6 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



spring the writer witnessed the work of this bird on alfalfa fields, 

 where it was common to see 200 to 300 following a harrow or plow 

 in search of grubs, cutworms, and other insects turned up. Only 

 five gulls were examined, and all but one were from badly infested 

 alfalfa fields. In the stomach of only one was the weevil found. 



Other prey, such as earthworms, ground beetles, and fly larvae, 

 seemed more attractive than the weevil to these birds. Apparently 

 some had recently been feeding on the barren alkali flats surrounding 

 Great Salt Lake. In one stomach were about 450 of the small car- 

 abid beetle (Pogonus planatus}, so common about the decayed bodies 

 of waterfowl which have died of disease in the vicinity of the Jordan 

 River marsh, and in another were large numbers of pupae of the 

 alkali fly (Ephydra gracilis). 



Though the California gull is one of the most valuable of Utah 

 birds, as a weevil destroyer it is unimportant. However, so impor- 

 tant are its services in other directions that it deserves the careful 

 protection it receives. 



WILSON'S PHALAROPE. 



(Steganopus tricolor.) 



A single stomach of Wilson's phalarope was examined, and the 

 remains of one adult weevil were detected. Wilson's phalarope, 

 however, can not be expected to render much service as a weevil 

 destroyer, as its feeding habits restrict it largely to the immediate 

 vicinity of lake shores and river banks. 



KILLDEER. 



(Oxyechus vociferus.) 



The killdeer is found everywhere in the Salt Lake Valley, even 

 to the upper edges of watered lands, where the highest irrigating 

 ditches supply it with all the aquatic environment it needs. How- 

 ever, it appears to be more widely scattered in the spring than later 

 in the season, when more are found about Great Salt Lake and along 

 the Jordan River. Irrigation on an alfalfa field is always a great 

 attraction, and in such situations as many as six or eight of these 

 birds may be found in a field of three to four acres. Cutworms here 

 fall easy prey. 



Nineteen killdeers were examined, six of which were obtained in 

 April. The weevil, aggregating 3.5 per cent of the food, was found 

 in five of the six taken in that month. In each case the adult form 

 was eaten and was found on an average of 4| per stomach. 



Caterpillars (cutworms in some cases) constituted nearly 37 per 

 cent of the food, and ground beetles came next with a percentage of 

 19.3. A large quantity of aquatic beetles in one stomach brought 

 the monthly average of this food up to nearly 9 per cent, while 



