378 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



FromD. E. Pannepacker, Chalfont, Pa.: 



A field of corn is adjacent to my school-house. On the 13th of May the corn was planted, and 

 on the 22d of May I first noticed the tender shoots above the ground. The field previous to the 

 cultivation was covered with a thick growth of sod, favorable to the existence of the grub and 

 wire-worm. It was but natural, too, for these insects to remain, and not having the tender shoots 

 of timothy, clover, and other grasses to satisfy their appetites, they turned their attention to 

 the growing corn. The despised crow here rendered most excellent service, for though he 

 pulled up the corn, I noticed each time the well known track of the wire- worm, or the worn path 

 of the grub. 



When the seventeen-year cicada appeared this summer (1885) the crow fed extensively on both 

 its pupae and imagoes. The young were fed to some extent on the pupae on May 30. As they 

 had not at this time appeared above the ground, I suppose the crows obtained them in plowed 

 fields.-(.M". J. Perry .Moore, PTiiia., Pa.) 



THE CHOW AN ENEMY TO GRASSHOPPERS. 



Probably the most marked example of the good which crows do by destroying 

 insects is found in their attacks on grasshoppers, crickets, and kindred insects. 

 Eighty observers report the crow as feeding extensively on grasshoppers, and there 

 can be no doubt that much good is done in this way. The following examples 

 show something of the extent of the benefit occasionally done. 



From A. I. Johnson, Hydeville, Vt.: 



Crows have some very good qualities, catching countless numbers of crickets and grasshop- 

 pers after the hay is cut. They can be seen at almost any time of day on the meadows catching 

 grasshoppers. I observed one pair of old crows this summer (1885) when I was haying, that were 

 feeding their young almost entirely (if not quite) on grasshoppers ; the old crows would alight 

 on the mown land within eight or ten rods of me, and after catching a hopper or two would fly 

 to their young that were on the fence and there feed them with the hoppers. 



From W. E. Saunders, London, Ontario, Canada : 



Last summer (1885) I watched a flock of probably two thousand crows catching grasshoppers. 



From J. B. Underbill, Fork Union, Va. : 



As to the insect diet of the adult I cannot testify, having never examined the gizzards. The 

 gizzards of two young which were taken from the nest were filled to overflowing with grass- 

 hoppers, and each contained one or two kernels of corn. 



From Morris M. Green, Boonville, N. Y. : 



Near Boonville I have seen the common crow feeding on grasshoppers during the summer 

 months. Some fields seemed to be fairly black with the birds pursuing the grasshoppers in 

 every direction. One day noticing a flock of crows frequenting a particular field, I visited the 

 place, and found that the roots of the grass had been completely eaten away, so that the sod or 

 turf could be taken by tne hand and rolled up like a rug or carpet. A farmer living in the 

 vicinity told me that the crows visited the place every day to feed upon the grubs that destroyed 

 the turf in this way. The grubs or larvae were about three-fourths of an inch in length ; body 

 whitish, with some dull plumbeous underneath ; head blackish. 



THE INSECT FOOD OF THE CROW AS REVEALED BY EXAMINATION OF 



STOMACHS. 



Among the eighty-six stomachs of the Common Crow examined, sixty-three were 

 found to contain insect remains, and these remains were submitted to the entomol- 

 ogist of the department, Prof. C. V. Riley, who caused a critical study of them to be 

 made, and has in preparation a full report, showing the number and kinds of insects 

 represented in each stomach, with notes as to their habits and economic importance. 

 A brief summary of the more important facts brought out by this investigation is 

 given herewith. It has been prepared by the writer from a preliminary report to 

 the entomologist by Tyler Townsend, assistant, who, with the aid of the other 

 members of the entomological force, made most of the determinations. The full re- 

 port will appear in a bulletin on the crow, which is now in preparation in the orni- 

 thological division. 



The stomachs examined contained the remains of about ninety-two species of 

 true insects, represented by about five hundred specimens. About ten per cent, of 

 these cannot be classed properly as either beneficial or injurious, and the remainder 



