11^4 Rural School Leaflet 



CROW 



In New York State the crow came in with civiUzation. 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 that he falls a victim to a hungry hawk or a 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 is 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 com to blacken his name with any farmer. Sel- 

 dom is his aid in destroying insect pests and vermin appreciated, 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 omnivo- 

 rous 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 obtained forms his diet. In this wa\' 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 on them until their nimibers are reduced, and some- 

 thing else is more easily obtained. It is only when other food is scarce 

 that he does much damage to grain or young birds. Therefore, if we 

 can protect our grain without destroying the crow, we shall be doing a 

 service both to mankind and to nature. 



The crow usually nests in a crotch of a large tree, seldom out on a limb. 

 The nest is composed of large sticks lined with finer twigs, grapevine 

 bark, and the like. The material is carried in the bill, never by the feet. 

 The eggs are light green, spotted with dark green, brown, or black, and 

 are about the size of a small hen's egg. Young crows stay in the nest 

 for about three weeks. They can fly fairly well, if not frightened from 

 the nest too soon. Experiments in feeding have shown that a young 

 crow requires food equal to one-half his own weight each day, and would 

 eat more if he could get it. 



In order to prevent crows from eating the corn, the seed is sometimes 

 coated with coal tar or creosote. This is done by dipping a wooden 

 paddle into the hot liquid and stirring it among the kernels. This 

 process does not destroy the germinating quality of the com. 



