THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 205 



488 Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm. 

 Crow. 



PLATE 48. 



Adults. Length, 17-21. Wing, 12-13. Everywhere black with blue or pur- 

 plish reflections ; abdomen duller. 



Young in first summer. Body plumage, dull brownish-black. 



Nest a bulky structure of twigs lined with cowhair, bark, grass, etc., gen- 

 erally placed in the top of a chestnut or oak tree; eggs, green, blotched with 

 brown, 1.60 x 1.15. 



Abundant resident. 



In summer Crows are scattered over our woodland in pairs, but 

 toward winter they begin to gather into the great flocks which are so 

 characteristic of midwinter in southern Jersey. Evening and morn- 

 ing they may be seen winging their way to and from their roosting 

 places, which are definite sections of woodland that have been in use 

 for generations. 



Roosts now in use are located at Merchantville, Camden county; 

 Fishing Creek, Cape May county; below Salem, Salem county; Allo- 

 way, Salem county, and Ash Swamp, Union county. Doubtless there 

 are others, but all of them seem to be decreasing in population, and 

 possibly the Crows are being driven by persecution to break up into 

 much smaller roosting communities than formerly. 



From an economic standpoint much has been written about the 

 Crow, with the result that he seems to stand literally on the fence. 

 Twenty-three per cent, of his food consists of insects, the bulk of them 

 noxious species. On the other hand, he annually devours a consider- 

 able quantity of corn, causing the farmer much trouble and vexation. 



All things considered, it would seem that scarecrows and other 

 methods of frightening the crows from the crops would be preferable 

 to attempted extermination. 



As pets, Crows are amusing and intelligent. 



Much has been written about Crows and their roosts. 1 



1 Cf. S. N. Rhoads, Amer. Nat, 1886, pp. 691 and 777 ; E. Martin, Oologist, 

 IV., 1887, p. 94 ; W. T. Davis, Auk, 1894, pp. 228-231 ; W. Stone, Bird Lore, 

 1899, pp. 177-180 : Auk, 1903, pp. 267-271 ; H. L. Coggins, Cassinia, 1903, pp. 

 29-42 ; C. J. Hunt, Auk, 19Q6, p. 429 ; also Prof. W. B. Barrows, The Com- 

 mon Crow of the U. S. ; Bull. 6, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Orn. and Mam. 



