1914] Bryant: Economic Status of the Western Meadowlark 415 



Inform your local press and others interested just what you are doing 

 and the object we have in making this collection, to wit, investigating 

 the relations of our birds to agriculture, so that there may be no mis- 

 understanding. 



Finding that it worked a hardship on the deputies to spend 

 certain days of each month collecting birds, the original instruc- 

 tions were modified as follows: 



Our order concerning the collection of non-game birds, for scientific 

 investigation, is hereby modified to permit collecting at convenient times 

 instead of during the first and third weeks of each month. The collection, 

 however, must be distributed evenly so that nearly the same number of 

 specimens are secured in each bi-weekly period. 



Under this order we believe the deputies themselves can, while on 

 other duty, take all the specimens needed for our work and thereby greatly 

 reduce expense. In consequence we direct that all special collectors be 

 dismissed and their permits and collecting material taken over by the 

 regular deputies responsible for their engagement. 



MATERIAL 



The accompanying map (fig. A) shows the localities in which 

 collections have been made. The localities from which complete 

 series, that is, birds collected each month of the year, were made, 

 and those localities from which incomplete series were obtained, 

 are both indicated. The attempt was made to have a minimum 

 of six specimens collected each month. In several instances 

 collections of a dozen birds each month were obtained. 



In order that the work of 1911 might be verified, collections 

 were continued at Live Oak, Sutter County ; Sacramento, Sacra- 

 mento County ; Newman, Stanislaus County ; and Salinas, Monte- 

 rey County, during 1912. This afforded a comparison of the 

 food in two successive years, and has acted as a check on the 

 results obtained the first year. 



A total of 2070 stomachs of western meadowlarks has been 

 available for examination, of which number nearly two thousand 

 have been examined and the results tabulated. The largest col- 

 lection available, composed of one hundred and seventy-five birds, 

 was from Hanford, Kings County. The largest number available 

 taken in a single month was twenty-four. 



