34 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
BREWER'S SPARROW. 
(Spizella hreweri.) 
Brewer's sparrow, or the little sagebrush chippy, as it is sometimes 
called, has, like several of its close relatives, learned within the past 
four or five years that alfalfa fields afford an excellent supply of 
animal food. In some localities during May and June there is little 
to choose between the merits of this bird and the savannah sparrow 
as weevil destroyers. 
Brewer's sparrow does not become abundant until May, and in 
this month 14 were obtained. Half of these were taken in the season 
of 1911 when the weevil larvae were well advanced. These insects 
composed 43.43 per cent of the food, and occurred in all but one of 
the stomachs, averaging 2.2 adults and 6.9 larvae per bird. Twenty- 
four larvae was the largest number present in any one stomach. 
The stomach of the bird which had not fed on the weevil was nine- 
tenths full of plant lice, a food item which occurred in 7 of the 14 
stomachs, and amounted to over 38 per cent of the food. In one case 
these insects composed practically the entire contents (97 per cent). 
Caterpillars were present in five stomachs, forming 7.7 per cent. 
Spiders and miscellaneous beetles were estimated at about 3 per cent 
each, and the remaining animal food was of small quantities under 
several heads. The vegetable portion (1.1 per cent) was entirely 
weed seeds. 
Each of the 15 Brewer's sparrows collected in June had fed on the 
weevil. Three were nestlings, but their food differed but little from 
that of adults. In only one instance did the weevil amount to less 
than a fourth of the food, while in one it composed the entire stomach 
contents, 25 larvae being present. Three others were examined in 
which the weevil formed over 95 per cent of the food, these birds 
having eaten 17 larvae, 19 larvae and 1 adult, and 28 larvae, respec- 
tively. The average of 0.4 adult and 15.3 larvae eaten by these birds 
totaled nearly two-thirds (64.6 per cent) of the food. 
Caterpillars superseded plant lice as the next most important food 
during this month, forming 14.5 per cent of the stomach contents, 
while the latter amounted to only about half that quantity. Spiders, 
the only other important component of the animal food, were eaten 
freely by four birds, giving a percentage of 6.13 for the month. 
Merely a trace of weed seeds was present. 
In July 13 of the 17 Brewer's sparrows collected had fed on the 
weevil, but a decrease in the bulk was noted, it composing 44.8 per 
cent of the stomach contents as compared with 64.6 per cent for June. 
There was a slight increase in the number of adults eaten (0.6) and 
a corresponding decrease in the larvae (11.8). The highest number 
of larvae recorded for an individual of this species is 45. These com- 
