74 THE COMMON CROW. 



is scarce. It must be remembered that for several months in the winter 

 the Crow's life is an almost continuous struggle for existence, and 

 there are times almost every winter when the customary sources of 

 food supply are temporarily cut off by deep snow or excessive cold, or 

 become entirely exhausted, compelling the Crow to resort to any shift 

 which will keep him alive. Moreover, the evidence accumulated in the 

 past few years shows clearly that the Crow is primarily a carnivorous 

 bird. A small proportion of vegetable food is doubtless eaten with 

 relish at all seasons, but the larger part is probably taken from neces- 

 sity and not from choice, and it seems certain that a very large part of 

 the corn eaten in cold weather is taken for the same reason. A caged 

 Crow which was kept for several months in the winter of 1889 and 1890 

 invariably refused hard com, either whole, cracked, or ground, so long 

 as animal food of any kind was to be had, and it was only after many 

 hours of absolute fasting that he turned voluntarily to grain of any 

 kind. The Crow is fond of sprouting corn, and delights to pull up the 

 young shoots as they come through the ground. When corn is in the 

 milk, and the kernels are well filled out but still soft, the Crow seems 

 very fond of it, and sometimes does considerable damage before the 

 grain hardens. But after the kernel becomes fairly hard the Crow no 

 longer seems to relish it, and cases of serious damage to ripened corn 

 are extremely rare. 



Probably the damage to sprouting corn and corn in the milk is much 

 lessened by the fact that at the seasons when these are obtainable other 

 food of the most attractive kind is superabundant. This is true par- 

 ticularly of the season when corn is in the milk, for during July, 

 August, and September both animal and vegetable food are at their 

 maximum, and except during the early part of July all Crows are self- 

 supporting, the young being large enough by that time to provide for 

 themselves. The damage to sprouting corn is done mainly in May and 

 June, at which time most Crows have young in the nest and are com- 

 pelled to provide them with food, besides finding food for themselves. 



Keeping these facts in mind, the results of the stomach examina- 

 tions will be perfectly intelligible, and some of the facts brought out 

 acquire special significance. 



Xine hundred and nine stomachs which contained food were exam- 

 ined, and 441 of these, or about 49 percent, contained corn, the aver- 

 age amount being about 40 (40.49) percent for the 444 stomachs, or 

 21.5 x^ercent for the whole number. 



The table which follows shows the number of stomachs for each month, 

 the actual and proportional numbers containing corn, and the average 

 quantity of corn for each month. 



