NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS. 51 



tiou is distasteful to Crows is unknown, but it is certain that Crows 

 consume large numbers of toads and frogs. In many cases the warty 

 skin of the toad has been found in the Crow's stomach, showing con- 

 clusively that it is not discarded when the rest of the victim is 

 swallowed. 



Keinains of frogs or toads were found with greater or less frequency 

 in stomachs collected during every month in the year, the aggregate 

 being 151 stomachs out of a total of 909 and the average proportion 

 of the food for the year 1.2 percent. The greater number of these 

 batrachians were eaten in April, May, June, and July, the average 

 for these months being: April, 3.6 percent; May, 3.4 percent; June, 

 1.1 percent; July, 4.2 percent. During these four months frogs and 

 toads formed 3.2 percent of the food of the Crow, a larger amount than 

 any other single item of animal food except insects. In April this food 

 was found in 9 stomachs out of 42, or about 1 in 5; in May it occurred 

 in 99 out of 364, or about 1 in 3J ; in June the number was 27 out of 165, 

 or about 1 in 6, and in July, 6 out of 45, or nearly 1 in 7. During the 

 remainder of the year the amounts were insignificant. 



Most of the remains belonged to the common toad (Bnfo) and various 

 species of frogs (Rana), but several stomachs contained bones of tree 

 frogs (Hyla). 



As to the good or harm resulting from the Crow's consumption of 

 frogs and toads, several points should be considered. Toads are mainly 

 insectivorous, and consume immense numbers of insects, often of the 

 most injurious kinds. Therefore, whenever the Crow kills a toad it is 

 inflicting direct loss on the agriculturist. Frogs, likewise, are purely 

 carnivorous, and consume large numbers of insects; but from their 

 restriction in the maiu to marshy ground and the immediate vicinity 

 of water the insects they are able to catch are of much less economic 

 importance than those eaten by toads. On the other hand, the Crow 

 certainly kills more frogs than toads, and as little harm, but some 

 good, is done by frogs, the balance, on the whole, is unfavorable to the 

 Crow. 



Newts, efts, or salamanders. — These harmless little animals, so often 

 confounded with lizards, form one of the minor items of the Crow's food. 

 They occur all over the United States, except in the arid regions, and 

 in favorable locations some of the smaller species are met with in large 

 numbers. All live in wet, or at least damp, situations, and some pass 

 their entire lives under water. 



The Crow's habit of turning over small stones, chips, and the like 

 favors the discovery of these little amphibians. The largest species 

 found in the stomachs (Desmognathus fusca) did not exceed 4 inches in 

 length, and most of those discovered were scarcely half as large. Con- 

 sequently, even if eaten in considerable numbers, they do not form any 

 large part of the food, since the average for the year amounts to less 

 than one-tenth of 1 percent. In May 34 stomachs out of 364, or 1 in 



