CROWS 41 



One constantly hears complaints of it, but it is very 

 seldom that any serious attempt is made to reduce 

 it. On the contrary, any action of that sort which 

 may be taken is often objected to on the ground 

 that crows are excellent scavengers. Now this is 

 quite true ; but at the same time there can be no 

 question that the number of crows who roost in 

 Calcutta is very much in excess of the supply of 

 food provided by the refuse of the streets, and 

 that a very large percentage of the birds are mere 

 night-lodgers who do their scavenging in the 

 surrounding country, and only come into town 

 when their day's work is over. Moreover, the 

 number of such crows tends to increase steadily, 

 not only owing to annual increments of young 

 birds, but also to the diminution in local supply of 

 food that ought to attend improved sanitation of 

 the streets. So long as no steps are taken to limit 

 the population of useless lodgers, it must go on 

 growing until all available sites for nests and roosts 

 in the trees within the limits of the town have 

 been fully occupied, and this without any local 

 benefit whatever. A very little observation will be 

 enough to satisfy any one that this is the case. 

 Every morning sees the departure of innumerable 

 crows streaming out into the country; and every 

 evening sees the process reversed, the outgoing and 

 incoming streams of birds crossing those of the 

 babus who spend their days in the shops and 



