THE CROW AND ITS RELATION" TO MAN". 13 
Scarab^id.e (May beetles, white grubs, June "bugs," rose chaf- 
ers, tumblebugs, etc.). — Of the beetles, the Scarabaeidae are most 
important, forming 4.28 per cent of the annual food. Of these, May 
beetles (PKyllophaga) and their larvae, white grubs, constitute by 
far the largest portion. Kef erence to the chart on page 42 will show 
that the area representing the amount of scarabaeid beetles eaten 
practically coincides with the period of abundance of adult May 
beetles. These beetles, which at times entirely defoliate trees and 
shrubs and as larvae extensively injure grass lands, corn, and other 
crops, are a particularly favorite food of the crow. Twenty-one 
species were identified in the material from crow's stomachs, a fact 
which in itself is indicative of the persistence with which these birds 
hunt. The percentages amount to little during the first three 
months of the year, but an indication of the year's brood is seen in 
April, when nearly 5 per cent is recorded. Then come May (the 
height of the May beetle season) with nearly 21 per cent; June with 
10.06 ; and July and August with about half that amount. One hun- 
dred and fifty-six of the 197 adult crows collected in May had fed 
on these insects. Two birds had eaten nothing else, while several 
stomachs contained over 90 per cent of this food. In many cases 
the remains of these beetles were in advanced stages of digestion and 
formed but a small proportion of the stomach contents, but neverthe- 
less they furnish striking evidence of the number of May beetles 
that crows are capable of destroying. Of course, such insect frag- 
ments are frequently the accumulated debris of several previous 
meals, but, when it is remembered that birds fill and empty their 
stomachs several times a day, the work the crow does upon May 
beetles is of the greatest importance. A female collected April 23 
in Dallas County, Mo., had picked up 85 of these beetles, which, 
together with two other scarabaeids, formed 42 per cent of the food. 
Two birds taken in the middle of May at Onaga, Kans., had eaten 
29 and 28 respectively. One secured in Kentucky as early as March 
31 had devoured 27 of these pests, while no fewer than 22 other adult 
crows had eaten 10 or more apiece. 
Though crows are generally recognized as one of the important 
enemies of the white grub, the larva of the May beetle, it happens 
that the nestlings consume many more than the adult birds (see 
page 57) , a circumstance logically accounted for, as the parent birds 
feed the more succulent food to their offspring. Of a total of 1,340 
adult birds only 55, or 1 out of every 24, had fed on the larvae of 
scarabaeid beetles. These may not all have been of the genus Phyl- 
lophaga, as the identification of the remains of these grubs is often 
difficult owing to the rapidity with which they are digested. An 
adult crow collected in Manitoba in May had eaten 45 grubs along 
with fragments of adult Phyllophaga, the whole forming 70 per 
