86 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



Geranium {Geranium carolinianum) 1 



Mustard (Brassica nigra) 1 



Miner's lettuce ( Montia perfoliata) 26 



Red maids ( Calandrinia menziesi) 6 



Pigweed ( Chenopodium album) 1 



Rough pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) 113 



Spurry (Spergula arvensis) 12 



Chickweed (Stellaria media) 32 



Catchfly (Silene sp.) , 3 



Knotweed (Polygonum sp.) 44 



Sorrel (Rumex sp.) 16 



Brome grass (Bromus sp.) 4 



Wild oats (Avenafatua) 14 



Timothy (Phleum pratense) 1 



Canary seed (Phalaris caroliniana) 2 



Fox tail (Chaetochloa sp.) 1 



Panic grass (Panicum sanguinale) 4 



Sedge ( Carex sp.) 8 



Unidentified 97 



As usual, the unidentified were either ground to pulp or were seeds 

 of some unknown grass. Evidently the rough pigweed seed (Ama- 

 ranthus) is the favorite. Several stomachs contained nothing else. 



SUMMARY. 



The economic status of the song sparrow can be summarized in a 

 few words. It eats a comparatively small number of insects, the 

 majority of which are noxious. Fruit and grain are eaten so little 

 as to be of no consequence. Nearly three-fourths of the diet consists 

 of seeds of weeds, most of which are a nuisance. Neither stomach 

 examinations nor field observations furnish evidence that the song 

 sparrow does any harm. 



SPOTTED TOWHEE. 



(Pipilo maculatus and subspecies.) 



Under one or other of its several subspecific forms the spotted 

 towhee occurs almost throughout California. As it is resident over 

 much of its range, the good or harm it does continues through the 

 year. It is eminently a bird of the ground and underbrush, and 

 delights in the thickest shrubbery, where it scratches among the dead 

 leaves and twigs. Anyone who approaches the bushes too closely 

 will probably see the bird depart from the opposite side and plunge 

 into another thicket, and in this way one may chase it for hours with 

 no more than an occasional glimpse. This bird is not common about 

 orchard or garden, the chaparral-covered hillsides and canyons being 

 more congenial resorts. It is abundant and widely distributed, and 

 hence is comparatively important from an economic point of view. 



For the investigation of the food of this bird 139 stomachs were 

 at hand, collected in every month of the year, though November to 

 May inclusive were not represented as fully as was desirable. The 



