the other senses. Popular interest in distant orientation would be more or less sat- 

 isfied if a special homing sense were to be brought in to explain the facts in the 

 case, but the real work on the problem would then have only seriously begun for 

 the scientist. It is probably too early yet to say that the case is made out for a 

 special homing sense. The evidence, however, is too strong for us to deny that 

 some sense other than vision is employed by birds in finding the way home. 



— Harper's Magazine. 



The Crow (Corvus hrachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos) 

 By Edward B. Clark 



"Buccaneer with blackest sails 

 Steering home by compass true." 



Length : 19 inches. 



Range : Breeds throughout the United States and most of Canada ; winters 

 generally in the United States. 



Habits and economic status : The general habits of the crow are universally 

 known. Its ability to commit such misdeeds as pulling corn and stealing eggs 

 and fruit and to get away unscathed is little short of marvelous. Much of the 

 crow's success in life is due to co-operation, and the social instinct of the species 

 has its highest expression in the winter roosts, which are sometimes frequented 

 by hundreds of thousands of crows. From these roosts daily flights of many 

 miles are made in search of food. Injury to sprouting corn is the most frequent 

 complaint against this species, but by coating the seed grain with coal tar most 

 of this damage may be prevented. Losses of poultry and eggs may be averted 

 by proper housing and the judicious use of wire netting. The insect food of 

 the crow includes wireworms, cutworms, white grubs and grasshoppers, and 

 during outbreaks of these insects the crow renders good service. The bird is 

 also an efficient scavenger. But chiefly because of its destruction of beneficial 

 wild birds and their eggs the crow must be classed as a criminal, and a reduction 

 in its numbers in localities where it is seriously destructive is justifiable. 



Through the four centuries since the white man entered his domain the 

 black crow of America has waited vainly for some poet to sing his praise. The 

 crow cannot sing for himself, though his conceit of everything but voice passes 

 that of all the other fowls of the air. The crow, once upon a time, as the fable 

 tells us, learned a lesson from the fox in this voice matter, and the music lesson, 

 resulting in the loss of a choice morsel of cheese, has left its mark on the crow's 

 memory until this hour. 



The common crow of America holds every whit of interest, of trick, of 

 manner and of character that is held by his first cousin, the raven, and yet the 

 raven holds larger place in prose and poetry than all the other birds combined. 



266 



