CHAPTER II. 

 ANIMAL POOD OF THE CROW. 1 



With a few minor exceptions the entire economic relations of the 

 Crow depend upon its food habits. What the Crow eats or does not 

 eat determines, directly or indirectly, the nature and extent of his 

 services or damages to the agriculturist. The sources of information 

 on this subject are various, and each is open to some objection which 

 can not be entirely eliminated. 



METHODS OF INVESTIGATION. 



By carefully watching Crows, either with the naked eye or with a 

 field glass, facts may be observed which are of more or less value. 

 .Thus, in cold weather, when Crows are seen to visit the carcass of a 

 dead animal, the inference is fairly safe that they are eating the flesh. 

 During hot weather, however, numerous flies, maggots, and scavenger 

 beetles in and about the carcass might be the attraction instead of the 

 carrion. 



Frequently a Crow may be seen robbing the nest of some useful 

 bird or despoiling a cherry tree or strawberry bed of its fruit, and in 

 such cases the common inference is that these are examples of regular 

 habits of the bird, and that much of his living is gained in this way. 

 Such an inference, however, is not justified by the facts, and only a 

 long series of similar observations would render it even probable. 

 Again, a Crow may be seen walking quietly about in a meadow or 

 pasture, frequently picking up something. Nothing of the nature of 

 this food can be discerned — even with the best field glass, and the 

 observer is left to speculate whether it be insect, seed, sprout, bulb, 

 fruit, or perhaps a mixture of all. No one habit is so universally 

 known as that of pulling up Indian corn. Almost every farmer has 

 seen it done, and often the rows have been examined within a few 

 moments after the crows have left, yefc there are still some observers 

 who contend that the corn is pulled for the sake of the grub or worm 

 hidden near its root, and that the seed corn itself is seldom or never 

 eaten. It is difficult to prove that the missing seed corn has been 

 broken off and left in the ground when the sprout was pulled, and still 

 more difficult to show that any grub or worm has been taken from the 

 ground. 



1 The insects eaten by the Crow are discussed in chapter III, pp. 56-71. 

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