EASTERN CROW 237 



of control. The advocates of either side of this question are probably 

 sincere, but what we need is a common-sense solution of the problem, 

 combining the interests of both factions. Only the thoughtless short- 

 sighted person desires to have the crow completely exterminated, and 

 the overzealous conservationist should submit to a reasonable control of 

 a species when large numbers prove destructive to man's best interests. 



The resourcefulness of the crow is vividly indicated by the fact that 

 the Biological Survey identified 650 different items in the food eaten 

 by 2,118 crows collected in 40 States and several Canadian provinces. 

 According to Kalmbach (1939), "about 28 per cent of the yearly food 

 of the adult crow is animal matter and consists of insects, spider, milli- 

 peds, crustaceans, snails, the remains of reptiles, amphibians, wild birds 

 and their eggs, poultry and their eggs, small mammals and carrion." 

 About two-thirds of the animal food consists of insects, chief among 

 which are beetles and their larvae and Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts, 

 and crickets), each group constituting more than 7 percent of the food 

 of the crow, and comprises the essential beneficial feature of the food 

 habits of the species. 



The numbers of insects eaten vary with the season. For example, 

 few May beetles are eaten early in spring, but by April they constitute 

 5 percent of the food and in May, at the peak of abundance of May 

 beetles, they comprise nearly 21 percent of the bird's diet. Likewise, 

 the monthly increase in grasshoppers from May to September is shown 

 in the crow's food, in which these insects constitute respectively by month 

 4, 6, 14, 19, and 19 percent of the food taken. 



At the time of outbreaks of such insect pests the crow becomes a 

 valuable agent in their control and herein lies the chief benefit to the 

 farmer. Examples of isolated cases revealed the presence of 85 May 

 beetles in one stomach, 72 wireworms in another, 123 grasshoppers in 

 another, and 438 small caterpillars in a single crow's stomach collected 

 in Michigan. In central Illinois I have seen large flocks of crows follow- 

 ing the plow, where they were devouring great numbers of grubs of the 

 destructive May beetle. It is also a common experience to see them 

 digging up the grubs in the pasturelands where these pests were abun- 

 dant. Alexander (1930) states that in Kansas the early spring crows 

 eat enormous numbers of grubs and cutworms, which are very destruc- 

 tive to wheat in that State. 



Nestling crows require even greater quantities of insect food than do 

 the adults. One brood of four examined by the Biological Survey had 

 eaten 418 grasshoppers and another brood of seven had eaten 585 of 

 these insects ; one individual had taken the record number of 143 grass- 

 hoppers. Of 157 nestlings obtained in Kansas, 151 had been fed grass- 



