10O NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Rewards for the destruction of crows. 



pulling it out of the ground and devouring it. 

 They are also very injurious to the ripening 

 plants, by picking a hole in the leaves which sur- 

 round the ears, and thus exposing them to cor- 

 ruption by letting in the rain. The inhabitants 

 of New Jersey and Pennsylvania formerly held 

 out a pecuniary reward for their destruction ; but 

 the law was soon repealed, on account of the ex- 

 pence which it brought upon the public treasury. 

 Mr. Pennant relates, that in the reign of 

 Henry VIII., crows had become so numerous 

 in England, and were thought so prejudicial to 

 the farmer, that they were considered an evil 

 Ujortby of parliamentary redress ; and an act was 

 passed for their destruction, in which also rooks 

 and choughs were included. Every hamlet was 

 ordered to destroy a certain number of crows ? - 

 nests for ten successive years ; and the inhabitants 

 were compelled to assemble at stated times dur-. 

 ing that period, in order to consult on the most 

 proper and effectual means of extirpating them. 

 It is supposed, however, that there are at present 

 more of these birds bred in this country than in 

 any other part of Europe. In Sweden they arc 

 so rare, that Linnaeus speaks of the crow as a bird 

 which he never knew killed in that country but 

 once. 



The modes of catching these animals in some 

 countries are equally singular and curious. A 

 crow is fastened alive on its back firmly to the 

 ground, by means of a brace on each side, at the 



