Some Common Birds Useful to the Farmer 
15 
37 of these insects. This seems to show conclusively that grasshoppers are 
preferred, and are eaten whenever they can be found. Especially notable 
is the great number taken in August, the month when grasshoppers reach their 
maximum abundance; stomach examination shows that large numbers of birds 
resort at this time to this diet, no matter what may be the food during the 
rest of the year. 
Next to grasshoppers, beetles make up the most important item of the 
meadowlark’s food, amounting to 25 per cent, about one-half of which are pre¬ 
dacious ground beetles. The others are all harmful species. 
Forty-two individuals of different kinds of May beetles were found in the 
stomachs of meadowlarks, and there were probably many more which were 
past recognition. To this form and several closely allied ones belong the 
numerous white grubs, which are among the worst enemies to many cultivated 
crops, notably grasses and grains, and to a less extent strawberries and garden 
vegetables. In the larval stage they eat the roots of these plants, and being 
large, one individual may destroy several plants. In the adult stage they feed 
upon the foliage of trees and other plants, and in this way add to the damage 
which they began in the earlier form. As these enemies of husbandry are not 
easily destroyed by man, it is obviously wise to encourage their natural foes. 
Among the weevils found in the stomachs the most important economically 
are the cotton-boll weevil and the recently introduced alfalfa weevil of Utah. 
Several hundred meadowlarks were taken in the cotton-growing region, and 
the boll weevil was found in 25 stomachs of the eastern meadowlark and in 1(3 
of the western species. Of the former, one stomach contained 27 individuals. 
Of 25 stomachs of western meadow¬ 
larks taken in alfalfa fields of Utah, 
15 contained the alfalfa weevil. In 
one stomach 23 adults were found, 
in another 32 adults and 70 larvse, 
still another had 10 adults and 40 
larvae, and a fourth had 4 adults 
and 100 larvae. 
Caterpillars form a very constant 
element of the food, and in May 
constitute over 24 per cent of the 
whole. May is the month when the 
dreaded cutworm begins its deadly 
career, and then the lark does some 
of its best work. Most of these 
caterpillars are ground feeder's, 
and are overlooked by birds which 
habitually frequent trees, but the meadowlark finds and devours them 
by thousands. The remainder of the insect food is made up of ants, wasps, 
and spiders, with some bugs, including chinch bugs, and a few scales. 
The vegetable food consists of grain and weed and other hard seeds. Grain 
in general amounts to 11 per cent and weed and other seeds to 7 per cent. 
Grain, principally corn, is eaten mostly in winter and early spring and con¬ 
sists therefore, of waste kernels; only a trifle is consumed in summer and 
autumn, when it is most plentiful. No trace of sprouting grain was discovered. 
Clover seed was found in only six stomachs, and but little in each. Seeds of 
weeds, principally ragweed, barnyard grass, and smartweed, are eaten from No¬ 
vember to April, inclusive, but during the rest of the year are replaced by insects. 
Briefly stated, more than half of the meadowlark’s food consists of harmful 
insects • its vegetable food is composed either of noxious weeds or waste grain; 
and the remainder is made up of useful beetles or neutral insects and spiders. 
A strong point in the bird’s favor is that, although naturally an insect eater, it 
is able to subsist on vegetable food, and consequently is not forced to migrate 
in cold weather farther than is necessary to find ground free from snow. 
THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS 
The red-winged or swamp blackbird 42 in its various forms (fig. 14) is found 
all over the United States and the region immediately to the north. While 
common in most of its range, its distribution is more or less local, mainly on 
Fig. 13. —Meadowlark. Length, about 10 
inches. 
42 Agelaius phoeniceus. 
