122 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICUI/rUKAL SOCIETY. 



abundant, but at present rare" (Taylor); "Western United States" (Goss) ; 

 Omaha (L. Skow). 



487. Corvus ciyptoleucus Couch. — White-necked Raven. 



Once near Sidney (L. Bruuer); "Republican river near west line of state " 

 (Aughey); "East to the edge of the plains" (Goss); "a mounted specimen 

 seen in Cherry county, — ranchers say that they are seen occasionally during 

 fall and winter in nortliwestern part of state" (I. S. Trostler). 



488. Corvus americanus Au'd. — Common Crow. 



Omaha, West Point, Lincoln, Fremont, etc. — breeds (L. Bruner); " Exceed- 

 ingly abundant " (Aughey); "Extremely abundant in all eastern Nebraska, 

 resident" (Taylor); " North America, from the fur countries to Mexico" (Goss); 

 Beatrice, De Witt (A. S. Pearse) ; Omaha — breeding (L. Skow); Cherry county 

 (J. M. Bates); Wood River, Genoa, Omaha (D. H. Talbot); Gage county — breeds 

 (F. A. Colby); "an abundant resident in vicinity of Omaha — breeds March 20 

 to May 25" (I. S. Trostler). 



The common crow has recently received special study in the Di- 

 vision of Ornithology and Mamniology of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and the results have been published in Btdletin 

 No 6 of that division. The report in question was based on the ex- 

 amination of the contents of nearly one thousand stomachs of these 

 birds collected at different localities and scattered throughout the year. 

 Dr. Merriam, in summing up the results of this study, says in his 

 letter of submittal to the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture that ''The 

 quantity and quality of the evidence seems sufficient to justify a final 

 conclusion respecting the economic status of the crow, although a larger 

 number of stomachs from some parts of the country would have l)een 

 acceptable. 



"The most important charges brought against the crow are: (1) 

 That it pulls sprouting corn ; (2) that it injures corn in the milk ; (3) 

 that it destroys cultivated fruit; and (4) that it feeds on the eggs and 

 young of poultry and wild birds. 



"All of these charges are sustained by the stomach examinations, so 

 far as the simj)le fact that crows feed upon the substances named. 

 But the extent of the injury is a very different matter. 



" In order to ascertain whether the sum of the harm done outweighs 

 the sum of the good, or the contrary, the different kinds of food found 

 in the stomachs have been reduced to quantitative jiercentages and 

 contrasted. The total quantity of corn eaten during the entire year 

 amounts to 25 per cent of the food of adult crows, and only 9.3 per 



