46 USEFUL BIllDS. 



food. They were designated by number. On August 20 

 No. 1 weighed seventeen ounces and No. 2 fourteen ounces. 

 That day the two birds had two ounces of tomato, five ounces 

 of sweet corn, fifty grasshoppers (about three-fourths of an 

 ounce ) , — in all, nearly eight ounces, — and they also had free 

 access to soine grain in the yard. As their weight remained 

 the same, they were fed the next day one-half ounce of 

 tomato, one ounce of corn, one ounce of muskmeloii, five 

 ounces of meat, one ounce of beets, and fifty grasshoppers, 

 — in all, fully nine ounces. An apple also Avas eaten to 

 some extent, and there was still some grain in the yard. 

 Nevertheless, each bird lost about an ounce in weight that 

 da y . 



They were fed at about the same rate the following day, 

 and, as they were losing Aveight, they were given on the 

 2Hd two ounces of melon, all the grasshoppers that could be 

 collected near their place of confinement, four frogs, a sala- 

 mander, two ounces of tomato, and five ounces of corn. On 

 this diet the Crows regained some of the Aveight they had 

 lost, Avcio-hinof the next mornino- sixteen and one-half and 

 thirteen and one-half ounces respectively. On the 24th they 

 were fed more than tAvelve ounces, and the larger bird lost 

 half an ounce and the smaller gained about the same Aveight. 

 On the 25th they received over seventeen ounces of food, 

 the smaller bird g-aininii: another half ounce and the larger 

 bird remaining the same. No. 1 now Aveighed sixteen ounces 

 and No. 2 fourteen and one-half ounces. The next day, 

 Avith twelve ounces of food, the smaller bird lost one-half 

 ounce and the larger ])ird made no gain. Evidently Avhere 

 an}" gain Avas made by one bird on this amount of food the 

 bird either got more than its share, or found some food in 

 the yard. 



On August 28 nearly twenty-seven ounces of food Avere 

 given. This Avas all Acgetal matter except thirty grass- 

 hoppers (one-third of an ounce). It was all eaten, and 

 apparently all needed, for neither bird increased in weight, 

 Xo. 1 losing half an ounce. It seemed evident throughout 

 the experiment that the birds required much animal food, 

 and Avhen A'egetal food alone AA^as given, a larger amount 



