76 THE COMMON CROW. 



The last column of the table, giving* the percentage of corn eaten by 

 adult Crows in each month, shows that the quantity is very large 

 during the season of planting and sprouting, — which season, in the 

 region from which most of the stomachs came, covers the latter part of 

 April and part of May. 1 In midsummer (July and August), on the 

 other hand, the percentage falls to the lowest point reached during the 

 year. At this season no sprouting corn is available and the coming 

 crop is too young to be eaten. During July, too, the available waste 

 corn is at its minimum, while animal food is superabundant. Small 

 fruits, both wild and cultivated, also abound at this season, so it is not 

 surprising that the percentage of corn is very low. During August 

 and September there is a marked increase in the amount of corn eaten, 

 and much of it is soft (i.e., in the milk) and a direct loss to the farmer. 

 In October the ratio still increases, but .apparently falls away again in 

 November ; bat the number of stomachs collected during this month is 

 too small to serve as a safe criterion. In October and November chest- 

 nuts, beech nuts, and acorns commonly abound and furnish an ample 

 supply of vegetable food. In fall, winter, and early spring the corn 

 eaten is waste grain, and its consumption entails no loss to the farmer. 



According to the stomachs examined for May, 38.9 percent of the 

 food of adult Crows and 12.8 percent of the food of nestling Crows 

 during that month consisted of corn. Taking young and old together, 

 the percentage is 17.7. In the case of the nestlings the number of 

 stomachs (nearly 300) is sufficient to give a trustworthy result, but in 

 the case of the adults (only 69) it is too small. 2 Furthermore, nearly 

 all of the adults were collected in localities where corn is the dominant 

 crop and easily obtained. A large proportion was doubtless pulled 

 from the ground soon after coming up and hence was a direct loss to the 

 farmer. But this loss, as shown later, may be prevented by tarring the 

 seed corn. 



It is a prevalent belief among farmers that sprouting corn is taken 

 chiefly to feed the young in the nest, and many think that the old 

 Crows would not pull corn at all were it not for their young. The 

 stomach examinations show this belief to be largely, if not entirely, 

 unfounded. Table III shows that the average amount of corn in the 

 stomachs of Crow nestlings is only half as great as in the stomachs of 

 adults taken at the same time. As a matter of fact, young Crows for 



^n April a considerable part of the corn eaten must be waste corn, since in the 

 latitude of Washington, D. C, comparatively little is planted until the latter half 

 of this month. Farther south the planting is earlier, and the young corn is available 

 at a correspondingly earlier date, but very few of the stomachs under consideration 

 were taken south of Maryland. 



2 This is equivalent to 12.9 per cent of the total quantity of corn eaten during the 

 year, or a trifle over 2 per cent of the total food. Hence, admitting that all the 

 corn eaten by adult Crows in May is sprouting corn, which of course is not the case* 

 the loss would amount to only 2 per cent of the food of the Crow. If young and 

 old are taken together the percentage is even less, exactly 1.6 per cent. — C. H. M. 



