310 



THE MUSEUM. 



Southern Rocky mountain regions, 

 where the American Raven {Corviis 

 CO rax) abounds." 



More or less abundant where-ever 

 found as a resident or as a migrant, 

 with but one common name, it is per- 

 haps better known to a larger number 

 of people than any other species indig- 

 enous to North America. 



Held up as emblematic of the fallen, 

 defeated, or unfortunate, the embodi- 

 ment of cunning and cruelty, and pub- 

 lished throughout the land as the per- 

 sonification of a knave and thief; is it 

 any wonder that the ornithologists 

 hesitates to defend the bird whose 

 character is painted as black as its 

 plumage.-^ Like the Blue Jay, whom 

 ignorance and superstition has accused 

 of "carrying sticks to the devil," he is 

 looked upon as the representation of 

 evil -a sort of visible demon; and if he 

 is not just going into mischief he is 

 popularly supposed to be just return- 

 ing from it. Persecuted on every 

 hand for many decades, in the East, it 

 is a wonder that the species has not 

 become exterminated. It has certain- 

 ly decreased in Southern Pennsylvania, 

 though almost imperceptibly, during 

 the last fifteen years. Harmless, and 

 even beneficial two-thirds of the 3^ear, 

 prejudice against it begins to wane. 



It is not my aim to justify the de- 

 struction wrought by these birds upon 

 the cultivated fruit, grain and vege- 

 tables, or the eggs and young of wild 

 and domestic birds, for I know it to 

 be considerable at certain seasons of 

 the year; but T fully believe the bene- 

 fits derived from their destruction of 

 injurious insects, rodents, etc., and 

 their work as scavengers, largely offsets 

 the damage done b}^ them, if it does 

 not indeed over-balance it. This ap- 



plies to such districts as do not con- 

 tain an over abundance of the birds. 



To the bird's habitual watchfulness 

 and acute senses, the situation of its 

 nest and to its breeding in the busiest 

 time of the year, can be attributed its 

 abundance today. Driven from the 

 field by the hundred and one devices 

 of the husbandman, shot, trapped 

 and poisoned they will continue to 

 play the part Nature intended they 

 should, and can only become extinct 

 with the extermination of that which 

 gives life to the country — the timber. 



We are indebted to the pioneer or- 

 nithologists and to some of the present- 

 day popular writers (the latter making 

 no display of scientific attainmentsjfor 

 almost all we know of the habiis of 

 this and many other common species. 

 A well prepared bibliography is beyond 

 the scope of this present article, and 

 the following original notes on the 

 general habits, flights, food, etc., con- 

 tributed from widely scattered local- 

 ities, will unquestionably be acceptable 

 to those interested from a scientific or 

 economic standpoint. 



Dr. William Bringhuist, Philadelphia, 

 Pa. — "The American Crow remains 

 with us throughout the Winter season, 

 retiring on the accession of severe 

 weather, to thickly wooded, hilly or 

 mountainous regions. I live in a pop- 

 ulous part of the city. . At sunset 

 Crows may be seen winging their way 

 to their roosting places in New Jersey, 

 returning in the morning and retiring 

 to long distances inland, though some 

 may remain nearer to us-. The pine 

 woods of New Jersey affords them a 

 safe retreat. Reedy Island, at the 

 head of Delaware Bay, being solitary 

 and at a distance from the haunts of 

 man, used to be a famous resort for 



