WILD FRUITS AND BERRIES. 85 



The manner in which watermelons are pecked into without much of 

 the pulp being eaten suggests the possibility that Crows attack this 

 fruit mainly to satisfy their thirst, for all members of the Grow family 

 are extremely fond of water, 



Wild fruits. — With a few notable exceptions, the wild fruits eaten by 

 Crows are of little consequence. Cherries, strawberries, grapes, rasp- 

 berries, and blackberries have been mentioned already, and to these 

 might be added huckleberries (Gaylussacia), blueberries (Vaccinimn), 

 Juneberries (Amelanchier), elderberries (Sambucus), both red and black 

 mulberries (Moms), and in some localities barberries (Berberis) and 

 bull berries or buffalo berries (Shepherdia), All these berries are more 

 or less juicy and acid, and are taken commonly in small quantities. 

 So far as our experience goes no one of them ever forms a large pro- 

 portion of the Crow's food. Moreover, they ripen at seasons when 

 other food is likely to be abundant, and excepting the barberry and 

 bull berry none of them persist into the winter months. Certain other 

 berries and small wild fruits, though apparently not more attractive in 

 themselves, have the merit of clinging to the branches for a large part 

 of the winter, and when other food is scarce the Crow resorts to them. 

 Among these may be mentioned the poke berry (Phytolacca), Virginia 

 creeper (Ampelopsis), holly (Ilex), haws (Crataegus), cedars (Juniperus), 

 hackberry (Celtis), sour gum (Nyssa), cat brier (Smilax), and 'several 

 species of Comus and Viburnum, notably the flowering dogwood (Cor- 

 nus florida). A few of these may be eaten at seasons when other food 

 is plentiful, but ordinarily they are not touched until other sources of 

 food supply become very scanty or fail entirely. In severe weather, or 

 after unusually heavy or long continued snows, Crows are frequently 

 found with their stomachs tilled with the remains of poke berries, cat- 

 brier berries, and similar hard fare. 



It is noticeable that the supply of these berries is very rarely 

 exhausted, and yet in severe winters many Crows die at the roosts 

 with every appearance of having starved to death. 



Poisonous and harmless sumac. — Two other groups or genera of wild 

 fruits should be mentioned, since they often serve to keep the Crow 

 from starvation during snowy weather, while they form acceptable 

 food at all seasons when obtainable. They are the sumacs (Rims) 

 and wax myrtle or bayberry (Myrica). The former genus comprises the 

 harmless red-berried sumacs, the berries of which are decidedly acid 

 and contain little nutritious matter, and the poisonous species E. toxico- 

 dendron and E. venenata, the berries of which contain considerable 

 oily matter which apparently is very nutritious. As all these species 

 of Ehus, poisonous and nonpoisonous, are widely distributed, very 

 prolific, and their fruit strongly persistent, clinging to the bare twigs 

 all through the winter, they furnish valuable food. This is particu- 

 larly true of the poisonous species, the berries of which ordinarily 



