s. The corn eaten early in the season was undoubtedly from the
standing crop. However, most of that picked up in late autumn and in
winter was waste grain. Since little corn was shocked and left in the
fields, there was less opportunity for damage. The amount of corn
pulling at planting time was not determined, since no pellets were
collected then. However, the population of crows at that time was low. I
received no complaints of such damage to corn nor of significant damage
to the corn crop at other seasons.

There were pastures of brome grass in the area under study in eastern
Harvey County, and the seeds seemed to be a preferred food, constituting
a major food supply for the crows in the latter part of July and the
first part of August. Having a high content of indigestible residues
they probably showed up in the pellets in percentages out of proportion
to their importance in the diet. They were unimportant in the diet of
wintering crows in the western part of the study area. This component of
brome grass in the diet was economically of little significance in the
study area, although it could be of significance where brome grass seed
was being harvested.

Cherries were recorded only in June and only from one family of crows in
eastern Harvey County; cherry orchards are few in this area. The damage
done by the crows in the cherry orchard was slight, since only a few
crows fed there.

Weed seeds such as those of spurges (_Euphorbia_), ragweed, and pigweed
were found in trace amounts in the diet of the crows. However, they were
not preferred foods, since they were available in large quantities.

Wild fruits such as grape and pokeberry also showed up in trace amounts.
Elsewhere, investigators have found wild fruit forming a major source of
food in winter. However, it was not readily available in this area.

Plant fibers and seeds unidentifiable with the resources at hand formed
2.2 per cent of the residues.

It was reported to me that crows caused damage to watermelons which are
extensively grown in the sandhills region but no residues of this crop
were found in any pellets collected.

Insects were most important in the animal portion of the food. The
economic and ecologic significance of insects in the diet of birds is
often oversimplified. The effects of predation upon animal populations
are complex, and predation is often a by-product of population rather
than a controlling factor.

A female insect eaten befo