294 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



" In his insect food, however, the Crow makes amends for sins 

 in the rest of his dietary, although even here the first item is 

 against him. Predaceous beetles are eaten in some numbers 

 throughout the season, but the number is not great. May beetles, 

 dor-bugs, or June bugs, and others of the same family, constitute 

 the principal food during spring and early summer, and are fed 

 to the young in immense quantities. Other beetles, nearly all 

 of a noxious character, are eaten to a considerable extent. Grass- 

 hoppers are first taken in May, but not in large numbers until 

 August, when, as might be expected, they form the leading article 

 of diet, showing that the Crow is no exception to the general 

 rule that most birds subsist, to a large extent, upon grasshoppers 

 in the month of August. Many bugs, some caterpillars, most 

 cutworms, and some spiders are also eaten — all of them either 

 harmful or neutral in their economic relations. Of the insect 

 diet Mr. E. A. Schwarz says : ' The fact, on the whole, speaks 

 overwhelmingly in favor of the Crow.' 



" Probably the most important item in the vegetable food is 

 corn, and by pulling up the newly sprouted seeds the bird renders 

 himself extremely obnoxious. Observation and experiments with 

 tame crows show that hard, dry corn is never eaten if anything 

 else is to be had, and, if fed to nestlings, it is soon disgorged. 

 The reason crows resort to newly planted fields is that the kernels 

 of corn are softened by the moisture of the earth, and probably 

 become more palatable in the progress of germination, which 

 changes the starch of the grain to sugar. The fact, however, 

 remains that crows eat corn extensively only when it has been 

 softened by germination or partial decay, or before it is ripe and 

 still ' in the milk.' Experience has shown that they may be pre- 

 vented from pulling up young corn by tarring the seeds, which 

 not only saves the corn, but forces them to turn their attention 

 to insects. If they persist in eating green com, it is not so easy 

 to prevent the damage ; but no details of extensive injury in this 

 way have yet been presented, and it is probable that no great 

 harm has been done. 



" Crows eat fruit to some extent, but confine themselves for 

 the most part to wild species, such as dogwood, sour gum, and 

 seeds of the different kinds of sumac. They have also a habit 

 of sampling almost everything which appears eatable, especially 



