﻿20 
  HORNED 
  LARKS 
  IN 
  RELATION 
  TO 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  in 
  dollars 
  and 
  cents, 
  is 
  enormous. 
  The 
  Botanist 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  

  

  Agriculture 
  says: 
  

  

  The 
  direct 
  loss 
  in 
  crops, 
  the 
  damage 
  to 
  machinery 
  and 
  stock, 
  and 
  the 
  decrease 
  in 
  

   value 
  of 
  land 
  due 
  to 
  weeds, 
  amount 
  without 
  question 
  to 
  tens 
  of 
  millions 
  of 
  dollars 
  

   each 
  year 
  — 
  a 
  loss 
  sustained 
  almost 
  wholly 
  by 
  the 
  farmers 
  of 
  the 
  nation, 
  a 
  

  

  To 
  limit 
  the 
  loss 
  caused 
  by 
  them 
  an 
  unending 
  warfare 
  must 
  be 
  waged 
  

   by 
  the 
  farmer. 
  Any 
  allies 
  in 
  this 
  defensive 
  warfare 
  should 
  be 
  wel- 
  

   comed, 
  and 
  of 
  such 
  allies 
  the 
  seed-eating 
  birds 
  are 
  the 
  most 
  important. 
  

   The 
  farmer, 
  by 
  the 
  expenditure 
  of 
  time 
  and 
  labor, 
  can 
  destroy 
  the 
  

   weeds 
  when 
  they 
  have 
  sprouted, 
  or 
  later 
  before 
  they 
  have 
  ripened 
  

   seed. 
  But 
  the 
  seeds 
  which 
  are 
  on 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  which 
  remain 
  

   there 
  for 
  an 
  indefinite 
  period 
  awaiting 
  favorable 
  opportunity 
  for 
  ger- 
  

   mination, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  practicable 
  for 
  man 
  to 
  destroy. 
  This 
  portion 
  of 
  

   the 
  work 
  the 
  birds 
  attend 
  to, 
  and 
  among 
  the 
  birds 
  most 
  actively 
  

   engaged 
  in 
  consuming 
  weed 
  seeds 
  the 
  horned 
  larks 
  are 
  conspicuous. 
  

   Weed 
  seeds 
  are 
  b} 
  T 
  far 
  the 
  largest 
  single 
  component 
  of 
  their 
  food 
  (63.9 
  

   percent), 
  and 
  over 
  1,070 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  examined 
  had 
  eaten 
  them, 
  

   no 
  fewer 
  than 
  206 
  individuals 
  having 
  fed 
  upon 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  exclusion 
  

   of 
  everything 
  else. 
  There 
  can 
  be 
  no 
  doubt 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  horned 
  

   larks 
  display 
  a 
  preference 
  for 
  weed 
  seeds 
  and 
  depend 
  upon 
  them 
  as 
  the 
  

   piece 
  de 
  resistance 
  of 
  every 
  meal. 
  

  

  The 
  larks, 
  unlike 
  some 
  other 
  species, 
  do 
  not 
  perch 
  upon 
  weeds 
  and 
  

   peck 
  apart 
  the 
  heads, 
  thus 
  assisting 
  in 
  scattering 
  the 
  seed, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  

   the 
  last 
  degree 
  improbable 
  that 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  seeds 
  they 
  eat 
  pass 
  through 
  

   the 
  alimentary 
  canal 
  in 
  a 
  condition 
  to 
  germinate. 
  They 
  have 
  strikingly 
  

   large 
  and 
  muscular 
  gizzards, 
  which 
  seem 
  specialh 
  T 
  adapted 
  to 
  dealing 
  

   with 
  hard 
  and 
  tough-coated 
  seeds, 
  and, 
  moreover, 
  they 
  eat 
  a 
  great 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  gravel. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  that 
  as 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  com- 
  

   bined 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  gizzard 
  and 
  the 
  gravel 
  every 
  kind 
  of 
  seed 
  eaten 
  by 
  

   this 
  lark 
  is 
  crushed. 
  Even 
  the 
  exceedingly 
  hard 
  nutlets 
  of 
  Litliosper- 
  

   m 
  urn 
  succumb 
  to 
  its 
  action. 
  Cherry 
  pits, 
  which 
  are 
  very 
  hard 
  and 
  of 
  a 
  

   shape 
  most 
  difficult 
  to 
  crush, 
  are 
  broken; 
  minute 
  seeds, 
  such 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  

   amaranth 
  and 
  oxalis 
  are 
  ground 
  up, 
  and 
  their 
  fragments 
  in 
  the 
  stomach 
  

   resemble 
  red 
  pepper. 
  Among 
  the 
  weeds 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  which 
  furnish 
  

   grist 
  for 
  these 
  destructive 
  mills 
  are 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  worst 
  pests 
  in 
  the 
  

   country. 
  Of 
  a 
  list 
  of 
  100 
  weeds 
  which 
  are 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  most 
  

   troublesome 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  no 
  fewer 
  than 
  38 
  are 
  

   included 
  in 
  the 
  diet 
  of 
  these 
  birds. 
  Of 
  this 
  number 
  the 
  foxtail 
  grasses, 
  

   smartweeds, 
  bindweeds, 
  amaranth, 
  pigweeds, 
  purslane, 
  ragweed, 
  and 
  

   the 
  crab 
  and 
  barn 
  grasses 
  are 
  conspicuous. 
  The 
  seeds 
  of 
  foxtail 
  head 
  

   the 
  list, 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  317 
  stomachs 
  examined. 
  Over 
  300 
  birds 
  had 
  

   eaten 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  amaranth 
  (fig. 
  B) 
  and 
  nearly 
  260 
  those 
  of 
  pigweed. 
  

  

  «Coville, 
  in 
  Farmers' 
  Bulletin 
  No. 
  28 
  (Weeds; 
  and 
  how 
  to 
  kill 
  them; 
  by 
  L. 
  H. 
  

   Dewey), 
  p. 
  3, 
  1895. 
  

  

  