911. In this locality over 18 per cent of their food 

 was made up of crickets (Gry litis sp.) and but 7 per cent of grass- 

 hoppers. In the month of August only did grasshoppers exceed 

 crickets in the food and then only by one per cent. 



The highest percentage of grasshoppers taken by Western 

 Meadowlarks in any one month was by four birds collected at 

 Salinas, Monterey County, in June, 1911, 93.7 per cent of all their 



