10 BULLETIN 107, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTURE. 
SAY'S PHCEBE. 
(Sayornis say us.) 
Only three stomachs of Say's phoebe were available for examina- 
tion. In one a single adult weevil was found, a dark-colored and 
much-worn specimen which had hibernated. The remainder of the 
stomach contents consisted of a varied assortment of flying insects, 
among which were tabanid flies, a cricket, carrion beetles (Silpha), 
a blister beetle (Cantharis) , and several Hymenoptera. 
TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 
(Empidona.r trailli traillu) 
Traill's flycatcher is found in considerable numbers in willow 
thickets along streams and ditches in the Salt Lake Valley. Seven 
birds were obtained when conditions were most favorable for feeding 
on the weevil, but only two had fed on the insect, a single adult 
being eaten in each case. The aerial feeding habits of flycatchers 
as a family naturally limit their consumption of the weevil to the 
warmest of spring days or to the later season when the brood of the 
year takes wing. 
The food taken most frequently was Hymenoptera, ants, wild bees, 
and a few parasitic forms. These were found in each stomach and 
comprised about 43 per cent of the contents. Flies of various kinds 
(17.5 per cent) formed the next most important item, and beetles, 
bugs, and Lepidoptera were eaten in lesser quantities. 
DESERT HORNED LARK. 
(Otocoris alpestris leucolwma.) 
The desert horned lark, a hardy little bird of the open country, is 
an abundant resident throughout the Salt Lake Valley, especially in 
winter, when it is familiarly known by the name of snowbird. It is 
one of the earliest species to breed and frequently its eggs may be 
found when the ground is still white. In early spring horned larks 
often feed in the wind-swept stubble of alfalfa fields, when they 
come in contact with hibernating weevils. Though essentially a 
seed-eating bird, from May to July a considerable proportion of 
animal food, including the larvae of the weevil, is taken. 
Three of the four birds collected in April had fed on the insect, 
the adult form in each case, and it formed about 3-J per cent of their 
food, but only one stomach contained more than one individual. The 
remaining animal food was characterized by a large proportion of 
lepidopterous remains, 'most of which, however, was in a single 
stomach. The vegetable portion, forming over half of the food, was 
composed almost entirely of weed seeds. 
