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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Chart from E. R. Kalmbach 



A GRAPHIC PICTURE OF THE CROW'S FOOD, MONTH BY MONTH 



The relative proportions of the principal food items are shown throughout the yearly 

 cycle. The varying width of the bands representing the several items corresponds to the 

 quantity of each food taken in successive months. The crow, like most birds, eats that which 

 is most abundant and hence easiest to get. May beetles are taken mainly in May and June, 

 grasshoppers from July to November, and other insect life is present throughout the warmer 

 months. Corn constitutes the largest part of the crow's annual sustenance, but most of this 

 is waste grain. The broken line dividing the corn sector separates that which is secured 

 from the sprouting crop, in April, May, and June, and the ripening crop, in September, Octo- 

 ber, and November, from corn which is evidentlv waste. 



numerous vertebrates, including fish, am- 

 phibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. 



It is in the consumption of certain of 

 its animal food items that the crow ren- 

 ders man its greatest service, and in feed- 

 ing on others has brought upon its head 

 condemnation without end. 



In its choice of insect food, which forms 

 a little less than a fifth of the yearly sus- 

 tenance, the crow leaves little to be de- 

 sired. In this portion of the diet are 

 found some of the worst pests with which 

 the farmer has to contend — wireworms, 

 cutworms, white grubs, and grasshoppers. 



From the beginning of May until well 

 into September, over a third of the crow's 



food is derived from insects alone, and 

 were these creatures available the year 

 around, the crow would be found doing 

 yeoman duty throughout the seasons. 



AN ENVIOUS RECORD IN THE DESTRUCTION 

 OF INSECTS 



As an effective enemy of May beetles, 

 the parents of the destructive white grub, 

 and of grasshoppers, no bird in the east- 

 ern United States is the equal of the crow 

 in the point of numbers consumed. In 

 May the beetles mentioned above consti- 

 tute more than a fifth of the food of adult 

 crows, while in August and September 

 grasshoppers constitute nearly an equal 



