17 
they persist in eating green corn it is not so easy to prevent the damage; 
but no details of extensive injury in this way have yet been presented, 
and it is probable that no great harm has been done. 
Crows eat fruit to some extent, but confine themselves for the most 
part to wild species, such as dogwood, sour gum, and seeds of the 
different kinds of sumac. They have also a habit of sampling almost 
everything which appears eatable, especially when food is scarce. For 
example, they eat frozen apples found on the trees in winter, or pump- 
kins, turnips, and potatoes which have been overlooked or neglected ; 
even mushrooms are sometimes taken, probably in default of something 
better. 
In estimating the economic status of the crow, it must be acknowl- 
edged that he does some damage, but, on the other hand, he should 
receive much credit for the insects which he destroys. In the more 
thickly settled parts of the country the crow probably does more good 
than harm, at least when ordinary precautions are taken to protect 
young poultry and newly-planted corn against his depredations. If, 
however, corn is planted with no provision against possible marauders, 
if hens and turkeys are allowed to nest and to roam with their broods 
at a distance from farm buildings, losses must be expected. 
THE BOBOLINK, OR RICEBIRD. 
(Dolichonyx oryzivorus.) 
The bobolink (fig. 9) is a common summer resident of the United 
States, north of about latitude 40°, and from New England westward to 
the Great Plains, wiutering beyond our southern border. In New 
England there are few birds, if any, around which so much romance 
has clustered; in the South none ou whose head so many maledictions 
have been heaped. The bobolink, entering the United States trom the 
South at a time when the rice fields are freshly sown, pulls up the young 
plants and feeds upon the seed. Its stay, however, is not long, and it 
soon hastens northward, where it is welcomed as a herald of summer. 
During its sojourn in the Northern States it feeds mainly upon insects 
and small seeds of useless plants; but while rearing its young, insects 
constitute its chief food, and almost the exclusive diet of its brood. 
After the young are able to fly, the whole family gathers into a small flock 
and begins to live almost entirely upon vegetable food. This consists 
for the most part of weed seeds, since in the North these birds do not 
appear to molest grain to any greatextent. They eata few oats, but their 
stomachs do not reveal a great quantity of this or any other grain. As 
the season advances they gather into larger flocks and move southward, 
until by the end of August nearly all have left their breeding grounds. 
On their way they frequent the reedy marshes about the mouths of 
rivers and on the inland waters of the coast region, subsisting largely 
upon wild rice. After leaving the Northern States they are commonly 
known as reed birds, and having become very fat are treated as game. 
15620—No. 54-2 
