OF VIRGINIA 193 
1.98x1.30, which, when compared with those of the 
common Crow, can be distinguished even by a novice. 
They probably only rear one brood a season. Fresh eggs 
April 20th. Their food consists mostly of carrion, while 
worms, grubs, and other insects are taken to some extent, 
as well as eggs and voung of other birds herctofore 
mentioned. They do not migrate, remaining near their 
home throughout the year. Professor Smyth reports them 
as rare in the vicinity of Blacksburg, but I found them 
fairly numerous in Giles County, where they breed in the 
big balsams. 
[488]. Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos. 
(Brehm). Crow. 
Rayee.—Eastern North America. Breeds from south- 
western Mackenzie, central Keewatin, central Quebec, and 
Newfoundland south to southern Texas and the Gulf 
Coast (except Florida); winters from near the northern 
boundary of the United States southward. 
These birds remain with us the entire vear. As a crop 
destrover, especially that of the corn, the Crow has no 
equal. It has been forcibly brought home to me since 
living on my farm, the damage done by these birds, often 
causing one to replant whole fields of corn, losing much 
time and money, to say nothing of the lateness of the crop. 
I have had them on my place pull up by the roots, corn 
three inches tall, and extract the kernel from the end, 
dropping the young green shoot near the little hole, and 
going to the next hill, and so on until hundreds of hills 
were destroyed. One can easily imagine what a flock of 
even six or eight will do in the course of three or four days 
