BIRDS USEFUL TO FARM AND ORCHARD 



635 



bollworms or corn earworms were found 

 in 10 stomachs and codling motli pupae 

 in 11. Beetles constitute over 11 per 

 cent of the food. The vegetable food is 

 practically contained in three items — 

 grain, fruit and weed seeds. Grain, 

 mostly oats, amounts to 54 per cent; 

 fruit, largely cherries, four per cent; and 

 weed seeds, not quite nine per cent. The 

 grain is probably mostly wild, volunteer 

 or waste, so that the bird does most dam- 

 age by eating fruit. 



Bullock's Oriole 



Irtei-us buUocki 

 Length, about eight inches. Our only 

 oriole with top of head and throat black 

 and cheeks orange. 



Range 

 Breeds from South Dakota, Nebraska 

 and Kansas to the Pacific ocean and 

 from Southern Canada to Northern Mex- 

 ico; winters in Mexico. 



Haliits and Economic Status 



In the West this bird takes the place 

 occupied in the East by the Baltimore 

 oriole. In food, nesting habits, and song 

 the birds are similar. Both are migratory 

 and remain on their summer range only 

 some five or six months. They take 

 kindly to orchards, gardens, and the 

 vicinity of farm buildings and often live 

 in villages and city parks. Their diet is 

 largely made up of insects that infest 

 orchards and gardens. When fruit trees 

 are in bloom they are constantly busy 

 among the blossoms and save many of 

 them from destruction. In the food of 

 Bullock's oriole beetles amount to 35 per 

 cent and nearly all are harmful. Many 

 of these are weevils, some of which live 

 upon acorns and other nuts. Ants and 

 wasps amount to 15 per cent of the diet. 

 The black olive scale was found in 45 of 

 the 162 stomachs examined. Caterpillars, 

 with a few moths and pupae, are the 

 largest item of food and amount to over 

 41 per cent. Among these were codling 

 moth larvae. The vegetable food is prac- 

 tically all fruit (19 per cent) and in 

 cherry season consists largely of that 

 fruit. Eating small fruits is the bird's 

 worst trait, but it will do harm in this 

 way only when very numerous. 



Meadowlarks 



Stiirnella mniina and Sturnella neglecta 

 Length, about 10% inches. 



Range 



Breed generally in the United States, 

 Southern Canada, and Mexico to Costa 

 Rica; winter from the Ohio and Potomac 

 valleys and British Columbia southward. 



Habits and Economic Status 



Our two meadowlarks, though differ- 

 ing much in song, resemble each other 

 closely in plumage and habits. Grassy 

 plains and uplands covered with a thick 

 growth of grass or weeds, with nearby 

 water, furnish the conditions best suited 

 to the meadowlark's taste. The song of 

 the Western bird is loud, clear and melo- 

 dious. That of its Eastern relative is 

 feebler and loses much by comparison. 

 In many localities the meadowlark is 

 classed and shot as a game bird. From 

 the farmer's standpoint this is a mistake, 

 since its value as an Insect eater is far 

 greater than as a game bird. Both the 

 bollweevil, the foe of the cotton grower, 

 and the alfalfa weevil are among the 

 beetles it habitually eats. Twenty-five 

 per cent of the diet of this bird is 

 beetles, half of which are predaceous 

 ground beetles, accounted useful insects, 

 and one-fifth are destructive weevils. 

 Caterpillars form 11 per cent of the food 

 and are eaten in every month in the 

 year. Among these are many cutworms 

 and the well known army worm. Grass- 

 hoppers are favorite food and are eaten 

 in every month and almost every day. 

 The vegetable food (24 per cent of the 

 whole) consists of grain and weed seeds. 



Red-AVinged Blackbird 



Agelaius phoeniceus 



Length, about nine and one-half inches. 

 Range 



Breeds in Mexico and North America 

 south of the Barren Grounds; winters in 

 southern half of United States and south 

 to Costa Rica. 



Habits and Economic Status 



The prairies of the upper Mississippi 

 valley, with their numerous sloughs and 

 ponds, furnish ideal nesting places for 



