32 BULLETIN 621, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
can bittern, Ward heron, little blue heron, black-crowned night 
heron, clapper rail, Wayne clapper rail, Virginia rail, coot, spotted 
sandpiper, upland plover, Wilson plover, bobwhite, ruffed grouse, 
prairie chicken, sharp-tailed grouse, pheasants (various introduced 
species), red-shouldered hawk, osprey, nicker, kingbird, least fly- 
catcher, horned lark, blue jay, red- winged blackbird, meadowlark, 
Baltimore oriole, bronzed grackle, purple finch, goldfinch, vesper 
sparrow, English sparrow, chipping sparrow, field sparrow, song 
sparrow, cardinal, barn swallow, cedar waxwing, yellow warbler, 
mockingbird, catbird, brown thrasher, wood thrush, and robin. 
Not all such misdeeds, however, should be charged against the com- 
mon crow. It is apparent from the localities where some of these 
reports originated that the fish crow (Corvus ossifragus) or the 
northwest crow (C. cwirinus) may have been to blame. As a matter 
of fact, these maritime species appear to be much greater despoilers 
of eggs than their inland relative, but they are frequently confused 
with the common crow and their misdeeds heaped upon its head. 
The molesting of small song and insectivorous species by crows 
about dooryards involves misfortunes which come intimately to the 
attention of a great number of bird lovers. As the published evi- 
dence on this point is already voluminous, only a few reports are 
presented here. 
John Lewis Childs, of Floral Park, N. Y., reports: 
It is my opinion from a close observation of crows for a period of 20 years that 
they do much more damage than good, not alone in the destruction of corn 
and poultry, but particularly in respect to the large number of smaller birds 
which they destroy during the breeding season. For years I have noticed that 
four-fifths of the nests of the robin, the wood thrush, and catbird, and many 
others, are robbed, either of eggs or the young birds before they are able to 
leave the nest. This is done almost wholly by crows, and the number of eggs 
and young birds of the smaller species which a pair of nesting crows will 
destroy during the breeding season is, in my opinion, enormous. Of course, 
birds like robins, which nest near houses, are not subject to this robbery so 
much as those which breed farther away. Yet, year after year a few crows 
will come sneaking about the trees and shrubbery close to my house immediately 
after daybreak, scanning every possible location that might contain a nest of 
eggs or young birds, and the number of nests that are robbed in this way right 
under our very nose is considerable. (1911.) 
Frank M. Chapman has placed in the following forceful terms his 
conclusions regarding the relation between the crow and the smaller 
species : 1 
While, from the nature of the case, birds' eggs and young birds can form 
but a small portion of the animal food supply of the crow, I believe it to be 
indisputable that during the nesting season they constitute a large percentage 
of the crow's food. Nest robbing is not occasional, but is the characteristic 
1 Chapman, Frank M., Economic Value of Birds to the State : N. Y. Forest, Fish, and 
Game Commission, p. 39, 1903. 
