« i;m\\ R, cVi K< •" . IND riRII D I 
vinii- the young and not infmjuenth catch the adults a well. I'»\ 
f.ir i ' ■■ greater number of the mice found in tin- -rtomacht- were 
meadow mice, or voles (^enus .1/ . .. I them were the 
bom i non species i l//< 
In midwinter, when the ground is covered with snow, crows find 
put lV\\ Held mice; but as spring approaches and the snov begins 
to melt on the meadows, the bulk} grass nests of the mice are first 
sxposed. The crows may then l>e seen searching the meadows for 
them. They alight near the openings in the -ik>\\. pounce upon 
the nests, tear them to pieces, and as the mice scamper <>ut the crows 
often succeed in capturing them. Later in the spring, when crows 
feci their nestlings, insects arc more abundant and the nests of mice 
ire hidden in the growing grass, so that relatively fewer mice are 
eaten. Still later, after the young crows have left their nests and 
bowing machines have once more exposed mouse nests in the mead- 
ow-, crow- again spend much time searching for young meadow mice. 
It is of interest to note that complaints of recent depredations of 
field mice are especially numerous from sections of the United States 
where for several years past bounties have been paid for killing crows. 
CUCKOOS AM) SHRIKES. 
The larger species of the family of cuckoos (Cuculida ) are known 
to feed extensively upon vertebrates. The two more common cuckoos 
If the United State- are too small to share this habit, 1 > 1 1 1 the road- 
hmner (Geococvyx calif ornianvs) of the Southwest U>vi\^ rather 
commonly on reptiles, batrachians, and small rodents. Prof. F. E. L. 
Beal captured one in California which had eaten a held mouse 
( M . calif ornicus) . 
The great northern shrike (Lanius borealis) i- a common winter 
Insitor in the northern half of the United State-. It arrives from the 
north in October and remain- until March or April. It is a familiar 
bird to most residents of rural districts. Gray in general color, with 
black wings, conspicuously barred with white, and with white in the 
tail, it look- much like a mocking bird, but has a strong, sharply- 
booked bill, which enables it to kill small bird- and mice. In it- sum- 
bier home it is probably much more insectivorous than with us. It 
feomes to the United States at a time when insects are not abundant, 
and \'vci\- mainly upon small birds, mammals, and grasshoppers. 
Mice were found in one-third of the stomachs examined by the Bio- 
logical Survey and more than half of those identified were meadow 
mice. Doctor Mearn- i- quoted' as authority for the statement that 
in Minnesota during March shrikes live almost exclusively on meadow 
mice. Mo-t farmers have noticed that the northern shrike, or 
"butcher bird." catches meadow mice. The bird- are often seen at 
Bulletin 9 of the Biological Survey, Cuckoos and Shrikes in their Relation 
to Agriculture, p. 19, 1898. 
