OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 7 



and fruits, individuals have been detected, which were taken 

 to be males, plying- the trade of fishers, thus imitating the 

 habit of their nearest kin, Corvus ossifragus. 



A striking confirmation of this fact has recently come to 

 hand. Mr. Henry Strouse, of Chestnut Hill, informs me 

 that he has observed these birds, from a dead tree-branch, 

 or, from the elevated borders of a pond, amuse themselves 

 for hours together, in this kind of business. When a luck- 

 less goldfish, Cyprinus auratiis, would rise to the surface 

 of the water, it was quickly descried, and instantly seized 

 with a skill which would have done justice to its nearest rel- 

 ative. Other fishes met the same inevitable doom. In 

 some instances the birds were bold enough to plunge beneath 

 the watery surface in their endeavors to secure their prey. 

 But, ordinarily, they managed the capture so adroitly, the 

 necessity for unduly wetting their plumage did not often 

 occur. 



In some sections of the country, it is held in aversion by 

 the formers, and it is probable that no single species so com- 

 pletely worthless for food, has been so closely hunted and 

 destroyed. In some States, unwise bounty-laws have been 

 passed by thoughtless and ignorant legislatures, for its de- 

 struction. The use of strychnine, in addition to the farmer's 

 gun, in some parts of the country, has done its share in re- 

 ducing its numbers ; and were it not for the remarkable 

 sagacity and extraordinary intelligence which these birds 

 display, they would long ago, like the Great Auk. A/cn 

 impennis. have been exterminated, or driven from the lar- 

 ger portion of the country. In the state of Delaware, im- 

 mense flocks collect and commit the most wanton devastation 

 upon the crops of standing corn, according to Wilson. \\ e 

 are happy to add our testimony in confirmation of this asser- 

 tion . 



Frequent visits to the rural districts round the city ot 

 Wilmington, in by-gone years, have qualified us t<> attest 

 to its truth. The robbing of liens' nests of eggs, the killing 



