380 University of Calif ornin Pttblicatious in Zoology [Vol. 11 



mine scientifically the economic value of this bird by a thorough 

 investigation. Such an investigation has been made possible 

 through the patronage of the California State Fish and Game 

 Commission, which established a research fellowship in the De- 

 partment of Zoology of the University of California. In Jan- 

 uary, 1911, I was appointed Fellow in Applied Zoology on the 

 Fish and Game Commission Foundation in the University of 

 California, with instructions to carry on an investigation into 

 the relation of certain California birds to agriculture. The com- 

 mission assumed the expense and through its deputies furnished 

 the material for stomach examination. The office work and the 

 laboratory worl^ have been carried on in the Zoological Depart- 

 ment of the University of California. The investigation has. 

 therefore, been conducted through the co-operation of the State 

 Fish and Game Commission with the University of California. 



To the men past and present who have preceded me in this 

 line of work and who have furnished the world with the under- 

 lying facts which have established the science of economic orni- 

 thology I wish to give due credit, for without their contributions 

 this work must necessarily have been far more elemental. The 

 helpful criticisms and valuable suggestions of Professor Charles 

 A. Kofoid of the University of California, under whose direction 

 the work has been done, have inspired and assisted me in the 

 task. To Dr. Joseph Grinnell. Director of the Museum of Verte- 

 brate Zoology in the Universitj' of California, who has often 

 given me of his time to discuss certain features of the work, I 

 owe much. The help also of Mr. E. R. Ong as laboratory assist- 

 ant, and of Professor C. W. Woodworth, Dr. E. C. Van Dyke, 

 Dr. F. E. Blaisdell, Mr. John Bridwell, ]\rr. W. L. MeAtee, Miss 

 Anna M. Lute and others in the identification of insects and 

 weed seeds has lightened the burden and facilitated this part of 

 the investigation. 



Although collections have been made of a immber of birds 

 about which complaint has been received (western robin, bicolored 

 red-wing, Brewer blackbird, horned lark, western mourning 

 dove, and roadrunner), yet, because it was the special object 

 of attack, effort has been concentrated on determining the eco- 

 nomic status of the western meadowlark. 



