64 THE COMMON CROW- 



The following enumeration of insects, arranged according to orders, 

 comprises those which occurred only in a moderately large number of 

 stomachs and usually only as single specimens, or only in a few stom- 

 achs in large numbers. Some of the insects of this class have already 

 been mentioned. 



Click beetles (Elateridae). — A tolerably large number of species were 

 found, but none of them represented by any considerable number of 

 specimens. The most abundant of these species are Limonius plebejus, 

 Corymbites cylindriformis, Agriotes mancus. Elaterid larvae (wire- 

 worms) were found only in a few isolated instances. 



Lamellicorn beetles. — Lucanid beetles (Lucanus, Passalus) occur occa- 

 sionally, while various species of the Scarabaeid genera, Serica, Hoplia, 

 Anomala, Aphonics, Euphoria, and others, form in the aggregate a not 

 inconspicuous portion of the insect food. The prevalence of Euphoria 

 fulgida, or at least of little fragments thereof, in quite a number of 

 stomachs has been already alluded to. 



Tenebrionidw. — Some specimens of the genus Eleodes, found in the few 

 stomachs from Nebraska and Kansas, lead to the supposition that if a 

 larger number of stomachs from that region could be examined speci- 

 mens of this and allied genera would be found well represented. These 

 beetles, so characteristic to the fauna of the arid region of the West, 

 fulfill most of the requirements of insect food preferred by the Crows ; 

 they are terrestrial, large, hard, and possess a strong, offensive odor. • 



Ants, Bees, and Wasps (Hymenoptera). — Besides Formicids only a 

 very moderate number of species and specimens were found, most of 

 them belonging to the fossorial families Crabonidae and Eumenidae 

 (genus Odynerus). Quite a number of Polistes also occur in various 

 stomachs. 



Flies (Diptera). — The whole order is comparatively poorly repre- 

 sented, and only the following families deserve mention: 



Crane flies (Tipulidae). — These are much less frequently found than 

 one would expect from their great abundance on meadow land. Still, 

 eggs, larvae, and much more rarely pupae and imagos occurred in a 

 moderate number of stomachs. In a few instances eggs were found 

 without any trace of the imago. 



March flies (Bibionidae). — Larvae of this family were found only in a 

 few stomachs, but in very large numbers. They live gregariously under 

 decaying vegetable substances. 



Muscidce. — The small number of the various larvae and puparia, all 

 presumably belonging to coprophagous or necrophagous species, found 

 in the stomachs is in striking contrast with their enormous abundance 

 in the excrement of horses, cattle, etc., or in dead animals. Imagos of 

 these Diptera were found only in exceptional instances. 



Crickets (Gryllidae). — Excepting the Acridiidae, the whole order of 

 Orthoptera is very poorly represented; the only other representatives 

 which occur in a moderate number of stomachs are ground crickets of 

 the genera Gryllus and Nemobius. 



