420 YEARBOOK OF THE U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of caterpillars, eating so many that if no other insects were taken it 
would still be classed as a useful bird. It does not, however, restrict 
its diet to caterpillars, but eats great numbers of injurious beetles, and 
also many bugs and grasshoppers. In the matter of vegetable food 
the record is nearly as good, for although corn, peas, and a few fruits 
are eaten, they appear in such small quantities as to have little 
economic significance. 
FOOD OF THE MEADOW LARK. 
The common meadow lark is a familar bird of the open country 
throughout the United States, although it is less abundant in the 
desert areas. Alike on the meadows of the East, the prairies of the 
West, and the savannas of the South, its clear pipe may be heard in 
the spring, announcing the return of the season of mating and nest 
building. It chooses for its home meadow lands or other level ground 
free from trees, and, if possible, near a supply of water, for it delights 
to drink and bathe in clear running brooks. Its nest, usually over- 
arched to protect the eggs and the sitting bird from the weather, is 
built on the ground among last year’s herbage, and is often so com- 
pletely hidden as to defy the efforts of the most skillful searcher. 
The bird’s preference for unmown fields, covered with what farmers 
call ‘Sold fog,” has given rise to the name ‘‘old-field lark,” by which 
it is known in some places. 
While the great bulk of the species migrate from the Northern 
States, small flocks sometimes remain throughout the winter. South 
of the latitude of Pennsylvania the birds may be found at all seasons, 
though in somewhat reduced numbers during the colder months. 
Early in March they begin to move northward, and soon spread over 
the whole northern United States and extend into Canada. The 
southward migration begins in September, and by the end of October 
all are gone. 
The common meadow lark (Sturnella magna) inhabits the eastern 
United States and ranges as far west as the Great Plains. The West- 
ern form (S. neglecta) is mingled with it in the Mississippi Valley, and 
thence to the Pacific Coast replaces it completely. The economic 
aspects of the two birds are practically the same. 
As a rule farmers do not look upon the meadow lark (fig. 110) as an 
injurious bird, though a few complaints against it have been received. 
It has been accused of pulling sprouting grain and of eating clover seed 
(presumably newly sown) to an injurious extent. As these are the 
only charges of any consequence among thousands relating to damaye 
done by other birds, it appears that the food habits of the meadow 
lark do not materially conflict with the interests of the farmer. This 
supposition is fully substantiated by the result of examinations of the 
contents of the bird’s stomach, and it is still further shown that, far 
from being injurious, it is one of the most useful allies to agriculture, » - 
standing almost without a peer as a destroyer of noxious insects. 
