BIRDS OF NEW YORK 2IJ 



these birds. On account of the destruction of eggs and young of beneficial 

 species, I am inclined to think that the Crow in most localities is to be 

 ranked as an injurious species, but we must remember that the injurious 

 insects destroyed by the Crow's victims, while far outnumbering what 

 the Crow himself would destroy of those special insects, would never equal 

 the number of cutworms and white grubs which the Crow destroys on 

 meadows and cultivated land. Consequently, we must take into considera- 

 tion the fact that the Crow is the principal enemy of cutworms and white 

 grubs, whereas most of the small birds which he destroys, though decidedly 

 beneficial, do not reduce the numbers of cutworms to any great extent. 

 I believe that the Crow's case must be decided independently by each 

 intelligent agriculturist, for in some localities he may be in the main bene- 

 ficial while in others he should be considered injurious. I am certain that 

 the crows which live on the hillsides back of my camp are injurious from 

 my standpoint in life, because they destroy a large percentage of the eggs 

 and young of the small song birds which are so beneficial and such pleasant 

 neighbors, whereas it is evident that they do very little good in destroying 

 cutworms or other insects, except grasshoppers, in that locality. On the 

 other hand, I have seen wide fields of lowland where cutworms had destroyed 

 perhaps 30 per cent of the corn crop and crows were rendering efficient 

 service in reducing the number of the pest. The Crow is such an active, 

 intelligent and versatile character that it is practically impossible to balance 

 his general account satisfactorily to the agriculturist. At times he appears 

 in a highly beneficent role, energetically bent on the wholesale destruc- 

 tion of grasshoppers, cutworms and "Junebugs"; at others, he is the 

 traditional black robber of the cornfield, the orchard, the pea patch and 

 the chicken yard ; and again he is the ruthless destroyer and the cannibal, 

 rifling the Thrush's and the Grouse's nest and slaughtering the helpless 

 nestlings of our vireos and warblers. The farmers of New York are more 

 or less at variance in their opinions regarding the Crow's character, accord- 

 ing as their individual experiences have been favorable or otherwise. But 

 bird lovers can have no two opinions in their reports if they have followed 



