THE AMERICAN CROW 

 Crow Family — Corvidce 



THE AMERICAN CROW is too well-known to need a 

 description — merely a reference to the steely-blue 

 or dark purple sheen o-f his "crow-black" plumage, and 

 to the remarkable power of his long (twelve-inch) wings, 

 which in flight show feather finger-tips at their ends. 



One cannot but admire his strength and his absolute 

 fearlessness, nor fail to be amused at his cleverness and 

 his insolent bravado. Two or three crows, cawing 

 hoarsely, will people a woodland in winter; while a flock, 

 winging its way to the naked March woods, will cause a 

 thrill of joy and expectancy, in spite of the knowledge 

 that the advent of these bla'ck marauders means eternal 

 vigilance to long-suffering farmers. 



Dr. Sylvester D. Judd at Marshall Hall, Maryland, 

 made an exhauistive study of the crow's food habits. He 

 reported the following: 



"The crow is by all means the worst pilferer of the 

 cornfield. Every year at Marshall Hall, as elsewhere, 

 a part of the field must be replanted because of his 'pick- 

 ings and stealings.' In 1899, the replanting was more 

 extensive than usual — 46 per cent, of the 3^/^ bushels 

 originally planted. This unusual ratio was probably 

 caused by ^le failure of the cherry crop, which left the 

 crow short of food." 



Dr. Judd told of the "protective devices of tarring 

 corn," which did not prevent the crows from pulling up 



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