48 THE COMMON CROW. 



In regard to the kinds of birds found in the stomachs, it was possible 

 to determine but little. Nestlings, especially when very small, are not 

 easily identified under favorable conditions, while it is almost impossi- 

 ble to name them after they have been plucked, dismembered, and 

 partly digested. Occasionally a piece of a skull, the tip of a bill, or a 

 more or less complete foot would justify a guess at the family or genus 

 to which the victim belonged, and in a single case a few characteristic 

 feathers, together with the early date (April 22, at Washington, D. C), 

 made possible the identification of the species — a young meadow lark. 

 One stomach contained, among other remains, the stomach lining of a 

 small bird, and doubtless the food originally contained in the small 

 stomach had mingled with that properly belonging to the Crow. 

 Another stomach contained nearly the whole of a small bird, including 

 the entire stomach, which still inclosed considerable food, mainly parts 

 of insects and their eggs. In neither case was it possible to identify 

 the bird to which the stomach belonged. 



The eggshells found in Grow stomachs could not be identified abso- 

 lutely in any case, but they yielded .some interesting indications. In 

 two cases the shells were those of either the robin or the wood thrush, 

 and in another case probably belonged to the cat-bird. In five other 

 stomachs the shell fragments were thin and distinctly blue but in such 

 small bits that it was impossible to determine whether they were spot- 

 ted or not. It is probable, however, that most of these eggs belonged- 

 to robins, cat-birds, or thrushes. 



RELATION OF THE CHOW TO REPTILES, FISHES, AND INVERTEBRATES. 



DESTRUCTION OF REPTILES. 



Tortoises. — The examination of Crow stomachs brought to light the 

 somewhat unexpected fact that Grows destroy considerable numbers 

 of young tortoises — or terrapins as they are generally called in Mary- 

 land and Virginia. This item of food is noticeable during April, May, 

 and June. Only young tortoises are eaten, those of very small size 

 predominating, though occasionally larger ones are taken. From lack 

 of material for comparison it was not practicable to identify all the spe- 

 cies represented, but fragments of the snapping tortoise ( Chelydra ser- 

 pentina) were most abundant, although the painted tortoise ( Chrysemys 

 pieta) and the box tortoise (Cistudo Carolina) also occurred frequently. 

 In many cases every trace of tortoise flesh and bones, and even the 

 shell, had disappeared from the stomach, leaving only the horny tips 

 of the jaws, which appeared to resist both the grinding action of the 

 stomach and the dissolving action of the digestive fluids. Many, per- 

 haps most, of the tortoise remains were in the stomachs of nestlings, 

 and in one instance an old Crow, shot as she was approaching her nest, 

 dropped a small tortoise. 



Since this kind of food was taken only during one-fourth of the year 

 the annual average is very small — only about one-sixth of 1 percent of 



