26 
BY THE WAYSIDE. 
A 0.5. Misc. Animal Food 
Ticks 
Snails 
Thousand legs 
Small batrachians 
Sowbugs 
Spiders and cocoons 
No. 6. Grain. 
Clover 
Wheat 
COJIl 
Oats 
The diagram shows that nearly three-quai- 
ters of the meadowlark’s food for the year is 
composed of insects, over 12 per cent, is weed 
seeds, and 15 per cent, is grain. However, an 
examination of the food by months shows that 
all of the grain that is eaten is gleaned from 
stubble fields in the months of January, leb- 
ruary, March, April and December. After the 
month of May, when grain is ripening and is 
being harvested, none is eaten by meadowlarks. 
The favorite food is insects, when they can be 
obtained; for six months of the year the 
amount being over 90 per cent, and during Au¬ 
gust and September over 99 per cent. Even dur¬ 
ing the winter months, when insect life is dor¬ 
mant, the meadowlark finds enough that is hid¬ 
den below the surface of the ground or secreted 
among the grass to furnish a very considerable 
portion of its diet. An examination of the 
table showing the actual kind of food found 
in the 238 stomachs gives further proof of the 
immense economic value of the meadowlaik. 
Grasshoppers and crickets compose over 25 per 
cent, of its food, while an equally large share 
is made up of beetles, among them weevils, 
eurculio, and click-beetles, these latter dui ing 
the larval stage being known as wireworms, 
when they often destroy seed before it has ger¬ 
minated, thus ruining fields of corn and other 
grain at the outset. Meadowlarks also destroy 
cutworms, armyworms and numbers of the pest 
known as the chinch bug. This latter pest has 
destroyed in the United States during the last 
half century grain to the value of over $330,- 
000,000. In some of the Southern States, no¬ 
tably in Georgia, the meadowlark is called the 
wheatbird, as it is claimed it destroys wheat; 
however, the scientific study of its food proves 
this to be an unfounded and erroneous claim. 
Fortunately the meadowlark is protected by 
law in all parts of the country except in the 
following States, viz.: Virginia, North Caro¬ 
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 
Tennessee, Missouri and Idaho. 
The agriculturists of these States should in¬ 
sist that this valuable bird be given absolute 
protection, for by doing so millions of insect 
No. T. Seeds oi Weeds. 
Pigeon grass 
Panic 
Smart weed 
Rag “ 
Gromwell seed 
Black mustard 
Bay berry 
pests will be destroyed daily, and hundreds of 
thousands of dollars will be saved which would 
otherwise be lost. 
Study Points for Teachers and Scholars. 
Is the meadowlark found with you in win¬ 
ter? If not, when does it arrive in the spiing 
and depart in the autumn? Does the lark as¬ 
sociate in flocks? Describe its flight. Describe 
its song. Does it sing while on the ground, or 
while flying? Does it walk or hop? Can you 
identify any of the insects named in the food 
table, either in the larval or adult stage? Car 
you name any other insects that the meadow 
lark feeds upon? 
Beprinted by permission from Educational 
Leaflet, No. 3,* by William Dutcher, Chairman 
Protective Committee, American Ornithologist’s 
Union. 
Letters about the meadowlark should be 
mailed by September 1. 
Prizes and Badges. 
The honor badges for July go to William 
Schneider, La Crosse, and Eva Carr, Uppei 
Alton. 
In September a book will be given to th( 
Wisconsin child who writes the best letter abou 1 
what the birds are doing in August. The let 
ters must be mailed by September 1. 
Wisconsin Prize Letter. 
La Crosse. 
Dear Wayside: —About the middle of April 
while tramping across the country, I found ; 
phoebe’s nest under the eaves of a shed. 1 
was a nest that had been repaired from la,s 
year’s use. In about two weeks there wer 
five whitish eggs. The nest was near the load 
and it was robbed. 
But the birds again went to work to repai 
it and about the middle of May there wei 
again five eggs in the nest. After about tv 
weeks the eggs were hatched. A few day 
later the young were photographed by on 
of my friends. When I visited it on June U 
they were ready to leave the nest. 
William Schneider. 
Illinois Prize Letter. 
Upper Alton. 
Dear Wayside: —In summer we find a gre;i 
many birds flying about in the trees and o 
the ground. They are busy all the day Ion 
