288 Judd, Food of the English Sparrozv and Crow. \o^ 



and harmless sumach. The Crow takes a large proportion of 

 corn during the winter, and may often be seen in large flocks 

 visiting corn stacks. The quantity of insects eaten during the 

 winter is small, for the Crow during the cold weather subsists 

 principally upon vegetable matter. 



Being anxious to learn how Crows glean a living when the ground 

 is snow-covered, I went to Arlington, Va., on the 15th of last 

 December. A flock of fifteen Crows was on the ground at the 

 edge of the wood on the south side of a hill, where the snow had 

 melted enough to leave bare spots as large as saucers. The dusky 

 fellows were busily overturning leaves, and picking up something. 

 They arose as I came quite near, and the several that cawed were 

 Common Crows (Corvns amerkanus). The ground where the 

 birds had been looked as though it had been raked. Beside 

 turning over the leaves, the Crows had picked into the earth. 

 Upon turning over some leaves that had not been disturbed, I 

 found berries of dogwood and sour-gum, and living insects. The 

 berries at this time of year do not hang on the trees. Although 

 no insects were found where the Crows had searched, under sev- 

 eral leaves that had not been disturbed I found several spiders 

 (Drossus), leaf-hoppers (Proco/i/a), ants (Camponotus ma/Zeus), a 

 ladybird (Coccinella g-punctata), a harlequin cabbage bug (Murgantia 

 histronka) , and several smaller bugs. If the Crow were less wary 

 it would be much easier to learn how it obtains insect food in 

 winter. This same day I saw dozens of Crows in red cedar trees 

 feeding upon the berries. 



On March 15 I had another opportunity of seeing how Crows 

 find food when the ground is covered with snow. On the south- 

 ern side of the Washington ' Zoo,' which is a picturesque depression 

 among rugged hills, was a field with several snow capped manure 

 heaps which the crows had been making tracks about. In many 

 places the snow, which was two inches deep, had been brushed 

 away, and a shallow excavation dug in the frozen manure. Here 

 apparently the only food was a large number of plump oat seeds 

 which were filled with a soft white mass. I hope next winter to 

 watch Crows at meal times when the ground is covered with a foot 

 or more of snow. 



There is much to be done in the study of the feeding habits 



