THE CROW AND ITS RELATION TO MAN". 13 



ScARABiEiDiE (May beetles, white grubs, June "bugs," rose chaf- 

 ers, tumblebugs, etc.). — Of the beetles, the Scarabaeidae are most 

 important, forming 4.28 per cent of the annual food. Of these, May 

 beetles (Phyllophaga) and their larvae, white grubs, constitute by 

 far the largest portion. Keference to the chart on page 42 will show 

 that the area representing the amount of scarabaeid beetles eaten 

 practically coincides with the period of abundance of adult May 

 beetles. These beetles, which at times entirely defoliate trees and 

 shrubs and as larvae extensively injure grass lands, corn, and other 

 crops, are a particularly favorite food of the crow. Twenty-one 

 species were identified in the material from crow's stomachs, a fact 

 which in itself is indicative of the persistence with which these birds 

 hunt. The percentages amount to little during the first three 

 months of the year, but an indication of the year's brood is seen in 

 April, when nearly 5 per cent is recorded. Then come May (the 

 height of the May beetle season) with nearly 21 per cent; June with 

 10.06 ; and July and August with about half that amount. One hun- 

 dred and fifty-six of the 197 adult crows collected in May had fed 

 on these insects. Two birds had eaten nothing else, while several 

 stomachs contained over 90 per cent of this food. In many cases 

 the remains of these beetles were in advanced stages of digestion and 

 formed but a small proportion of the stomach contents, but neverthe- 

 less they furnish striking evidence of the number of May beetles 

 that crows are capable of destroying. Of course, such insect frag- 

 ments are frequently the accumulated debris of several previous 

 meals, but, when it is remembered that birds fill and empty their 

 stomachs several times a day, the work the crow does upon May 

 beetles is of the greatest importance. A female collected April 23 

 in Dallas County, Mo., had picked up 85 of these beetles, which, 

 together with two other scarabaeicls, formed 42 per cent of the food. 

 Two birds taken in the middle of May at Onaga, Kans., had eaten 

 29 and 28 respectively. One secured in Kentucky as early as March 

 31 had devoured 27 of these pests, while no fewer than 22 other adult 

 crows had eaten 10 or more apiece. 



Though crows are generally recognized as one of the important 

 enemies of the white grub, the larva of the May beetle, it happens 

 that the nestlings consume many more than the adult birds (see 

 page 57) , a circumstance logically accounted for, as the parent birds 

 feed the more succulent food to their offspring. Of a total of 1,340 

 adult birds only 55, or 1 out of every 24, had fed on the larvae of 

 scarabaeid beetles. These may not all have been of the genus Phyl- 

 lophaga, as the identification of the remains of these grubs is often 

 difficult owing to the rapidity with which they are digested. An 

 adult crow collected in Manitoba in May had eaten 45 grubs along 

 with fragments of adult Phyllophaga, the whole forming 70 per 



