LAND BIRDS. 427 
of the poison ivy from the stomach of a single Crow, and among hundreds 
of stomachs collected in cold weather not 5 percent failed to contain some 
of these seeds. In the gizzard of the Crow the nutritious pulp of these 
berries is quickly separated from the hard bony seeds, and the latter, mixed 
with large quantities of the sand and gravel used for grinding, are choked 
up by the Crow in compact masses of twenty to fifty seeds at a time. These 
seeds are not injured in the least by this process and the greater part of them 
are distributed by the Crow under conditions which favor their germination 
and growth. It is difficult to estimate the amount of harm thus done, 
but it is safe to say that the misery thus caused is enormous and our estimate 
of it is not lessened by the fact that numerous other birds assist in the 
harmful work. 
The consumption of ripened grain (including corn) perhaps is not very 
great, although we have scores of complaints relating to the destruc- 
tion of green corn, corn ‘fin the milk,” and corn “in roasting ear” by 
Crows. In such cases the amount of damage seems to depend largely 
upon the location of the field, and it is usually noted that the rows which 
are nearest the woods, or which are least exposed to human observation, 
are the ones which suffer most. It is not uncommon to find more than 50 
percent of the ears in ten or more of the outermost rows seriously damaged 
if not entirely destroyed. At this time the Crows are in flocks of con- 
siderable size formed by the union of three to thirty family groups and the 
marauding parties often consist of thirty to eighty individuals. 
But by far the most serious injury which the Crow does the farmer is 
in pulling up the corn which has just come through the ground. This 
habit is so well known and the complaints are so universal that it seems 
idle to spend time in discussing the fact. There are those who claim that 
the mischief is done by chipmunks, gophers, or even red squirrels, and it 
is well known that the Crow-blackbird or Bronzed Grackle does a certain 
amount of damage in the same way. But beyond question the larger part 
of this work is done by the Crow alone. A few seemingly intelligent people 
still claim that in pulling corn in this way the Crow is carefully searching 
for the wire-worm, the cut-worm or the white grub found at the root. 
This claim has been absolutely disproved by repeated observations and 
by examinations of stomachs of Crows which had been feeding on corn 
pulled in this way. In no case have any of the insects above named been 
found in the same stomach with sprouted corn, and it may be added 
that these three groups of insects are rarely found in Crow’s stomachs at 
all. The cutworm being distasteful to the Crow is taken only as a last 
resort. 
The consideration of the foregoing facts should convince any candid 
mind that in the long run the Crow must prove far more injurious than 
beneficial to the agriculturist. The question now naturally arises, what 
can be done to prevent the harm? Two methods of procedure suggest them- 
selves: (1) The more or less complete destruction of Crows. (2) The more 
or less complete protection from Crows of the crops which he injures. 
Destruction of the Crow is hardly practicable. The conditions are 
such that in spite of persecution of all kinds the Crow is sure to survive at 
least in small numbers. The use of poison, the gun, and bounties have 
effected a temporary lessening of numbers in limited areas, but all these 
factors combined are insufficient to secure extermination. Nor is this 
altogether to be regretted. In spite of his many bad qualities the Crow 
has an attractive personality and his presence in small numbers adds 
