THE CKOW AND ITS RELATION TO MAN. 



45 



waste grain is available than in the preceding month, it is apparent 

 that even in sprouting time at least half the corn eaten by the crow 

 probably represents no loss to the farmer. 



An idea of the corn-eating proclivities of the crow at various times 

 of the year may be gained also by noting the frequency with which 

 such food was eaten, as presented in Table III. 



Table III. 



-Relation of the number of stomachs containing com to the total 

 number examined. 





Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



Apr. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



Dec. 



Total. 



Total number of 



127 

 97 



69 

 43 



132 



86 



89 

 73 



197 

 112 



203 



90 



100 

 21 



42 

 15 



75 

 39 



177 

 137 



57 

 49 



72 

 62 



1.340 



Number of stomachs 

 containing corn 



824 



Percentage contain- 



76.37 



69.35 



65.15 



82.00 



59.89 



44.33. 



21.00 



35.23 



52.00 



77.40 



85.96 



86.11 



61.49 











It will be seen by comparison with Table II (p. 43) that, with 

 the exception of April, the story of the corn-eating habits of the 

 crow, as determined by the frequency of feeding, is almost identical 

 with that revealed by the bulk of corn taken. July is the month 

 represented by the lowest percentage. The ratio then increases uni- 

 formly until the last of December, after which a regular decrease is 

 noted, except for April, as previously cited, when an unusually 

 large proportion of the birds had fed on corn in small quantities. 



Individual stomachs in which very high percentages of corn were 

 recorded were found frequently in the material examined. Fifty 

 of the 1,340 stomachs of adults were filled with this grain exclusively, 

 97 contained from 95 to 99 per cent, and 59 contained over 90 per cent. 

 Most of these large percentages were recorded in October, when 56 

 of 177 crows had subsisted on corn to the extent of more than 90 per 

 cent of their food. 



Tabulation of the results of stomach analysis under the separate 

 States in which the material was collected revealed little of special 

 interest. The frequency of the corn-eating habit could be satisfac- 

 torily determined in only a few States because of insufficient material. 

 Of the 198 adult crows collected in Maryland 147 had fed on corn; 

 from New Jersey, 134 out of 161 had eaten such food ; and from New 

 York, 41 out of 122. An' example of the unsatisfactory results ob- 

 tained from a few stomachs collected at the same time and in identi- 

 cally the same environment is shown by a series of 48 crows collected 

 in North Carolina in January. Forty-five of these had fed on corn, 

 which comprised nearly 65 per cent of the food. As this constituted 

 all the material from this State, it would be manifestly wrong to let 

 this evidence stand as the sole basis for determining the relation of 

 the crow to the corn crop in North Carolina. 



