The interest in the vegetable food of this bird centers around the grain. Only three kinds, corn, wheat, and oats, were found in appreciable quantities in the stomachs, and they aggregate but little more than 13 per cent of the whole food, oats forming nearly half of this amount. In view of the many complaints that the redwing eats grain, this record is surprisingly small. The crow blackbird has been found to eat more than three times as much. In the case of the crow, corn forms one-fifth of the food, so that the redwinged blackbird, whose diet is made up of only a trifle more than one-eighth of grain, is really one of the least destructive species; but the most important item of this bird's food is weed seed, which forms practically the whole food in winter and about 57 per cent of the whole year's fare. The principal weed seeds eaten are those of ragweed, barn grass, smartweed, and about a dozen others. That these seeds are preferred is shown by the fact that the birds begin to eat them in August, when grain is still readily accessible, and continue feeding on them even after insects become plentiful in April. The redwing eats very little fruit and does practically no harm in the garden or orchard. While it is impossible to dispute the mass of testimony which has accumulated concerning its grain-eating propensity, the stomach examinations show that the habit must be local rather than general. As the area of cultivation increases and the breeding grounds are curtailed, the species is likely to become reduced in numbers and consequently less harmful. Nearly seven-eighths of the redwing's food is made up of weed seed or of insects injurious to agriculture, indicating unmistakably that the bird should be protected, except, perhaps, in a few places where it is too abundant. THE MEADOW LARK, OR OLD FIELD LARK. (_Sturnella magna._) The meadow lark (fig. 11) is a common and well-known bird occurring from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Plains, where it gives way to a closely related subspecies, which extends thence westward to the Pacific. It winters from our southern border as far north as the District of Columbia, southern Illinois, and occasionally Iowa. Although it is a bird of the plains, finding its most congenial haunts in the prairies of the West, it does not disdain the meadows and mowing lands of New England. It nests on the ground and is so terrestrial in its habits that it seldom perches on trees, preferring a fence rail or a telegraph pole. When undisturbed, it may be seen walking about with a peculiar dainty step, stopping every few moments to look about and give its tail a nervous flirt or to sound a note or two of its clear whistle. The meadow lark is almost wholly beneficial, although a few complaints have been made that it pulls sprouting grain, and one farmer claims that it eats clover seed. As a rule, however, it is looked upon with favor and is not disturbed.