32 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICTTLTUEE. 
Weevils composed nearly 24 per cent of the lark sparrow's food and 
were present in all but one of the stomachs examined. With the 
exception of one bird collected in the season of 1911 all had been 
feeding on the adult form of the insect, it being eaten at an average 
of over five apiece. Fifteen was the highest number taken by a 
single bird. 
About half of the remaining animal food (7.3 per cent) was cater- 
pillars, with click beetles ( Elate ridae) and clover-root curculios 
(Sitones sp.) next in order. The vegetable portion, 62.5 per cent, 
was divided between grain and weed seeds. The former, composing 
about two-thirds of it, may, to a certain extent, have been picked 
up from newly sown fields, but no serious complaints have been 
made against this bird. 
Six lark sparrows collected in June show a considerable increase 
in the amount of weevils eaten (31.2 per cent). The insect was 
present in each of the stomachs at an average of about 7 adults 
and 7 larvae per bird. In one the 4 adults and 30 larvae present 
formed 77 per cent of the food. Caterpillars and grasshoppers, 
totaling about 14 per cent each, are the most important of other 
animal food items. The clover-root curculio {Sitones sp.), 
which is abundant in many sections, was present in small numbers 
in four of the six stomachs. The vegetable portion was again char- 
acterized by waste grain, which composed nearly a third of the 
contents. 
In July the insect formed nearly 30 per cent of the food and was 
eaten by each of the 11 sparrows secured at the average rate of about 
7 adults and 7 larvae, the same as for the preceding month. 
The best record for the month and for the species was 13 adults and 
49 larvse, while the bill of the bird eating them contained 6 addi- 
tional larvae. Caterpillars, occurring in seven stomachs, were next 
in importance and composed 16 per cent of the remaining animal 
food. The vegetable element, which formed nearly half of the 
food, was, as in the two preceding months, noteworthy for its high 
proportion of grain (45.5 per cent). 
A single bird collected in August had eaten several adults of the 
year's brood, amounting to 8 per cent of its food. The remaining 
portion of the stomach contents was entirely wheat. 
Summary. — The claim that the lark sparrow is a greater lover of 
grain than most other native sparrows x is apparently substantiated 
by the writer's work in Utah. It is quite possible that some grain 
is secured from newly sown fields or from the ripening or shocked 
crop, but no noticeable losses have been attributed to this bird. As 
an effective enemy of the weevil the lark sparrow must not be over- 
1 Judd, S. D. Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture. Bull. 15, Biol. Survey, U. S. Dept. 
of Agr., 1901. 
