CROW 



1648 



CROW 



Membranous croup, an infection of the 

 larynx, caused by the bacillus which produces 

 diphtheria, is both dangerous and contagious. 

 The symptoms of false croup are present, but 

 they become steadily more severe, and the 

 child usually is drowsy for a few hours before 

 he begins to cough. Pieces of membrane rise 

 with the cough, and in the last stages coma 

 and convulsions are liable to occur. Relief 

 from suffocation sometimes is afforded by in- 

 serting a metal or hard rubber tube into the 

 windpipe below the larynx, through a cut made 

 in the neck, and another remedy consists in 

 passing a specially-devised tube down the 

 throat between the vocal chords. These are 

 not, however, curative measures. For check- 

 ing the disease the administration of antitoxin 

 (which see) is the only sure remedy. W.A.E. 



CROW, a family of 200 species of large, black 

 birds found in nearly all parts of the world. 



^isi 



Even the blackest of them all, the crow, 

 Renders good service as your man-at-arms, 

 Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail, 

 And crying havoc on the slug and snail. 

 LONGFELLOW : Tales oi a Wayside Inn. 



The characteristic hue of these birds has given 

 rise to the old familiar expression "as black 

 as a crow." This family includes the common 

 crows, jays, ravens, magpies, fish crows, whisky 

 jacks or Canada jays, rooks and jackdaws. His- 

 tory and literature, including sacred writings, 

 contain frequent and striking references to its 

 various members. Through this source of infor- 

 mation few birds are better known. 



The clever, fearless American crow, also 

 called corn thief, is typical of this large family 

 and is commonly seen in meadows, orchards and 

 woods throughout the United States and most 

 of Canada. It usually winters in the United 

 States. It is eighteen or nineteen inches long 

 and has glossy black plumage, with violet and 

 greenish reflections. Its bill is strong, com- 

 pressed toward the points and covered with 

 bristly feathers. at the base. When spread, the 

 wings appear saw-toothed and are almost as 

 long as the tail. The feet are stout and espe- 



cially adapted for walking. The sexes are about 

 alike in appearance. These birds are intelligent 

 to a remarkable degree, and they are easily 

 domesticated. Occasionally one becomes a 

 family pet, but it will steal and fly away with 

 any bright object, so it is sure to be more or 

 less of a pest. 



The crow has earned an unfavorable name 

 among farmers because of its pernicious habit 

 of pulling up sprouting corn in its search for 

 cutworms, white grubs and other forms of in- 

 sect life, and because of its liking for poultry 

 and eggs. It also eats the growing corn. In 

 Farmers' Bulletin 513, issued by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, the sugges- 

 tion is made that the seed grain be coated with 

 coal tar to prevent damage to the growing corn. 

 The crow so dislikes the odor of this substance 

 that it will usually pass by the corn hills in 

 which seed so treated has been planted. It is 

 also pointed out that losses of poultry and 

 eggs may be prevented by proper housing and 

 the use of wire netting. One of the chief 

 crimes with which the crow is charged is its 

 destruction of beneficial wild birds and their 

 eggs. Accordingly, communities in which it 

 has become a nuisance are justified in reducing 

 its numbers. On the other hand, the crow 

 renders excellent service to the farmer by feed- 

 ing on insect pests; its work in this connection 

 has been praised by Longfellow in his Birds 

 of Killing-worth (from Tales of a Wayside Inn). 



Crows are devoted to their mates. Their 

 coarse nests are built along hedges or high in 

 tree tops. There four to six or seven pale 

 bluish-green or nearly white eggs are laid. 



The fish crow, a greater enemy of birds than 

 the common crow, is abundant on the Atlantic 

 coast from the Gulf of Mexico to Southern 

 New England and New York. It does not 

 touch the crops, however, shellfish and other 

 sea food constituting much of its diet. It 

 is more slender than the common crow, and 

 another important difference between the two 

 is its more feminine call car-r car-r like that 

 of the young of the more common species. 

 The Clark crow, which nests in the high pines 

 of the Rocky Mountains, is pure white with 

 a little black on wings and tail. The hooded 

 crow of India and Ceylon is a small species 

 of this bold, thievish family. Crows usually 

 fly in a straight course, so the expression, "as 

 the crow flies," in judging distances means in 

 a straight line from one point to another. 

 Crows are said to live to be about a hundred 

 years old. J.B. 



