156 



Economic Status. The Raven eats both animal and vegetable food, 

 but has a strong partiality for the former. It seeks the offal from the 

 hunter's dressed game, or the game itself if it is available. It lurks about 

 the outskirts of bird rookeries and makes dashes for eggs and young. 

 By the sea it searches the shores at low water for crabs and other sea 

 life and for anything edible that may be washed up. Avoiding cultivation 

 as it does it has little direct influence on the crops. 



488. American Crow. fb. — la coENiiiLLE d'am]eriqtib. Connn brachyrhynchos 

 L. 19-30. Plate XXV A. 



Distinctions. May be mistaken for Raven but distinguished from it by size and the 

 absence of the long, pointed, lanceolate feathers on the throat. 



Field Marks. General appearance, with which one soon becomes very familiar. 



Nesting. In trees; in nest of sticks. 



Distribution. All of temperate North America. 



SUBSPECIES. Two subspecies of American Crows occur in Canada, but in the 

 east we have only the type form, the Eastern Crow. 



Whereas the Raven retreats before the advance of civilization, the 

 Crow increases. It is omnivorous, feeding readily on anything from 

 carrion to freshly sprouting corn. Without doubt the Crow has increased 

 enormously in the country since the removal of the forests, and probably its 

 advent in eastern Canada was coincident with the arrival of the white 

 man. The Crow is a partial migrant. Most of the birds go south in 

 winter, but slaughter-houses and garbage dumps in the neighbourhood of 

 cities and towns have induced numbers to become permanent residents. 



Economic Status. The economic status of the Crow cannot be summed 

 up in a few words. It undoubtedly does much good but it also does much 

 harm. Moreover the harm is concentrated and easily measured whilst 

 the good is scattered and not easily estimated. The detailed results of 

 nearly a thousand stomach examinations and testimonies from all over 

 North America are published in Bulletin No. 6 of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, by W. A. Barrows and E. A. Schwarz. The 

 greatest complaint against the Crow arises from its fondness for sprouting 

 grain, especially corn. Corn was found to constitute 29 per cent of its 

 annual food and strangely enough, from May to August, constituted only 

 from 8-4 to 17-7 per cent and was greatest in December, 48-2 per cent, 

 when the grain must have represented gleanings from the bare fields. 

 Insects form a large part of the Crow's food and balancing the useful with 

 the harmful species, the result is obviously in the bird's favour. Mice and 

 other rodents and reptiles are also eaten very extensively and are preferred 

 to all other food. In the autumn, mast (acorns, beech-nuts, etc.) is eagerly 

 sought. Judged by food habits alone, therefore, the Crow is a valuable 

 bird. However, this is not all the tale, for the Crow does harm that cannot 

 be overlooked. It matters little to a farmer that the Crows destroy all 

 the cut worms in a field if they also pull all the grain. On the whole, there 

 seems to be no very good reason for extending any greater measure of 

 protection to the Crow; it is in no danger of extinction and probably needs 

 to be controlled. 



FAMILY ICTERID^. AMERICAN STARLINGS. 



This family includes the Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks, which 

 are the American representatives of the European Starlings. They are 

 closely related to the Sparrows and clear differentiation cannot be made 



