THE ORIOLES, BLACKBIRDS, CROWS, AND JAYS. 169 



be also attacked, while in various regions injuries to small 

 fruits have been reported. 



One of the most serious flaws in the character of the crow 

 is his fondness for eggs and young birds, either in the poultry- 

 yard or out of it. In some localities crows are more dreaded 

 by the poultry-keepers than hawks, as they destroy young 

 chickens before the latter are past the downy stage. The 

 eggs of hens, ducks, and turkeys are also appropriated. Like 

 the corn-pulling habit, this thieving seems to be confined to 

 certain individuals, and it is done chiefly to get food for the 

 nestlings. 



That the crow is an inveterate enemy of many of our wild 

 birds there can be no doubt. The evidence in hand con- 

 clusively proves that it robs the nests of the commoner 

 thrushes, such as the wood-thrush, brown thrasher, and 

 robin, as well as those of the orioles, blackbirds, sparrows, 

 quail, grouse, woodpeckers, swallows, warblers, and others. 

 Both eggs and young birds are taken. " In all the dark history 

 of the crow's relations to other birds," writes Professor Bar- 

 rows, " there is nothing which can fairly be called a bright 

 spot, and only here and there a record is found which serves 

 to render the page a little less gloomy. One of the grains of 

 comfort is found in the fact that in its wholesale attacks on 

 other birds a few species suffer which are scarcely better than 

 itself." Any claim to favor which the crows may have is 

 based largely on its insect-eating proclivities. But the defi- 

 nite knowledge as yet obtained goes to show that the crow 

 can scarcely prove itself a philanthropist on this score. 

 While the bird undoubtedly eats large numbers of grass- 

 hoppers, the other elements of its insect food are not of great 

 economic importance, consisting as largely of the so-called 

 beneficial species as of the injurious ones. This is shown by 

 the following table, which gives the economic results of a 

 study, made at the Department of Agriculture, of the insect 

 food of sixty-six crows: 



