Ornithologists and foresters have long recognized the role of birds in seed dispersal. Both field observations and experimental evidence support the claim that a bird may eat fruit at one place and deposit the seeds in a viable condlition elsewhere. Zig-zag lines of junipers marking the location of former rail fences, long decayed cherry trees at sites where their presence is difficult to explain, and other similar examples are frequently cited to illustrate the importance of seed dissemination by birds. Judd,2 obtained some seeds from crow pellets and these were germinated by A. J. Pieters, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, demonstrating that regurgitated seeds from fruits eaten by crows are distributed in a viable condition. In his study of the birds on a Maryland farm Judd stated that, The large consumption of wild fruits results in a wide distribution of seeds, which are voided by birds, and which germinate where they are dropped. On the contrary Roessler3 found very few seeds were passed in a viable condition through the digestive tract of California linnets. Critical examination of the literature reveals little scientific investigation of this phenomenon. Many wildlife workers have believed that game birds obtain little of food value from hard-seeded fruits eaten in late winter, and question whether the birds can break the seed coats and di-