68 



THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



summer day. The crop, it is true, is often found very full towards evening, 

 and rarely so before noon ; but this is only because in the evening the bird 

 feeds more heavily in order to store up food for the hours of darkness, while 



TABLE I. — Crop Contents ; Material Examined. 



Total number of crop contents examined = 399. 



during the daytime he seldom eats more than the digestive processes can 

 deal with at the time. Hence during the early part of the day the food 

 passes rapidly from the crop to the gizzard and on to the digesting tracts of 



