20 BULLETIN 621, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
done by the heterogeneous assortment of beetles eaten. The most 
serious insect plagues of history have been of grasshoopers and crick- 
ets, and in some of the Western States the ravages of the migratory 
species are matters of but yesterday. While the extremely serious 
outbreaks of early pioneer days may not be repeated, owing to man's 
encroachment and modification of the breeding range of these insects, 
the annual losses due to them throughout the country are nevertheless 
great. 
The crow's yearly consumption of Orthoptera (most of which are 
Acrididse, the short-horned grasshoppers) amounts to 7.34 per cent 
of the food, the bulk of which is taken during the latter half of the 
year. It is not until May that these insects enter strongly into the 
diet (4.29 per cent). June follows with 5.83 per cent, and then, in the 
increased amount of this food for July (14.04 per cent), is seen the 
arrival of the regular summer crop of these pests. August and Sep- 
tember are represented with even greater quantities (19.14 and 19.24), 
and the decrease of the insects in October, November, and December 
is recorded rather irregularly by the percentages of 8.68, 10.73, and 
2.07, respectively. 
Acrididse (short-horned grasshoppers, locusts). — The short-horned 
grasshoppers, or locusts as they are more familiarly known in those 
sections where, as migratory hordes, they inflict severe damage, con- 
stitute by far the greater part of the Orthoptera eaten by the crow. 
The percentages quoted above for the whole order may well be con- 
sidered representative of this particular family. Of the 1,340 adult 
crows, 589 had partaken of grasshoppers. Some stomachs contained 
only a jaw or leg fragment, estimated as merely a "trace," while 
others were filled exclusively with the insects, in some cases over a 
hundred individuals being counted. Inasmuch as a bird's stomach 
frequently contains the indigestible parts of several previous meals, 
the large numbers obtained by counting grasshopper jaws is not so 
surprising. At the same time, when it is considered that an adult 
crow will eat enough in the course of a day to fill its stomach com- 
pletely several times, the extent of its destruction of grasshoppers 
becomes apparent. The nestlings, which require still larger quantities 
of food for their rapidly growing bodies, are of even greater value in 
regions where these insects are plentiful (see p. 59). 
An adult crow, secured in Indiana in August, had eaten no less 
than 123 grasshoppers, these forming over two-thirds of the food. 
One taken in Maine in May had picked up 108 of a little " grouse 
locust" (Tettigidea sp.). These chunky little grasshoppers pass 
the winter in the imago or adult stage and early in spring are 
often found abroad in considerable numbers. A series of 12 birds 
secured in Manitoba in July had fed extensively upon grasshop- 
pers, which were then swarming in the fields. One bird had eaten 
