L2 HORNED LARKS IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 
out the year In all but live of the States in which they regularly occur. 
and in no State arc they specifically exempted from protection. In 
consequence comparatively few horned larks are now captured for food. 
But man is not the only enemy of the larks. Because of the open- 
ness of the country they inhabit, they are always in more <>r less 
dancer from hawks and owls, and the following species have been 
known to kill them: Red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk, marsh 
hawk, prairie falcon, and burrowing and screech owls. Shrikes also 
capture them. 
While the fondness of the horned larks for open country thus exposes 
them to the attack- of rapacious hinls. in farming regions it leads them 
to live on cultivated land, where they enjoy the protection of man. 
Here they are hut slightly affected by the farming operations which 
drive away many birds. They build their nests on the ground in 
exposed situations, and neither woods, shrubbery, nor other protect- 
ing growths are needed to induce them to nest on the farm. In spring 
the wheat fields, pastures, and meadows not yet rankly covered are 
chosen as nesting sites; early summer finds them with their second 
brood in the fields of young corn, and still more belated pairs make 
their homes in the stubble fields. In winter, feeding lots, barnyards, 
and all open fields are favorite foraging grounds, and often they may 
he seen searching for food alone- the much-frequented country road. 
For several years the writer knew of a meadow where these birds 
built their nests and reared their young. They fed in the adjoining 
load and in a cornfield opposite, and were to be found here the year 
through. From these facts it appears that at every season the horned 
lark is closely identified with the farm and thus with the farmer's 
welfare. 
Of the birds examined for the purposes of this bulletin, and accom- 
panied by full data, about four individuals were taken on farming land 
to one taken in uncultivated places. About one-half of the former 
number had eaten insects, somewhat over a third had taken grain 
of some kind, and practically all had eaten weed seeds. A> explained 
elsewhere, most of the grain is obtained along roads and in stubble, 
and hence no injury is done to the farmer. Of the number found away 
from farming regions all had eaten weed seeds, nine-tenths had con 
sinned insects, and about one-half had taken grain. Those larks which 
occur far from cultivated land-, while not directly beneficial to the 
farmer, undoubtedly aid him indirectly by destroying harmful insects 
and weed- which might spread to the farms. 
VEGETABLE FOOD. 
No less than ?.». I percent of the food of the horned larks is vege- 
taUe matter. Of a total of 1.154 birds examined only L^ had eaten 
