242 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



parts of no less than 20 plants, of which the following are of special 

 interest — 10,000 seeds of bay berry, 2,300 seeds of poison-ivy and species 

 of sumac, 360 seeds of cranberry, and varying numbers of seeds of 

 juniper, smilax, winterberry, grape, and nightshade. There were also 

 very small quantities of wheat, barley, corn, buckwheat, and seeds of 

 pumpkin or squash, apple, and pear. These results again emphasize the 

 omnivorous feeding habits of the crow as well as its resourcefulness dur- 

 ing adverse winter conditions. 



It is important to know not only what the crow eats but also how 

 much it eats to enable us to form a complete picture of the economic 

 status of the species. Forbush (1907) made careful records of the food 

 eaten by captive crows, which throw considerable light on this problem. 

 He found that two well-grown crows fed 20 to 25 ounces of food a day 

 just maintained their own weight, but less than that amount was not 

 sufficient. When the quantity of food given the birds was largely re- 

 duced there was a corresponding reduction in their weight. He con- 

 cluded that young crows, when fledged absolutely, require a daily 

 quantity of food equal to about half their own weight and will consume 

 much more than this to their advantage if they can get it. When this 

 amount is multiplied by the number of crows in an entire population 

 the results are impressive. Experiments on the time required for assimi- 

 lation of food revealed that from the time of eating to that when the 

 undigested parts of the food were emitted average 1^ hours. It is not 

 only what they eat at a single time, but it must be remembered that the 

 average crow gorges no less than eight to ten full meals a day. Hicks 

 and Dambach (1935) found that the average weight of the filled 

 stomachs of 75 adult crows was 36.6 grams and that their food con- 

 tents averaged 11 grams. 



The following interesting experience submitted in correspondence by 

 R. Bruce Horsfall rcA^eals how we may unwittingly condemn the crow 

 when the facts are not clearly understood. Mr. Horsfall bought a farm 

 near Redbank, N. J., where he planted five acres in corn and ten acres 

 in asparagus. He noted that the lower end of his field, where the crows 

 were present each day during the early morning hours, yielded no 

 harvest. Mr. Horsfall immediately jumped to the conclusion from pub- 

 lished accounts of crow depredations on farm crops that these birds were 

 responsible for his loss. Without further investigation the crows were 

 shot and the bodies left there as a warning to others. After a number 

 of crows were killed an examination of the stomach contents revealed 

 a mass of greenish liquid filled with cutworm heads, black beetles, and 

 other undigested materials. On the following day a visit was made to 

 the fields in the early morning hours at about the time the crows were 



