54 WYOMING BIRDS. 
474c. Otocoris alpestris leucolaema: Desert Horned Lark. 
The most abundant resident of the plains region, going in 
great flocks in the winter. At this time the Snow-flake is 
found with them. 
CORVIDAE (Crows, Jays, Magpies, etc.). 
The Crows and Magpies are not among the protected birds in 
most states, and there seems to be no good reason to create a 
sentiment in their favor, although it is probable that the harm 
which they do in destroying eggs and grain and committing other 
depredations is balanced by the good they do in destroying small 
mammals, carrion, and injurious insects, grubs, etc. Young pet 
crows have been known to keep the cabbage patch free from the 
larvae of the cabbage butterfly. The crow has the habit of pulling 
up young corn and other growing grain. Later in the season he 
tears open the husk of the young ears and destroys the corn before 
it is mature. He is also fond of eggs and young birds. 
The Magpie has even a worse record. He eats many birds’ 
eggs and young birds and attacks wounded animals. He also 
steals the hunters’ lunch and game. He is by nature a thief and a 
murderer. 
The Blue Jay’s habits are less open to criticism. He prefers 
nuts to all other food (beech nuts and acorns). They constitute 
40 per cent of his food. Jays frequently eat corn and various 
kinds of small fruit, such as blackberries and raspberries, mulber- 
ries, and currants. Like the crow, the jays are sometimes guilty 
of robbing birds’ nests of eggs or young. They also capture many 
injurious insects and are as a rule considered beneficial. 
REFERENCES : 
1. Biological Survey Bulletin No. 54, pp. 15-17, 18-19. 
2. Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1900, p. 424. 
3. Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1907, pp. 171- 
N72, 
4. “Birds in Their Relation to Man,” Weed and Dearborn, pp. 
167-173. 
475. Pica pica hudsonia: Magpie. 
An abundant bird found from the plains well up into the 
mountains wherever brush or timber exists. 
