450 University of California Publications in Zoology ["^OL. 11 



Stomach examination has clearly demonstrated the fact that 

 birds collected in alfalfa fields consume much larger quantities 

 of cutworms and caterpillars than birds collected in grain fields 

 in the same general locality. The following table computed after 

 the examination of sixteen stomachs of meadowlarks collected 

 in alfalfa fields in the vicinity of Hanford, Kings County. Cali- 

 fornia, clearly brings out the increased percentage of cutworms 

 and caterpillars in the food taken by, birds in such fields. An- 

 other table showing a comparison of the food of thirty-four birds 

 collected in the above locality, but in different kinds of fields, 

 brings out the same point. 



VII. COMPARISON OF FOOD TAKEN BY WESTERN MEADOWLARKS COLLECTED 

 IN ALFALFA FIELDS, GRAIN FIELDS, ORCHARDS, AND VINEYARDS 



Averages of nine birds per month collected in March, April, and May, 1911, at 

 Hanford, Kings County, California 



VARIATION OF FOOD ACCORDING TO TIME OF YEAR 



Abundant data have allowed a comparison of the food of the 

 western meadowlark by the hour, day, week, month, and year. 

 Little change in kind of food can be noted from one time of day 

 to another unless birds were taken in different localities. Never- 

 theless, the quantity of food found in the stomachs varies with 

 the time of day. The maximum is found about nine o'clock in 

 the morning, and the minimum from one to two o'clock in the 

 afternoon. The same can be said of the food from day to day. 

 A comparison of the food from week to week, however, shows 

 considerable change. 



The change from week to week (and the same can be said 

 of the change from month to month) closely parallels the avail- 

 ability of the different articles of diet. Weed seed and waste 

 grain are nearly always available during September or October. 



