acres of neans in the Santa Karia district alone; the i.,''riter personally in- 

 spected several ranches vAore fields as larg.e as 200 acres vere totally des- 

 troyed. During the' same s -ra son, ' agricultural officials estimated that fully 

 3..>5C^Q acres of crops- Vi'oro destroyed in Honterey County. Numerous other' in- 

 stances 'are cited' in'' "The Eoed for Studies in Bird .Control in California," by 

 IV. L, McAtoe,2/ and there -are scores 'of other such reports in unpublished 

 not'rs. ■' . ; • ^ ■. ■ 



:--f. '.'"'' ■ COFTHOL methods' * ■ 



M'ethodo that involve the killing of th ; horned Ic.rks ai:e not discussed 

 in this leaflet. Although such methods have been partially developed, their 

 -p.pplicati.on is so involved v/ith climatic, topographic, arjd ecologic conditions 

 that it is not advisable to discuss t'nerr. here; nor is it practicable to depend 

 on thern for crop protection except under occasional favorable local conditions, 

 Their use is not recomraonded unless under traired- supervision. - 



METHODS OF PRW5FTIFG n.\I^GE ; • 



The development of effective m'ithods of pr, 'venting attach, by homed larks 

 has tjeen progressive, limited onl;/ by the ingenuity of the persons concerned. 

 It is the purpose' of this leaflet to discuss briefly/ the various methods that 

 have be-;'n seen in actual use and to comment upon their effectiveness. 



N0ISE-MAKI1;G DEVICES . 



Sometimes one may see one or more m-on slowly patrolling a field in vfhich 

 crop do.mago is occurrirg and beating energetically and constantly upon tin 

 pans or cans. This method is cormonly practiced only v/'hor'^ , lov/'-iva-'ed foreign 

 labor is f^mployed. Effective crop protection by its use dom.ands so large a 

 number of men for any sizable planting that it imiaodiately becomes uneconomi- 

 cal and imipractical , In any case, if too few men are used, the bands of ' '' 

 horned larks drift along ahead or alight in, another part of the field vmero 

 they continue their feeding. 



SHDOTITIG O.R HERDIFG OFF 



Herding off v/ith guns has proved too costly i^i labor and arimunition, and 

 is generally inefficient and impracticable. Th^- horried larks keep Just out 

 of gun shot, and because of their ../reundlike color they arct difficult to see 

 at any distance, Th .■ Kings County packin.g company's planting of spinach 'in 

 1952, already mentioned, v/as patroll.:;d by 2i| nen,_ one to each 10 acres, at a 

 cost of ■;>1,300 for l',ibor and vTOO for amm.unition, yet a sixth of the planting 

 Y/as a total loss.' Although som;o -xceptims may be netod, this is a fair 

 example of . the futilit;',' of the herding method. - ■• . . 



2/ Calif-mia State Department of Agriculture, Iionthly Bulletin XXI 

 (ii-6): 269-286. April- June 1932. 



