HORNED LARK (Otocoris alpestris). 



Length, about 7f inches. The black mark 

 across the breast and the small, pointed tufts of 

 dark feathers above and behind the eyes dis- 

 tinguish the bird. 



Range: Breeds throughout the United States 

 (except the South Atlantic and Gulf States) and 

 Canada; winters in all the United States except 

 Florida. 



Habits and economic status: Horned larks 

 frequent the open country, especially the plains 

 and deserts. They associate in large flocks, are 

 hardy, apparently delighting in exposed situa- 

 tions in winter, and often nest before snow dis- 

 appears. The flight is irregular and hesitating, 

 but in the breeding season the males ascend 

 high in air, singing as they go, and pitch to the 

 ground in one thrilling dive. The preference 

 of horned larks is for vegetable food, and about 

 one-sixth of this is grain, chiefly waste. Some 

 sprouting grain is pulled , but drilled grain is safe 

 from injury. Californiahorned larks take much 

 more grain than the eastern birds, specializing 

 on oats, but this is accoimted for by the fact that oats grow wild over much of 

 the State. Weed seeds are the largest single element of food. The insect food, 

 about 20 per cent of the whole, includes such pests as May beetles and then- larvae 

 (white grubs), leaf beetles, clover-leaf and clover-root weevils, the potato-stalk 

 borer, nut weevils, billbugs, and the chinch bug. Grasshoppers are a favorite 

 food, and cutworms are freely eaten. The horned larks, on the whole, may be 

 considered useful birds. (See Biol. Survey Bui. 23.) 



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ARKANSAS KINGBIRD (Tyrannus verticalis). 



_ Length, 9 inches. The white edge of the feather on each side of the tail dis- 

 tinguishes this from all other flycatchers except the gray and salmon-colored 

 scissortail of Texas. 



Range: Breeds from Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas to the Pacific Ocean and 

 from northern Mexico to southern Canada; winters from Mexico to Guatemala. 



Habits and economic status: The Arkansas 

 kingbird is not so domestic as its eastern relative 

 and seems to prefer the hill country with scat- 

 tered oaks rather than the orchard or the vicinity 

 of ranch buildings, but it sometimes places its 

 rude and conspicuous nest in trees on village 

 streets. The bird's yearly food is composed qt 

 87 per cent animal matter and 13 per cent vege- 

 table. The animal food is composed almost 

 entirely of insects. Like the eastern species, it 

 has been accused of destroying honeybees to a 

 harmful extent, and remains of honeybees were 

 foimd to constitute 5 per cent of the food of the 

 individuals examined, but nearly all those 

 eaten were drones. Bees and wasps, in general, 

 are the biggest item of food (38 per cent), grass- 

 hoppers and crickets stand next (20 per cent), 

 and beetles, mostly of noxious species, con- 

 stitute 14 per cent of the food. The vegetable 

 food consists mostly of fruit, such as the elder 

 and other berries, with a few seeds. This bird 

 should be strictly preserved. (See Biol. Survey 

 Bui. 34, pp. 32-34, and Bui. 44, pp. 19-22.) 



