68 THE EELATIOE" OF SPAEKOWS TO AGRICULTURE. 



the entire year, but this percentage is probably larger than it would 

 have been had the stomachs which were examined been collected from 

 more localities. Most of the birds that had eaten largely of these 

 seeds were obtained during the months of November, December, and 

 January in southern California, and to quite an extent from newly 

 sown alfalfa fields. 



About half of the remaining 30 percent of the food consists of rag- 

 weed and polygonum nearl}^ equally divided, while the rest is made 

 up of a variety of weed seeds, among which those of wild sunflowers 

 and purslane appear the most prominent, while wood sorrel (Oxalis), 

 lamb's-quarters, and amaranth play a minor part. 



From this investigation it appears that the lark sparrow merits a 

 high place among the useful tenants of the farm. The weed seed 

 destroyed more than twice outweighs the grain consumed, Avhich, as 

 shown, is probably not taken in a harmful way; and beneficial insects 

 do not rise to 1 percent of the food, while injurious insects amount 

 to 25 percent. 



HARRIS'S SPARROW. 



(Zonotncliia querula.) 



Harris's sparrow occurs from Saskatchewan south to Texas, and is 

 not found regularl}^ west of Montana or east of Illinois. It rivals the 

 fo^ sparrow in size, and is of most striking appearance in its summer 

 dress, with its gloss}^ black crown and throat, large reddish beak, and 

 bright coat of the usual sparrow mixture of colors. In winter the 

 black is lost from the plumage and the bird resembles a long-tailed 

 iuimature male English sparrow. 



In habits Harris's sparrow is most like its two congeners, the white- 

 throated and white-crowned sparrows. Nehrling speaks of observing 

 It in Texas during November mixed in with flocks of thousands of 

 juncos, white-crowned, and field sparrows. In these fiocks there were 

 seldom more than six to twelve Harris's sparrows. He caught several 

 and kept them in confinement. They became tame and relished 

 grasshoppers, moths, beetles, millet, kafir corn, and canary seed. 



One hundred stomachs have been examined, which were collected 

 principall}^ in Saskatchewan, Kansas, and Texas, from October to May, 

 inclusive. As is the case with many of the birds that breed for the 

 most part to the north and merely winter with us, the stomach con- 

 tents are chieflj^^egetable in character, the animal matter amounting 

 to but 8 percent. This 8 percent comprises about the same kinds of 

 insects, spiders, and snails that enter into the fare of other sparrows, 

 but the quantity of leaf -hoppers is unusually large (2 percent of the 

 food), a taste which this sparrow shares with the sharp-tailed sparrow 

 and Thurber's junco. Of the vegetable food, 25 percent is made up 

 of the seeds of wild fruits and various miscellaneous plants of uncer- 

 tain economic position; 10 percent of grain, which includes rather 



