BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 27 



found in all but one of the stomachs. The highest number taken by 

 any bird was 40' adults and 51 larvae. This single stomach contained 

 almost all the larva? recorded for the adult Brewer's blackbird in 

 July, which may be explained by the lateness of the season in the 

 Weber Valley where it was collected. The contents of stomachs 

 taken at this time in the upper valley corresponded to those taken 

 three or four weeks previously in the vicinity of Salt Lake. Another 

 bird had eaten 60 adults, while a third had taken 40. Eight birds 

 collected in 1911 well show the character of the food when the weevil 

 begins to disappear. Of the entire food 5.75 per cent was weevil 

 while 91.5 was grasshoppers. Though much grain was being har- 

 vested in this region none was eaten by these birds. 



Of animal food other than the weevil, grasshoppers are conspicu- 

 ous, amounting to 27.2 per cent of the month's food. Caterpillars, 

 ground beetles, and Hymenoptera, many of which were wild bees, 

 comprised a little less than 10 per cent each. The rest of the animal 

 food was divided in small quantities among several items of little 

 economic importance. Of the vegetable portion (11.52 per cent), 

 much was grain, the bulk of which was taken from the ripened crop. 



Summary. — Brewer's blackbird, both old and young, is working 

 for the best interests of the Utah farmer and in spring and summer 

 is among the most effective bird enemies of the weevil. The adults 

 ■appear to take slightly greater quantities of these insects than do the 

 young, whose preference is for cutworms. Late in the season a 

 marked liking for grasshoppers on the part of the old birds is also to 

 their credit. About one-fifth of the food of both old and young 

 during May, June, and July consists of weevils. 



This bird is seldom shot or otherwise molested in Utah, where its 

 economic worth is now fully appreciated, it having recently been 

 afforded legal protection. 



HOUSE FINCH. 



(Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis.) 



In Utah the house finch is probably the least insectivorous of 

 all the finches, and in California has been much criticised because of 

 its vegetarian habits. Primarily a seed-eating bird, it is true to its 

 normal habits in Utah. 



Nine of these birds were examined, but only two had eaten the 

 weevil, the larval form in each case. One had taken two and the 

 other three. Caterpillars, the only other animal food eaten, occurred 

 in one stomach and composed about 15 per cent of the contents. The 

 vegetable portion of the food consisted of weed seeds, of which three 

 species were identified: Dandelion (Taxaracum taxaracum), shep- 

 herd's purse (Capsetta bursa-pastoris) , and smartweed (Polygonum 

 hydropiper) . Parts of other seeds were present, but, as this bird 



