308 
PASSERIFORMES 
SUBSPECIES. The Eastern Crow (la Corneille de l’Est d’Amerique) Corvus 
brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos is the east Canadian form, extending westward into Mani- 
toba. From here to the coast district of British Columbia it is replaced by the Western 
Crow (la Corneille de l’Ouest d’Amerique) Corvus brachyrhynchos hesperis, which is identical 
in colour with it, but averages slightly smaller. The difference in size is not great and 
many specimens cannot be referred to their expected appropriate geographical race by any 
test. On the coast is the Northwestern Crow (la Corneille du Nord-Ouest) Corvus brachyr- 
hynchos caurinus, hitherto commonly regarded as a separate species, but lately officially 
reduced to subspecific status. Its only outward distinction is its much smaller size, A 
male with wing under 12 inches, or a female with wing 11 inches or under, should be of 
this race. 
Although the Raven retreats before the advance of civilization, the 
Crow increases. It is omnivorous, feeding readily on anything from carrion 
to sprouting corn. It is an open-country bird and probably arrived in 
eastern Canada about the time of the first white man’s clearing of the 
forest. In the west, where prairies and open spaces were the original 
condition of the country, it probably has always occurred, but it has 
increased enormously with cultivation. Over the colder sections of its 
range it is a migrant, though locally many birds may be induced by the 
abundant food supply furnished by slaughter houses and garbage dumps 
to winter far north of their accustomed range. Probably its great increase 
in numbers in western Canada is due as much to the present greater winter 
food supply in its southern stations as to summer conditions within our 
borders. Food in summer on our prairies was probably always sufficient 
for many more Crows than originally occupied them, but their numbers 
were controlled by the scantiness of the winter supply. Nowadays, with 
much of the great southern interior under cultivation, undoubtedly many 
more can find support through the winter and return in the spring. As 
far as the Crow is concerned, the primitive “balance of nature” has been 
profoundly and irrevocably changed in its favour, and it has increased 
abnormally. A policy of non-interference, as is advocated by many nature 
lovers, would, of course, eventually permit of a new balance being estab- 
lished, but it would not be the original one and under it the Crow would be 
more secure than under primitive conditions. It is for us to consider whether 
such a consummation is desirable. 
Economic Status. The economic status of the Crow is a much argued 
question. Sentimental enthusiasts and some cautious agricultural investi- 
gators regard it as a valuable species. Others, perhaps equally prejudiced 
in the opposite direction, refuse to admit any good in the black robber. 
The actual fact probably lies within these extremes. In 1895 a study of 
the “American Crow in Relation to Agriculture,” by W. B. Barrows and E. 
A. Swarz, was published as Bulletin No. 6 of the United States Department 
of Agriculture. It was a brochure of nearly one hundred pages, based on 
almost a thousand stomach examinations and on testimonies from all over 
North America. Again in 1918 the subject was rediscussed in “The Crow 
in Its Relation to Man,” by E. R. Kalmbach, Bulletin No. 621 of the same 
Department. The new findings were based on 2,118 stomachs, much new 
field work, and the replies from some 3,000 letters of inquiry. The results 
of the two investigations do not differ materially, but the latter author 
gives a very guarded approval of the Crow. The insect food throughout 
the year is given as 18-97 per cent of the whole, grasshoppers and May 
beetles being prominently represented, especially during certain months. 
Carrion and animal matter, 9 • 15 per cent; grain, mostly Indian corn, 51 ■ 12 
