Crow and Cow

Vol., No.
General
Vote [275
and checked24 h later,thusenablinga full cycleof tidalflowand allowingthe tidal water

to flood the area beneatheachnest.Suchmanipulationswere done during early laying
(thosenestshaving1 to 5 eggs),middlelaying-incubation (thosenestshaving8 to 12eggs),
and late incubation(the first day an egg pipped).Experimentswere done at 6 nestsfor
eachof the 3 stagesof nesting.
Observations were made from a position3-6 m from the displacedeggs.Typically
within 1 h a rail from the nestran in a crouchedpositionto the egg and pickedit up in
its bill and returnedit to the nest.Observations
of birdsretrievingeggswere madeat 9
nests.A chi-square
(df -- 2, X"-- .48, P > .05) revealedthatthe stageof the nestingcycle
did not influenceegg retrievalmore than would be expectedby chance.Eighty-three
percent(15 out of 18 nests)of the displacedeggswere returned to the nest within 24 h
(thosenot returned included: 1 early, 1 middle, and 1 during late incubation).Of those
not returned, one was eaten by a predator and 2 were not found and assumedto be
carriedoff by the tides.
I thank Karen Williamsfor her field assistance,
and Joanna Burger for her critical
field suggestions.--P^uL A. KOSTEN, 1217 New YorkAve., CapeMay, NewJersey08204.
Received6 Feb 1982; accepted15 May 1982.
Cleaning/Feeding
Symbioses
of CommonCrowswith Cattle and Feral Hogs.--The
followingobservations
weremadeby my wife and I betweenJanuaryand March 1981
and 1982, at the Hendrie Ranch, 24 km south of Lake Placid, Florida, where the owners
had beenfeedingcornand protectingwildlifefor manyyears.This madeboth the Com-
mon Crows(Corvus brachyrhynchos)
and the feral hogs(Suisscrofa)relativelytame,enabling
us to watchthem, at times,within 7 m, using8 x 30 binoculars.
Interactionswithferal hogs.--Cleaning/feeding,hereafter referred to as feeding, was
observedon 29 occasions, wherever crows and hogs aggregatedto feed on corn. The
commonestfeedingswereon well-grownsucklings.Littersof 4-6 pigssometimes fell over
to rest, seeminglycompletelyrelaxed. As many as 3 crowsthen fed on one pig after
another, either while walking around it or perchingon an exposedflank. The crows
workedover all exposedsurfacesfrom head and earsto the back,belly,and inguinal
regions,peckingat ratesof up to 60/min with bills slightlyopened.The pigsnever ap-
peareddisturbed,evenwhen the crowsstoodon their headsor tried to pull a leg aside.
The longestI sawcrowsworkingin thismannerwas15 min on 14January.The sucklings
sometimes solicitedthe crowsby rollingover.I sawcrowsfeedingon sowson 7 mornings
and on adult boars,whichwere comparativelyscarce,on a few occasions. One sowap-
pearedto soliciton 2 successive morningsby walkingtowarda crow,then rolling on her
sidewhen the crow alightedon her back.
Interactionswithcattle.--Peckingat the baseof the tail of range cattle was witnessed
on 31 occasions in 1981.In nearly all, the cowswere lying down when 1-2 crows,flying
from a distance,cameto visitthem in succession, alightingor walkingto the rear to peck
at the undersideor baseof the tail and adjacentinguinal regions,first from one side,
then the other, making50-150 or more pecks.The crowsappearedto feed more exten-
sivelyon cattlein a secondwinter (50 observations) after approximately400 feral hogs
had beenremovedfrom the ranch.Althoughour maininterestlayin studyingthe nesting
of crows,we made a specialeffort to follow crow-cattleinteractionson 9 March, when a
herd of 55 cattle spentmuch of a morning closeto one of our crow nests.In the course
of 70 min, 1 to 3 crowsfrom a total of 5 that were activelyforagingin the area (the
breeding female wason the nest)fed on the cattle on 8 occasions.On 7 of thesethe crow
stoodon the rear end of the cow it was feeding upon, to peck down, and as much as
possible under the proximal20 cm of the tail. A third of the cowscooperatedby holding
the tail out. Crowsalsoloweredthemselves by clingingto the tail as to a rope, to peckat
inguinalregions.When cowswere especiallyclose(15 m) I could seethat the crowswere
makingfeeding motionswith the tips of their bills.They occasionally leaneddown from
the backto pickpreyfrom haunches or shoulders, but wereusuallytossedoff whenthey
tried to work on cows'heads.Feedingtimeson a succession of cowsrangedfrom 1-20
min. One crowflew directlyfrom feedingon the cattleto feed the femalecrowincubating
276] General
Notes j. Field
Ornithol.
Summer 1982
on the nest.After 12 March, with the onsetof warmer weather,the crowsspentmostof

their time pursuingpastureinsects,suggesting that the feedingon cattlemay havebeen
a winter or coolerweatherphenomenon.
A different kind of interaction related to intestinal worms. Three crows were behind
one cowthat waslyingdownon 29 January,when one, then another,pickedup from the
grasswhat appearedto be whitish,intestinalworms,or segmentsof them, 20-23 cm in
length.
Discussion.--The followinginformationon parasites that the crowsmay havebeen
seekingon cattleand feral hogswassentto me by Mrs. P. Humphreyof the Collegeof
VeterinaryMedicineof the Universityof Florida,Gainesville. In a survey(unpublished)
of feral hogsmadein January1981,just southof whereI mademy observations, hoglice
(Haematopinus suis)were "found on all hogs"and were "too abundantto allow accurate
counting."The onlytickfound with any regularitywasthe black-legged tick (Ixodesspp.),
3.2/hog,mainly on head and neck,but alsoinsidethe ears, on ventor, sides,and back.
There was no comparablesurveyof cattle.There are 5 speciesof cattlelice listed for
Florida,of whichonly one, the red louse(Damalinia(Bovicola) bovis),is listedas found in
greatestnumbersat the tail root. The wormseatenby the crowscouldhavebeenascarids
(Neoascarisvitulorum) but, sincethe ascaridis rare and tapeworms(Moneziaspp.)are prev-
alent,the latter, or segments of them,wouldappearthe more probable.
AlthoughI havebeenunableto find descriptions of cleaning/feeding symbioses be-
tweenCommonCrowsand other animals,there are descriptions for other corvids.Bent
(U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 191, 1946)mentionsFishCrows(Corvus ossifragus) as pickingticks
from the backsof cattle,and Black-billedMagpies(Picapica),insectsfrom the headsand
backsof mule deer and elk. More recentlyBaker and Morris (Auk 97:202, 1980) have
describedFloridaScrubJays(Aphelocoma coerulescens)foragingon the backsof feral hogs.
Christian(Auk 97:887-889, 1980) raisesquestions as to how cleaning/feeding mu-
tualismcouldariseamongbirdsand reptiles,whetherasa geneticallydeterminedbehavior
or by the inventionof someindividualgenius.With the crowsat the ranch,I did not feel
that specialmechanisms neededto be invoked.The crowswere curiousand investigative
aboutall partsof their environmentfrom cowpiesto cabbagepalmsand river otter (Lutra
canadensis)(Kilhamin press,Fla.FieldNat.) thatmightyieldsomething to preyupon.The
fetal hogsandcattlewerea profitablefoodsource,if onecouldjudgeby the amountsof
time the crows devoted to feeding on them in winter moIIths.--LAWRENCE KILltAM,
Department of Microbiology,Dartmouth MedicalSchool, Hanover,New Hampshire 03755. Re-
ceived 14 Apr. 1981; accepted21 Feb. 1982.
Developmentof a Runt CommonTern Chick.--Most studiesof aviangrowthhave

involvedbirds growingcloseto the averagepattern.Casesof extremevariationin devel-
opment,suchas runts, are rare. Although the growth of runt birds appearsto be quite
variable,the growthis presumably under the samecontrolasthe growthof moreaverage
birds.It is helpfulto investigate
suchcasesfor insightinto the controlof growth.I report
here on the development of a runt CommonTern chick(Sternahirundo). At age23 days
thisbird appearedequivalentto othersat 15 days.I examinedthe growthof the runt to
seefirst whetherit followedthe samepatternof developmentas other birdsand second
whetherthe bird wassignificantly smallerthan othersor merelydevelopinglater.
In the secondquestionI make the important but subtledistinctionbetweensizeat a
givenage and developmentrate. The runt at 15 dayswassmallerthan other chicksat 15
days.But it wasnotnecessarily stunted.If it weredevelopingmoreslowly,it wouldmerely
have reachedthe 15-day-equivalent developmentalstageand comparablesizeat a later
age.
I investigatedthe growthof CommonTern chickson Great Gull Island,Long Island
Sound,New York, in 1979. I followed22 chicksat 12 nests,measuringweightwith a
Pesolascale,and totalwingand manuslengthswith a wing rule everyday to everyfew
days.At 15 daysI measuredwith dial calipers:tarsus,middletoe, alula,and bill length,
depth,and widthaswellastenthprimary,ninth primary,ninth primarycovert,and outer
rectrix. One chick,the third and lastto hatchin its nest,wasextremelylight during the

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and checked24 h later,thusenablinga full cycleof tidalflowand allowingthe tidal water

on the nest.After 12 March, with the onsetof warmer weather,the crowsspentmostof

Developmentof a Runt CommonTern Chick.--Most studiesof aviangrowthhave

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