Teacher's Leaflet. 785 



a cat with a fish bone in her throat, and with a most tremendous effort delivers a 

 series of hen-like squawks." But aside from his caw the crow has some very se- 

 ductive soft notes. I have held long conversations with two pet crows talking with 

 them in a high, soft tone of voice and finding that they answered readily in a like 

 tone in a most responsive way. I have also heard these same tones among the wild 

 crows when they were talking together. 



Crows gather in flocks for the winter; these flocks number from fifty to several 

 hundred individuals which have a comm.on roosting place, usually in pine or hem- 

 lock forests or among evergreens. They go out from these roosts during the day 

 to get food, and often in the winter they make a journey of many miles. During 

 the nesting season the crows scatter in pairs and do not gather again in flocks until 

 the young are fully grown. When crows are feeding in the fields there is 

 usually, if not always, a sentinel posted on some high point so that he can give 

 warning of danger. This sentinel is usually a very experienced bird and is keen 

 to detect a dangerous from a harmless intruder. I have made many experiments 

 with these sentinels during one year that I spent in the country^ and had many in- 

 teresting experiences. I finally became known to the sentinels of this par- 

 ticular flock and I was allowed to approach within a few yards of where the 

 birds were feeding, a privilege not accorded to any other person in the neighbor- 

 hood. The crow is a general feeder and will eat almost anj' food ; however, as a 

 general thing it finds its food upon the ground. The food given to nestlings is 

 very largely insects, and at this time crows destroy many pests. The 

 crows damage the farmer by pulling the sprouting corn and by destroy- 

 ing the eggs and young of poultry. They also do much harm by destroy- 

 ing the eggs and nestlings of our native birds which are beneficial to the 

 farmer; they also do some harm by distributing the seeds of poison ivy and other 

 noxious plants. All these must be set down in the account against the crow, but 

 on the credit side must be placed the fact that the crow does a tremendous amount 

 of good .work for the farmer by destroying injurious insects, especially the grubs 

 and cut worms which work in the ground, destroying the roots of grasses and 

 grains. They also destroy many mice and other rodents, which are destructive to 

 crops. 



The best method of preventing crows from taking sprouting corn is to tar the 

 seed corn, which is planted around the edge of the field. 



If any of the pupils in your school have had any experience with tame crows 

 they will relate interesting incidents of the love the crow has for glittering objects. 

 I once knew a tame crow which stole all of the thimbles in the house and buried 

 them in the garden, and he would watch to see when one of these thimbles was 

 laid aside when the sewing was dropped and would seize it almost immediately. 

 This same crow persisted in taking the clothes pins off the line and burying them, 

 so that he was finally imprisoned on wash days. 



References. — " The American Crow," Barrows & Schwartz, Bul- 

 letin No. 6, Division of Ornithology, U. S. Department of Agriculture; 

 " Birds in Relation to Man," Weed & Dearborn ; " Nestlings of Fore.st 

 and Marsh," Wheelock, p. yy ; " Bird Neighbors," Blanchan ; " Wild Ani- 

 mals. I Have Known," Seton ; " Birds of Village and Field." Merriam ; 

 "The Second Book of Birds," IMiller. "Out-door Studies," Needham. 



