BIRDS IN RELATION TO THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 39 
Two others had eaten the weevil, and in one of these 12 adults 
formed one-half of the contents while 5 adults and 29 larvse in 
the stomach of the other composed 99 per cent of the food, a single 
seed of dandelion being the only other ingredient. The former of 
these had fed also on a cicada, a grasshopper, an ant, and a little 
grain. The lazuli bunting, aside from its esthetic value, is a bird 
of considerable economic importance. The products of the farm 
seldom enter into its diet, while among its customary food may be 
found the seeds of troublesome weeds and many noxious insects, 
including the alfalfa weevil. 
CLIFF SWALLOW. 
(Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons.) 
With the exception of the rough-winged, the cliff swallow is the 
most abundant swallow in the territory covered by the present in- 
vestigation. As enemies of the alfalfa weevil the most effective 
work of this and other swallows almost continuously on the wing 
is either at the time of the spring flight of the weevil or when the 
brood of the year takes wing later in the season. 
Twenty stomachs of the cliff swallow were examined, three of 
which were of adults and the rest nestlings. The adults were col- 
lected early in June, when the birds were engaged in nest building 
and their stomachs contained 2, 6, and 8 adults, respectively, 
which formed about 12 per cent of the contents. Ground beetles 
composed over 40 per cent of the food. Besides these were found 
fairly large amounts of Hemiptera (bugs), Odonata (dragon flies), 
and aquatic, scarabseid, and other beetles. 
In the stomachs of 17 nestlings collected later in the month the 
weevil formed but a part of 1 per cent of the contents, and was 
present in 7 of the 17 stomachs. In only one, however, did this insect 
occur in considerable numbers, that of a nestling about a week old 
which had been fed 21 adults. Another had eaten 5, and a third, 3. 
As these birds were not far distant from extensive marshy areas, 
large quantities of the small aquatic beetle (Helopkorus lineatus) 
were found in their stomachs. These had been eaten by each of 
the nestlings and formed about a sixth of their food. As many as 
50 of these beetles were found in a single stomach. A small black 
ant occurred in each of the stomachs, in some cases in surprisingly 
large numbers, and in bulk it comprised a little over half of the 
young cliff swallows' food. The remains of flies of several species 
formed over a fourth of the stomach contents. 
The work of all swallows upon the alfalfa weevil is confined to the 
two flight periods of the adult insect. During the earlier flight, when 
the life of the weevil is at its lowest ebb, any reduction of its num- 
