﻿22 
  HORNED 
  LARKS 
  IN 
  RELATION 
  TO 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  injurious 
  to 
  cattle, 
  produces 
  seeds 
  which 
  are 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  horned 
  

   larks. 
  Lamb's 
  quarters, 
  buttonweed 
  (fig. 
  G), 
  whitetop, 
  and 
  corn 
  

   sparry 
  are 
  among* 
  the 
  other 
  well-known 
  weed 
  seeds 
  consumed. 
  

  

  Fruit. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  seeds 
  of 
  cultivated 
  fruits 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  horned 
  larks' 
  

   stomachs. 
  These 
  were 
  of 
  blackberry, 
  pear, 
  and 
  cherry. 
  No 
  fruit 
  

   pulp 
  was 
  found, 
  and 
  the 
  seeds 
  were 
  probably 
  obtained 
  from 
  garbage 
  

   heaps, 
  where 
  these 
  birds 
  sometimes 
  feed. 
  But 
  one-fifth 
  of 
  1 
  percent 
  

   of 
  the 
  total 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  is 
  fruit, 
  and 
  nearly, 
  all 
  of 
  this 
  is 
  taken 
  in 
  

   the 
  winter 
  months. 
  Evidently 
  the 
  horned 
  larks 
  have 
  little 
  taste 
  for 
  

   fruit, 
  and 
  the 
  quantity 
  they 
  get 
  is 
  too 
  insignificant 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  economic 
  

   value. 
  

  

  Miscellaneous 
  Vegetable 
  Food. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  miscellaneous 
  vegetable 
  matter 
  of 
  no 
  economic 
  impor- 
  

   tance 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  larks 
  were 
  bits 
  of 
  grass 
  roots 
  and 
  stems, 
  a 
  few 
  

   flowers, 
  and 
  fragments 
  of 
  other 
  tissues 
  of 
  plants. 
  One 
  stomach 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  alga?, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  obtained 
  in 
  a 
  marsh. 
  A 
  few 
  seeds, 
  rec- 
  

   ognizable 
  only 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  plants 
  of 
  the 
  mint 
  and 
  carrot 
  families, 
  were 
  

   found. 
  Giraud 
  reports 
  that 
  he 
  found 
  bits 
  of 
  seaweed 
  in 
  the 
  stomachs 
  

   of 
  larks. 
  

  

  In 
  summing 
  up 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  subject 
  it 
  ma} 
  T 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  horned 
  

   larks 
  are 
  among 
  the 
  most 
  efficient 
  weed-destroying 
  birds, 
  and, 
  as 
  we 
  

   have 
  just 
  seen, 
  not 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  weeds 
  they 
  eat 
  are 
  among 
  the 
  worst 
  

   pests 
  of 
  cultivated 
  land. 
  

  

  ANIMAL 
  FOOD. 
  

  

  The 
  animal 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  horned 
  lark, 
  comprising 
  20.6 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  

   yearly 
  diet, 
  is 
  made 
  up 
  entirely 
  of 
  invertebrates. 
  It 
  consists 
  principally 
  

   of 
  insects, 
  but 
  is 
  of 
  great 
  variety, 
  as 
  appears 
  from 
  the 
  following 
  list: 
  

   Beetles, 
  butterflies, 
  grasshoppers, 
  moths, 
  ants, 
  spiders, 
  flies, 
  wasps, 
  

   thousand-legs, 
  mites, 
  centipedes, 
  snails, 
  periwinkles, 
  bits 
  of 
  crab, 
  

   mussel, 
  and 
  o}^ster 
  shell, 
  earthworms, 
  termites, 
  and 
  ant-lions. 
  Not 
  

   only 
  are 
  the 
  adult 
  forms 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  eaten, 
  but 
  also 
  the 
  eggs, 
  cocoons, 
  

   and 
  larvae 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  them. 
  Thus 
  the 
  horned 
  lark 
  does 
  effective 
  work 
  

   in 
  thinning 
  out 
  many 
  forms 
  of 
  invertebrate 
  life. 
  

  

  Insects. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  more 
  harmful 
  than 
  beneficial 
  families 
  of 
  insects, 
  and 
  the 
  

   influence 
  of 
  the 
  injurious 
  kinds 
  greatly 
  overbalances 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  others. 
  

   Many 
  species, 
  however, 
  are 
  valuable 
  allies 
  of 
  the 
  farmer, 
  and 
  success- 
  

   ful 
  agriculture 
  would 
  be 
  well-nigh 
  impossible 
  without 
  them. 
  For 
  the 
  

   purposes 
  of 
  economic 
  ornithology, 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  groups 
  are 
  considered 
  

   beneficial. 
  These 
  are 
  chiefly 
  the 
  parasitic 
  hymenoptera, 
  which 
  destroy 
  

   many 
  injurious 
  insects, 
  and 
  the 
  predaceous 
  beetles. 
  That 
  the 
  iatter 
  

  

  