374 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



From ,T. V. Henry Kiiott, Kingston, N. Y. : 



I have seen the common crow eat eggs, and have caught him by baiting a steel-trap with an 

 egg. The man in charge of the gas-works at Saugerties told me this spring that he had to cover 

 his chicken-yard with wire to save the chickens from the crows, and that he saw them catch the 

 chickens repeatedly. 



From Frank B. Hancock, Casky, Ky. : 



The common crow undoubtedly catches young chickens and steals eggs. They have caused 

 me more trouble in that respect than hawks. My home is situated on the south side of a wood- 

 land. A colony of crows located in that woodland in 1870. This spring (1885) I have watched them 

 carefully, and have seen them steal chickens before they were past the downy stage and carry 

 them away to their young. I have one crow family charged with $25 worth of nice chicks stolen 

 in April and May, 1885. 



DESTRUCTION OF EGGS AND YOUNG OF WILD BIRDS. 



No observant person will deny that the crow does serious damage to the eggs and 

 young of wild birds. The instances of such depredation which have come within 

 the knowledge of most farmers or other persons living in the country are far too 

 numerous to leave a shadow of doubt on this score in any unprejudiced mind. 



Yet for every instance of such robbery witnessed by man thousands must take 

 place without his knowledge. Persecution by crows is doubtless a very large factor 

 among the influences which cause so many birds to crowd about human habitations 

 during the nesting season, and yet the relentless crow follows them even to the 

 eaves and window-sills of houses, taking their eggs and young in spite of every pre- 

 caution. 



The evidence on this point, contributed by our observers during the past few 

 years, is replete with accounts of such forays, and the only wonder is that robins, 

 thrushes, blackbirds, and many other species continue to rear any young at all. The 

 reports on this subject number one hundred and fifty or more, and contain minute 

 descriptions of the destruction by crows of the eggs or young of more than twenty- 

 five species of wild birds. The list includes the robin, wood thrush and other 

 thrushes, brown thrasher, wrens, English sparrows and other sparrows, blackbirds 

 of several species, Baltimore and Bullock's orioles, woodpeckers, swallows, king- 

 birds, wax-wing, warblers, bluejay, Carolina dove, quail, prairie chicken, woodcock, 

 night herons and other waders, wild ducks, and sea-gulls. In addition to these 

 specific statements, very many observers state that all kinds of small birds suffer 

 from crows, while others say that it kills "many kinds" or "all kinds which can 

 be obtained." 



Naturally the robin is one of the most frequent sufferers, and perhaps its losses 

 are more likely to be noticed than those of less familiar birds. The following re- 

 ports indicate something of the nature and extent of the inroads upon this species : 



From Prof. F. E. L. Beal, Lunenburgh, Mass.: 



I have known the crow to rob the nest of a robin of its eggs on se\ eral occasions, always at the 

 first peep of light. In one instance the nest robbed was within six feet of the open window of a 

 chamber where I slept. 



From Charles F. Goodhue, Webster, N. H. : 



The crow has been known to rob every robin's nest in a good-sized apple orchard, and to come 

 within eight rods of the house and carry off four young robins in the course of one day. 



From J. W. Van Kirk, Milton, Pa. : 



Last spring (1886) out of ten robin's nests around our building, nine were robbed of eggs by the 

 crow. One of the nests was not over twenty yards from the house. The robin lays from three to 

 five eggs, and you can safely say that at least forty robins were thus destroyed inside of eight 

 acres of ground. 



From Dr. A. K. Fisher, Sing Sing, N. Y.: 



A great number of nests of the robin, wood thrush, and, in fact, many other birds are robbed 

 of their eggs, and I have often observed crows flying away with young birds in their bills, fol- 

 lowed by the outraged parents. 



In examining the contents of crow's stomachs in spring, I have detected the presence of birds' 

 eggs in a number of cases. 



