THE CROW AND ITS RELATION TO MAN. 65 
contained fragments of a small eggshell. Another brood of four 
from the same place apparently had divided a single small passerine 
bird between them. In two other cases were the remains of appar- 
ently one bird eaten by all of a brood. The stomach linings of these 
victims are among the most indigestible paris, even persisting longer 
than bone fragments, and at times fragments of this sac will consti- 
tute the only evidence of the deed done. In the stomach of a half- 
grown crow from Kansas was found the stomach lining of a small 
bird, intact and filled with food in a condition satisfactory for ex- 
amination. 
A consideration of the economic problems involved in the eating 
of wild birds by the crow and the testimony presented by field ob- 
servers on this point is given on pages 29-36. 
POULTRY AND THEIR EGGS. 
Poultry and their eggs, occurring in 70 of the 778 stomachs of 
nestling crows, formed 1.60 per cent of the bulk of the food. In 50 
of these the remains were of poultry, and in 21, eggs, one stomach 
containing both. The ratio of 70 out of 778 (about 1 to 11) is greater 
than that for the adults (about 1 to 21), but this is to be expected in 
view of the fact that nestling crows are fed extensively on vertebrate 
food, amphibians, reptiles, and wild birds, all being found more fre- 
quently in the stomachs of young than in those of adults. Field 
observations also have established the fact that it is the nestling 
which is primarily to blame for losses to the poultry raiser, as the 
extermination of a single offending brood will often put a stop to 
depredations. The records of such depredations on the part of nest- 
lings are somewhat reduced by the fact that while 63 young had been 
fed on such food only 37 broods were involved, indicating that the 
parent birds frequently passed the especially palatable tidbits to all 
the family. In one or two cases the adults themselves joined in the 
feast. 
Each of a brood of three secured in Dallas County, Mo., had been 
fed on one or more hen's eggs, though in bulk the shell formed only 
3 per cent of the stomach contents. Three of another brood from 
Maryland also had their hunger appeased with similar food. Still 
another lot from the same State were particularly well fed at the 
expense of some poultry raiser. Each bird had been fed on chicken, 
which constituted over 40 per cent of six well-filled stomachs. Five 
half-grown young from Kansas had apparently all fed on a chicken, 
though accurate identification of the bird remains could not be made 
in two of the stomachs. Three of another brood of four from the 
same place also had partaken of similar food, which formed 44 per 
cent of their diet. Apparently more than one hen's egg was. eaten. 
14653°— 18— Bull. 621 5 
