1914] Bryant:. Economic Status of the Western Meadowlark 467 



4. Abundance of meadowlarks in 



grain-growing localities. 



5. Great capacity and rapid diges- 



tion. 



4. Time during which damage can 



result limited. 



5. Flocking habit makes control 



measures easier. 



6. Abundance of meadowlarks as- 



sures more efficient destruc- 

 tion of insect pests. 



7. Great capacity and rapid diges- 



tion improves their value 

 as insect destroyers; slower 

 digestion of grain than of 

 insects makes a less con- 

 sumption of the former. 



8. Do not destroy other crops. 



9. A certain amount of thinning 



is sometimes desirable. 



10. Often perform service in de- 



stroying insects in same field 

 where damage was done. 



11. Prefer uncultivated to culti- 



vated land. 



12. Unable to cause serious damage 



when grain is planted deeply. 



4. A study of the life-history of the western meadowlark 

 shows it to be a bird which prefers uncultivated to cultivated 

 land, especially while feeding and nesting. It feeds in places 

 where other birds do not feed, and takes many of the ground- 

 loving insects which other birds do not take. Its habit of boring 

 into the ground after food makes it important as a destroyer 

 of such insects as cutworms, wireworms, and tipulid larvae, very 

 destructive insects of the grain fields and meadows. Young birds 

 are fed entirely on insects and need nearly their own weight of 

 food each day. They demand the largest amount of food when 

 insects are at a maximum. The western meadowlark appears 

 to increase in numbers with cultivation of land when a proper 

 food supply is furnished. It can be seen, therefore, that most 

 of the facts regarding its life-history tend to place it among the 

 beneficial birds. 



5. Experimentation has shown that western meadowlarks, like 

 other birds, have a very rapid digestion and are able to digest 

 a full meal in four to six hours. Under these circumstances it 

 is evident that they must consume large quantities of food. Ex- 



