HIGH-FLAVOURED DAINTIES 73 



Hedge-Sparrow, but even carrying off a young 

 Song- Thrush a feat nearer actual cannibalism than 

 any of those recorded above of birds usually reckoned 

 as predatory. 



Predatory birds of all families, by the way, gener- 

 ally agree in their liking for mice ; and these " smelly " 

 little rodents are likewise much appreciated by omni- 

 vorous feeders. Fowls and Ducks will swallow them, 

 and in experiments on the feeding of the common 

 Crow of America (Corvus americanus), in captivity 

 the experimenters found that it appeared to be 

 impossible for a Crow to be so full that he would 

 refuse a mouse, and that timid new-caught speci- 

 mens would crowd to the front of the cage to seize 

 one. And we all know the service that Gulls and 

 Rooks, as well as Owls and Hawks, did in the vole 

 plague in Scotland a few years ago. 



American investigators have also found that 

 Crows especially affect, as investigation of stomach- 

 contents shows, strong-smelling beetles, so that 

 it is not safe to put down an insect as unpalatable 

 simply because it smells nasty to us. In India I 

 have found the great and very foul-odoured cock- 

 roach (Periplaneta americana), an exotic and usually 

 an indoor insect, was readily accepted not only 

 by the Racket- tailed Drongo (Dissemurus paradiseus) 

 and Babbling-Thrush in captivity, but also by the 

 Brown Shrike outside, while I saw Kites and 

 Sparrows also feed on casual specimens they had 

 obtained. 



It is perhaps rather significant, however, that 



