ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS TO THE STATE. 



47 



any farther than is necessary to find ground free from snow. This explains why it 

 remains for the most part in the United States during winter, and moves northward 

 as soon as the snow disappears from its usual haunts. 



" There is one danger to which the Meadowlark is exposed. As its flesh is 

 highly esteemed the bird is often shot for the table, but it is entitled to all possible 

 protection, and to slaughter it for game is the least profitable way to utilize a valu- 

 ble species." (Beal.) 



SPARROWS AND FINCHES. Family Fringillidae. 



" While Sparrows are noted seed eaters, they do not by any means confine them- 

 selves to a vegetable diet. During the summer, and especially in the breeding 

 season, they eat many insects, and probably feed their young largely upon the same 

 food. An examination of the stomachs of three species — the Song Sparrow 

 (Melospiza), Chipping Sparrow {Spizella socialis), and the Field Sparrow (Spizella 

 pusilla), shows that one-third of the food consists of insects, comprising many 

 injurious beetles, such as snout-beetles or weevils, and leaf-beetles. Many grasshop- 

 pers are eaten, and in the case of the Chipping Sparrow these insects form one- 

 eighth of the food. Grasshoppers would seem to be rather large morsels, but the 

 bird probably confines itself to the smaller species ; indeed, this is indicated by the 

 fact that the greatest amount (over 36$) is eaten in June, when the larger species 

 are still young and the small species most numerous. Besides the insects already 

 mentioned, many wasps and bugs are taken. Predaceous and parasitic hymenop- 

 tera and predaceous beetles, all useful insects, are eaten only to a slight extent, so 

 as a whole the Sparrows' insect diet may be considered beneficial. 



" Their vegetable food is limited almost exclusively to hard seeds. This might 

 seem to indicate that the birds feed to some extent upon grain, but the stomachs 

 examined show only one kind — oats — and but little of that. The great bulk of 

 the food is made up of grass and weed seed, which form almost the entire diet 

 during the winter, and the amount consumed is immense." (Beal.) 



In his important paper on "The Relations of Sparrows to Agriculture," * Dr. 

 Judd remarks: "It is evident that a group of birds so abundant, so widely dis- 

 tributed, and in such constant association with farms and gardens, must play an 

 important part in rural economy, and that a thorough investigation of their food 

 habits should be useful. The results of such an investigation are embodied in the 

 present paper and amply demonstrate the value of these birds to the agriculturist — 



*BuIl. 15, Div. Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1901, p. 7. 



