46 USEFUL BIRDS. 



food. They were designated by number. On August 20 

 No. 1 weighed seventeen ounces and Xo. 2 fourteen ounces. 

 That day the two birds liad two ounces of tomato, five ounces 

 of sweet corn, fifty grasshoppers (about three-fourths of an 

 ounce ) , — in all, nearly eight ounces, — and they also had free 

 access to some grain in the yard. As their weight remained 

 the same, they were fed the next day one-half ounce of 

 tomato, one ounce of corn, one ounce of muskmelon, five 

 ounces of meat, one ounce of beets, and fifty grasshoppers, 

 — in all, fully nine ounces. An apple also was eaten to 

 some extent, and there was still some grain in the yard. 

 Nevertheless, each bird lost about an ounce in weight that 

 day. 



They were fed at about the same rate the following day, 

 and, as they were losing weight, they were given on the 

 23d two ounces of melon, all the grasshoppers that could be 

 collected near their place of confinement, four frogs, a sala- 

 mander, two ounces of tomato, and five ounces of corn. On 

 this diet the Crows regained some of the weight they had 

 lost, weighing the next morning sixteen and one-half and 

 thirteen and one-half ounces respectively. On the 24th they 

 were fed more than twelve ounces, and the larger bird lost 

 half an ounce and the smaller gained about the same weight. 

 On the 25th they received over seventeen ounces of food, 

 the smaller bird gaining another half ounce and the larger 

 bird remaining the same. No. 1 now weighed sixteen ounces 

 and No. 2 fourteen and one-half ounces. The next day, 

 with twelve ounces of food, the smaller bird lost one-half 

 ounce and the larger bird made no gain. Evidently where 

 any gain -svas made by one bird on this amount of food the 

 bird either got more than its share, or found some food in 

 the yard. 



On August 28 nearly twenty-seven ounces of food were 

 given. This was all vegetal matter except thirty grass- 

 hoppers (one-third of an ounce). It was all eaten, and 

 apparently all needed, for neither bird increased in weight, 

 No. 1 losing half an ounce. It seemed evident throughout 

 the experiment that the birds required much animal food, 

 and when vegetal food alone was given, a larger amount 



