424 Michigan bird life. 



during the May beetle season the Crow gets a large part of its animal 

 food from the refuse thrown up on the shores of sea, lake or stream. Fre- 

 quently insects are drowned by the million, and anyone who will carefully 

 search the shores of even the smallest pond in May, June and July will 

 find scores if not hundreds of drowned insects. Often the Crow gorges 

 itself with this food, and carries large amounts to its young, the May beetles' 

 almost always forming a conspicuous part. Moreover, myriads of May 

 beetles are injured or killed outright by accident every night, and these 

 dead or maimed beetles are among the commonest objects met with on 

 pavements, roadways and paths everywhere in the early morning. Often 

 they are covered with tiny ants which are trying to tear them to pieces 

 or drag them away, and when the Crow discovers and swallows the beetles 

 he takes the ants as well — the proof of this being evident in scores of the 

 crow stomachs examined. In short, dead insects are just as palatable 

 to the Crow as living ones, and there can be no question that a very con- 

 siderable part of the insects found in the stomachs represent merely so 

 much refuse animal matter, in fact carrion. 



The work done on click beetles and weevils is commendable, but it is 

 very much smaller in amount than that on grasshoppers and May beetles. 

 The other harmful insects eaten are so few that they may be disregarded, 

 even the cut-worms being insignificant. 



Two groups of beneficial insects, however, must be considered, namely 

 the ground beetles (Carabidse) and the soldier bugs (Pentatomida?). The 

 Crow eats these constantly, and although it is impossible to say just how 

 much harm is done in this way, it seems probable, all things considered, 

 that it is sufficient to offset almost completely the good done in eating 

 grasshoppers and May beetles. 



This would leave a small balance in the Crow's favor from the consumption 

 of injurious insects, but, as will be shown directly, this is practically the 

 only credit to which the bird is entitled, and when weighed against the 

 vast amount of harm done in other ways is absolutely insignificant. 



The remaining part of the animal food of the Crow is made up mainly 

 of rabbits, mice and other small mammals; snakes, frogs, toads, and fish; 

 wild birds and their eggs; crayfish, crabs, clams, snails and other shell fish; 

 and carrion. Taking up these items in the order mentioned, we may say 

 at the outset that the evidence afforded by the stomach examinations 

 must be weighed with considerable care in order to avoid misapprehension. 

 For example the presence of flesh or fibres of meat, sinew and bone may 

 mean that the Crow has been eating carrion or that it has been eating some 

 of the birds or mammals already mentioned. The presence of a single 

 tooth, a little hair, or a few entire bones or feathers may enable us to identify 

 this material positively, but in most cases it is still impossible to say whether 

 the remains thus identified are from individuals killed by the Crow or from 

 dead animals, that is carrion. The stomach examinations show that the 

 carrion not otherwise identified amounts to about 3 percent of the entire 

 food; rabbits, mice and other small mammals form about 1.7 per cent; 

 snakes, lizards, frogs, toads and fish form 2.2 per cent; remains of wild birds 

 and their eggs, together with poultry and their eggs, form about 1 percent; 

 crayfish and clams about 1.2 per cent. 



Undoubtedly the Crow destroys a considerable number of young rabbits, 

 pouncing upon them and killing them by blows of the beak and afterwards 

 devouring them. But it also eats any remains of dead rabbits, young or 

 old, which it may find. The same is true of mice, which would seem from 



