32 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTURE. 



Weevils composed nearly 24 per cent of the lark sparrow's food and 

 were present in all but one of the stomachs examined. With the 

 exception of one bird collected in the season of 1911 all had been 

 feeding on the adult form of the insect, it being eaten at an average 

 of over five apiece. Fifteen was the highest number taken by a 

 single bird. 



About half of the remaining animal food (7.3 per cent) was cater- 

 pillars, with click beetles (Elateridae) and clover-root curculios 

 {Sitones sp.) next in order. The vegetable portion, 62.5 per cent, 

 was divided between grain and weed seeds. The former, composing 

 about two-thirds of it, may, to a certain extent, have been picked 

 up from newly sown fields, but no serious complaints have been 

 made against this bird. 



Six lark sparrows collected in June show a considerable increase 

 in the amount of weevils eaten (31.2 per cent). The insect was 

 present in each of the stomachs at an average of about 7 adults 

 and 7 larvae per bird. In one the 4 adults and 30 larvae present 

 formed 77 per cent of the food. Caterpillars and grasshoppers, 

 totaling about 14 per cent each, are the most important of other 

 animal food items. The clover-root curculio (Sitones sp.), 

 which is abundant in many sections, was present in small numbers 

 in four of the six stomachs. The vegetable portion was again char- 

 acterized by waste grain, which composed nearly a third of the 

 contents. 



In July the insect formed nearly 30 per cent of the food and was 

 eaten by each of the 11 sparrows secured at the average rate of about 

 7 adults and 7 larvae, the same as for the preceding month. 

 The best record for the month and for the species was 13 adults and 

 49 larvae, while the bill of the bird eating them contained 6 addi- 

 tional larvae. Caterpillars, occurring in seven stomachs, were next 

 in importance and composed 16 per cent of the remaining animal 

 food. The vegetable element, which formed nearly half of the 

 food, was, as in the two preceding months, noteworthy for its high 

 proportion of grain (45.5 per cent). 



A single bird collected in August had eaten several adults of the 

 year's brood, amounting to 8 per cent of its food. The remaining 

 portion of the stomach contents was entirely wheat. 



Summary. — The claim that the lark sparrow is a greater lover of 

 grain than most other native sparrows 1 is apparently substantiated 

 by the writer's work in Utah. It is quite possible that some grain 

 is secured from newly sown fields or from the ripening or shocked 

 crop, but no noticeable losses have been attributed to this bird. As 

 an effective enemy of the weevil the lark sparrow must not be over- 



1 Judd, S. D. Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture. Bull. 15, Biol. Survey, U. S. Dept. 

 of Agr., 1901. 



