﻿FOOD 
  OF 
  YOUNG 
  HORNED 
  LARKS. 
  

  

  29 
  

  

  Fig. 
  11— 
  Greater 
  strip- 
  

   ed 
  flea-beetle 
  (Diso- 
  

   nycha 
  caroliniana) 
  . 
  

   (Three 
  times 
  nat- 
  

   ural 
  size.) 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  greater 
  striped 
  flea-beetle 
  (Disonycha 
  caroliniana) 
  (fig. 
  11), 
  a 
  

  

  foliage-feeding 
  species. 
  The 
  most 
  important 
  element 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  

  

  food, 
  however, 
  was 
  grasshoppers 
  {Acridiiddd). 
  These 
  comprised 
  41.5 
  

  

  percent 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  food, 
  and 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  99 
  percent 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  stomachs. 
  Grasshoppers 
  

  

  are 
  a 
  favorite 
  diet 
  for 
  the 
  nestlings 
  of 
  many 
  birds, 
  

  

  and 
  sometimes 
  are 
  fed 
  to 
  them 
  almost 
  to 
  the 
  total 
  

  

  exclusion 
  of 
  other 
  foods. 
  Prof. 
  Samuel 
  Aughey, 
  in 
  

  

  Nebraska, 
  during 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  Ma}^, 
  found 
  the 
  horned 
  

  

  larks 
  feeding 
  almost 
  wholly 
  upon 
  young 
  grasshoppers, 
  

  

  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  carrying 
  to 
  their 
  

  

  nestlings. 
  The 
  stomach 
  of 
  one 
  lark 
  was 
  found 
  to 
  

  

  contain 
  12 
  locusts 
  and 
  33 
  small 
  seeds. 
  a 
  

  

  Other 
  animal 
  matter 
  fed 
  to 
  the 
  nestlings 
  examined 
  

   by 
  the 
  writer 
  consisted 
  of 
  chrysalids 
  of 
  leaf 
  -mining 
  moths 
  (Tineidae), 
  

   leaf 
  bugs 
  (Ccvpsidae), 
  spiders, 
  ant-lions 
  (Myrmeleonidse), 
  thirteen 
  of 
  

   which 
  formed 
  60 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  one 
  stomach, 
  and 
  centi- 
  

   pedes 
  (Ohilopoda). 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  nestling 
  state, 
  therefore, 
  horned 
  larks 
  are 
  almost 
  entirely 
  

   beneficial, 
  and 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  insect 
  pests 
  they 
  consume 
  is 
  very 
  great. 
  

   Adults 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  to 
  carry 
  food 
  to 
  the 
  nest 
  twenty 
  times 
  in 
  an 
  

  

  hour, 
  and 
  they 
  continue 
  

   their 
  visits 
  throughout 
  the 
  

   day 
  for 
  a 
  week 
  or 
  more; 
  

   and 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  remembered 
  

   that 
  this 
  species 
  raises 
  two 
  

   or 
  three 
  broods 
  in 
  a 
  year. 
  

   Each. 
  family 
  thus 
  destroys 
  

   a 
  host 
  of 
  insects, 
  and 
  the 
  

   quantity 
  consumed 
  by 
  the 
  

   birds 
  throughout 
  North 
  

   America 
  is 
  almost 
  beyond 
  

   computation. 
  As 
  our 
  exam- 
  

   inations 
  show 
  that 
  weevils 
  

   and 
  grasshoppers 
  compose 
  

   the 
  great 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  

   food 
  of 
  the 
  nestlings, 
  their 
  

   economic 
  value 
  can 
  hardly 
  

   be 
  overestimated. 
  

  

  Concerning 
  the 
  fully 
  

   fledged 
  young, 
  Professor 
  

   Barrows 
  noted 
  that 
  they 
  eat 
  

   less 
  animal 
  matter 
  than 
  the 
  adults, 
  a 
  conclusion 
  confirmed 
  by 
  exami- 
  

   nation 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  abundant 
  material 
  now 
  available 
  (see 
  fig. 
  12). 
  

  

  Fig. 
  12. 
  —Columns 
  showing 
  the 
  proportions 
  of 
  insects, 
  grain, 
  

   and 
  weed 
  seed 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  following: 
  A, 
  California 
  larks; 
  

   B, 
  larks 
  in 
  first 
  plumage; 
  C, 
  total 
  number 
  examined 
  ex- 
  

   clusive 
  of 
  California 
  birds; 
  D, 
  nestlings. 
  

  

  a 
  First 
  Ann. 
  Report 
  U. 
  S. 
  Entom. 
  Comm., 
  App. 
  II, 
  p. 
  18, 
  1878. 
  

  

  