60 THE COMMON CROW. 



besides those enumerated below; for only a single stomach from 

 Florida and one from Oregon were among those submitted for exami- 

 nation. There were also only a few stomachs from Kansas 1 and 

 Nebraska. Since all the other stomachs were collected at various 

 places in the region extending from Virginia to Maine, and west to 

 Iowa and Wisconsin, we should expect that the difference in thefaunal 

 regions would produce a corresponding difference in the food supply of 

 the Crow. But these differences are of slight importance, and with a 

 single exception the main features of the food of this bird remain 

 wonderfully uniform throughout this whole region. 



The following groups of insects representing the principal food sup- 

 ply of the Crow are arranged according to their relative importance, 

 but this sequence might undergo some changes if an equal number of 

 stomachs from all parts of the country were available for examination. 

 Of the stomachs submitted, those from Virginia, the District of Colum- 

 bia, and Maryland greatly outnumber those from all other localities 

 combined. 



1. Grasshoppers (Acridiidae). — During the months of May and June, 

 i. e., during the May-beetle (Lachno sterna) season, grasshoppers, mostly 

 of the genus Tettix, occur in the vast majority of stomachs, but with 

 few exceptions in moderate numbers only. With the disappearance of 

 the May beetles (toward the end of June) specimens of the typical 

 locusts (grasshoppers — Melanoplus and allied genera) increase in nun^ 

 ber until in the month of August and throughout the fall they constitute 

 by far the greatest part of the insect food, often occurring in astonish- 

 ing numbers, and often forming the only insect food. Grasshoppers 

 are also largely picked up in winter, evidently on warm days and 

 when there is no snow on the ground. 



2. Dung beetles. — Under this heading the following Coleoptera are 

 comprised: Species of Silpha and Hister, the Scarabaeid genera Copris, 

 Onthophagus, Aphodius^ and allied genera. Certain species of Staphyli- 

 nus are also included here, which, although insectivorous, confine their 

 operations to the droppings of domestic animals. Dung-inhabiting 

 dipterous larvae or their pupae were, however, met with in only a few 

 stomachs, and the same may be said of the larvae of dung beetles. A 

 larger or smaller number of these dung beetles, and more especially of 

 the Scarabaeid genera just mentioned, or at least single specimens 

 thereof, occur in most of the stomachs from all localities and through, 

 out the whole year, and in many instances comprise the greater bulk 

 of the insect food. 



3. Ground beetles (Carabidae). — These occur likewise in the vast major- 

 ity of stomachs from all localities and throughout the year, and the list 

 of the species thus found is a very extended one. The genera most fre- 

 quently present are: Calosoma, Carabus, Chlamius, Pterostichus, Harpa- 



1 Since this was written 21 additional stomachs from Kansas have been examined 

 by Mr. Schwarz, but without essentially modifying his conclusions. — W. B. B. 



