60 THE RELATIOK OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 



a yellow mark behind the nostril which the song- sparrow lacks. Tak- 

 ing the two subspecies together, the savanna sparrow has an extensive 

 breeding range. That of the eastern bird {Ammodramus sandtvicli- 

 en'sis savanna) extends from Labrador and the Hudson Bay region 

 southward througii Canada into the northern tier of States, while that 

 of the western bird i-eaches the Arctic coast on the north and the 

 Mexican border on the south. The summer habitat thus comprises 

 parts of the Boreal, Transition, and Upper and Lower Austral zones. 

 In winter the bird is found in the Southern States and Mexico and 

 sometimes in Cuba. 



Examination has been made of 119 stomachs. These represent all 

 the months of the year except December and Februaiy, and were col- 

 lected in 12 States ranging from Massachusetts to California and in 

 the District of Columbia, IN'ova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Their 

 food contents consisted of 46 percent of animal matter, insects and 

 their allies, and 54 percent of vegetable matter, practically all seeds. 

 The savanna, Ipswich, and grasshopper sparrows, and, to a slighter 

 degree, all other members of the genus Ammodramus^ are mucli more 

 highl}^ insectivorous than other sparrows. They take equal rank in 

 this regard with such notable insect destroyers as the catbird, robin, 

 and bluebird. With the savanna sparrow the distribution of animal 

 matter is as follows: Coleoptera, 15 percent; Lepidoptera, 9 ]3ercent; 

 Orthoptera, 8 percent; Hymenoptera, 5 percent; Hemiptera, 2 percent; 

 Diptera and miscellaneous insects, 4 j)ercent, and spiders, with a few 

 snails, 3 percent. 



This sparrow aj^pears to be the greatest eater of beetles of all the 

 sparrow family. Beetles constitute the most important element of its 

 animal food, and are eaten during every month in Avhich stomachs 

 were obtained, though of course in very small quantities during the 

 winter months. In May and June they are so eagerly sought that 

 they form one-third of the entire food of those months. Ground- 

 beetles, leaf -beetles, and weevils (Rhjnicophora) are most frequently 

 selected, but click-beetles, dung-beetles {Aphodius), rove-beetles 

 {Staphylinus) , pill-beetles (Byrrhid^e), and certain allies of the fire- 

 fly (Lampyridje) are also eaten. Of the three groups first mentioned 

 weeA^ls are apparently preferred. These destructive insects are eaten 

 to the extent of several times as much as an}^ other kind. In August 

 11 percent of the food consists solel}^ of weevils, mainly of the genus 

 Siiones and related forms. The leaf-beetles taken include the genera 

 Ch(Btoc7ier)ia and Chlaniys. Some harm is done by the destruction of 

 several of the more useful species of ground-beetles, but as these 

 amount to but 2 i^ercent of the total food they constitute a small 

 offset to the favorable character of the rest of the beetle food. The 

 lepidopterous food does not differ noticeably from that of sparrows 

 generally; that is to say, it consists of Noctuidse, taken usually as 

 larva?. Army worms were found in several stomachs collected in the 



