86 THE KELATION OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 



baffled by the wonderful protective adaptations of these beetles, many 

 of which harmonize with their surroundings so completely as to be 

 practically invisible to human eyes. The particular weevils most often 

 selected include such forms as Baris, Sphenophorus, Centrinus, 

 Sitones, Fhytonomus, and Tanymecus. 



The Scarab?eid?e eaten are for the most i)art the smaller forms of 

 dung-beetles, especially Aphodius fimetarius and Apliodius inquina- 

 tus. The song sj^arrow does not, as a rule, attack such large forms as 

 the May-beetle, but it probably feeds to some extent on medium-sized 

 closely related forms, Serica vespertina and others, as it frequently 

 prej'S on beetles of this size, such as those of the genus Anomcda. 



The rest of the animal food amounts to 2 percent of the total food, 

 and is made up of snails, largely such aquatic species as pond snails; 

 spiders, chief! 3' running species belonging to the familj^ Lycosid^e ; and 

 some few thousand-legs of the genus Jidus and closely allied forms. 



Taking the food habits of the song sparrow as a whole, it will be 

 readih' seen that this bird does much more good than harm and is 

 worthy of protection and encouragement. Only 2 percent of the food 

 consists of useful insects, while 18 percent is composed of injurious 

 insects; and grain, largely waste, amounts to only 1 percent, while 

 the seeds of various species of weeds constitute 50 percent. 



LINCOLN'S SPARROW. 



{JMelospiza lincolni. ) 



Lincoln's sparrow breeds in the highest i^arts of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains and the Sierra Xevada and from the northern tier of States to 

 Labrador and the Mackenzie and L^pper Yukon rivers. In winter it 

 is found throughout the southern half of the United States, but is rare 

 and locall}^ distributed in the East, To the untrained eye, it is prac- 

 tically' indistinguishable from its congener, the ubiquitous song spar- 

 row; but it is as distrustful as the song sparrow is coniiding. 



Onh^ 31 stomachs of this species have been examined. These were 

 collected during the months of Februarj^, April, May, September, 

 and October, mainh^ in Massachusetts and New York. Tne food dur- 

 ing these months, as indicated by the stomachs, consists of animal 

 matter, 12 percent, and of vegetable matter, 58 ijercent. The animal 

 matter is made up of 2 percent spiders and millepeds and 40 percent 

 insects. Useful insects, largely Hymenoptera, with some predaceous 

 beetles form 1 percent of the food, and injurious insects, 12 percent. 

 Neutral insects, including beetles, ants, flies, and some bugs, amount 

 to a fourth of the food. More ants (principally Mja-micidae) and fewer 

 ■grasshoppers are destroyed than by the song sparrow. The vegetable 

 matter is divided as follows: Grain, 2 percent; seeds of ragweed and 

 various species of Polygonum, 13 X3ercent; grass seed, 27 percent, and 

 miscellaneous seeds, principally^ weeds, 16 percent. 



