220 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



food of this species, to which the reader is referred for details. The 

 summary contains the following general statement: "Laboratory ex- 

 aminations of 707 adult and 120 nestling stomachs of the white-necked 

 raven and field examinations covering almost every month show the 

 bird to be an omnivorous and resourceful feeder and demonstrate that 

 its seasonal food is governed largely by the factor of availability. In 

 all, 288 different items (214 of animal and 74 of vegetable origin) were 

 identified (table 5, p. 47), and if all material found in the stomachs could 

 have been specifically identified no doubt the number would have been 

 increased. Although the animal items far outnumbered the vegetable, the 

 total volumes of the two kinds of food were about equal in the adult diet. 

 The nestlings, though, were almost entirely carnivorous." 



Insects made up most of the bulk of the food; grasshoppers (51.21 per- 

 cent) were the largest item, beetles being second in volume, and Lepidop- 

 tera (mostly cutworms and other injurious larvae) third. Hemiptera, 

 such as stink bugs and leafhoppers, were consumed in small quantities, 

 mainly by the nestlings. 



Spiders, earthworms, myriapods, and snails were eaten sparingly. 



"Mammalian food was important in the diet, ranking second in the 

 animal food of the adults and third in quantity in the nestling food. 

 Most of it consisted of carrion, which was obtained chiefly from carcasses 

 of horses, cows, sheep, and rabbits. * * * Small rodents were eaten 

 sparingly. * * ♦ Birds, including domestic poultry, and their eggs were 

 found in but a small proportion of the stomachs. * * * Reptiles and am- 

 phibians formed about 6 percent of the food of the nestlings but only 

 slightly more than 2 percent of that of the adults. * * * 



"Cultivated crops offer the greatest supply of food to the white-necked 

 ravens and so are somewhat responsible for the sporadic concentrations 

 of these birds. Grain sorghums were the most important plant food 

 item found in the stomachs examined and made up more than a fourth 

 of the adult birds' subsistence. * * ♦ Cultivated crops of less importance 

 that are attacked by the raven and may be severely damaged locally are 

 corn, peanuts, melons, tomatoes, castor-beans, sunflower seeds, and 

 pears. ♦ * * Wheat, oats, barley, and rye are minor crops in the raven 

 territory and were not fed on excessively by the birds examined. 



"Wild fruits were consumed in large quantities during the summer and 

 early fall and therefore played an important part in helping reduce the 

 amount of feeding done in cultivated crops at that time." 



Behavior. — In a general way the behavior of the white-necked raven 

 is much like that of its smaller relative, the western crow, though its 

 flight is rather more like that of the larger ravens. Mr. Swarth (1904) 

 writes : 



