erates UR DOIN a BU le eT len, 15 
For instance, Victor H. Cahalane, of the National Park Service, writes in 
the October, 1944, Auk, “It is by no means unusual for the Clarke’s nut- 
cracker to forage for food on the ground in winter. The bird frequently 
seeks out the carcasses of dead animals that may be more or less covered 
with snow.” 
Another of our common birds which exhibits the acquired taste that we 
have referred to in regard to the hawks, that of seeking out the remains of 
small animals killed on our roadways, is the crow. Seldom does one drive 
outside the city without seeing crows working over what was once a gopher 
or a snake. In England the “carrion crow” is a true crow, but is more 
solitary than here and eats not only carrion, but will attack weak animals 
and often eats the eggs and young of other birds. The small glossy crow 
of India and Ceylon frequents the towns, feeding on offal, and will boldly 
enter rooms through open windows to snatch some morsel from the dinner 
table. These birds, called ‘hooded crows” in English India, are a nuisance 
about camps and villages by their boldness and thievish ways. 
The raven, a near relative of the common crow, was discussed by W. 
Bryant Tyrrell in the January, 1945, Auk, where he says, “The food of the 
raven consists of anything edible, alive or dead, which it can catch, kill, 
disable or pick up, and no doubt it is almost as varied as that of the crow, 
but the greater part is probably carrion, with small mammals next. An 
interesting incident regarding the raven’s food was told to me by one of 
the park naturalists. He said that often in the early morning they would 
find the trash cans in the picnic areas overturned and the contents strewn 
about. They had always suspected the raccoons or opossums, but one 
morning they discovered that the culprits were ravens.” 
Kites are known mostly in the tropics, and of the 30 species but four 
are found in the United States. The common European kite is now nearly 
extinct in England, but in other days was a recognized scavenger of London 
and other English towns, devouring the offal, as it still does in some of the 
towns of eastern Europe. In India the pariah kite is one of the accepted 
and important scavenging birds of the country and abounds everywhere in 
the towns, going about tame and unharmed, and often making a nuisance 
of itself by its impudent familiarity. 
The bird referred to in the Bible as an eagle is without doubt the one 
now known as the lammergeier, which has an eight- to ten-foot wingspread. 
While it really is an eagle, it has acquired the name of “bearded” or 
“vriffon” vulture from its frequent use of carrion as food and because it 
often resorts to the remains of vultures’ feasts to gather up and devour 
the scattered bones. It is reported that marrow bones are broken open by 
carrying them high in the air and letting them fall upon rocks. 
The largest bird found in the United States, the California condor, with 
a wingspread of from 8% to 11 feet, has been brought close to extinction 
through its extensive use of carrion for food. The practice of poisoning 
carcasses of cattle and sheep as bait for wolves and coyotes, together with 
the fact that their very size made them tempting targets, has so reduced 
them that there has been serious question as to their ability to survive. 
