PRINCIPAL INSECTS EATEN. 59 



liarity may be explained by the fact that the larvae, as a rule, live in 

 more hidden situations and are more difficult to find than the irnagos. 

 Bat Crows derive a great deal of their food from the insects living in 

 dung heaps and dead animals where Dipterous and other larvae abound; 

 still these are but rarely met with in the stomachs. A marked excep- 

 tion to this rule is the frequent occurrence of spiders, and more espe- 

 cially species of the family Lycosidae, or ground spiders. 



4. It would seem that Crows have a predilection for insects possess- 

 ing a pungent or otherwise strong taste or odor. This is exemplified 

 by the prevalence of Carabidae (among them the often recurring genus 

 Chlcenius, possessing a peculiar odor), coprophilous or necrophagous 

 Coleoptera (Silphidae, Histeridae, and Scarabaeidae Laparosticti), ants, 

 and more especially by the almost constant occurrence of certain species 

 of the Heteropterous family Pentatomidae. 



5. Finally, as a peculiarity of very little importance, may be men- 

 tioned the fact that insects of a bright, and more especially golden, 

 color are apparently very attractive to Crows and are eagerly picked up 

 by them. Thus Calosoma calidum, with its bright golden elytral spots, 

 is met with in a large number of stomachs from various localities. 1 

 Very often only little elytral fragments of this species are found which 

 would seem to indicate that the birds even pick up the elytra of dead 

 beetles. Another striking illustration is furnished by the frequent 

 occurrence of Euphoria fulgida, with its peculiar golden-green color. 

 Other examples are the Cicindelidae, Pterostichus sayi 1 Gcotrypes splen- 

 didtiSy Phanceus camifex, and others. 



If we now proceed to a consideration of the insects eaten by the Crow 

 it is at once evident that a mere list of them, comprising as it does 

 several hundred species, is only bewildering and misleading. If all the 

 numerous species which occur only once or at best in a small number of 

 stomachs and in limited numbers are eliminated, and only those species 

 are taken into consideration which occur in a large number of stomachs 

 and most of which are represented by a very large number of speci- 

 mens; finally, if we divide the latter class of insects into several con- 

 venient groups, each defined by similarity in food habits, we arrive at a 

 certain number of clearly established and characteristic features in the 

 food habits of the American Crow. The writer confidently asserts that, 

 while an examination of several hundred additional stomachs would no 

 doubt greatly increase the list of insects eaten by Crows, it would not 

 alter, in the least, nor materially add to, the characteristic features now 

 arrived at. 



It is possible that in the extreme Southern States, as well as in the 

 far West, some other features in the food of the Crow would appear 



x No traces of our common and bright-colored Calosoma scrutator and G. wilcoxi 

 have been found in the stomachs, but this is easily explained from the habits of 

 these species which live in the woods and are more or less arboreal, whereas C. cali- 

 dum is strictly terrestrial and frequeuts pastures and fields. 



