262 



THE COMMON CROW. 



This well-known species is common, during all 

 seasons of the .vear, in Pennsylvania. At times, 

 other than when breeding, these birds are gregarious 

 and often collect in large flocks. Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam, Chief of the Biological Division of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. Washington, D, C, in 

 briefly summarizing the food habits of the Crow, in 

 a letter of transmittal that appears in Bulletin No. G, 

 prepai'ed by his assistants, Messrs. W. B. Barrows and 

 E. A. Schwarz, whose exhaustive report, entitled, 

 "The Commou Crow of the United States," is based 

 ou nearly a thousand stomach examinations of Ci-ows 

 taken during all seasons, and careful field notes, says: 



WHAT THE CROW IS CHARGED WITH. 



"The most important charges brought against the Crow are: 

 CI) That it pulls sprouting corn; (2) that it injures corn in 

 the millc; (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 exami- 

 nations, so far as the simple fact that Crows feed upon the 

 substance named. But the extent of the injury is a very dif- 

 ferent matter. 



KESUI^TS OF CRITICAL AXALYSt:s;. 



"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 stomach have been reduced to 

 quantitative percentages and contrasted. The total quantity 

 of corn eaten during the entire year amounts to 2.i per cent, 

 of the food of the adult Crow, and only nine and three-tenth 

 per cent, of the food of young Crows. Leaving the young out ot 

 consideration, it may be said that in agricultural districts 

 about one-fourth of the food of Crows consists ot corn. But 

 less than 14 per cent, of this corn, and only 3 per cent, of the 

 total food of the Crow, consists of sprouting corn and corn in 

 the milk; the remaining SG per cent, of the corn, or 97 per cent. 



