18 HORNED LARK8 IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 
stomachs of California birds should be regarded as weed seed. Wild 
oats and those wasted in handling the cultivated crops must furnish 
practically all of this grain eaten by these Larks, since there appears 
to be no evidence that they injure cultivated bats at any time. 
OTHBB GRAINS A.ND FORAGE PLANTS. 
Buckwheat is the most important of the other grains eaten by 
horned lark-. All of it is consumed in June and July, and it may he. 
therefore, scattered grain from the early crop, or seed sown for the 
later one. Only nine birds of the entire number examined had eaten 
buckwheat, and it constitutes but little more than one-half of 1 per- 
cent of t In 1 food of the year. Katir corn and other sorghum seeds 
were eaten by some of the horned larks, hut altogether they make up 
less than 1 percent of the total food, and all of this must be waste 
grain. 
Some slight injury to a few of the forage plants may be mentioned 
here. Professor Harrows in his report noted the case of about sixty 
birds which were taken in a newly sown millet field in Michigan. 
Most of these birds had eaten millet seeds to some extent. This is 
the only instance noted in which the horned larks are known to have 
eaten cultivated millet, though they eat great quantities of the seeds 
of the wild species. Some grasses of the genus Paspalwn are included 
among the forage plants, hut most of these are unmitigated nuisances 
a- weeds. To sum up this part of the subject, it may he -aid that if 
any injury to forage plants is done by the horned larks, it i- too 
trifling for serious consideration. 
The loss to grain growers through the agency of the horned larks 
is not. however, t<» he waived aside as of no moment. While it is 
true that on most farms in the United State- enough grain i- wasted 
to {vv<\ all the wild birds that occur on them, sometimes grain is eaten 
that i- not waste, as in the instances above cited. Admitting, then, 
that the shore lark- destroy a certain amount of grain, it may he -aid 
that whenever the damage to crops by birds IS excessive there is an 
easier a- well as a better method o\' dealing with them than by their 
whole-ale de-t ruction. It i- the pail of good husbandry to build and 
keep in repair fences about grain fields to prevent cattle from injur- 
ing the crops, and no one thinks of shooting the animal- when they 
break through. We -imply strengthen the defenses. The birds 
should he dealt with in the same fair-minded way. having due regard 
to the fact that they are generally useful and valuable allies, and that 
the damage they occasionally do can he rendered insignificant or 
wholly prevented by simple and inexpensive means. The use of a 
modern pre-- drill in sowing grain i> the best of these, and is sufficient 
