332 



THE GUIDE T< ) NATURE 



PET CROWS AT ARCADIA. 



tree and called "caaw, caw, caw," 

 rather slowly. Upon my answering", he. 

 at once saw the deception and flew 

 away as fast as his wings would carry 

 him, paying no further attention to 

 my calls. The experiment was repeat- 

 ed with passing birds a number of 

 times during the morning with similar 

 results. I have noticed that crows re- 

 spond very quickly to certain notes. 

 One morning not long since, a pair of 

 horned owls were discovered by the 

 crows near their nest. Upon the alarm 

 being given, it was surprising to see 

 the crows coming. Where so many 

 came from was a mystery to me. 

 Within a few minutes there were nine- 

 teen tormenting one poor owl and 

 others were flying about. 



It seems to me that there is little of 

 scientific value to be placed on obser- 

 vations of wild creatures in captivity. 

 They adapt themselves to the changed 

 conditions to such an extent that little 

 is to be learned of their real nature 

 under such conditions. Many persons, 

 however, are so situated that they can 

 make observations in no other way, 



so of course should not be discouraged 

 from using the means at hand. The 

 tame crow that we have, although 

 never confined, conducts himself quite 

 differently from the wild birds. He 

 seldom uses any other note than his 

 call for food, and he pays not the 

 slightest attention to the wild crows 

 that sometimes come about. Although 

 he flies about as freely as he desires. 

 he has no understanding of the call of 

 his wild brothers. 



It is unfortunate that the crow is de- 

 nied the protection given by law to 

 most other birds. In the main he is 

 unquestionably beneficial and only in 

 rare instances is his destruction justi- 

 fied. I think that I have studied this 

 bird from an unprejudiced view point ; 

 I have had crows catch my young 

 chickens and eat my turkey eggs. The 

 view point sometimes changes when 

 it is one's own chickens instead of the 

 other fellow's. To a dispassionate ob- 

 server, making an unprejudiced obser- 

 vation it soon becomes apparent that 

 the good accomplished by the species 

 in eating white grubs and other insects, 



