17b Bryant, Birds as Grasshopper Destroyers. [April 



food being made up of grasshoppers. Four Inyo County Meadow- 

 larks taken in August showed that 82.5 per cent of their food was 

 made up of these insects. 



Meadowlarks taken at El Toro, Orange County, showed one of 

 the best records. Grasshoppers had been taken every month of 

 the year and made up very nearly 42 per cent of the food. As an 

 average of a dozen birds collected each month during a year was 

 available from this locality this must give a fair idea of the extent 

 to which Western Meadowlarks feed upon grasshoppers in this 

 vicinity; viz. 



TABLE SHOWING NUMBERS AND PERCENTAGES OF GRASS- 

 HOPPERS CONSUMED BY WESTERN MEADOWLARKS 

 TAKEN IN THE VICINITY OF EL TORO, ORANGE 

 COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. 



The average destruction per day can be obtained by multiplying 

 the figures of the table by three. The numbers given are the 

 numbers actually found in the stomachs. The fact that sixty-six 

 Meadowlarks taken in the six months when grasshoppers are 

 abundant, and in a locality where outbreaks are almost unknown, 

 averaged ten grasshoppers apiece or thirty a day, furnishes con- 

 vincing evidence of the large toll exacted by this bird. The fact 

 that 96.3 per cent of the food of six birds taken in September was 

 made up of grasshoppers is also significant of a preference for this 

 insect. 



It can be seen therefore, that no small part of the food of the 

 Western Meadowlark is made up of grasshoppers. In fact the only 



