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OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 250 
Insects compose 83.4 percent of the food, many of which are 
the worst pests of the garden and orchard, as well as of shade and 
forest trees. The most important item is caterpillars, which amounts 
to 34 percent, with beetles following’ a close second. Click beetles 
and their larvae, May beetles, leaf beetles, striped squash beetles 
and weevils are destroyed in larg-e numbers, besides which, wasps, 
bugs, flies, aphids, scale insects, spiders and grasshoppers are taken 
in varying numbers. Fruit, grain, and weed seeds comprise the 
vegetable food (16.6 percent), but only a small part of this is taken 
from cultivated crops. 
ORCHARD ORIOLE, Icterus spurius (Linn.) 
This Oriole is not so well known as the more brilliant Baltimore 
Oriole, though it is not an uncommon bird. Its distribution is local, 
and very largely restricted to orchards; however, it sometimes fre¬ 
quents scattering trees along streams or in parks, but never dense 
timber. The food is very largely insectivorous, the arrival of the 
species occurring with the blossoming of fruit trees, with their 
attendant and abounding insect life. They are of particular service 
to the fruit grower, aiding him in his battle against the insect foes 
of the orchard. The only harm done is the taking of a few berries, 
which is trivial compared with the great good that comes through 
their destruction of insects detrimental to fruit and shade trees. 
MEADOWLARK, Sturnella magna magna (Linn.) 
This useful and handsome species was once considered a game 
bird and is, even yet, in a few states, where an open season is provided. 
During summer, it is common and of uniform distribution over the 
state, but is absent or much reduced in numbers in the northern 
part in winter. As its name implies, it is a lover of meadows and 
fields, especially old fields, and is sometimes called Old-field Lark. 
It is a Lark in name only, in reality a Starling. The song is loud 
but sweet, and is one of the conspicuous sounds of spring. The 
species feeds entirely on the ground, and 73 percent of its food is 
animal matter, consisting entirely of insects. It ranks high as a 
destroyer of grasshoppers, which reach 69 percent of its food in 
August, and even in January one percent is eaten. The saving to 
the hay crop alone by the destruction of this class of insects, justifies 
its protection. Beetles constitute about 18 percent of the food for 
the year, and includes May beetles, weevils, curculios and various 
leaf-eating beetles, while caterpillars and bugs form a constant, 
though varying portion. Weed seeds and grain in equal parts con¬ 
stitute the vegetable portion, the greater part of the grain being 
waste; no sprouted grain is taken. No bird is of greater economic 
importance on grass lands. 
