THE CROW AND ITS RELATION" TO MAN. 27 
In feeding on the larger mollusks, which it frequently secures, the 
crow displays an interesting method of obtaining the mussels from 
their hard, protecting shell. This is explained in an article on the 
habits of the herring gull, by George H. Mackay, 1 in which the writer 
claims that crows as well as the gulls possess this habit. He says : 
I cite as an instance of their ingenuity that in winter I have seen them carry 
up in their bills to a height of 25 to 35 feet into the air a large sea clam 
Mactra solidissima Gould), measuring 6£ inches by 4|, for the purpose of 
breaking the shell (that they might avail themselves of the contents for 
food) by dropping it on the hard beach. I have seen them carry up the 
same clam four times when it failed to break on account of insufficient height ; 
but they will carry them up higher after several ineffectual attempts- and thus 
obtain the desired results; they also carry up scallops (Pecten concentricus) 
and mussels (Modiola modiolus) * * *. That they usually succeed seems 
certain, for I have seen them eating them, and have noticed the broken shells, 
minus the contents, lying on the beach surrounded by their tracks. They vary 
this mode of proceeding in some places by carrying and dropping the clams 
on a cake of ice, or on a rock. 
A. B. Klugh, of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, has writ- 
ten that on the coast of New Brunswick the American crow some- 
times feeds on sea urchins {Strong "ylocentrotus droebachiensis) , 
carrying them off to the woods to eat. 
FISHSS. 
Fish remains were found in stomachs collected in every month of 
the year, though in bulk they formed little over half of 1 per cent 
(0.56), and there is no question that most of this should be classed 
as carrion. As much of it was eaten in winter, however, when few 
carrion insects are about, little evidence was available as to the char- 
acter of this food. The crow's worth as a scavenger of dead fish is 
mentioned under the heading "Carrion" (p. 40). Crows at times 
capture small fish in shallow water, but this work is never carried 
to an extent seriously injurious to the supply of food or game fishes. 
Stomach analysis shows that among those which might be so cap- 
tured are shiners (Notropis) , hornyheads (Hybopsis) , carp (Cypri- 
nus), and fallfishes (Semotilus). 
In feeding on live fish the crow displays in a moderate degree the 
skill of the kingfisher. In this connection Charles Hallock has 
written : 2 
Almost daily, in front of my residence on the Neuse River (Newbern, N. C), 
I see the crows hovering and circling over the surface of the water looking for 
fish, very much after the manner of the sea gulls. They will swoop down and 
scoop their little prey deftly very often without breaking the surface. 
*Auk, IX, p. 222, July, 1892. 
s Forest and Stream, XXXVIII, p. 320, April 7, 1892. 
