20 BULLETIN" 621, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



done by the heterogeneous assortment of beetles eaten. The most 

 serious insect plagues of history have been of grasshoopers and crick- 

 ets, and in some of the Western States the ravages of the migratory 

 species are matters of but yesterday. While the extremely serious 

 outbreaks of early pioneer days may not be repeated, owing to man's 

 encroachment and modification of the breeding range of these insects, 

 the annual losses due to them throughout the country are nevertheless 

 great. 



The crow's yearly consumption of Orthoptera (most of which are 

 Acrididse, the short-horned grasshoppers) amounts to 7.34 per cent 

 of the food, the bulk of which is taken during the latter half of the 

 year. It is not until May that these insects enter strongly into the 

 diet (4.29 per cent). June follows with 5.83 per cent, and then, in the 

 increased amount of this food for July (14.04 per cent), is seen the 

 arrival of the regular summer crop of these pests. August and Sep- 

 tember are represented with even greater quantities (19.14 and 19.24), 

 and the decrease of the insects in October, November, and December 

 is recorded rather irregularly by the percentages of 8.68, 10.73, and 

 2.07, respectively. 



AcRiDiDiE (short-horned grasshoppers, locusts). — The short-horned 

 grasshoppers, or locusts as they are more familiarly known in those 

 Sections where, as migratory hordes, they inflict severe damage, con- 

 stitute by far the greater part of the Orthoptera eaten by the crow. 

 The percentages quoted above for the whole order may well be con- 

 sidered representative of this particular family. Of the 1,340 adult 

 crows, 589 had partaken of grasshoppers. Some stomachs contained 

 only a jaw or leg fragment, estimated as merely a "trace," while 

 others were filled exclusively with the insects, in some cases over a 

 hundred individuals being counted. Inasmuch as a bird's stomach 

 frequently contains the indigestible parts of several previous meals, 

 the large numbers obtained by counting grasshopper jaws is not so 

 surprising. At the same time, when it is considered that an adult 

 crow will eat enough in the course of a day to fill its stomach com- 

 pletely several times, the extent of its destruction of grasshoppers 

 becomes apparent. The nestlings, which require still larger quantities 

 of food for their rapidly growing bodies, are of even greater value in 

 regions where these insects are plentiful (see p. 59). 



An adult crow, secured in Indiana in August, had eaten no less 

 than 123 grasshoppers, these forming over two-thirds of the food. 

 One taken in Maine in May had picked up 108 of a little " grouse 

 locust" {Tettigidea sp.). These chunky little grasshoppers pass 

 the winter in the imago or adult stage and early in spring are 

 often found abroad in considerable numbers. A series of 12 birds 

 secured in Manitoba in July had fed extensively upon grasshop- 

 pers, which were then swarming in the fields. One bird had eaten 



