SauDom Holes on ilatura( listonj. 



Vol. III. 



PROVIDENCE, JUNE 1, 1886. 



No. 6. 



Er tered at the Providence Post-Office as Second-Class Matter. 



l|nnbom !foU$ on f aiitrai f istonj. 



A Monthly Devoted to the Distribution of Use- 

 ful Knowledg e Concernino the Various De- 

 partments of Zoology, Mineralogy, and 

 Botany. 50 Cei its a Year. 

 Address all commui ications to 



JAMES M. SOUTHWICK, 

 358 Westmir ster St., Providence, K. 1., U.?. A. 



Under date of July, 1885, the United 

 States Department of Agriculture issued a 

 list of questions on "Economic Ornithology." 

 As to whether the presence of certain spe- 

 cies of birds were of benefit to the agricult- 

 urist, and the effect of population upon bird 

 life. 



A recent perusal of this list has led to the 

 following random notes : 



The evidence as to whether crows steal 

 eggs so far as our personal experience goes, 

 seems circumstantiality to indicate that the}' 

 do, such as observing crows about the 

 neighborhood, and finding nests rifled after- 

 wards. On the farm of Mr. G. M. Gray, 

 Warren, R. I., a hen stole a nest in a 

 piece of woods not far from the house. This 

 was followed b}- an especial congregating of 

 crows in that neighborhood, but out of re- 

 gard for the hen and a financial interest in 

 her brood, the crows were raided and fright- 

 ened awa}' several times. At another time 

 Mr. Graj' was the happy possessor of a tame 

 crow. A brood of young chicks was confined 

 within the circle of the rim of a cheese-box, 

 this placed on the ground and covered with 

 a strong netting proved a capital nursery, 

 until these conditions were discovered by 

 the crow, who excavated under the edge of 

 the box, and as a luckless chick making the 

 circuit of his prison-house fell into the pit 

 he was seized b}- the legs, drawn forth, and 

 devoured. On account of this proof of a 

 calculating mind the crow was killed, he 

 having previously proved his ability at 

 stealing hens' eggs. Though I have no ab- 

 solute data at hand, I am satisfied that at 

 certain seasons crows confer some benefit 

 on the Rhode Island farmers bv eating from 



the fields and newly plown land beetles 

 and insect larv;iL\ A little later, after 

 the corn is planted or has sprouted to a 

 length of about two inches, these same 

 birds together with the crow blackbirds or 

 purple grackles, levy toll by pulling it up. 

 To prevent this many of the Rhode Island 

 farmers moist their seed with thin tar, mix- 

 ing it with flour or something to overcome 

 the stickiness. In other cases strings are 

 stretched across the fields and hung with 

 white rags, and now^ and then a dead crow. 

 The first remedy is said to be quite effica- 

 cious, the second seems to meet with varied 

 success. In the fall, when the corn is ripe, 

 the grackles light in considerable numbers 

 on the stalks and quickly husk out the ears 

 doing considerable damage after a time. 



In Rliode Island we have an abundance 

 of salt water shore with muddy flats, as 

 well as fresh ponds and rivers. The crows 

 are there enabled to obtain many mollusks 

 which are palatable to them, and perhai)s 

 the abundance of this food is of much ad- 

 vantage, their appetite being satisfied with 

 less need of the farmers' grain. 



The common report seems to be that the 

 English sparrow drives away bluebirds, mar- 

 tins, indigo buntings, &c. Certainlv on 

 and about my own premises they have 

 multiplied seriously, and the more interest- 

 ing speciis have appeared less frequently 

 for the past two or three years. We have 

 an occasional robin, vireo, and chi|)|)ing 

 sparrow, but the foreigners are in tlic large 

 mnjority with their incessant unmusical 

 chip ; their perpetual quarrels, their un- 

 sightly nests, and the dirty evidences of 

 their presence. I have this spring observed 

 them pecking vigorously at the buds of ni}' 

 sapsou apple tree, but as I did not shoot 

 any for dissection I cannot positively sa}' 

 but what they found insects there. 



Robins, cat-birds, and brown-thrashers, 

 do certainly eat small fruits. At Mr. Gray's 

 farm a nice strawberry patch is veiy con- 

 venient to a grape arbor, and in the shade 

 of this arbor the filled boxes of berries were 



