Birds as Destroyers and Distributers of Weed Seeds. 79 



having been from twelve to twenty-one hours in the stomachs of 

 different birds of prey ; and two seeds of beet grew after having been 

 thus retained for two days and fourteen hours." 



"Other and unknown agencies probably have also played a 

 part. I have stated that fresh-water fish eat some kinds of seeds, 

 though they reject many other kinds after having swallowed them ; 

 even small fish swallow seeds of moderate size, as of the yellow 

 water-lily and Potamogeton. Herons .and other birds, century after 

 century, have gone on daily devouring fish ; they take flight and go 

 to other waters, or are blown across the sea ; and we have seen that 

 seeds retain their power of germination when rejected many hours 

 afterwards in pellets or in the excrement." (p. 539). 



Beal (c. 17, p. 74) has shown that the Wren Tit (Chamaea 

 fasciata), the California Thrasher (Toxostoma rediviva), and other 

 species disseminate the seeds of poison oak (Rhus diversiloba). 



Judd (75, p. 62) writing on this subject, states: "The large 

 consumption of wild fruit results in a wide distribution of seeds, 

 which are voided by birds and germinate where they are dropped. 

 Some observations on crows will illustrate this dispersion. 



"On November 17th, 1899, a large flock on the wing was 

 noticed in the distance, . . . they came on down the river in a 

 line that, at times, stretched almost from one bank to the other. 

 . . . The flock numbered at least a thousand, and hoarse caws 

 and croaks gave evidence that it was made up to some extent of fish 

 crows. After the birds had remained on the shore fifteen minutes 

 they were put to flight by a farmer's boy, and flew on down the 

 river, lessening to specks, and finally disappearing on the horizon. 



" Going to the place where they had alighted, I found th 

 sandy beach cut up for more than a hundred yards with their 

 tracks. Many led out to the water, and floating black feathers 

 here and there showed where baths had been taken. The most 

 interesting trace of their sojourn, however, was several hundred 

 pellets of fruit material which they had ejected through their 

 mouths and dropped on the ground. 



"These pellets were about an inch in length and half an inch 

 in diameter. They were of a deep purplish colour, due to the fruit 

 of woodbine, wild grape, and pokeberry, of which they were mainly 

 composed. In fifty pellets collected there were only eleven seeds of 

 other plants namely, holly, bitter-sweet, and poison ivy. Poke- 

 berry seeds were by far the most numerous. Mr. A. J. Pieters, of 

 the Botanical Division of the [U.S.] Department of Agriculture, 

 germinated some of them, thus demonstrating the fact that they 

 were distributed uninjured. 



