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Rural School Leaflet. 



THE CROW 



Arthur A. Allen 



The Crow 



In New York State the crow came in with 

 civiHzation. Although practically unknown 

 while the country was covered with dense 

 woods, he has now become one of our most 

 abundant and best known birds. Sociable in 

 his nature, omnivorous in his feeding habits, 

 sagacious in his actions, he is eminently fitted 

 to replace the solitary raven which left us 

 with the forests. In no place is he more at 

 home than in the farming districts. Here he 

 finds open country in which to feed, as 

 well as timber sufficient to shelter his nest. He usually escapes his few 

 enemies. It is seldom he falls a victim to a hungry hawk or starving 

 owl and he avoids even more successfully the man with a gun. 



The crow is generally considered a thief and a scoundrel and his 

 better side overlooked entirely. He robs the nests of smaller birds, 

 devours a great deal of grain and in his zeal for hunting cutworms 

 and grubs uproots enough young corn to blacken his name with any 

 farmer. Seldom is his aid in destroying insect pests and vermin appre- 

 ciated, although these, if allowed to go unchecked, would do much 

 more damage than the crow himself. 



The chief fault of a crow lies in the fact that he is lazy. An omnivor- 

 ous feeder, he takes whatever comes most easily: locusts, cutworms, 

 white grubs, mice, frogs, fish, young birds or grain. Whatever is most 

 abundant and most easily secured forms his diet. In this way he be- 

 comes of great assistance in checking the larger of our insect foes, for any 

 excessive increase in their numbers means to him simply "easy food" 

 and he feeds entirely upon them until their numbers are reduced and 

 something else is more easily obtained. It is only when other food 

 is scarce that he does much damage to grain or young birds. There- 

 fore if we can protect our grain without destroying the crow we shall 

 be doing a service both to mankind and to nature. 



Information for the teacher. — 



I. The crow generally nests in a crotch of a large tree, seldom out 

 on a limb. The nest is composed of large sticks lined with finer twigs, 



