358 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



fork of a tall pine, sometimes in a thick birch or hemlock : 

 it is constructed of, first, a layer of coarse twigs and sticks, 

 then a layer of the bark of the cedar, moss, and sometimes 

 bunches of grass ; it is warmly lined with the bark of the 

 cedar, and sometimes a few leaves. The eggs are usually 

 four in number : their color is of different shades of green, 

 which is covered with blotches and spots of different browns, 

 and dusky. Dimensions vary from 1.65 by 1.20 to 1.50 by 

 1.08 inch. But one brood is reared in the season. 



Perhaps no branch of American rural economy has been 

 so little investigated as the food of our native birds. In 

 Europe, within a few years, tlie attention of scientific men 

 has been turned to the subject: but the information they 

 have been able to obtain, although valuable, cannot, of 

 course, be applied, otherwise than by a series of analogies, 

 to this country ; and the economical value of most of our 

 species is as yet almost entirely unknown to us. This igno- 

 rance is owing, principally, to the difficulty attending such 

 investigations, — the killing of great numbers of birds in 

 all the seasons when they are found witli us, which is abso- 

 lutely necessary, but which is extremely distasteful to most 

 persons ; and it has been aggravated somewhat by the con- 

 tradictory statements of various persons in different locali- 

 ties regarding the food of some species that they have had 

 the means of observing. 



Of these birds, none have given rise to more controversy 

 than the Corvidce ; and I propose to discuss briefly here this 

 interesting topic, and bring a few facts and arguments, 

 founded on reason or actual observation, to show their 

 actual economical value. 



Until very recently, I have been the earnest advocate of 

 these birds, and have believed that the benefits they render 

 much more than balance the injuries they inflict ; but I 

 must say, that, after careful consideration, my faith in their 

 utility is sadly shaken. 



At the outset I will say, that I have kept specimens in 



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