AMERICAN CROW. 129 



impressed with the Crow's eloquence you must hear him 

 when, in the fancied privacy of his own flock or family, 

 he discusses the affairs of the day. His notes then are 

 low, and so varied in tone that one can not doubt their 

 conversational character. 



During the winter Crows assemble in large flocks 

 containing many thousand individuals, who nightly re- 

 turn to some roost, which perhaps has been frequented 

 for years. In March they begin to pair and the nest is 

 constructed early in April. It is a bulky affair of 

 sticks, lined chiefly with grapevine bark, and is placed in 

 a tree, usually about thirty feet from the ground. The 

 four to six eggs are bluish green, thickly marked with 

 shades of brown. 



Crows share with Hawks the reputation of being 

 harmful birds. That they do much damage in the corn- 

 field is undeniable, but, after the examination of nine 

 hundred Crows' - stomachs, Dr. Merriam, of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, states that the amount of good 

 done by the Crow in destroying grasshoppers, May 

 beetles, cutworms, and other injurious insects, exceeds 

 the loss caused by the destruction of corn. Moreover, if 

 the corn be tarred before planting, the Crows will not 

 touch either the kernel or young sprout. The corn 

 should first be soaked in water overnight, and then 

 placed in a vessel containing enough soft tar to coat each 

 kernel. It should then be rolled in plaster of Paris or 

 wood ashes, so that it can be more easily handled.* 



The Blue Jay, in his uniform of blue and white, is so 

 brightly colored, so large (he is nearly twelve inches in 

 length), and often so noisy, that every one knows him. 



* See Barrows and Schwarz, The Common Crow, Bulletin No. 6, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology 

 and Mammalogy. 



