290 BIRDS 



What can be more cheerful than the whistle of this lark? 

 The song flight is a more pronounced demonstration of 

 affection, and is probably for the benefit of his mate, which 

 may be pursued, or vice versa. 



I quote the following from F. E. L. Beal's report in 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 54: "In 285 stomachs examined, 

 animal food (practically all insects) constituted 73 per cent 

 of the contents, and the vegetable matter 27 per cent. As 

 would naturally be supposed, the insects were ground spe- 

 cies, such as bugs, beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, 

 together with a few flies, wasps, and spiders. A number of 

 stomachs were taken from birds killed when the ground 

 was covered with snow, but even these contained a large 

 percentage of insects, showing the bird's skill in finding 

 proper food under adverse circumstances." Grasshoppers 

 seem to be the natural food. 



More than half of the meadowlark's food consists of 

 harmful insects. Its vegetable food is composed either of 

 obnoxious weeds or waste grain. The strong point in the 

 bird's favor is that, although naturally an insect-eater, it 

 is able to subsist on vegetable food, and consequently is not 

 forced to migrate in cold weather farther than is necessary 

 to find the ground free from snow. It should never be 

 regarded as a game bird, nor is it right that these useful 

 birds be protected in the North only to furnish Southern 

 pot-pies. 



So closely do these birds guard the contents of their 

 nests that the farmer's mower frequently passes over the 

 hidden treasures without fatal results to the close-sitting 

 parent. They gather in migrating flocks in fall. 



