1905.] Rooks and Crows in Germany. 631 



day-old nestlings to old birds. As regards crop and stomach 

 contents, the report distinguishes between animal, vegetable, 

 and mineral foods, and the variety of food eaten is very striking. 

 Dr. Schleh found that 937 per cent, of the birds contained 

 animal food of some kind, whilst gT2 per cent, contained 

 vegetable food, so that it will be seen that most of the birds 

 subsisted 011 foods of both kinds. Seeds of agricultural plants 

 and forest trees, &c, to the number of 9,271 grains, were found 

 in 292 of the birds, or 61 per cent. Several crows were found 

 to contain from 150 to 400 grains of corn, while a few rooks 

 contained over ico grains, and rook nestlings over 50 grains 

 each. Maize, beans, &c, and forest seeds were also found. On 

 the whole, however, cereals were found in large numbers in 

 only a moderate number of cases. Weed seeds were found in 

 7i per cent, of the birds, one specimen (carrion crow) having 

 taken as many as 58 seeds of Polygonum. 



The animal food eaten by these birds included rats, mice, 

 moles, birds, spiders, worms, millipedes, and a great variety of 

 insects, more especially beetles. No less than 78 per cent, ol 

 the birds contained insects, the beetles alone averaging 6\ per 

 bird. Wireworms and chafer-beetles figure largely in the returns, 

 birds being found in some instances to contain upwards of 60 

 wireworms, whilst nestlings were found surfeited with chafer- 

 beetles, and in one case a nestling (rook) had been given nearly 

 40 chafer-larvae. In many cases it was found that the nestlings 

 had been fed on nothing but animal food, chiefly insects, but 

 it is stated that the old birds feed their young with the same 

 kind of food they themselves eat. 



In view of the widespread distribution of these birds, their 

 numbers, their powers of reproduction, and their adaptability 

 to the different kinds of food available in different districts, 

 a definite judgment is, it is observed, rendered difficult, and in 

 the opinion of Dr. Schleh the results of investigations can often 

 only be considered as typical of a given district. Indeed, it 

 may be doubted if the iood taken in any neighbourhood can be 

 judged by the crop and stomach contents of crows, as the 

 birds travel far in search of food. On the coast members of 

 the crow family may subsist on shell-fish refuse, in forest districts 

 they may take tree-seeds and small forest animals, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of rivers fish may be consumed, in meadows and 



