BLACKBIRD, ORIOLE, AND MEADOWLARK FAMILY. 67 



for the year. In the East the grasshopper season is limited to five 

 months at most, but in California these insects can always be found. 

 This makes it all the more surprising that California meadowlarks 

 do not eat them more freely, but it is noteworthy that nearly every 

 species of terrestrial bird in the East eats a larger percentage of these 

 insects than does the related species on the Pacific coast. The 

 actual percentage of grasshoppers proper eaten by the western 

 meadowlark is even less than the above figures indicate, for the record 

 includes quite a number of crickets, both the black and the brown 

 or wood crickets (Stenopelmatus) . One stomach contained 12 wood 

 crickets. Crane flies (Tipulidse), spiders, sowbugs (Oniscus), and a 

 few snails make up the rest of the animal food, nearly 6 percent. 

 More than half of this item consists of the crane flies (daddy longlegs) 

 found in one stomach taken in April, in which they amounted to 45 

 percent of the stomach's contents. 



The following insects were identified in the stomachs of the western 

 meadowlark: 



COLEOPTERA. 



Calosoma externum. Eurymetopon cylindricum. 



Trisena longula. Blapstinus dilatatus. 



Silpha ramosa. Rhigopsis effracta. 



Dolopius lateralis. Sitones hispidulus. 

 Taphrocerus gracilis. 



ORTHOPTERA. 



Stenopelmatus sp. 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable food of the western meadowlark 

 may be arranged under three heads: Fruit, grain, and weed seed. 

 In one stomach taken in November was found something which was 

 doubtfully identified as fruit pulp, but no other stomach contained 

 a trace of fruit, and this bird has rarely been accused of eating fruit. 



From August to March inclusive, grain is one of the most impor- 

 tant articles of food. The average monthly consumption for the 

 year is 27.5 percent, but for the eight months just indicated the 

 average is 41 percent. In the other four months, that is, from April 

 to July inclusive, which include the ripening and harvesting of the 

 crop, no grain except a little corn was eaten. Grain of some kind 

 was found in 60 of the 91 stomachs, and 4 were entirely filled with it. 

 Corn is eaten only occasionally, and amounts to but 1 percent of the 

 food. It was all taken in May and June. Wheat was eaten from 

 October to January, inclusive. It amounts to over 11 percent for 

 those months, but to less than 4 percent for the whole year. As is 

 usual with grain eating birds, oats are the favorite kind. They were 

 eaten from August to March inclusive, and average nearly 33 percent 

 for those eight months, and for the year a little less than 22 percent. 

 The greatest quantity, nearly 57 percent, was eaten in January, but 



