24 



BULLETIN 1249', U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of 47.43 per cent animal and 52.57 per cent vegetable matter. 

 Beetles, mostly chrysomelids and weevils, made up 11.91 per cent 

 of the summer food. Fly remains, almost entirely the eggs and 

 adults of crane-flies (Tipulidae), constituted 17.77 per cent. The 

 remaining 17.75 per cent animal food consisted of caterpillars, 

 spiders, bugs, and fragments of other insects. 



Grass seeds formed 12.02 per cent of the summer food; seeds of 

 sedges, 4.16 per cent; and those of a variety of other plants, 27.86 

 per cent. No one of these had been taken consistently enough 

 to make a large proportion of the total. The remaining 8.53 per 

 cent consisted of bits of grass and unidentified vegetable debris. 



Conclusions. — While in the United States, the Lapland longspur 

 can not be said to be either strongly beneficial or injurious. The 

 number of insects eaten is insignificant, but the bird is entitled to 

 credit for whatever good it may do by eating weed seed. The 

 bird's fondness for millet and other grass seeds might make it a 

 nuisance were it not for the fact that it is rarely in the country 

 when millet is sown or harvested. 



Food items of the Lapland longspur, identified to the genus or species, as deter- 

 mined by the examination of 656 stomachs. 



[The figures indicate the number of stomachs in which the items were found.] 



Vegetable Food. 



Poaceae. 



Syntherisma sanguinalis ( crab- 

 grass) 228 



Syntherisma ischaemum ( crab- 

 grass) 26 



Echinochloa crusgalli (wild 

 millet) 11 



Panicum capillar e (witch - 

 grass) 8 



Chaetochloa lutescens (yellow 

 foxtail) 19 



Chaetochloa viridis (green 



foxtail) 66 



Setaria italica (millet) 266 



Phleum pratense (timothy) — 4 

 Ammophila arenaria (beach- 

 grass) 1 



Avena sativa (oats) 17 



Eleusine indica (goosegrass)- 6 

 Triplasis purpurea (sand- 

 grass) 1 



Eragrostis sp. (love grass) — 1 

 Festuca rubra (red fescue) — 1 



Hordeum sp. (barley) 1 



Triticum aestivum (wheat) — 55 



Zea mays (corn) 1 



Cyperaceae. 



Scirpus sp. (bulrush) 8 



Carex sp. (sedge) 33 



Polygonaceae. 



Polygonum lapathifoUum 



(smartweed) 10 



Polygonum convolvulus (bind- 

 weed) 1 



Chenopodiaceae. 



Chenopodium album (lambs- 

 quarters) 19 



Amaranthaceae. 



Amaranthus retroflexus (pig- 

 weed) 1 



Amaranthus spinosus (pig- 

 weed) 9 



Silenaceae. 



Arenaria peploides (sand- 

 wort) 2 



Silene sp. (campion) 1 



Portulacaceae. 



Portulaca oleracea (purs- 

 lane) 104 



Ranuculaceae. 



Ranunculus sp. (buttercup) 10 



Papaveraceae. 



Papaver macounii (poppy) 1 



Rosaceae. 



Potentilla sp. (cinquef oil) 6 



Fragaria sp. (strawberry) — 1 

 Empetraceae. 



Empetrum nigrum (crow- 

 berry) 3 



Violaceae. 



Viola langsdorfli (violet) 4 



Cornaceae. 



Cornus canadensis (bunch- 

 berry) 6 



Vacciniaceae. 



V accinium sp. (blueberry) 1 



Gentianaceae. 



Oentiana sp 1 



