TRACKS AND TRACKING 



almost entirely of whole cranberries or whole 

 bitter-sweet berries, so that it would seem as 

 if their greediness had led the crows to adopt 

 the old Roman custom, that they might gorge 

 the more. 



Besides seeds and berries the pellets are 

 very apt to contain the shells of the little 

 black-footed umYslYe—MelamiJus—so abun- 

 dant in the salt marshes, as well as those of 

 periwinkles, sea-snails, mussels and clams. 

 Portions of crabs are also common, and occa- 

 sionally one finds bits of June bugs and of 

 tiger beetles, and bones of fish, frogs and 

 mice. 



The fondness of crows for other birds' eggs 

 was clearly revealed to me one May day. A 

 few broken remains of a red-winged black- 

 bird's egg, surrounded by the tracks of a 

 crow— that was all, yet it explains the insist- 

 ent ferocity with which red-wings chase crows 

 from the thickets. The bill of fare of the crow 

 is a varied one ! 



The ring pheasant frequently strides among 

 the dunes, leaving tracks very different from 

 those of the crow; the three toe-marks in 

 front are widely spread, and there is no mark 

 of the hind toe except where he goes down an 



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