THE BEHAVIOR OF THE CROW, CORVUS 

 AMERICANUS, AUD. 



CHARLES A. COBURN 



From the Harvard Psychological Laboratory and the Franklin Field Station, Franklin, 



New Hampshire 



Many years ago, Henry Ward Beecher remarked that if men 

 were feathered out and given a pair of wings, a very few of 

 them would be clever enough to be crows. This statement 

 represents in a general way the opinion of the mental ability 

 of the crow held by many students of bird life. The literature, 

 both early and late, abounds with anecdotes depicting the in- 

 tellectual superiority of the crow over other birds. 



During the last two decades investigations have been made, 

 by the United States Department of Agriculture and several 

 state boards of agriculture, to determine whether the battle 

 waged by the farmer against the crow is justified. The results 

 of these studies tend to show that the value of the crow to the 

 farmer by its destruction of injurious insects, mice and other 

 rodents, more than compensates for the injury it does to the 

 growing crops. These studies have also provided interesting 

 data on the habits and mental characteristics of the crow. The 

 data, derived in this manner, in no way contradict the general 

 impression. It is, in general, indicated that the crow is very 

 intelligent, supremely cautious and suspicious. Forbushi states 

 that, in his opinion, it naturally is neither very cautious nor 

 suspicious, but bold and fearless. Its apparent traits have been 

 acquired by force of necessity. The reason for his statement 

 is that on the Pacific Coast, especially during the early period 

 of settlement, the crows were extremely bold and unsuspicious. 



No definite study of the mental ability of the crow was made 

 until 1910, when James P. Porter > used three crows in his in- 

 vestigation of intelligence and imitation in birds. His results 



■ Forbush, E. H. Useful Birds and their Protection. Published under the direc- 

 tion of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. 1907. 



2 Porter, James P. Intelligence and Imitation in Birds: A Criterion of Imita- 

 tion. Amer. Jour, of Psychology, 1910, vol. 21, pp. 1-71. 



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