The Crow Family 347 



A great variety of food is eaten by crows, but corn is 

 the most important article in their diet. They prefer 

 sprouting grain and corn in the milk to hard kernels. 

 They eat various kinds of fruit, wild and cultivated. 

 They eat the berries of the poison ivy, and this vine comes 

 up in many places from seeds they have dropped. They 

 eat many young chickens and both the eggs and the 

 young of game birds and song birds. On the other 

 hand, crows do good by devouring the grubs of the 

 May beetle, tomato worms, grasshoppers, and other 

 injurious insects. Much of their insect food consists 

 of species that are not injurious or of insects which are 

 dead when the crows find them. 



Crows are not protected by law. In many places 

 the farmers have good reasons for killing them. Con- 

 trary to a popular impression, their flesh is good to eat. 



The language of crows would make an interesting 

 study. Their usual call is Caw. If they think they 

 are in danger, they cry, Kawk-kawk-kawk. When the 

 danger is over, they say, Caw-aw, caw-aw, caw-aw. They 

 make interesting and mischievous pets. 



