38 



THE OOLOGISr 



l);iik, and lined with featliors and hairs. 

 The egys are greenish, with reddish-hrown 

 dots and spots, qnite well distributed over 

 the surface ; four or five constitute the num- 

 ber in a set. 



The food of this bird consists of the va- 

 rious grain, grass, and weed seeds and often 

 insects. While feeding, they appear to 

 have their hearts bent upon the work, for 

 they are very diligent ; and if their field of 

 investigation be a marsh, or other locality 

 abounding in seeds, they will linger about 

 the vicinity for a nunil)er of days. Some- 

 times one will meet individuals late in the 

 spring and summer wandering about appar- 

 ently as if lost ; at this time, they conduct 

 themselves much in the style of the Yellow- 

 Bird, flying restlessly i'rom one tree to an- 

 other, suddenly dropping into the grass, or 

 rea})peariug again after a supposed depart- 

 u]-e. The only note uttered in the fall of 

 the year is a short pit^ which can scarcely 

 be distinguished from the notes of the Snow 

 IJird and some of the other Sparrows. 



Lj'tilitv of thk Chow. — Few writers 

 have allowed the Crow any credit as a ben- 

 efactor, for the explicit J'eason, no doubt, 

 that its history for generations has been one 

 of continued usui'pations and mischief; and 

 very few farmers can be found who are 

 willing to add any testimony in behalf of 

 its good character, if it really has any. But 

 not long since, having occasion to bring up 

 the topic of ornithology with a farmer of 

 considerable observation, the immediate 

 cause being the killing of a Crow upon his 

 farm, he said that in view of the services 

 the Crows rendered him, he did not like 

 to have them shot. llun<lreds and thou- 

 sands of them, he said, roosted in his 

 wood all through the winter, and the result 

 was an immense layer of manure, which 

 was carried down, when the snow melted, 

 and enriched his land more than all the fer- 

 tilizei-s he knew of. Certainly this is to 

 the credit of Mr. Crow, but the fact that 

 few farmers are thus benefited, nullifies a 

 ])ortion of his might-be-inferred good ([ual- 



ities ; for these roosting places are few in 

 any one part of the country, since tlie birds, 

 collecting from far and near, pass the win- 

 ter in one spot, — where they can get an a- 

 bundance of food. But this gentleman al- 

 so states, that in some mysterious manner 

 still more to the credit of the Crow, his 

 corn-fields have been unmolested for some 

 years past, aiul that, too, in the very face 

 of the fact that the birds are unusually nu- 

 merous thereabouts at all times of the year. 

 We might add, that the gentleman spoken 

 of is well ac(piainted with the birds which 

 frequent his lands, and is able to discrimi- 

 nate between their good and bad habits 

 without prejudice. 



The Acadian Owl, — considered a rath- 

 er rare species in the central part of this 

 State, has appeared in such numbers wifhin 

 the past month or two, as to entitle it to a 

 place either among the most abundant of 

 our nocturnal Baptores, or as a bird of 

 marked wandering habits. Scarcely a wood 

 offv'i'ing the avei'age ulitJir advantages has 

 been found, which does not contain a num- 

 ber of these Owls, and the queries, 'Where 

 did they come from?' and 'Why did they 

 appoint their rendezvous here ?' do not seem 

 out of place. Young and old were obtain- 

 ed, all seeming to display a degree of un- 

 coiicernedness upon the near approach of a 

 hunter which was quite surprising. 'J"'he 

 low portions of the woo<ls, where grow ev- 

 ergreens and small trees, rather thickly in- 

 terspersed with rank shrubs and wild grape 

 vines, are their favorite resorts, from which 

 before sundown, they emerge in search of 

 their diminutive prey. These Owls ap- 

 peared in districts where neither they nor 

 any otiier species of Owl had been seen in 

 years ; many were shot by farmers for 

 'Screech' Owls, wliich they somewhat re- 

 semble, and some were brought in by boys, 

 who remarked that they had no difficulty 

 in discovering them, as they flew about 

 befoi'e dark and flew low. Several excel- 

 lent specimens were taken. 



