52 ' MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



CROW. Corvus brachyrhynchos. 



Adjoining the arboretum and forming a part of the Shaw 

 estate is a large pasture. Crows Uke pastures, especially when 

 they are next to a piece of timber with trees large enough to 

 hold their nest. The arboretum has some stately trees of 

 different kinds where a pair of Crows can hide a nest and 

 raise a brood of youngsters without molestation. Although 

 bulky, their nest is placed in such a happy way that it does not 

 readily strike the eye of the passer-by. Crows are very clever 

 in avoiding betrayal of their nest; at other times noisy and 

 even boisterous, they are silent about their domestic affairs, 

 so much so that during the period of incubation they seem to 

 have left the neighborhood entirely. Even when feeding 

 young, not much is heard or seen of them until the young have 

 left the nest and are able to fly, when for several weeks the 

 clamor of the ever-hungry youngsters announces the fact that 

 the maligned bird has succeeded in raising a brood in spite 

 of universal persecution. Farmers accuse the black visitors to 

 their fields of pulling corn and stealing hens' eggs, but most of 

 them admit that they have no proof of such misdeeds them- 

 selves, only hearing it from others and seeing the birds on 

 their field in corn-planting time. That Crows sometimes rob 

 birds' nests of their eggs has been attested by eye-witnesses, 

 but whether this is a trait of the whole race or only of indi- 

 viduals has not been definitely settled. Because some blacks 

 are thieves, it would be unjust to take it for granted that all 

 are thieves. 



COWBIRD. Molothrus ater. 



April, May and June are the months when Cowbirds visit 

 the Garden. The first few days after their arrival from the 

 south solitary males are seen flying over or alighting on the 

 highest tree tops, scanning the surrounding country and after 

 uttering a few times their peculiar guttural song-notes disap- 

 pearing as suddenly as they had come. A few days later 

 small parties composed of two or three males and one or two 

 females take the place of the solitary males. These httle 



