wil-.D 3EED8 \- FOOD. 21 
Smartweed and bindweed were eaten by 187 birds, crab grass by L54, 
and the seeds of sedges by more than 150. 
The last are harsh, coarse plants, unsuited for forage, but which 
often adulterate forage crops injuriously. Grass and sedge seeds 
(fig. (') form 26.21 percent <>!* the food of the horned larks. Some of 
these seeds are very small, and a great number of them arc taken 
by the birds at a meal, no fewer than 500 having been found in a sin- 
gle stomach. An equal number of the tumbleweed seeds have been 
eaten by one bird, but of most kinds LOO is a fair meal, and this num- 
ber of foxtail seeds is of ten taken. A- a rule however, the horned 
larks do not make an entire meal of one kind of food, nor do they 
show a decided preference for particular weed seeds, as appear- from 
the very Large number of kinds eaten, no fewer than !'<» species of 
weed and grass seeds having been identified in their food. 
Besides the common weed pests before mentioned, many other 
weeds, harmful in some or all parts of the country, are comprised in 
this list. Black mustard and wild radish, common pests in grain 
fields, are eaten whenever found. These weeds are especially injuri- 
ous in California. Some others, which are only too well known in 
the same State, are eaten freely by the horned larks. The little plant 
known as red maids (Calandrinia), which is very hard to extirpate. 
produces a myriad of small black seeds, which are a favorite food of 
the larks of California. Filaree (Erodium) and the chickweeds 
(Silern and Stellaria) are very persistent weeds in cultivated ground, 
and again, their seeds form a conspicuous portion of the food of the 
horned lark. Bur clover (Medicago denticulate!) (fig. D), very injuri- 
ous to sheep-raising interests, and the Napa thistle (fig. E), or tocalote 
(Gentaurea), a most formidable weed pest in both fields and pastures, 
are eaten. The common sunflower, harmless in the East, but most 
troublesome in many parts of the West, has large, nutritious seeds, 
which are often found in the stomachs of the larks. Dandelion, hoary 
vervain, and doe- fennel are three others of the li-t of tin 1 * LOO worst 
weeds* which are eaten. The seeds () f plants of the genus Solarium 
also, one of which is the troublesome horse nettle, though small, are 
not overlooked. Among the poisonous plants the seeds of which are 
a part of the food of the horned larks is corn cockle (Agrostemma 
githago) (fig. F). The seed of this plant is a serious component of the 
wheat crop, as its weight and size make it- separation from the wheat 
difficult. Animal- are sometimes poisoned from eating wheat with 
cockle in it. and fatal cases of poisoning have been known of men who 
had eaten flour made from such grain. The bird- apparently are not 
affected by the poisonous qualities of the seeds. Corn cockle i- also 
a bad crop-choking weed, and in eating it- seeds the lark- confer a 
double benefit. Pokeweed, another poisonous species, sometimes 
