12 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 11 



though grasshoppers were abundant on all sides of a small patch 

 of grain, yet these birds were picking the kernels from the heads 

 instead of turning their attention to grasshoppers. 



Western lark sparrows, although no stomachs were examined, 

 were doubtless feeding on grasshoppers. Professor Aughey 

 found as many as thirty-eight in one of the stomachs of these 

 birds. Dr. Judd says of this bird: "The lark sparrow is, with 

 the exception of the dickcissel and grasshopper sparrow, the 

 most valuable grasshopper destroj'er of all the native sparrows. 

 More than half of its animal food (14 per cent of the total) con- 

 sists of these insects, and in June they constitute 43 per cent 

 of the diet." 



Both barn and cliff swallows were nesting in great numbers 

 under every bridge, and bridges over the canals in that region 

 are numerous. The stomachs of four cliff swallows examined con- 

 tained a total of two grasshoppers and that of the barn swallow 

 contained none. As swallows feed on rather small insects, it 

 seems natural that they should not feed to any great extent on 

 insects so large as the adult grasshoppers. When these insects 

 were smaller, a larger percentage of the food of these birds may 

 have been made up of grasshoppers. Professor Aughey records 

 having found as many as forty-nine locusts in a single stomach 

 of a cliff swallow, and as many as thirt.v-seven in the stomach of 

 a barn swallow. 



The Bullock oriole, usually condemned for its fruit-eating 

 propensities, was found to be a very efficient destroyer of grass- 

 hoppers. Two stomachs contained a total of thirty grasshoppers, 

 ninety-eight per cent of all the food taken by these two birds. 



Nighthawks are well known as destroyers of grasshoppers. 

 None were seen, but a reliable observer informed me that they 

 were abundant in certain localities in the vicinity of Los Banos. 

 The U. S. Biological Survey has found as many as sixty grass- 

 hoppers in the stomach of one of these birds. 



On one ranch, about 2,000 tame ducl^s were herded over the 

 infested alfalfa fields. The destruction of the grasshoppers by 

 the ducks was so great that an enterprising poultryman with 

 young ducks for sale headed an advertisement in the local paper 

 with a statement in large letters of the number of grasshoppers 



