WILD ETCE AND FRUIT. 81 



examination of the castings of Crows at the roosts showed tnat a con- 

 siderable number of seeds of the giant ragweed appeared to be indi- 

 gestible and had been ejected with the other indigestible matter of 

 which the castings are composed, It is possible that such seeds may 

 not have lost their germinating power, but even in that case the num- 

 ber thus distributed would be small and the effect of no great impor- 

 tance. The average of grass and weed seeds for the year was less than 

 half of 1 percent. 



Fragments of seeds and a few seeds impossible to identify occurred 

 in perhaps a dozen stomachs, but the total amount was only about one- 

 fourth of 1 percent of the food for the year. 



wild rice (Zizania). 



Wild rice appears to be relished by the Crow, especially during win- 

 ter, but the localities where it is available are limited. Almost all the 

 stomachs containing wild rice were from Crows killed in the vicinity of 

 Washington, D. C. Here are extensive wild-rice marshes, and at all 

 times of the year the seed maybe found on the mud flats or washed up 

 along the banks of the Potomac. Before congregating at their nightly 

 roosting places the Crows often assemble by thousands on these mud 

 flats, and small flocks may be seen there at any time, picking up bits of 

 food that attract their attention. It is doubtless at these times that 

 most of the wild rice is discovered and eaten. It has, therefore, abso- 

 lutely no significance from an economic point of view. All that is eaten 

 is promptly digested, and the Crows therefore never distribute the seeds 

 broadcast, as they do those of many small fruits and climbing vines. 

 The average amount of wild rice in the stomachs for the entire year 

 was 1 percent. 



The Crow is not generally regarded as a fruit eater, and the common 

 verdict is fairly sustained by the evidence from the stomachs. About 

 one-sixth of the food appears to consist of fruits, wild and cultivated, 

 of which less than one-fourth is of any consequence to man. 



Judging from the results of stomach examinations, the cultivated 

 fruits most often attacked are grapes, cherries, strawberries, raspber- 

 ries, blackberries, apples, pears, and watermelons, but from the nature 

 of the case it is often impossible to say whether the remains are of wild 

 or cultivated fruits. Apples and watermelons can be assumed to be 

 cultivated, but of these fruits the Crow ordinarily takes the pulp only, 

 and this is likely to escape detection in the stomach. 



By considering the several fruits singly their relative importance, as 

 well as the uncertainties attending the estimation of amounts, will be 

 more readily appreciated. 



Grapes. — Grapes were found in Crow stomachs only during the last 

 five months of the year, and the quantity eaten in November and 

 3086— No. 6 6 



