BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 57 



in some counties of Utah for the past few years. Such a law, besides 

 being an incentive to misrepresentation and fraud and expensive in 

 its operation, very frequently, as in this case, utterly fails in accom- 

 plishing its object. 



BIRDS NOT FEEDING ON THE WEEVIL. 



A number of Utah birds which had not fed on the alfalfa weevil 

 were also examined. From the nature of their food habits or from 

 the isolation from alfalfa fields of their favorite habitats some are 

 prevented from becoming potent factors in the control of the weevil, 

 but additional field work might show others to be enemies of the pest. 

 The following species w T ere examined, the number of each being 

 indicated : 



Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax ncevius} 1 



Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) 2 



Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicmius) 1 



Western willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus inornatus) 1 



Long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) 1 



Snowy plover (/Eglalltis nivosa) 2 



Desert sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius phalama) 2 



Burrowing owl ('Speotyto cunicularia hypogcea) 2 



Lewis's woodpecker (Asyndesmus lewisi) 2 



Black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) 1 



Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 6 



Olive-sided flycatcher (Nuttalornis borealis) 1 



Pale goldfinch (Astragalinus tristis pallidus) 4 



Northern violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina lepida) 1 



Cedar waxwing (Bmribycilla ccdrorum) 2 



White-runiped shrike (Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides) 1 



Rock wren (Salpinctcs obsoletus obsolctus) 1 



liuby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula calendula) 2 



DOMESTIC FOWLS AS WEEVIL ENEMIES. 



The efficient work of domestic fowls in feeding on the alfalfa 

 weevil had been noted by many farmers, and a few were making 

 excellent use of broods of young chickens and turkeys by placing 

 them in badly infested fields. Here these fowls satisfied their appe- 

 tite for animal food, and when their feeding was confined to a limited 

 area there was a noticeable improvement in the subsequent growth 

 of alfalfa. 



Mr. William Blood, of Kaysville, conducted experiments with 

 chickens in the summers of 1911 and 1912. After cutting the first 

 crop in a field of about 15 acres he set out three colony houses con- 

 taining 100 eight-weeks-old chicks, 90 five weeks old, and 160 two 

 weeks old, respectively. These broods were moved from place to 

 place as the area about the houses was cleaned up. In this way the 

 work of these diligent workers was distributed over most of the field. 



