THE CROW AND ITS RELATION TO MAN. 
45 
waste grain is available than in the preceding month, it is apparent 
that even in sprouting time at least half the corn eaten by the crow 
probably represents no loss to the farmer. 
An idea of the corn-eating proclivities of the crow at various times 
of the year may be gained also by noting the frequency with which 
such food was eaten, as presented in Table III. 
Table III. — Relation of the nuntber of stomachs containing com to the total 
number examined. 
Jan. 
Feb. Mar. 
Apr. 
May. 
June. 
July. 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Oct. 
Nov. 
Dec. 
Total. 
Total number of 
127 
97 
69 
43 
132 
86 
89 
73 
197 
112 
203 
90 
100 
21 
42 
15 
75 
39 
177 
137 
57 
49 
72 
62 
1.340 
Number of stomachs 
containing corn 
824 
Percentage contain- 
ing corn 
76.37 
69.35 
65.15 
82.00 
59.89 
44.33. 
21.00 
35.23 
52.00 
77.40 
85.96 
86.11 
61.49 
It will be seen by comparison with Table II (p. 43) that, with 
the exception of April, the story of the corn-eating habits of the 
crow, as determined by the frequency of feeding, is almost identical 
with that revealed by the bulk of corn taken. July is the month 
represented by the lowest percentage. The ratio then increases uni- 
formly until the last of December, after which a regular decrease is 
noted, except for April, as previously cited, when an unusually 
large proportion of the birds had fed on corn in small quantities. 
Individual stomachs in which very high percentages of corn were 
recorded were found frequently in • the material examined. Fifty 
of the 1,340 stomachs of adults were filled with this grain exclusively, 
97 contained from 95 to 99 per cent, and 59 contained over 90 per cent. 
Most of these large percentages were recorded in October, when 56 
of 177 crows had subsisted on corn to the extent of more than 90 per 
cent of their food. 
Tabulation of the results of stomach analysis under the separate 
States in which the material was collected revealed little of special 
interest. The frequency of the corn-eating habit could be satisfac- 
torily determined in only a few States because of insufficient material. 
Of the 198 adult crows collected in Maryland 147 had fed on corn; 
from New Jersey, 134 out of 161 had eaten such food ; and from New 
York, 41 out of 122. An example of the unsatisfactory results ob- 
tained from a few stomachs collected at the same time and in identi- 
cally the same environment is shown by a series of 48 crows collected 
in North Carolina in January. Forty-five of these had fed on corn, 
which comprised nearly 65 per cent of the food. As this constituted 
all the material from this State, it would be manifestly wrong to let 
this evidence stand as the sole basis for determining the relation of 
the crow to the corn crop in North Carolina. 
